Early on in Resident Evil 4, Leon encounters a large lake. It’s a bit creepy but otherwise seems harmless. And according to many players online, you should actually walk onto the pier and start shooting the lake for a fun, hidden reward. However, this is actually a dirty—and also very funny—trick that RE4 vets are playing on new players who don’t know better.
Released on March 23, Capcom’s new remake of the classic 2005 survival horror game, Resident Evil 4, is fantastic. Fans love it, and it’s earning nearly 100% positive user reviews on Steam. Personally, I think it might be better than the original game, and I’m excited to replay it for years to come thanks in large part to how careful Capcom was in keeping so many classic details from the original. One case in point is a nasty little secret hidden under the lake for curious gunslingers, and it’s this secret that some on TikTok and Steam are lying about in order to screw with unsuspecting players.
What really happens is simple: If you shoot the lake a few times early on in Chapter 3, a large monster will erupt from the water and kill Leon in one bite. This is the boss you’ll face later on in the chapter, and the surprise attack is a secret that existed in the original game. (You even got a trophy/achievement in the HD re-releases for doing it.) It’s a fun moment for everyone, except for Leon who gets fucking killed.
However, you might be tricked into thinking something else will happen if you peruse the Steam reviews for Resident Evil 4 remake. You’ll quickly spot people suggesting that a secret gift awaits players who shoot the lake. Some sneak the suggestion into an otherwise normal and honest review. Others are more blatantly just trying to trick people into shooting the water, like one review that straight up says: “Shoot the lake for extra items.” Worse, at least for newcomers, is that many people are playing along with these pranksters, telling Steam that these are “Helpful” reviews or posting additional reviews that praise folks for sharing this useful bit of secret knowledge with others.
On TikTok you can find videos of people telling similar lies. One such video, uploaded by Gakidx on March 25, suggests you can unlock a secret outfit for Leon if you shoot the water. The video even shows the player shooting the lake, but conveniently cuts away before anything happens. It’s racked up over 910k views, and even tricked one of our own staffers, who hadn’t played RE4 before, into thinking the lake secret we were all hinting about was good, rather than death at the maws of a giant lizard.
Let me be clear: I love all of this so much. There’s something very fun about experienced players trolling newcomers via fake reviews and hoax videos. It reminds me of the made-up stories people would spread about getting Lara Croft naked in Tomb Raider, or of finding secret Pokémon. It almost makes me wish the RE4 remake had in-world messages left by other players, like Dark Souls. I imagine if it did, a lot of people would suggest you “shoot the lake.”