How to stealth kill in Resident Evil 4

Now that’s a knife

The knife system has been completely revamped in Resident Evil 4, which…pardon this phrase…is a double-edged sword. You do need to navigate a brand spanking new durability mechanic, but you can also do cool things like parry chainsaws and stealth kill. Let’s dig into the latter category.

To initiate a stealth kill in Resident Evil 4 remake, sneak up on an enemy with a repaired knife

To toggle stealth mode, press the Circle (B) button to crouch and sneak around. Approach an enemy from behind until you’re within melee range, and press the R2 (RT) button prompt: it’s that simple.

Make sure you look for the prompt before you try and trigger a stealth kill, lest you swipe at them instead and alert any nearby enemies. Typically on “regular” enemies (like the one above), stealth kills are one-shot kills.

If your knife is broken, it’ll show a different icon when highlighting an unaware enemy

Unfortunately, you can’t just stealth kill your way through Resident Evil 4 remake indefinitely. You do need to be aware of the durability system, which can create situations where stealth kills can’t be used (the icon will change, like in the above screenshot).

To check the durability of your knife, you can see its meter in myriad ways: including on the stealth kill prompt itself, or in the bottom right of the UI. The higher the meter, the more durability you have left. Using skills like parrying, stealth kills, or even knife swipes will deplete your durability.

To repair your knife, you’ll need to head to The Merchant and pay some cold hard cash (the default knife takes 4000 Pesetas to repair). The Merchant can be found near the start of the game, roughly 15-30 minutes in (depending on your pacing).