A previously unseen level of Resident Evil 4 has recently been discovered, restored, and shared in video form. This missing level, referred to as “Chapter 0,” was designed as a short prologue featuring Ashley as the main character. It was ultimately removed by Capcom before the final release of the game.
According to reports, this chapter was intended to show Ashley’s arrival in the village that marks the beginning of Resident Evil 4. It provided a fresh perspective on the story’s early events, seen through the eyes of the game’s co-protagonist. Although this section was cut, traces of it remained in the game’s code, which allowed fans to partially rebuild the lost content.
The recovered video shows parts of the deleted opening scene. In it, Ashley moves through the surrounding woods before attempting to flee from the infected villagers known as the Ganados.
This prologue was meant to be largely narrative-driven, focusing on dialogue and cinematic scenes rather than combat. Its purpose was to introduce the setting and key story elements before Leon S. Kennedy entered the scene.
Interestingly, a glimpse of this removed chapter can actually be spotted in the second official trailer for Resident Evil 4. That trailer includes a short clip of Ashley moving through a forest — a scene that never appeared in the final version of the game.
Capcom never clearly said why Chapter 0 was removed. However it is widely believed that the development team wanted to make the game move faster and keep the story focused on Leon.
Thanks to these findings, players can now imagine how Resident Evil 4 might have started differently — with Ashley stepping into the horror first, before Leon’s arrival.
