Just like the original game that was first released in 2005, theResident Evil 4remake is more action-oriented than its predecessors. As such, Leon Kennedy moves much faster and makes use of vehicles like a jetski and a minecart to complete his mission of rescuing Ashley from the Los Iluminados. But one method of transportation in theResident Evil 4remake is clunkier than the others.
Toward the end of Chapter 3, Leon finds himself having to cross a wide lake to get to a key that leads toAshley’s prison. Thankfully, he also finds an unfuelled boat on a nearby pier. But once players gas up and get the boat going, they find that Leon’s nautical expertise isn’t quite up to par with the rest of his skill set.
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An On-Rails Resident Evil 4 Boss Fight
Chapter 3 culminates withResident Evil 4’s first boss fight. Del Lago (meaning “From The Lake” in Spanish) isa Plaga-infected salamanderthat dwells in the Lake in Valdelobos. The villagers that live near the lake revere the amphibian by offering it sacrifices of food (i.e. the corpse of one of the police escorts of Leon) and avoiding its territory as much as possible.
When Leon enters Del Lago’s lake, his boat is forcibly connected to the giant animal (a giant hook tied to a rope got stuck into the beast inthe originalResident Evil 4). In order to free himself from the monster and safely cross the lake, he must defeat Del Lago by throwing harpoons at its body. The boss fight itself is relatively simple. Players are given an infinite number of harpoons to toss at Del Lago so ammunition isn’t an issue. The fact that they are being pulled along by Del Lago also makes things much easier, as they don’t have to propel the boat in a specific direction. They do have to move the boat from side to side to avoid debris like floating logs as well as some of Del Lago’s attacks, but these can easily be dodged by steering the boat to the appropriate side.
Open Exploration Becomes A Pain On Resident Evil 4’s Boat
While controlling the boatduring the Del Lago boss fightisn’t so bad, exploring the many locations nearby and in the lake is a different story. This is the only section in theResident Evil 4remake where players can freely explore a large environment using a boat to get to optional weapons, treasures, and items before collecting the 2 stone heads required to unlock the Church and progress the story. Driving the boat feels very similar to how it was in the original game, and not in a good way.
The boat can only truly move forward or backward. Moving forward is much faster sinceLeon has to give the boat gaswhile moving backward causes the boat to slowly float in the assigned direction. Players also cannot turn the boat left or right without pressing forward or backward. This makes performing tight turns very difficult in a system that requires them, as players often overshoot things like floating Peseta barrels and piers. The boat itself is slow to react to players' inputs. This could have been done to make its movements more realistic, but in truth, it just makes controlling it more cumbersome.
The camera is just as responsible for the poor quality of the boat segment, as it can only be moved a short way from the bow of the boat. This is reminiscent of the originalResident Evil 4’s camera, which allows players only a smidgen of peripheral vision before locking back to Leon’s front. When taken as a whole, these elements make driving the boat in theResident Evil 4remake one of the worst segments of the game. Thankfully, there is no combat during this open section of the game; making it easier for players to focus on steering the boat around tight corners and caves. It’s a good thingthe Los Iluminadosare based on land and not in an underwater prison, because Leon would not be able to complete his mission otherwise.
TheResident Evil 4remake was released on May 16, 2025, and is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, and Xbox One.
