Resident Evil 4 Remake ‘Chapter 0’ Released to Bring Back Cut Content

Capcom’s Resident Evil 4 remake took a fairly ambitious approach to updating this classic. The game reworked several sequences, toned down the original’s escort mission woes, and added the ability to parry a chainsaw, which was quite neat. One notable change was that Ashley’s playable sequences were far more in-depth and compelling, culminating in a nightmarish encounter with armored monsters in a crypt.

It seems the remake was originally supposed to have even more Ashley-specific segments. Data miners found evidence of a scrapped prologue chapter which follows Ashley as she flees from her pursuers the night before Leon arrives in the village. While Capcom never completed the sequence, a modder combined the leftover pieces of this "Chapter 0" with existing in-game assets to create a playable version available on NexusMods.

In the mod, Ashley uses her phone as a flashlight while navigating the village at night. After witnessing the cultists murder an outsider, she also sees Luis being captured. The modder provides a detailed breakdown of what was restored, recreated, and added from the game files. Essentially, most of the animations, camera angles, and unique features, like Ashley’s phone flashlight, were from the game’s files. Everything else was stitched together from existing assets. The mod seamlessly integrates the prologue to play after the game’s opening cutscene and before Chapter 1.

While we can only speculate on why Capcom cut the prologue chapter from the Resident Evil 4 remake, it’s possible that they felt this sequence over-explained elements that are implied or alluded to throughout the game; we already know that both Luis and Ashley end up captured, after all. This sequence also arguably takes away from the ominous slow build in the game’s opening minutes as Leon encounters the Ganados for the first time. Still, even if it makes sense why "Chapter 0" ended up on the cutting room floor, the mod is neat because we don’t get to witness many deleted scenes in video games. Between the game industry’s notorious secrecy and fundamental differences in how games and movies are made, it’s rare to get this kind of look at what could have been.