The best guns in Resident Evil 4 Remake

The best guns in the Resident Evil 4 Remake comprise a mixture of shotguns that can blast villagers in half, powerful submachine guns that shoot through multiple targets, and a secret automatic rifle that melts just about anything you unload it into. While it's hard to beat classics like the Red9 handgun or the Broken Butterfly magnum, there are plenty of new weapons to try out, too.

Though not a gun, my personal favourite weapon might be the Primal Knife—a blade you can upgrade to be indestructible for endless neck stabbing and killing pesky parasites before they burst. If you're looking for powerful guns, this secret weapons guide might help. Otherwise, here are our favourite guns—and knife—in the Resident Evil 4 Remake. 

Red9

The default pistol in Resident Evil 4 remake is fine and all, but sometimes you just need a gun that hits your enemies like a truck. Red9 is the boy, a pistol that boasts incredible stopping power, has the kickback to match, and eventually upgrades to a total hand cannon. The weapon's main downside is that recoil, but this can be smoothed-out by trading Spinels for the Red9 stock, and the long-ish reloading animation can be shortened by the merchant.

What really matters about Red9 though is the final upgrade, which takes the damage of this gun into the stratosphere. Handgun ammo is plentiful in Resident Evil 4 remake, and the easiest thing to craft, so by focusing on Red9 you'll end up with a pistol that can down even the biggest monsters (I beat the last boss on hardcore using Red9), and is an absolute game-changer in pressured crowd scenarios: Invest in it, and this thing will pop heads for fun and stagger anything. I'm biased but, for me, a fully upgraded Red9 is the single wisest investment in the entire game. Also note: you can get the Red9 for free from the shipwreck in the centre of the lake once you get the boat.

Bolt Thrower  

While the Bolt Thrower peppers enemies with projectiles that you can then pick up from their corpses to use again, it really comes into its own as a mine launcher. Both bolts and mines are relatively cheap to craft, using up those spare kitchen knives that are just kicking about in your inventory. The return on this investment is an easy source of big damage: you simply whack a mine onto a bolt and stick it where you want. It's hard to overstate how satisfying it is to successfully plant an explosive bolt in the neck joint of a parasite-infested suit of armour, or onto the face of a chainsaw guy. These explosive bolts also act as proximity mines if you want to slow down advancing enemies while solving puzzles or to protect Ashley.

Riot Gun

Now we're cooking with charcoal. The riot gun has a slightly smaller spread than other shotguns, but makes up for this with greater stopping power over a distance and… well, look, it's all about the stopping power. What you want from a shotgun is a weapon that absolutely, positively ensures no motherfucker is left standing.

This is what the riot gun specialises in. There are shotguns that arguably have better handling, and a wider area-of-effect, but for me a shotgun is always a fallback weapon: The thing you pull out when everything gets a bit overwhelming. Focus on upgrading the riot gun's power and reload times, and you have a weapon that will let you blow a path through groups of enemies, killing most of them on the way, and make space for you to pull out your other gear. Think of the riot gun as your lifesaver weapon, and it will excel in the role.

CQBR Assault Rifle  

Take a regular old sniper rifle, make it fully automatic, and you've essentially got the CQBR Assault Rifle. While it can still fire at range, the recoil makes it pretty hard to control, so you're better off using it as a last resort—there are few enemies in the game that can survive having multiple rifle rounds rapidly shot into them. The CQBR might eat through all your rifle ammo in a couple of seconds, but in sheer damage terms it outstrips most other guns in the game, perfect for when you're backed into a corner and need to quickly melt a dangerous enemy. Best of all? It's free! In chapter ten head into the Library and open the Square Lock Box there to grab it. 

Broken Butterfly

The broken butterfly is a victim of Resident Evil 4 remake's increased focus on the reticule waver: The pinpoint accuracy it had in the original now depends on you having the time to stay still and carefully line-up a shot. So it's a little finicky. But the upside of the broken butterfly is that it will absolutely demolish anything it hits, and the damage output of this thing (even without upgrades) will take down almost anything outside of mid-bosses in one shot. I upgraded the damage a few times but, given the relative scarcity of ammo, consider the other upgrade paths more of a rich man's luxury than essential.

The other thing about this gun is you can acquire it for a relatively low price from the merchant, which comes with the recipe for crafting magnum ammo, and I suppose I'd call it a boss weapon. Just one full clip is an insurance policy for those moments where everything starts going pear-shaped and you hear a chainsaw start to rev. It's not my go-to gun, that would be Red9, but I always carry the broken butterfly around for when things get really hairy: And it always delivers.

LE 5 

Another of the secret weapons, the LE 5 is a very special TMP that can penetrate shields and enemies the same way the Punisher handgun does. In fact, if you grab its exclusive upgrade, it can penetrate through up to five enemies the same way a rifle can—pretty strong for a gun with a hefty magazine. You can find the LE 5 for free during the regenerator section on the island, in a locked room off to the side of the Freezer. Solve the circuit door puzzle to get inside.

Rocket Launcher 

For those less familiar with Resident Evil, you might not know that the RPG is a boss killer, i.e, it will one-shot any boss in the game, or at least push them into the second phase of their fight. Many might frown at skipping boss battles, but I think it's gutsy to purchase an incredibly expensive weapon that you could potentially miss with. If you plan on buying lots of RPGs from the merchant, I'd recommend trying to get the Leon w/Rocket Launcher charm, which reduces their cost by a massive 20%. When you get into new game+, you can buy the Infinite Rocket Launcher for 2,000,000 ptas, and the good news is that 20% price reduction applies to this, too. 

Primal Knife

Though it isn't a gun, your knife is the most important weapon in the Resident Evil 4 Remake. It may not be particularly flashy, but it helps you escape deadly grabs, stab parasites on the floor before they sprout from enemy necks, and even parry regular attacks so you can respond with a kick. The only drawback the knife really has is that it can break, meaning you need to repair it at a Merchant. So what if I told you there's an unbreakable knife in the game? If you shoot all of the Clockwork Castellans on your first playthrough, you can unlock the Primal Knife, which has an exclusive upgrade meaning it never loses condition. If you were ever to attempt a knife-only playthrough, this would be the way to do it.