Chapter 3 - The Lake - Resident Evil 4 Guide - IGN (2024)

Welcome to IGN's guide for Resident Evil 4 Remake. This page contains information on the third chapter in the game, including how to get to the church and the lake, where to find the fuel, and how to defeat the boss of the lake.

Note that this guide for the Remake differs from the original Resident Evil 4 Walkthrough in many ways, as Chapter 3 is comparable in length to that of Chapter 1: Part 3, though certain encounters, enemies, and story elements have changed.

• Need Help With A Section?
• Reaching the Church
• Find the Boat Fuel
• Boss Fight on the Lake

Surviving your brush with death a second time, Leon will update his handler on the situation, but at least you now have a new type of key in your possession. Hunnigan will also send you a new File - Luis Serra Report.

Reach the Town Hall

Loot anything you might have missed in the house in the previous chapter (you’ll have to come back for the hole in the ceiling), and head outside. Before moving off through the locked gate, check around the back of the house once more.

Among all the bear traps here, you’ll find a wolf in distress. It’s in your interest to play the good guy and free the wolf, so call it banking good karma for the future.

Use the Insignia Key on the strange gate, and it will lead you back down towards the Village Square. There’s a small hut in the long cave you’ll traverse that holds a small crate, but other than that the trip back will be uneventful.

As you re-enter the Village Square from the south gate, you’ll find the place still deserted and eerily quiet, and a few objects have been moved around since you were here last. Most notably, a wagon now blocks easy access to the southeast corner, and the scaffolding around the largest home has collapsed on one side blocking a path around.

With the Insignia Key, you can now head into the creepy Town Hall everyone entered at the end of the first battle, but someone isn’t going to make things easy for you.

A trap will spring as you draw close, collapsing the tower next the door and stopping you from heading in. To make matters worse, the collapse will summon new enemies to literally hound you - the Colmillos.

These infested canines will dart back and forth before charging ahead to lunge at you, and can pin you to the ground and try to maul you. Try to fire off some shots at a distance if possible, but if you see them charge, switch to your shotgun to hit them right as they jump.

You should also be wary of bear traps that have been placed in the alleys between the buildings - they seem to only sometimes pin down the Colmillos, but they can easily leave you vulnerable if you don’t watch your footing.

After clearing out the group of infested wolves, you can also enter the large house if you wish, but be warned: a Villager is waiting to ambush you, and the stairs are rigged to explode if you draw close. Since you don’t need to go back that way, you can instead focus on an alternate route to the Town Hall.

One route is through the house on the south side, but there’s another tripmine in here as well you’ll need to carefully deactivate and a Villager waiting behind the second door. Another Villager waits outside the window you’ll need to jump through to reach the Town Hall door, as well as one more further past it.

Another more sneaky route is to move south between the open barn and building to find a sewer entrance has now been uncovered. While creepy, there’s actually no danger down here, but there are several barrels to break.

The sewer leads to another entrance to the side of the Town Hall, and as long as you are crouched, you can usually sneak up on the Villagers and silence them one by one.

The creepy Town Hall is full of odd things, as a chilling mist coats the floors - but luckily there’s no one here to ambush you, the sermon must have ended awhile back. Instead, help yourself to the multitude of crates, cabinets, and drawers.

Just be warned, the first crate on the left usually has a Viper hiding inside! It will strike out at you after a moment, so quickly knife it and collect it. They can be used as a healing item or sold, but the Merchant has use for it, so you should hang onto it for now.

Besides the incredibly huge and disturbing skull, be sure to inspect both sides of the table for a File - Illuminados 4:9, and a case with a First Aid Spray, plus a drawer by the door leading out.

The Merchant is waiting for your just outside, and there’s a ton of barrels to break that he won’t mind you taking a crack at. You can also find a File - Merchant Tip: The Prudent Choice on a table, and a Request - Viper Hunter, that will reward you for selling Vipers like the one you found in that crate, so be sure to sell this one.

The Merchant has a few new wares to sell this Chapter, as well as the usual tune up and repair service. If you held off on buying the Bolt Thrower, it will now be sold at a discount price, and might be worth picking up for this chapter and swapping the rifle out for, as there are more areas ahead with limited visibility.

The new and major items now sold in this chapter include:

As you leave down the path, be sure to look up above to spot a nest with some yellow ribbons in it, and shoot it down for some items.

Finally, you’ll arrive at the church you’ve been seeking. The front area is littered with gravestones, and a Villager can be found digging a grave. You can help him into an early one by sneaking up behind him.

