Very Quick Tips for Resident Evil 2: The 4th Survivor

Hunk and Tofu

Resident Evil 2 is out today and it can be pretty tough, especially if you’re playing on the old school hardcore difficulty setting.

The new Hunk-flavored survival mode 4th Survivor can be taxing too. Given that a few readers have asked for a guide, I figured why not focus on this mode, as many of the same tips spill over into the main game?

• How do you unlock 4th Survivor, the extra mode on top of the campaign? Beat the game once, then complete the 2nd Run. Done!

• Once you’re in the first thing you’ll want to do is convert your gunpowder into two sets of shotgun ammo. While the magnum is incredibly useful on bigger enemies, most of those can be juked. The main problem is hordes that block your progress: those go down easily with a shotgun blast. Maybe a different ammo combo will click better with you, but give the shotgun method a go and see how it shakes out.

• Follow the principle of the three “As”: avoid, avoid, avoid. Although 4th Survivor is much shorter than the campaign, it throws a ton of enemies at you. You absolutely don’t need to kill all of them. Learn how to Barry Sanders each one and trip them up. For instance, shotgunning a group of zombies might knock them down, allowing you to run past, effectively eliminating them from the equation. Dogs also get confused if you’re constantly running and sometimes won’t lunge for you. Try shooting Mr. X in the head with a magnum: he’ll shake it off which is just enough time to run past him. When in doubt, incapacitate.

• You’ll want to swap your subweapons around manually using the inventory menu (which pauses the game). For example, there might be a room where you’ll want to throw a flash grenade to stun an entire room (the garage). If you don’t unequip it as your subweapon, the next time you’re caught in a grapple you’ll be prompted to waste one on the struggle. Instead, use the grenade, immediately use the inventory menu to pause, then swap to a knife if you have one.

• 4th Survivor takes roughly 10 minutes to complete if you’re moving forward as often as possible. Keep that in mind when it comes to pacing herbs or whether or not you should just restart. You’ll generally want at least one healing item for the last few-minute leg.

• Speaking of healing items, optimally, you’ll want to wait until you’re in the danger health zone then pop your tri-herb, which heals you to full and grants you a damage reduction buff for a limited time. Then once that’s out, pop your blue and red combo: this item doesn’t heal you, but instead grants you another armor buff after your original falls off. This should be enough to last you the entire run.

• Once you finish Hunk’s run you’ll unlock Tofu. The “avoid” mantra will pay off here as Tofu is only equipped with knives and a limited amount of healing items. If you get frustrated playing as Tofu, swap back to Hunk and try to shave your time down. Good luck!