I have just finished my first playthrough of the Dead Space Remake, after waiting for years for this game to come out i had to wait a week extra to play it and that was agony. If you have seen any Bear’s Den videos I’ve made or read any articles I’ve written you may be aware that there are three games in the world i consider perfect and all of them fit in to the horror category, theses games are Alan Wake, Resident Evil 4 and Dead Space. Each of these I have played countless times and DS was the one that scared me the most. So when I downloaded the remake from my physical disc (the fact we have to do that now still annoys me) I was buzzing to play this prettied up version with a new script just for Isaac (which Gunner Write recorded 3 times to reflect injury in his scenes) and a new intensity director I went all in on hard mode and only used the plasma cutter…its one on the optimal ways to get the most out of this game I swear. Whilst I played I used tactics I built up over the years of playing the original and that got me thinking…why not let people know my tips and tricks to get the most out of Dead Space Remake.
TIP NUMBER 1 : Consume All The Media
When DS first came out EA released a ton of multi media stuff to build up the game and for people to get stuck in to as they become fans and honestly…people didn’t like it. Those people are wrong they saw it as EA trying to get more money out of us (which is true they are a business after all) but it was the guys at the top of Visceral Games (stupid EA shut them down) that hand the fingers in those pies to make sure the films and comics where inline with what they where creating. I under stand this section isn’t about the game but you for sure need to watch the anime Dead Space Downfall which is a direct prequel to the main game and cool as hell and will have you wondering why melee weapons where not available in the main game too (they kind of appear in the android dead space 2 game and notably Glen Schofield make melee a big thing in Calisto Protocol). You should watch the motion comic again set before the game but on Aegis VII and play Dead space extraction a rail shooter that is about a character that turns up in Dead Space 2’s DLC (Gabe Weller). Then there are the novels too…do all this before or after playing the game it doesn’t matter what order but a lot of love and care went into them and if you want to know the world more understand the Unitologist’s motives and just in general want more dead space…CONSUME
TIP NUMBER 2 : Experiment
If you have never played the game before…experiment. You get given a plethora of guns and tools to cut slice and burn your way through the undead hordes of razor sharp flesh monsters, including your trusty Plasma Cutter, A force gun that pushes back and explodes enemies when close and a ripper saw that fires a suspended saw blade to chop off limbs quickly and at distance (it’s so much fun). but not only that you can upgrade them find the tools you love using play around with alt fire modes like the line guns one is a laser that just stops anything that crosses it, attach that to a box or a bottle the pick it up with kinesis and have fun lasering enemies at a comfortable distance with an insta-kill weapon basically. Don’t forget that kinesis and stasis either, combine these to slow enemies down and pick up razor limbs or poles then fire then at the necromorphs to pin them on a wall, or pick up an explosive canister and launch that at a guardian (these dudes suck on a wall that is all kinds of John Carpenters The Thing with is gross tentacles)
TIP NUMBER 3 : RUN!
Seriously run, like there are points you will find you have no ammo or health and you’re being hunted by a boss, don’t fight (unless you have too) it just leg it, hell most of the game you can just run past the baddies the get to where you need to go, this is cheap I know but it’s true. Stasis and the run button are your best friends in hard mode (I haven’t attempted impossible mode yet but I imagine it’s true there too), there’s not really more I can say here to be honest.
TIP NUMBER 4: Prepare for the worst
The first two chapters of the game give you all the tools you need to get through the story and any scenario that you come across but it will not prepare for random ambushes enemies you’ve never met before or battles that get intense and you forget that the necromorphs can come out of vents’ in the walls, floor and ceilings…and some have ranged attacks too, so be prepared…upgrade your favourite weapon and upgrade your health, nodes are everywhere in this game you should be fine not purchasing any really, but prioritise that favourite tool and your suit first they are key to surviving the Ishimura. Heading to a shop and selling items to get more ammo and health is a good idea especially if you get caught out and die a few times or run out of ammo in a section you could really use it…that’s where running, kinesis and stasis can become really handy.
