Resident Evil 4 players have only just realised you can parry the chainsaw instakill

Resident Evil 4 players have only just realised that you can parry the chainsaw instakill after all these years. What?!

Widely considered to be one of the best games of all-time, I am one of those that own multiple copies of the original Resident Evil 4 on just about every format possible, other than that mobile version. Yes, OG RE4 was even released on mobile, initially launching for Nokia’s N-Gage in 2005.

Yet, after finishing the original Resident Evil 4 countless times on multiple formats since its inception in 2005 for the Nintendo GameCube, I had absolutely no idea that you could parry chainsaw attacks. I’m not alone in this, right?

In an article published by GamesRadar, YouTuber, Yung shared a brief 7-second clip of Leon S. Kennedy parrying the dreaded chainsaw attack from Dr Salvador in the village. If like me, as soon as you hear that chainsaw engine revving, you instantly load up shotgun shells and if luck would have it, you will get ready to spam those grenades.

However, despite being very loud and hard to miss, sometimes Dr Salvador can sneak his way up to an unsuspecting Leon. In the event of this likely occurrence, Leon would be decapitated in a brutal instakill by Dr Salavador or even the Bella Sisters (not WWE) later in the game.

While the exact science hasn't been confirmed on how you can parry chainsaw attacks, firstly, it is believed that it only works on the remastered RE4 for PC, VR, Xbox 360 or Nintendo Switch. Secondly, it is said that Leon must have full health to parry the chainsaw attack.

It’s also unclear if you have to mash any buttons to perform the parry. However, if all the above criteria are met, you might stand a very low chance of surviving a close-encounter chainsaw attack. If fate is in your favour, you should then take that opportunity to run away, because I doubt you’ll be fortunate enough to survive a second attack.

So, why does this parry exist? Well, some Twitter users believe that the parry is a scrapped mechanic that might have existed in a beta version of the original game. However, this artefact has somehow survived in certain ports of OG RE4.

“I do remember from interviews back then, that in development, it wasn't a one-hit kill if you had full hp,” recalls mexrage. “I guess instead of removing it, they just flag it in a way you always get one shotted and the bug has something to do with the flag?”

I do remember from interviews back then, that in development, it wasn't a one hit kill if you had full hp, i guess instead of removing it, they just flag it in a way you always get one shotted and the bug have something to do with the flag?

— mexrage (@mex_rage) February 20, 2023

“This is because in the beta he was gonna be able to do that from what I recall *at least it looked like it* search for it, it should be around youtube somewhere,” adds EvilLord.

This is because in the beta he was gonna be able to do that from what i recall *at least it looked like it* search for it it should be around youtube somewhere xd

— EvilLord_🏳️‍🌈 (@EvilLord_23) February 20, 2023

What’s more, Twitter user and modder linkthehyIian went a little deeper into this mystery parry mechanic and discovered that it does in fact exist in the game. 18 years later, we’re still learning something new about this beloved Resident Evil classic.

I just tested it on PC via the Invincibility tweak and it's real.

It's actually in the game. Leon just shoves Dr. Salvador right off of him after almost being decapitated.

Holy fucking shit dude. pic.twitter.com/9m1TzOdGAZ

— link (@linkthehyIian) February 19, 2023

Interestingly, the parry mechanic is making its way into the upcoming Resident Evil 4 remake. So despite remaining somewhat of a mystery, it seems this is a mechanic that Capcom has always kept close to its chest after all these years.

The Resident Evil 4 remake will be released on 24th March 2023 for PC, PlayStation and Xbox Series X|S.