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The best Resident Evil 4 mods

Jesse Lennox
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The replay quotient of the Resident Evil 4 remake is already incredibly high. Aside from attempting the game on higher difficulties, odds are you will miss at least some of the collectibles or guns during your first run. Still, many people will want more, and the included extras like costumes and special weapons can only extend a single-player game’s life so much. This is where mods come in. From new models and outfits to reworked mechanics, mods can breathe new life into this survival horror masterpiece.

How to install Resident Evil 4 remake mods

Modding for the Resident Evil 4 remake is only really available for the PC version, and is most easily done through the popular Nexus Mod Manager. This safe, reliable tool allows you to browse, download, and apply mods with ease. After you download the manager, you simply need to save the mod of your choice, run the installer, go through the installation, and run the game with the mod. For a more detailed tutorial on how to do this, see the Nexus Mods tutorial or watch the video below.

how to download mods from Nexusmods (EASY) 2021 ??

HUNK Mod

Hunk loading a pistol.

Again, there are so many Leon replacement mods that this list could be filled with those alone. For our pick, we went with the old favorite HUNK Mod. As you can see, this replaces Leon with the mysterious Umbrella operative, complete with his own sounds (excluding dialogue of course). Playing as this masked soldier gives the game a very different feel. Just make sure you don’t have any accessory equipped or the head won’t work properly.

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Merchant Now trade Small Key

A merchant shop selling small keys.

One of the many collectibles in the Resident Evil 4 remake that can easily be missed are the Small Keys. These unique keys are used to unlock all the locked drawers you will no doubt encounter in the first several chapters of the game. Normally, you would need to track down and find each key, then backtrack to the drawers to loot their treasures. With the Merchant Now trade Small Key mod, you can load up on an infinite number of them for the low, low price of free.

No Ugly Yellow Paint Everywhere

Leon looking at a barrel with no paint on it.

For all you purists out there who think that the Resident Evil 4 remake is being to “gamey” by showing you which boxes and barrels you can break by splattering yellow paint on them, the No Ugly Yellow Paint Everywhere mod was made for you. And that’s it! This mod is just about making the game more immersive and more in line with how the original looked.

Classic RE4 Leon

Leon wearing his classic outfit.

We’re cutting ourselves a little slack on this one and considering this an outfit change for Leon. This is another one for all you lovers of the original Resident Evil 4 who want to see Leon back in his old uniform one more time. Sure, the Classic RE4 Leon outfit isn’t a major difference, but it is a nice way to inject a little nostalgia into your playthrough.

Health Bars

Leon aiming at enemies with health bars.

We are in complete agreement with the Health Bars mod creator in that this isn’t a mod you should use on your first run through the Resident Evil 4 remake. Like its name states, it shows you a health bar for all the enemies in the game. This could be fun for experimenting with weapons and combos in later playthroughs, but it would severely hinder the tension and immersion if you were playing for the first time. Considering how arcade-like the game can get in later playthroughs, it’s almost surprising this wasn’t an option in the game by default.

Church Bell No More (Infinite Timer)

Leon S. Kennedy shoots villagers in the Resident Evil 4 remake.

The opening village fight is one of the most iconic encounters not only in the Resident Evil franchise, but gaming as a whole. People love it so much that they often start up a new game just to play this one part. While Mercenaries Mode does offer this map to play in more, it always has a time limit. If you wanted to see just how long you could survive this brutal assault, the Church Bell No More (Infinite Timer) mod makes that opening battle go on as long as you can survive. You can even add in tweaks, such as turning on Mad Chainsaw mode, infinite knife durability, and infinite ammo.

Kick Open Doors — Melee Anytime

Leon kicking open a door.

For all the great additions the Resident Evil 4 remake made to the original, the option to boot open doors with a powerful kick is sorely missed. Loading up Kick Open Doors — Melee Anytime brings back the option to double-tap the interact button on a door to make Leon blast it open with a powerful kick, which will still knock down and injure any enemies hit by the door. It also comes with an option to simply make Leon kick whenever you like, without needing to stagger an enemy first.