TIP NUMBER 5: Remap The Controller
One of the great things about DS:R is when you start a new game it asks you what controller layouts you would like, giving you options for the original game style, the remake version or a controller scheme mor akin to DS 2 and 3, but you don’t have to stay fixed to those at all, personally went with the default remake scheme but at around the chapter three mark i found running with left stick to be increasingly frustrating so i mapped it to a button that has almost no use in game the left shoulder button, I found it immediately more comfortable as I was constantly pressing it to run anyway before hand after playing that way with Calisto Protocol (similar thing happened in CP I kept clicking the right stick to see where to go next) So this tip is basically if you don’t like the set up you’ve chosen, change it
TIP NUMBER 6: Go The Wrong Way
This goes with out saying for seasoned gamers, never take the immediate path to the finish you will likely miss something…this has been true for decades even in Sonic the Hedgehog on Green Hill Zone 1 (or 2 i can never remember) you take an immediate left and you can find an extra life. same concept applies here too…you clicked the way finder it shows you a blue line telling you the fastest route to complete your mission and you go the opposite way to find hidden treasures, text/audio logs and ammo…even weapon schematic you may miss. Just explore the Ishimura it’s fairly open now and you can fully backtrack to previous areas and these items will help you kill Necromorphs and fill you in on a ton of lore within this scary event horizons like world.
TIP NUMBER 7: Be Patient
You read that and you think I’m gonna be all take your time, breath and don’t spam the trigger button…well yeah sort of 100% do that but what I actually mean is don’t go rushing to trigger the next part of plot or mission. Be patient and ransack every room you can check every last corner, quickly restock your ammo and health in a shop upgrade that gun before you hit the blue screen or yellow puss ball the game wants you to hit, because if you do you may find your self in a predicament you didn’t want to be in. when a room is cleared you’re pretty free to explore so do that, if walk into an area that is empty aside a few stragglers you can almost guarantee the game is gonna throw a few bad guys at you when you press that button or pick up that pink glowing item, plus this way you will be more prepared for the onslaught heading your way.
TIP NUMBER 8: Funnel Your Enemies
I know I mentioned baddies come out of the walls, ceiling and floor, they spring up behind you to make you shit your self and at times come out in large overwhelming numbers but if you can, bottle neck them. walk backwards with your head on a swivel and the creeps will follow you and you can take out limbs stasis a few to slow down the horde fire their claws back at them and pretty much keep safe with your back to a wall…or find corner without a vent preferably. during my plasma cutter only hard mode run I found my self utterly screwed in a section where I was ambushed from all sides and relatively low on health and ammo…I was genuinely worried I would have to go back a few chapters to do better and gathered more health and ammo, but then I realised the large room I was in was kinda blocked off from the entrance due to a lift (I’m doing my best not to spoil why I’m in the room or where it is in game here) so i devised a plan and cleared the room of all ammo and health, set up stasis, exploding cannisters and boxes(as (as per my last tip) to block the knife wielding chavs from getting to me the activated the the enemy trigger and legged it to the bottle neck i hard created and just went to town saving ammo and health in the process…it was awesome haha
TIP NUMBER 9: Outside Of Impossible Mode Save Often
This I cannot stress enough, after every big encounter, before you trigger that boss fight and after, go and find a save point and save your game. Make multiple saves too, so if you do get properly stuck and and need to go back to before your health was in the red and try that section again to go in to your problematic area with a better fighting chance, a previous save is the best way to do it.
TIP NUMBER 10: ALL WAYS BE STOMPING!!!
If you ask anyone that has played Dead Space before for just one tip on how to to play this game…this is the one they will 90% of the time tell you. All ways be stomping. Necromorphs are reanimated corpses, if you leave a corpses lying around there’s a good chance that when you return to that area it has been turned into of of the razor sharp shit machines, so stomp away until all arms and legs are off…the only way to kill the Necromorphs is to remove limbs after all and if a body doesn’t have limbs then it cant come back. But here is an added tip to all ways be stomping, one Necromorph flies around and reanimates the corpsesif you see it ignore all other enemies and kill it first…in you first encounter with it in the this game you are blocked by a regular Necromorph. stasis that fuck head and run around him and kill that flying Steve Irwin murdering looking mother fucker. Combine slicing up that flying fleshy kite monster and stomping every corpse you find and you’re gonna have a better time I promise you.
Anyway that’s My top Tips for playing Dead Space (in general I suppose) let me know what you think, did these help you or am I talking out of my arse. Don’t forget All ways be stomping, have a great day and be nice to each other.
Stuart (CODENAMEBIGBEAR)