Resident Evil 4/Chapter 1-2

Valley
This chapter begins with a cutscene. This cutscene is interactive though, so make sure you're ready to perform whatever actions appear on the screen. In what seems like a dream, a man in hood injects a purple liquid into your neck. Then you wake up chained to the man from the cabinet. He is Luis Sera, formerly of the Spanish police. While he seems to know all about the Ashley being kidnapped, he doesn't explain why he happens to be in the village. He does mention though that Ashley is being held in a church. Meanwhile a wounded villager is approaching with the intent to kill you. Dodge by pressing the button combo shown on the screen and the villager ends up breaking your bonds. You then use some judo to dispose of the villager when he attacks again. Luis makes his escape and you hear from Hunnigan. You fill her in on recent events and let her know you're heading back to the village.

Check the map to learn you’ve been moved all the way to the other side of the village. Get the Handgun Ammo from the shelf and head down the hall. You spot someone through the window who motions for you meet him. This is the Merchant and from this point on he is open for business. He'll appear in specific places as you move through your adventure. See the Characters page for details. There is a new type of ammo, Rifle Ammo, on the shelf in the next room and a typewriter to save your game if you want.

Head out the door, and go left to the back of the house to find the Merchant. Talk to him to start shopping. Sell the Spinels and Pearl Pendent to raise some additional cash, but be sure not to sell the Beerstein or Catseye though, since they are part of a set and won't yield as much they will when the set is complete. There are other items like this where you get the main item, but have to collect additional items to complete it, and you can tell which ones require some additional work by examining them.

If you've never played the game before then it can be hard to decide what to get. You don't have a lot to spend and even if you did you would run out of space in your attache case to hold everything. Here is a breakdown to help you decide.


 * Attache Case M: If you've been playing carefully and conserving ammo and health items then you're probably running out of space by now, so the upgrade to the next size, though pricey, will be a welcome option.


 * Treasure Map (Village): This shows the locations of the most valuable pieces of treasure. It will probably pay for itself if it allows you to find one missing item, but you have at least until the end of the chapter to find everything so there's no need to get it right away. This guide should enable you to find everything on the map so you may not need it anyway.


 * Handgun: You already got this at the start of the game. The game won't let you have two so this will only be available if you've sold or discarded the one you had.


 * Shotgun: You should have gotten one of these for free in the village, but you can get one here if you didn't for some reason.


 * Rifle: The Rifle is almost always a good choice; it's useful for picking off enemies at a distance, and is very powerful. It's very slow however so it's best used from a safe distance. It uses the Rifle Ammo that you picked up next to the typewriter. It comes equipped with a zoomable scope which can be useful in its own right.


 * TMP: This is a basic machine gun. Each TMP round does a bit less than half the damage as a handgun round, but the higher firing rate and the larger amounts in refills make up for that. Opinions vary on this weapon. Some hold that it's an inferior weapon and not worth the cost in money and space and you should sell any ammo you get for it to the Merchant. Others claim it's very effective when fighting a group or a boss. If you are low on space and/or funds then you should probably hold off buying this, at least for now. If however you're low on ammo and have the space then do get it when you can afford it. For what you get for the ammo you sell you almost might as well just throw it away, which seem silly if you're hurting for ammo otherwise.


 * Rocket Launcher: The hefty price tag and the large size should dissuade you from getting this for the time being. There is no ammo for it since you get just one shot and it disappears. But it does give you a way to buy yourself out of a tough boss battle if you're too low on ammo or health items to win it otherwise. There won't be a boss like that for a while yet though.


 * Scope (Rifle): Increases the maximum zoom of your rifle scope by a factor of 3 and adds a laser sight as well. Combine it with the Rifle to put it to use; the game doesn't put them together in the attache case but you will see the difference when the gun is in your hand. A nice-to-have at this point but not a need-to-have.


 * First Aid Spray: Restores full health just like the one you got at the beginning of the game. Get this only if you're hurting for health items.


 * Tune ups: Most of the weapons in the game can be upgraded to make them faster and more powerful. But before you start spending all your cash be aware that there are better models of weapons to be had later in the game, and if you get the better model then half of what you spend on your current model will be lost. On the other hand there are a lot of battles and some tough bosses between now and when a better model becomes available, so some tune ups may be justified even on a weapon you're not going to keep.

Once you're done shopping, continue past the Merchant to the end of the passage and get the barrels at the end. Then come back to the front of the house and get another barrel in a corner.

When you get close enough to the wall between the house and the valley beyond, a cutscene will play showing you your surroundings. There is a complex of buildings with guards patrolling the area. The wall has a large gate on the left and two gaps through which you can snipe some villagers if you have the Rifle.

Now you need to do some close-range fighting so put the Rifle away and equip something more suited for it, then head through the gate. You will be spotted by a villager and scary music will start if it hasn't already. There are actually quite a few more enemies here than there appears to be. Getting spotted, firing a gun, or entering a new area may draw additional attention, which will alert previously hidden villagers who start heading in your direction. So you need to keep watching for new enemies as you explore.