Dead Space Remake Engineering Suit

Leon wearing Isaac's dead space suit.

Look, Resident Evil 4 and Dead Space were already compared to one another before either of the remakes landed within months of each other. Now that the two are going head-to-head for the title of best survival horror game of the year, and possibly best game of the year, why not bring the two together with the Dead Space Remake Engineering Suit? It’s the best of both worlds!

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Jesse Lennox
Jesse Lennox
Jesse Lennox loves writing, games, and complaining about not having time to write and play games. He knows the names of more…
Resident Evil 4: All Yellow Herb locations
Yellow herb in Resident Evil 4.

Despite being sent all the way to Europe to rescue the president's daughter, Leon arrives vastly underpowered for the job presented to him in the Resident Evil 4 remake. Not only was he sent in alone, but with just a single handgun (with 10 bullets) and a knife. If you want any hope of completing this mission, you will need to get every advantage you can. Aside from expanding and upgrading your arsenal, collecting as many of the game's Yellow Herbs will be your top priority. Of the three types of Herbs -- Green, Red, and Yellow -- these are the rarest of them all. In total, you can only grab 17 of them in a single playthrough. You will want as many of them as possible to give Leon a much-needed buff, so here's what Yellow Herbs do and where you can collect them all in the Resident Evil 4 remake.
What Yellow Herbs do

Each of the three Herb types in Resident Evil 4 serves a different function. Green Herbs are for healing, Red Herbs enhance the effect of whatever Herb they're combined with, and Yellow Herbs actually increase Leon's maximum health. That makes them by far the most valuable of the three since, with enough of them, you can essentially double the amount of damage you can take once you max out his health.

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Resident Evil 4 locked drawers guide: all Small Key locations
Infected villager from Resident Evil 4 remake.

Keys and Resident Evil games are like peanut butter and jelly. If you're not fighting zombies, you're looking for a key to get you to the next room -- where you will fight more zombies. While there are plenty of mandatory keys in the Resident Evil 4 remake, there are also a set of extra keys that you can completely miss. These Small Keys are used to unlock locked drawers you come across, as opposed to doors, and hold some very valuable treasures. Considering how precious money is in this game, the more treasures you can find and sell to your Merchant friend, the better off you'll be. Small keys aren't in your direct path often, and once you leave an area, you can't go back to collect them later in most cases. We'll help you become the master of unlocking by showing you where to snag all the Small Keys in Resident Evil 4, as well as where to use them.
Where to find all Small Keys
Before getting into the locations of Small Keys, note that these keys are not exclusive to a single drawer. Any Small Key can be used to open any drawer, so feel free to spend them as soon as you find a drawer with a key in hand. However, once you leave an area in Resident Evil 4, there's no going back. That means if you left any keys or drawers behind, you won't be able to open them unless you start another playthrough or wait until you begin a new game. There are eight Small Keys to get, and they are all found within the first two zones of the game, but won't show up on your map. Locked drawers won't either by default, but if you buy the Treasure Map from the Merchant, the drawers will be put on your map. Here's how to track all the keys down, and where the nearest locked drawer is in the order you can first encounter them.

The first key you can get is in Chapter 2 in the Valley. After meeting the Merchant, you will be sent into the Valley to find a key to open the gate opposite the Merchant. After clearing out the enemies, drop down to the lowest level on the south end and enter the shack. Inside, take a right and look for a case on the shelf. Loot it, and pick up the first Small Key. The nearest locked drawer is back in the Factory past the Merchant. Go into the room where you retrieved Leon's equipment after it was taken from him and use the key on the desk drawer.

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The best weapons in Resident Evil 4
Leon holding a gun in Resident Evil 4.

