In the Resident Evil 4 remake, the Sprinter is a trophy or achievement given to players who speedrun the game in under 8 hours. Like the Minimalist, the Sprinter is a silver trophy on PlayStation and a 30-Gamescore achievement on Xbox.
Despite its basic demand, the Sprinter achievement is complicated to unlock. It requires players to spend less than 30 minutes on each of the 16 chapters, which is unrealistic in the first few runs. But with the following tips, almost any RE4 player can sprint through the campaign and get the Sprinter trophy quickly.
Tips & Tricks for Getting the Sprinter Achievement
The ground rules for getting the Sprinter achievement include playing the game in the Assisted mode and having at least one gun with unlimited ammo. But there are more items, accessories, and speedrun tricks that players could benefit from.
Here’s a list of tips for beating the Resident Evil 4 remake in under 8 hours.
Skip Unnecessary Enemies and Puzzles
The RE4 remake has multiple sections that can be skipped. Villagers ambush in the first chapter, the grandfather clock in Ashley’s quest line, and the clogged cannon at the Castle Gate, just to name a few. Skip these parts to save time and beat the game faster.
The following are the most important skippable sections:
- The first village fight. Instead of fighting off the Granados, players should shoot the clock tower to the church’s right. This will trigger a cutscene and skip the mission.
- The cannon in the Castle. While going up the first staircase in the Castle, shoot the weight holding down the cannon to release it without backtracking.
- The Sun and Moon lever puzzle. In Chapter 8, instead of manually solving the puzzle, throw a grenade at the levers behind the gates to push or pull them open.
- The Goat head in Chapter 9. While running toward the statue, shoot a bunch of rockets toward the lever in front. (The goal is to kill the Zealot leader before it spawns.)
- Ashley’s Grandfather Clock puzzle. Skip looking for clues, and set the clocks to 11:04 in the Assisted, Standard, and Hardcore modes and to 7:00 in the Professional.
Because the RE4 remake puzzles are not RNG-based, a good idea would be to memorize or write down the solutions beforehand.
Unlock the Armor for Ashley
Get the armor apparel for Ashley by achieving an A rank in the Hardcore mode. This costume protects Ashley against all attacks, allowing the player to leave her behind and focus on beating the chapters faster.
Wear the Chicken Hat Apparel
Beating the Leon S+ Kennedy challenge unlocks the Chicken Hat, significantly reducing the player’s received damage. Wear this hat during the Sprinter run to survive more attacks, wasting less time on healing.
Turn on the ‘Snap & Follow’ Aim Assist
In the Settings menu, open the Controls tab, and change the Aim Assist Type to “Snap and Follow.” With this option, Leon automatically aims at the enemies and follows them around, missing no critical shots.
Don’t Talk to the Merchant
Skipping shopping has two benefits: first, it helps beat the game faster, which is crucial for getting the Sprinter; second, it unlocks a secondary achievement called the Silent Stranger.
Buy the Infinite Rocket Launcher
This tip may not be feasible for beginner RE4 players. But the rocket launcher with unlimited ammo is ideal for a speedrun. It one-shots the bosses and unlocks many locked areas without solving the puzzles. The only bummer is its price. Players must pay a hefty 2,000,000 Ptas for the infinite Rocket Launcher in the NG+. Good thing we have a guide on how to farm money in RE4.
The Resident Evil 4 remake is available now for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.
