How to Earn S+ Rank and Unlock the Best Bonus Weapons

Ranking in Resident Evil 4 is calculated from clear time and the number of saves you make, not from how many enemies you killed. An S+ on any difficulty requires finishing the campaign inside that difficulty's time limit on a fresh save, with a strict cap on manual saves — so the strategy is route optimisation rather than combat mastery. Skip optional fights wherever the level design allows, run past enemies instead of engaging, and treat every treasure room as optional unless the detour pays for itself in upgrades.

The biggest time savings come from understanding where the game actually blocks you. Chapters that end with a scripted sequence cannot be rushed, but exploration sections can be gutted. Save your limited manual saves for the moments just before a boss or a difficult chapter transition, and let autosaves carry everything else — a death that costs you two minutes is far better than one that costs you a save slot.

Before attempting S+, unlock the bonus weapons, since they completely change the calculus. The Chicago Sweeper and Handcannon come from clearing the higher difficulties and from the Mercenaries mode, and the infinite rocket launcher trivialises almost everything while still respecting the ranking rules on the difficulties that allow it. A first S+ run is usually a victory lap: unlock the tools on a normal run, then come back with them and let your routing knowledge do the rest.