Leon clearly wasn't prepared for what he would encounter in the Resident Evil 4 remake or he would have come with more than a middling handgun and a knife. While those basic tools can get you through the opening stages of the game, it won't be long before you will need to call upon some much stronger firepower in order to survive the tougher -- and more grotesque -- monsters that stand in your way. The Resident Evil 4 remake offers a ton of weapons you can collect, such as pistols, SMGs, rifles, and more. However, most will cost a lot of cash -- and even more if you want to invest in their upgrades. You will have to make some tough choices about what weapons you want to stick with, and picking a dud can make your playthrough much more difficult. Instead of investing all your cash in a pea-shooter, check out the best weapons you can get in the Resident Evil 4 remake to blast your way through Ganados and Las Plagas alike.
The best weapons in Resident Evil 4

Red9
Where else could we start but with the Red9? Almost certainly the most popular handgun -- or gun in general -- from the original Resident Evil 4 has returned in the remake and is just as potent as ever. Not only can you grab this gun as early as Chapter 3, making it a great choice for investing your upgrades in, but it can be altered and has essentially no drawbacks. By default, the Red9's recoil is the primary point of criticism you could levy at it, but if you spend a few Spinels to give it the stock, you'll be able to basically snipe with this pistol. By the time you unlock the Exclusive upgrade, which multiplies the gun's power by 1.5x, you'll hardly ever find a situation where this handgun can't do the job.
Bolt Thrower
The Bolt Thrower isn't on this list for its high power, accuracy, or anything that you would traditionally look for in a gun. The reason it has to be here is due to the simple fact that you can recover the bolts it shoots into enemies after they're dead to massively cut down on your ammo expenditure. Ammo for it is also crafted using knives, but it even has a secondary firing method where it launches mines, giving it a lot more utility. The Exclusive upgrade isn't game-changing -- it doubles the ammo capacity -- but the less you have to reload, the less often you'll be caught in a sticky situation.
Stingray
In the rifle category, the Stingray is never going to let you down. This is a semiautomatic rifle, so the firing rate is mostly up to you, plus it has a great clip size by default. If you're hitting those weak points, this baby will also deal 3x damage, and can be outfitted with almost any scope. The Exclusive upgrade boosts your final firing rate by an additional 2x, which shouldn't be too necessary if you're trying to be precise, though can help in a pinch.
LE 5
The LE 5 is a weapon you can easily miss that is kind of like a good version of the Punisher in that it has amazing penetration power. Being an SMG, it also boasts a far greater firing rate and clip size, as well as more power. This is the perfect weapon to rip through any shield-wielding enemies. Again like the Punisher, the Exclusive upgrade allows the LE 5 to pierce up to five targets at once.
Broken Butterfly
Another returning favorite, the Broken Butterfly magnum is not just the best-looking hand cannon in the game, but also the most deadly. If you don't count a special weapon like the Rocket Launcher, the Broken Butterfly (after upgrades) deals the most damage of any gun in the Resident Evil 4 remake. The Exclusive upgrade plays a major part in this by boosting its final damage by 1.5x, again just like the Red9, but magnum upgrades are among the most expensive in the game, so this power won't come easy.
Striker
What's the worst part of a shotgun? The firing rate. Well, that is if you're not using the Striker. This semiautomatic shotgun spits out damage like nobody's business. It has power on par with any other shotgun, but way better firing speed, plus a massive clip size so you don't have to worry about running dry out an enemy in your face. If you get the Exclusive upgrade, you can even double the already huge clip size.
Rocket Launcher
This is a big investment both in terms of cash and space, but the Rocket Launcher is too iconic to the series not to be amazing. Yes, this has a one-hit kill on just about everything and will cost more or less depending on what difficulty level you're playing on. It has no upgrades because, well, what is there to make better? Unless you're playing with the infinite ammo for it enabled, you do only get one shot, so make it count.
Primal Knife
While technically not a gun, the knife is so good in the Resident Evil 4 remake that it has to be mentioned. This tool will save your skin more often than you think thanks to the new ability to parry and finish downed enemies, but the obvious drawback is durability. The Primal Knife has to be unlocked by finding and destroying all 16 of the Clockwork Castellans in the game. What makes it the clear frontrunner of all knives is the Exclusive upgrade that makes it completely unbreakable, no matter how much you use it.

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