There’s another big tree to the left of the dirt path with a nest you can shoot to reveal a Chicken Egg, but other than that, the place is fairly empty.

Be sure to also check behind you for a small shack with another enemy waiting inside, but if he’s facing away from the door you can sidle up next to him to slit his throat as well, then loot the Handgun Ammo and drawer here.

Shoot the crow perched over the gate to the Church for an item, and you’ll find your path to the entrance blocked by yet another strange device.

So close! You’ll need to find another way in, so start exploring around the right side.

Next to the treasure, be sure to loot the Resources (L), as well as a request from the Merchant to destroy two specific gravestones you may as well complete while the place is deserted. There’s also a nearby ladder leading up to a Flash Grenade, but unfortunately the window inside is just too high up.

If you make a quick detour back into the cemetery, look around for two gravestones sporting the "V" icon side by side, and stab them with your knife to complete the Merchant's request.

Back around the church, enter the side door into the church to find a wealth of much needed intel from the File - Lakeside Map, as well as the File - Photo of Ashley on the small table. Be sure to save at the Typewriter and then head down the trapdoor to come out on the other side of the gate near the back of the church.

Get to the Lake

The next section will take you along a dangerous cliffside path — dangerous for a few regions. The first enemy to spot you on a roof is armed with molotov co*cktails, and will waste no time trying to light you on fire. This becomes even more dangerous with the explosive barrels nearby, so keep back behind cover and try to shoot the bottle in his hand to give him a surprise.

More Villagers will be coming to investigate soon. If you can, try to pin them down until 2 or more advance to the explosive barrel, and let it rip. The Bolt Thrower can help pin them in place - plus you can collect your ammo from them after they die, just don’t miss and fire off somewhere you can’t get the ammo back.

When you clear the first wave, duck into the nearby shack to open a drawer for loot, and be ready to knife a Viper in the other crate.

Since the lower path is blocked after a crate, you’ll need to climb up to the roof to advance, but another molotov thrower is further up, so be warned. More enemies will also try to ambush you from behind, but you can try to press through the enemy ahead and drop down the other side, where an explosive barrel will let you ambush the enemies coming after you.

Note that as you drop down by the explosive barrel, there’s another silver censer treasure container dangling off a wooden beam over the side. Be sure to shoot it now so that you can reach it later when you make it down to the lake.

Making your way past this area will lead to a quarry, but beware of a tripwire on the left as you enter the area (and a chest along the dead end path).

As you enter a large open area, there’s a very concerning giant weapon by a crate, and a Request - Destroy the Blue Medallions 2, which include medallions found here and further up. You can get more details on their locations using the link above, or see the image below:

Note: The large open quarry area is littered with tons of crows, and shooting one will get you some loot, but there’s a way to get even more. Slowly enter the open area, and toss either a grenade or flash grenade into the center where the most crows are gathered, and the resulting blast should kill them all, resulting in a ton of random loot.

However, you’ll also awaken two Comillos napping in the quarry, so be prepared to blast them with a shotgun if they lunge, or hit them from a distance when they start to circle around.

Besides a crate in one corner, and a very ominous breathing noise coming from beyond a large sealed door, there’s not much else here, so continue on through the open gate (and don’t forget the blue medallion high up past the gate).

At the end of a canyon is another wayshrine you can’t access yet, and some barrels (plus another behind some wooden scaffolding if you double back).

The room beyond leads to a special place - the Merchant’s Hideout.

The Merchant’s Headquarters is an impressive set up, and a place you can return to more than once when exploring the Village. While he doesn’t have anything new to sell just yet, there’s plenty to see, and worth coming back to in subsequent chapters. In addition to offering his usual services, you can also take a surprisingly ornate elevator lift up to a Shooting Range.

This place allows you to take on three different challenges using the pistol and rifle, and you can earn silver and gold tokens from reaching certain scores. The tokens can be inserted into a machine at the exit to earn random Charms, which will offer different bonuses when equipped to your Attache Case at the Typewriter. Give it a shot! Be sure to also pick up the File - Target Practice Rules.

• Looking to get the best scores? See our Shooting Range Guide!

While here, you should also grab the File - Merchant Tip: Get Cash Back, as well as the chest opposite the Merchant that holds a mysterious Hexagon Piece A. There’s also a lower dock area with some crates and a locked drawer.

