All Pest Control requests - Resident Evil 4
We smell a rat, and you will, too, if you follow our guide for how to solve Resident Evil 4's Pest Control requests.
The sleepy village in Capcom’s Resident Evil 4 remake is infested, and we don’t mean by the Las Plagas parasitic organisms. The village has a rat problem, and while you can’t offer up a cure for Las Plagas, you can at least help the Ganados live in cleaner spaces by figuring out how to solve the Pest Control requests. There are three, and you'll find one in each of the main geographical regions of the game.
Use the links to jump to the poor, defenseless critters you need to destroy:
Pest Control Request
You’ll find the Pest Control Request in Capcom’s Resident Evil 4 remake in chapter 2, after Leon meets Luis Sera. Leon and Luis manage to escape, but our hero is left without his attaché case of weapons and other gear. To retrieve it, you’ll have to embark on a short stealth section armed with knives you find along the way.
As you creep through the Abandoned Factory, you’ll notice large rats scurrying from trash heaps and dumpsters. You can kill them now, but you won’t receive the Pest Control Request until you’ve made it through the area. (They also spook when you get close, making them difficult to kill with knives.) Focus on retrieving your gear and escaping the area.
You’ll know when you’ve reached the end of the Abandoned Factory when you come to a set of double doors leading outside. The merchant can be found to your right, and the Pest Control Request is posted near his shop. Your friendly neighborhood vendor is asking you to kill three rats in exchange for some of his spinels, treasures you can trade for special items.
Head back into the Abandoned Factory and look for rats. The furry critters squeak and run away when you get close, so give them some distance and wait for them to hold still. Take aim and pop them with a bullet from your handgun; one shot is all you’ll need. Once you’ve killed three of them, return to the merchant. He knows when you’ve completed a request, and you’ll receive your spinels upon speaking to him.
Check out the Trade menu to find out what you can exchange for your spinels. The merchant adds more—and more valuable—goods to his trade options as you advance in the game, so there’s nothing wrong with holding on to your spinels until you find something you like.
More Pest Control request
This optional mission, the second of the Pest Control trilogy, takes place in the Castle region. You'd think the outbreak of a parasite that turns people into zombies with scythes for heads would cause the merchant in Capcom's Resident Evil 4 remake greater concern than a few rats. You'd be wrong, but he's willing to pay you for completing the "More Pest Control" request, so follow our guide and pretend your pistol is vermin poison to complete the side quest.
The three furry critters you're charged with exterminating for no good reason at all in Resident Evil 4's "More Pest Control" request are living out their lives in the Dining Hall, Armory, and Library. All of those areas are connected to the Grand Hall, the main hub of chapter 9 and chapter 10. However, only the rats in the Dining Hall and Armory can be dealt with in chapter 9; you won't gain access to the Library as Leon until chapter 10.
The Dining Hall has no combat, so it's a safe starting point. From the save room in Grand Hall, turn right and head up the stairs toward the statue. Take the door to your left leading into the Dining Hall. Your helpless prey can be found scurrying peacefully near the entrance. Don't feel bad. You're just doing your job, right? What's that? This is an optional side quest unrelated to Leon's objective to find and rescue the president's daughter? Well, isn't that interesting.
Head for the Armory next. To get there from the Grand Hall, take the stairs to the upper level and proceed through the door on your right, across from the Gallery. Move through the entrance to the walkway, which ends above a pit ringed by suits of armor. Once you drop in, you'll face a combat challenge you must win to continue with the game's story, and to find the second rat. Your furry friend, who's done absolutely nothing wrong to you or the merchant, is waiting for you beyond the door you must open with Ashley's help.
The last surviving rat in the Castle, who's probably beside itself with worry since it hasn't heard from its beloved siblings for hours, is cowering in the Library. Once you begin chapter 10, enter the library and look for the adorable, saintly creature in the dark hallway lined with mounted animal heads. Which you probably didn't even notice because you are a cold-blooded--
With three innocent souls extinguished, head to any merchant stand to collect your blood money.
Even More Pest Control request
Your third and final outing as the merchant's heartless exterminator in Capcom's Resident Evil 4 remake begins and ends in the Island region of the game. This time you're looking for four rats instead of the usual three.
Another rat can be found on the bottom half of the primary Waste Disposal Room on the map. It scurries around in the trash near the long corridor leading south. Like all the rats in RE4, it'll spook if you get too close; you can shoot it from the Power Control Lever in the top half of the room to catch it unawares.
You'll find the second and third rats in the northern region of Waste Disposal. If you cross the walkway that wraps around and connects to a couple of off-shoot platforms, you've gone too far. Once you've bagged those buggers, follow that long walkway to the second, larger of the platforms to find the fourth rat.
The Pest Control requests are three of many side missions made available by the merchant in Capcom’s Resident Evil 4 remake. Visit the Shacknews Resident Evil 4 strategy guide for walkthroughs on others, such as the Grave Robber request.
