Resident Evil 4 Remake offers a plethora of weapons, a total of 29 weapons are there to be had and unless you plan on playing multiple New Game+ you will have to make a choice on what you upgrade and use. There are three Shotguns for you to look over before deciding what to go for.

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The first Shotgun is still a great weapon when fully upgraded.

#1 - Striker¶

The best Shotgun from the original Resident Evil 4 returns to claim its spot once more, the Striker is a beast of a Shotgun and will decimate anything at close range when fully upgraded. Add on top of that the fact that it takes up less space in your inventory and can be fired quicker than any other Shotgun and you have one of the best guns in your first playthrough on your hands.

As always, there are downsides to every weapon in Resident Evil 4 Remake and the Striker is no different. You won’t get your hands on the weapon until later in the game (from the Merchant at Chapter 10) and it costs a lot to purchase at that. It’s also very much a close-range Shotgun as it lacks the range of the W-870 Shotgun.

#2 - W-870 Shotgun¶

This is the first Shotgun you’ll find, back near the start of Chapter 1 and it’s a trusty friend for the majority of the game, up until you reach the Striker. It’s specialty is that it features the greatest range of any of the Shotguns and its exclusive upgrade will assure there’s no damage drop-off a greater ranges, a very handy bonus of the weapon.

The downsides to the W-870 Shotgun is that outside of its range, its the weakest of all three Shotguns. Still, the Riot Gun is not enough of an upgrade for its cost and all Shotguns remain powerful when upgraded.

You can find the W-870 in Chapter 1, on the second floor of a house in the Village Square.

#3 Riot Gun¶

The Riot Gun is our pick for the worst of the three Shotguns in the game, and it suffers mainly from being a costly weapon sandwiched between the other two Shotguns. It’s a Shotgun that focuses on speed and the handling is great on it, while the firepower will be stronger until you max out the Striker, so there’s some consideration there.

The downside is that it’s an expensive gun to acquire and upgrade, and the Striker is already going to cost a lot when you can purchase it. By the time it’s available, a maxed out W-870 Shotgun is better due to the ability to hit enemies at range.

As with the Striker, you can obtain the Riot Gun from the Merchant which you can purchase with money. The change to selling weapons with upgrades to Resident Evil 4 Remake make this a bit more of an attractive proposal than the original Resident Evil 4 (since you can reclaim your money), but even still, it’s easier and more efficient to stick with the W-870 until the Striker becomes available.

Skull Shaker¶

It feels important to list the Skull Shaker here, but there’s no ranking for it as it’s a DLC Weapon that you can get by purchasing the Deluxe Edition of Resident Evil 4 Remake or by buying it on it’s own off a digital storefront.

The Skull Shaker’s main feature is that it’s a Shotgun that takes up significantly less inventory space than the other Shotguns due to featuring a sawed-off stock and barrel. It has slightly higher reload speed and rate of fire to the W-870, but otherwise, even with its Exclusive upgrade (that increases its firepower further), only the Striker is weaker than it (but makes up for it in numerous ways).

Only go for the Skull Shaker if you’re low on inventory space but still want to take a Shotgun, as it does feel that niche nicely. Besides, it also is a cool looking Shotgun!