When you’re ready to move on, go through the large wooden door up the short stairs opposite the Merchant, which leads onto a large plateau overlooking the foreboding lake. Take out your binoculars and check what’s going on in the lone boat to see what happens when they dispose of the body of one of your police escorts. Surely this new threat won’t mind you taking a trip across the lake…

Be sure to also look around with the binoculars to highlight the distant spooky castle, and a large open boathouse to the right where you’ll need to get to.

Moving down to where a boat has been docked, take the upper wooden walkways around to a crate next to a File - When Low on Boat Fuel, which mentions a nearby fish farm. And just your luck, trying to interact with the boat down at the dock reveals its out of fuel.

Be sure to turn back from the boat to spot another blue medallion under the high wooden docks, then check the shack for more crates, barrels, and two cupboards with items.

There’s another shack by the ladder up, as well as a locked treasure that requires several Hexagonal Pieces - of which you should already have one, so place it in, then climb up after looting the second shack for more crates, a drawer with a Kitchen Knife and a Yellow Herb.

• See the Fish Farm Map above for Item locations, traps, breakable barrels, Treasures, and more!

Heading through the tunnel will bring you to a large open area with a limited vantage point. There’s lots of twisting pathways below, with most Villagers unfortunately hiding out of sight so you won’t be able to snipe from a place of comfort. You’ll need to make your way to the far side, and use the upper platforms to the left to make the return trip.

However, as you step out to the right, the walkway will give way, trapping you in the shallows of the farm with no way out. To make matters worse, a bull-headed Brute will come stalking forward into the waters not far away from you, but if you’re cautious you can turn things around.

Crouch down behind the wooden barrier in front of you and pan the camera to watch the Brute wade into the water.

He’ll move a bit in but stop short of spotting you, and the moment he turns, dart up behind him and use your knife to stab him in the back. It will use a lot more durability than knifing a villager, but if you’ve upgraded your Combat Knife’s durability the impacts won’t be too bad - plus it’s an instant kill on an otherwise tough foe!

If he spots you before you can silence him, be ready to evade his giant swings, crouching to evade his spinning sweeps and trying to get distance on him. More Villagers will come to assist, and you can sometime use his sweeps to do your work for you - but a well-placed grenade can also help a ton!

As the name of this area implies, the shallows all around this area have Black Bass swimming about. You can knife these creatures and add them to your inventory for a quick bite - which can help out if you’re running low on green herbs or sprays. Vipers will also swim across the water and around the wooden platforms, which are also a good source of health - just be sure to save one to sell back to the Merchant to complete his request.

Be wary when engaging the first group of Villagers after leaving the shallows - there’s a gap under the boardwalk where more Villagers can duck under to flank you from behind if you aren’t paying attention, so defend yourself by moving left across the walkway towards a ladder to minimize ambushes until the first group is gone.

Once things have quieted down for a moment, inspect the shack for a Grenade and barrels both inside and out - plus one of the three Blue Medallions in this area.

As you move right back down into more shallows, look up above on a high ledge for a Villager with a crossbow shooting flaming bolts. You can hit him back with some bolts of your own or well placed pistol shots by giving your aim a moment to steady.

There’s a small ramp to the left going up to a breakable barrel, but the main area to worry about is back to the north where another stretch of wooden walkways are. You can try to sneak around in the shallows to the right, but there are enemies patrolling both in the water and up on the platform.

There’s also a large nest in the tree by the second boardwalk that may have a random useful item if you shoot it down.

It’s worth noting that both the right and left paths on the walkway have tripmines on them, with the one on the right being one you can duck under after you bait some enemies into following you. The other path has one too low to the ground, but it’s still possible to disarm it, then bait enemies close before running past them and shooting the mine itself to explode it even after being disarmed, or using your Bolt Thrower to pin their legs.

Expect more Villagers to come and reinforce back the way you came, so make sure to cover all your bases so you aren’t grabbed or attacked from behind until things get quiet once more. Be sure to loot all the barrels on this second walkway before proceeding on, and look to the right of the southern ramp to spot another blue medallion in a gap between wooden boards against the wall.

Carefully advance along the left path of the wooden walkway past the low tripmine and drop down into the last shallow water area.

Look for a small opening under the boardwalk to dip over to the other side where you can find a large chest holding Hexagon Piece B, and then turn around to spot the last Blue Medallion in this corner.

As you approach dry land, there’s a large stair leading back to a ladder, and an explosive barrel on your right (which you should use if any stragglers catch up to you, or use to ambush any eventual reinforcements on the trip back).

