The Resident Evil 4 remake largely keeps the same spirit as the original 2005 game, with most changes being made to improve quality-of-life issues or to update underdeveloped plot points. One adjustment, however, makes one of the remake's achievements much easier than intended, essentially making the challenge to obtain it worthless. Those looking to achieve 100% in the game or experience everything it has to offer may still be interested in unlocking the reward, but players seeking a challenge may be let down to learn that the Mercenaries DLC has taken this away from Resident Evil 4's most difficult achievement.
For the most part, Capcom did a great job at balancing nostalgia and the classic features of the game's predecessor with more modern, updated gameplay elements. There are, of course, a few changes that have proved less than popular with the Resident Evil community, such as new voice actors or other minor tweaks. The positives far outweigh the Resident Evil 4 remake's most annoying changes, with the experience overall being much smoother, more cohesive, and better-looking than before. However, a small shift occurred with the release of the free Mercenaries DLC, which takes the fun out of RE4's otherwise hardest achievement.
RE4 Remake Makes Getting 'Gun Fanatic' Much Easier
The Resident Evil 4 remake's hardest achievement to obtain was previously Gun Fanatic. In order to unlock it, players would need to obtain every weapon in the game, which by nature is no small feat, but this was made even more difficult thanks to the Handcannon. This powerful Magnum gun would only be unlocked after completing the game on Professional difficulty without using any bonus weapons, such as the Rocket Launcher, Primal Knife, or Chicago Sweeper. Only then would it become available for purchase in the Extra Content Shop for 1,000 . However, since the recent addition of the Mercenaries DLC, jumping through all these hurdles is no longer necessary.
How To Get The Gun Fanatic Achievement In The RE4 Remake
Now, it's possible to unlock Handcannon and Gun Fanatic simply by playing the Mercenaries mode. As long as players earn an S rank or higher on each of the three maps - Village, Castle, and Island - the Handcannon will also automatically become available for purchase for 1,000 in the Extra Content Shop. Although it's also priced the same in-game, it's still a significantly lower cost to pay for Resident Evil 4 remake's Gun Fanatic achievement, at least in of time and effort.
Prior to the Mercenaries expansion, players will have had to endure several hours of hostile Ganados, unrelenting Los Ilumindos, and the game's horrific bosses on Professional difficulty. This is the Resident Evil 4 remake's toughest game mode, as it quite literally changes the rules of the game for the worse. Players won't receive the luxury of autosaves, instead having to locate a typewriter and manually create a save file from there. Those wanting an S+ rank can only save 15 times, which is not generous. Plus, only perfect parries will be accepted, so players who aren't pinpoint accurate or always on their toes will struggle in defending themselves even more.
Throw in the lack of Bonus Weapons, and both Leon and the player will be in for one of the bumpiest rides of their lives. Sadly, despite all the blood, sweat, and tears that they will have poured into achieving Gun Fanatic, it may all have been for naught. It's painfully easy to obtain the same end result by merely playing a couple of hours of the Mercenaries mode, where players are only tasked with surviving waves of Ganados. Indeed, hoards of infected villagers can get overwhelming, but if players have unlocked the most powerful Mercenaries character, HUNK, then they'll be to mow them down with relative ease.
Gun Fanatic Isn't As Rare In The RE4 Remake
As a result, what was one of the Resident Evil 4 remake's hardest achievements has now become far less rare, diminishing the incentive that players may have felt to earn it. According to the Resident Evil Wiki, only 0.4% of Steam players had the Gun Fanatic achievement unlocked as of March 27. Since the Mercenaries DLC was released shortly thereafter on April 7, that percentage has since skyrocketed to a whopping 8.1%, according to the game's achievement statistics on Steam. It's still one of the rarer achievements in the RE4 remake, at least on PC, but it's clear that the Mercenaries DLC prompted the major jump in these numbers.
Games don't always need to be difficult to be fun, but making Gun Fanatic so effortless to unlock almost feels out of place within the game, thematically. It's impossible to deny that certain gameplay mechanics, such as Ashley's behavior, were made definitely made easier to manage than ever before; as the original had players worrying about the president's daughter's health and her less-than-ideal movement patterns. The Resident Evil 4 remake removes her health bar entirely and gives her the ability to follow Leon in different formations.
However, many other aspects of the game became conversely difficult in return. Leon's overall movement speed has seemingly been reduced from that of the original, and he's no longer able to perform the Ditman glitch, unless it's through one of the RE4 remake's best charms. The spawn rates for ammo have seemingly dropped as well, especially in the harder difficulties, which means players will need to use copious amounts of resources to craft bullets. Not even Leon's knife is safe, as it'll now break periodically, prompting a trip to the Merchant and requiring players to hand over a few extra pesetas.
In many ways, the RE4 remake strives to be more realistic, and thus, more challenging, which is a sentiment oddly abandoned by the Gun Fanatic achievement. Whereas on launch, it was likely the hardest Resident Evil 4 remake achievement to unlock, the Mercenaries mode gives players a second option and an easy way out. Not only is this a strange, unfair development for players who already unlocked the Handcannon and the Gun Fanatic achievement, but it also feels generally uncharacteristic of the Resident Evil franchise, which hardly ever grants its characters - let alone, its players - a breather.
Source: IGN/YouTube, Resident Evil Wiki, Steam
