How to survive the Resident Evil Village attack at the start

Resident Evil 8 Village
(Image credit: Capcom)

The big Lycan attack at the start of Resident Evil Village is a real trial by fire. A huge werewolf battle right at the beginning that can seem impossible to beat. It's an overwhelming assault given the time you've spent in the game, or the amount of combat practice you've had. If you're struggling to survive you might be wondering how to get through this first part of the game and we don't blame you. There too many enemies, they keep coming and there's no way out. 

It doesn't help that the overall objective isn't clear - there's no location to head for, or thing to achieve other than trying not to die. Your next steps aren't clear at all. However, there is special trick to surviving the attack in Resident Evil Village, which we're about to explain. 

How to survive the attack in Resident Evil Village

Resident Evil 8 Village

(Image credit: Capcom)

The real trick to surviving the attack in Resident Evil Village is to understand that you're not meant to take out all the werewolves. It's a timed moment with a predefined countdown - when the clock is up a bell will ring and trigger a cut scene ending it all. Whatever you try to do, at a certain time you'll be grabbed and thrown to a specific area to watch all the creatures react to the bell and wander off. 

So, you'll have just as much success running away as you will trying to fight. Keep moving in loops to avoid getting hemmed in and you'll stand a much better chance. play with: 

resident evil village survive the attack

(Image credit: Capcom)

1. Grab the shotgun, and use the house

resident evil village survive the attack

(Image credit: Capcom)

Head into the house and you'll find a shotgun on the table inside, which will give you a firepower boost as long as your ammo lasts. There's also some handgun ammo, gunpowder and a herb in there. This house is also a handy way to bottleneck enemies - you can hide in the porch and deal with them one at a time to last longer. Or, if you want to stay more mobile, there's a ladder in a back room you can use to get out under the floor - gather the lycans in the house, then leave through the hole in the floor where they can't follow to buy some time. 

2. User the barrel to take a few enemies out

resident evil village survive the attack

(Image credit: Capcom)

If you can get here on the map you'll find a red barrel that will explode when you shoot it. If you can cluster enemies up around it you can take a bunch out. The risk being that you're backing yourself into a corner. However the blast will knock most nearby lycans over, even if it doesn't kill them, so you'll have a window to escape with. 

Basically, hang tight, try not to get killed and being able to survive the attack in Resident Evil Village is basically a case of waiting it out. When the bell rings and the bad things go away you'll be free to carry on with the rest of the game. 

Resident Evil village tips | Resident Evil Village guns | Resident Evil Village labyrinths | Resident Evil Village masks | Resident Evil Village wells | Resident Evil Village lockpicks | Resident Evil Village Goats | Resident Evil Village crystal fragments, treasure and money | Resident Evil Village bell puzzle | Resident Evil Village Statue puzzle | Resident Evil Village animal locations | How long is Resident Evil Village? | Can you get back into Castle Dimitrescu? | How big is the Resident Evil Village map? | Resident Evil Village piano puzzle | Resident Evil Village music box puzzle 

Leon Hurley
Managing editor for guides

I'm GamesRadar's Managing Editor for guides, which means I run GamesRadar's guides and tips content. I also write reviews, previews and features, largely about horror, action adventure, FPS and open world games. I previously worked on Kotaku, and the Official PlayStation Magazine and website. 

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