There is an early build of Resident Evil 4 that was completely scrapped, now referred to as Resident Evil 3.5. In the trailers and gameplay footage released for the game, Leon battled possessed dolls, a fog monster that resembles Uroboros, and a recurring enemy called Hookman.

Some elements used in Resident Evil 3.5 include Quick Time Events, some sort of secondary weapon for fighting the dolls, and a blue screen filter for battle sequences.