The villagers will be equipped with the usual farm implements, but some will by carrying dynamite sticks. You can use this to your advantage though; if you see a villager with lit dynamite then disable him until the dynamite goes off, blowing him up along with any nearby enemies. If you have attackers between you and a villager with dynamite then just back away since when he throws the dynamite it will often take out the other attackers for you. In a pinch just shoot the dynamite with the shotgun to make it explode.

The best place to stand to take on the first wave of attackers is at the top of the slope behind the wall. The height advantage will help keep stray sticks of dynamite from landing near you. If you get overwhelmed, head back to the house where you started; the gates will slow down the villagers and will give you some time to recover. From the path behind the gate you can go left to a storage building, right to a ledge, or over a bridge in the middle. We'll start by going right.

Follow the zigzag path and once you reach the top, an additional wave of enemies should come at you from behind. The sandbag barriers should slow them down a bit and you get style points for using the exploding red barrel here to get at least one of them. When the enemies stop coming, get the barrels here and open the treasure chest to get the Emblem (Left half). This is a good vantage point to snipe more villagers on towers and rooftops, but watch for additional attackers this may draw.

Go back and head toward the storage building to the west. The door in front is tempting bu there are enemies inside, so you may want to circle around the outside and fire at them through the windows first. There is a barrel in the side corner and another in back. You can use the ladder to reach the roof where there may be a villager waiting; another barrel and a treasure chest with the Emblem (Right half) are here. There are two doors, two windows and a hole in the roof you can use to get into the building. The inside is divided into a small section and a large section. Get Shotgun shells on a shelf in the small section. In the large section you'll find Handgun ammo on a box and a Flash Grenade in a locker.

Follow the path east to a hut. If you're still getting attention from villagers then climb the ladder to the roof and another ladder to a tower. This is a great place to do the ammo saving ladder trick, namely wait at the top of the ladder and slash at enemies with the knife to knock them down. the ladder. In fact you may want to descend to the valley floor to lure more villagers into this little trap. There is a ledge below the east cliff where you can try this as well.

There is a barrel on the tower, and there are two more next to the hut. Be sure to go inside the hut and check the lockers to get 1000 PTAS and a Yellow Herb. Beware of more villagers in here though.

At some point you will run out of enemies and the scary music will stop. You can now explore and collect any items without fear of being ambushed. The door to the next area is behind the hut, but it's locked. Combine both halves of the Emblem to form the Hexagonal Emblem, then use it near the door to unlock it. The Emblem will disappear in the process and nearly every key in the game works the same way.

Village Storage
On the other side of the doors, start by heading forward. You'll come across another large door, but don't go in it yet. To the left and right of that large door are a few items to pick up. Once you've got them, head through the large door.

There isn't much in this room, except for a barrel that contains an item to pick up. Look around the room, and you should also find a window overlooking a tiny room that contains a rare item. Take note, as you'll be picking it up in a little bit. Go through the only other door available here to continue.

There are some enemies here, so take them out and continue onward, picking up items along the way. At the end of this room is a window, jump through the window to get to the next room.

If you are fast enough, try to take out the enemies before they can start throwing dynamite at you. If not, you should be quite safe behind the garbage dumpster. If you need cover, go behind the dumpster and press X. Take out everyone from a distance, then navigate your way through the room, and be careful not to step on any bear traps. In the north-east corner of the room, you'll find a few barrels with items inside, and a furnace that can be opened to reveal another item. Once you are done here, head through the door to enter the next room.

As soon as you walk in, turn left to see a window with wooden planks covering it. Use your knife to destroy the planks. You can now jump through the window and collect that rare treasure you saw earlier. Jump back into the previous room, and pick up any items inside of it. Now head through the final door.

Follow the tunnel, and you'll come across the final villager for this area. Get rid of him! If you jump into the water below, you'll find a few items for you to pick up. You can also shoot the larger fish swimming around there, and pick them up. The fish will heal you a little, in case you need it. Get back to the platform, and climb the ladder to enter the next area.

Chief's House
Before you continue on your way, try and take out as many crows as possible. More money certainly doesn't hurt. You may also want to take out the tripwire/dynamite. Pick up any dropped items, then head into the small cabin to find more items. Head outside, and right next to the cabin there should be a well filled with some disgusting looking water. Shoot out the support to close the lid, and then shoot the treasure so that you can collect it.

Continue along the path, but when you get to the area where the tripwire was setup, keep on the lookout for a few bear traps. Avoid them and continue on.

Now head into the Chief's house. At the top of the stairs, you'll be presented with a puzzle to solve. Your objective is to have the symbol in the crystal ball match the symbols decorating the door. You do this by moving the symbol in one of four available directions. To solve this puzzle:


 * Choose the UP arrow.
 * Choose the LEFT arrow.

Past the puzzle, you'll find yourself in a bedroom. Search the room because there are lots of items to be found in here. One item of note is the 'Insignia Key' located in a decorated box along one of the walls. When you are done, head through the next door to finish this chapter, and start a cutscene.