Resident Evil 4 has a lengthy story compared to its predecessors and a ton of strange side quests to take on, but just how long is it? Here we’ll let you know exactly how many hours it took different members of the IGN team to finish the game, and what they prioritised doing with that time.
How Long is Resident Evil 4?
Our fastest player finished Resident Evil 4 in 12 hours on standard.Our “slowest” player spent 22 hours before credits rolled.
Everyone plays games differently, so read on for more details about how everyone played, how long it took to reach the credits, and how much extra time it took to fully explore all the maps. Once you’ve finished the game yourself, be sure to submit your times on How Long To Beat and see how your time compares!
Tristan Ogilvie – AU Video Producer and Reviewer
Since I was reviewing Resident Evil 4 IGN, I tried to be as thorough as possible; leaving no stone unturned or parasite-riddled villager un-murdered as I battled both the relentless hordes and my own ageing reflexes to complete this incredible and meaty campaign in a tick under 16 hours. However, my attempts to slow down and take my time were often thwarted as I was regularly caught up in the story’s constantly surging forward momentum, and by the end, I’d only managed to complete 61 out of the 101 in-game challenges and just 15 of the 19 merchant side quests, so there’s plenty of incentive for me to start over again on New Game+. Since Resident Evil 4’s campaign is one of the most exhilarating single-player rides I’ve enjoyed in a long time, I won’t be thinking twice about having another go around.
Jesse Gomez – UK Video Producer
I breezed through the Resident Evil 4 Remake at a steady pace, clocking in a time of just under 12 hours for my first play-through on standard. I focused a decent chunk of time cashing in the merchant’s side missions while blasting through the village and castle portions of the remake, but leaving a few behind to still be done on the Island section.
By the time I started my professional run, I had already fully upgraded my arsenal and had plenty of cash and treasures to spare. With an upgraded Red9 at my side, I demolished the game with a final time of 03:57:01, zero deaths and no conversations with everyone’s favourite travelling gun salesman.
Ronny Barrier – Gameplay Producer
I played the opening hours of Resident Evil 4 meticulously, wanting to comb through every disgusting puddle, and ensuring I never used a Herb until I could combine a green, red, and yellow. Once the story picked up steam, my pace quickened as well, and I wasn’t nearly as slow in the back half of the adventure. I clocked in a little under 17 hours, with around half of the merchant requests completed.
A few of the mid-to-late chapters are much shorter than the early ones, so it’s a bit hard to judge the progress you’ve made strictly by chapter number, but the village was still the longest section of the game for me, with the castle coming in at a close second, and the island the smallest of all. I’m looking forward to diving back in and trying to beat Jesse’s sub-four-hour time, even if it is a distant pipe dream.
Brian Altano – Supervising Producer & Host
The original Resident Evil 4 is easily my most played game of all time (I run through it at least twice a year on average) but I really wanted to take my time and savor my first adventure through the new remake because I’ll probably end up replaying it dozens of times eventually. On my first playthrough on standard difficulty (which took 22 hours) I tried to collect every treasure, do every merchant side quest, and complete as many of the in-game challenges as I could. I came up a bit short by the time the credits rolled, but that’s nothing I can’t clean up in new game plus. I also poured over every inch of the game, zooming in on picture frames on shelves, reading every found note and file, replaying the shooting range challenges for better scores and unlockables, and generally just taking it all in.
I can’t even imagine how much time I’ll spend playing Resident Evil 4 over and over again in the future, not to mention the countless hours I’ll likely dump into the upcoming Mercenaries mode.
Mark Medina – Senior Video Producer, Guides
Before I begin, I’d like to preface my section by stating, I’ve never played the original Resident Evil 4. I know, wild. I wouldn’t consider myself a stranger to the series, nor would I obviously say I’m a hardcore fan, but for some reason or another, I never got around to playing the one game in the entire series that seems almost universally loved. Well I’m glad to say I was able to break that unholy streak, because after spending 17 hours and 37 minutes with the remake on PS5, I can finally say I’ve finished Resident Evil 4!
My playthrough wasn’t anything spectacular. I played on standard, spent a good chunk of an evening perfecting my aim on the shooting gallery, and surprisingly didn’t get stuck on too many puzzles (save for a certain stained glass section that I spent way longer than I care to admit on). And while I tried to go off the beaten path as many times as I could, I wouldn’t say I was even close to finding all the collectibles that were scattered around the island. Still, I enjoyed my time with Leon and Ashley quite a bit, enough that even though I’ve rolled credits, Im compelled to jump in to see how fast I can beat it now that I’ve watched all the cutscenes and solved the main story puzzles. And of course, like others, I can’t wait to try out Mercenaries for the first time when it launches!
Dale Driver, UK Video Lead
After I rolled credits in Resident Evil 4 on standard difficulty, I’d managed to sink 15 hours into the Las Plagas nightmare. I spent a good portion of my time exploring for treasures and taking in the world, but didn’t spend too much time perfecting my aim in the shooting galleries. I did manage to complete 14 of the 19 available merchant requests though. A few of my missed side quests required some backtracking, so I decided to push forward with the main story on my first playthrough, but I imagine I could have easily put in another couple of hours mopping up everything the game has to offer.
If you want to see how Resident Evil 4 stacks up in length to the previous games in the series, check out our complete Playlist of Resident Evil games. You can sort it by HLTB playtime, rating, and release date. And you can of course make your own lists and rankings, too.
About Post Author
