Surviving the Necromorphs

Published October 21, 2008

Braving Dead Space™ and the Necromorph-infested USG Ishimura is a gruesome, terrifying business that requires more than just courage to survive. The following tips will lend you a severed hand on how best to dismember and stomp your way through EA's survival-horror epic.

Zero-G requires constant awareness.

Ammo Conservation
To be clear, the whole of the game's combat system revolves around severing limbs to swiftly eliminate the Necromorphs. Yes, you can eventually whittle their health down without precise shots, but it's a massive waste of ammo, and that's the one thing you can't be wasteful of in Dead Space.

Conserve ammo by considering the following:

• Limb evaluation: With absolute precision aiming you can take off three limbs before a Necromorph falls, but often you'll have inflicted enough incidental damage with inaccurate shots to cut off two limbs and still have killed them outright. Pause and check before you waste more ammo targeting a third appendage.
• Stasis melee: Use Stasis at the outset of a fight when facing just a single enemy. Then, rush forth and unload on them with melee attacks. When the Stasis wears off, switch to your guns. Your melee attacks should cause enough damage to conserve a few rounds.
• Run on by: You don't have to eliminate every enemy you come across, particularly when you're backtracking through an area you've already explored. Provided the doorway you need access to is unlocked, you should be able to run right on by.

Corpse Stomping
Every dead crewmember you find on the Ishimura is a potential enemy. If the Necromorphs haven't corrupted them yet, you can be sure they will do so eventually. Do yourself a favor, and stomp off the limbs of any corpses you come across.

Not at the head, at the limbs!

It's a gruesome business, but by removing the corpses' limbs, the Necromorphs won't be able to reanimate them. This will give you a much needed reprieve when you need to backtrack through the area.

Indicator Opposite
If you're unsure where to head next, press down on the Right Thumbstick and a highlighted path will show the direction your next objective lies. Be careful to look in the opposite direction as well to see if there are any hallways or rooms you haven't yet explored.

Resources come at a premium in Dead Space. Make sure to break open every glowing green crate, check every locker, footlocker, nook, and cranny for every bit of ammo, equipment, cash, and power nodes you can get your hands on. You'll need it all.

Doorway Peekaboo
If you're overwhelmed by enemies in a room, try backing out through a doorway. Often, the Necromorphs won't follow you through the door, so you can catch your breath, peek back through the door, fire off a shot or two, and retreat before the going gets too rough again.

Stasis Puzzles
Chances are if an environmental puzzle has you flummoxed, the answer lies in your Stasis power. Whether you're using it simply to slow down a malfunctioning door so you can pass through, give pause to jets of lightning electrifying a floor, or to slow the rotation of a piston long enough to slide it back into place, look closely for any opportunity to use Stasis if you can't find another way forward.

Melee to conserve ammo, but be careful.

Battle and Save
Checkpoints in Dead Space are scattered liberally throughout the game, but that doesn't mean if you die right after clearing a room, you won't have to slog your way back through the same battle again. Take the time to backtrack to the nearest save point after every major battle. The thirty seconds it takes is well worth the peace of mind.

Blades and Canisters
Slow down enemies by firing boxes, crates, and other environmental odds and ends at them with your Kinesis ability. Where this skill truly shines is with broken off fan blades and exploding canisters.

Inflict serious damage on enemies with either item (direct hits with canisters are usually one-shot kills) and conserve that much more ammunition in the process. While the canisters can be easily spotted, try shooting out vents to gain access to fan blades. Remember that blades can be reused, so pay attention to where they skitter off to after you shoot them.

Prep Time
Any time you're about to complete a major objective, you can bet the room will be crawling with Necromorphs soon after. Take a moment before you finish the objective, and use Kinesis to gather up all canisters and fan blades in the room, so you'll have immediate access to them when the Necromorphs come.

Weeping Pustules
Anytime you face a Necromorph highlighted by glowing yellow pustules, set aside your typical limb-shearing tactics and focus on those pustules. Be careful though, these yellow sores explode, so keep your distance.

Concentrating on these weak spots is required for both the enormously powerful Brute enemy, and the mid-game boss-monster, the Leviathan.

There's no getting around the fact that Dead Space is just plain tough at times, but with these tips, you should be well on your way to avoiding your own decapitation and evisceration. That's a good thing.

Article by Ryan Treit