Before entering the building, shoot the nearby crow and look for a smaller shack to the south - it holds a drawer with another Small Key.

Break the lock to the main building and enter the generator room. Here you’ll find a crate, a Chicken Egg on the table, and the much needed Boat Fuel in the back corner.

As you exit, you can start heading up the ladder to find your way back across the high platform, but be ready for one Villager to come running up from behind, and more will appear searching the lower areas from right to left once you get up to the high platform. It’s up to you if you want to use that explosive barrel as a lure, or snipe while they are below.

Be sure to break the crate on the right as you climb up, and look for another tripmine past where the first crossbow toting villager was (if they didn’t explode it on accident). It’s still worth disarming, since you can move past it to drop down to a lower platform with a crate on it you can’t reach otherwise.

Back down at the shallows, head up to the first wooden walkway and move towards a ladder in the southeast corner - by this time most enemies should be dead, but if the music persists, be ready for any stragglers to find their way to you as you exit with your precious cargo. You may as well top off your health by killing any other vipers or fish you find, or even carry a few back to the Merchant for extra cash.

Speaking of which, you may as well make a quick pit-stop at the Merchant to get rewards from the two Requests you completed, and trade in those Spinel either for a Laser Sight for your handgun, or get the Punisher - which promises good stopping power with less recoil.

When you’re ready to move on, head back to the dock and use the Boat Fuel to get the boat into gear. You may also want to deposit the Hexagonal Piece B you found in the Fish Farm over at the stone altar, just so you don’t forget.

Caution! It goes without saying, but avoid goofing off and trying to shoot the various fish you can see from the dock. Disturb the water too much, and a monster from the deep will swallow you whole!

As Leon begins to cross the water, the motor will die unexpectedly, prompting the arrival of a great and terrifying watery monster - Del Lago.

An iconic battle on the water, this fight changes things up in a big way, as you won’t have access to your weapons or inventory - which means no healing! Instead, your health is measured by the durability of your boat. If it breaks apart, you’ll be swallowed whole!

What you do have is a limitless supply of harpoons, which you’ll need to aim swiftly and carefully to throw at the monster as he drags your boat around this way and that. It can take a second for the throwing range to fully extend, so be mindful of the distance as well as which way Del Lago is swerving so you can lean into the throw.

He’ll usually begin the fight by dragging you in large circles around the lake, veering left or right in attempt to drag the boat into floating debris or trees that will damage you. When you spot an incoming piece of debris, hold off on throwing to move your control stick left or right to swerve around the obstacle, and then get back to harpooning.

The good news is that you can still move the boat while holding down the button to ready your harpoon, so you don’t need to sacrifice one for the other, but you can’t steer during the throwing act itself, so instead keep it at the ready until things steady out.

At certain times, Del Lago will also dive down, and then lunge backward at you. The moment you feel him about to surface, swerve your boat to the side to avoid his lunge or you’ll take a lot of damage. It can be hard to judge the timing, so be on the defensive whenever he submerges.

Other times he’ll submerge for a longer period, and cut your boat some slack as Del Lago surfaces farther away to begin strafing you at distance. You can get a few harpoons off by aiming high, but be ready for what’s to come.

Leon will remark that the beast intends to swallow him whole, which will prompt the monster to charge at you head on. Ready your harpoon and try to aim for its mouth as soon as it opens - as a single direct hit will cause it to submerge and leave your boat alone.

In the classic version of the game, failing to do so would knock Leon overboard and start a tense QTE sequence to paddle back to the boat. Resident Evil 4 Remake will change things up a bit if you miss, as Del Lago will try to take a chomp out of the boat. You’ll have to mash the X button to stab his mouth a few times, or be killed instantly.

After dealing more damage, he’ll repeat the process of trying to submerge to keep you guessing, and this time will fake you out by strafing and then disappearing. When Leon ponders where he’s gone, spin your camera around and keep an eye on the water for the rippling of his arrival. You’ll have a lot less time to prepare the harpoon to fire into his open mouth, but again - one shot will stop him.

He’ll get more erratic after this, constantly diving back to send your ship zig-zagging, and attempt to obscure when he slides past debris you’ll still need to dodge wide of. Keep the harpoons coming, and eventually the beast will fall, sinking to the bottom of its watery grave.

Leon’s victory will be short lived, however, and the chapter will conclude.

• Continue to Chapter 4