Dead Space Remake Impossible Mode

Impossible difficulty is essentially a mixture of the difficulty setting from the first game and hardcore mode from Dead Space 2. On Impossible difficulty, the ammunition scarcity and enemy damage remains identical to Hard difficulty, but the player is limited to only one save. This means that the player is locked to a perma-death state; upon dying, the player’s save file is reverted back to hard difficulty, and they are locked out of Impossible Mode until they restart the game from the beginning. As such, any mistake will be highly punished. Here is all you need to know about Dead Space’s Impossible Mode.

How To Unlock Dead Space Remake Impossible Mode

To unlock Impossible difficulty, the player must first beat the game on hard mode, which in itself is a feat. However, Impossible difficulty has several modifiers to the main gameplay, which we will outline below.

Dead Space Remake Impossible Mode Rewards

Once the player completes Impossible mode, they unlock the Hand Cannon and the Burnished Suit. The Hand Cannon is resembles a giant foam finger, and lacks any kind of aiming laser sight, with only a flashlight beam emanating from the gun. However, this is more than made up for with the sheer damage that the weapon can do, outright killing almost every single enemy in the game with a single hit. However, the player more than deserves it after finishing Impossible mode.

The weapon is intended mostly as a gag, and is more or less identical to the Hand Cannon in Dead Space 2 (unlocked by beating hardcore mode) and the Devil Horns in Dead Space 3 (unlocked by beating Classic mode). Isaac will say either “bang bang” or “pew pew” when firing the weapon, further increasing the comedic value of the gun.

The Burnished Suit is more or less identical to the generic suit, but has a very striking colour scheme. Instead of copper colour armour and a blue visor, the suit has dark grey armour and a blood red visor, giving Isaac a deathly, almost otherworldly look. In any case, it is the most unique suit in the game, and a cool reward for beating Dead Space Remake’s hardest difficulty.

Dead Space Impossible Mode General Strategy

The fundamentals of good Dead Space gameplay remain in this mode, and are indeed tested to the fullest possible extent. As such, the following basic strategies must be kept in mind when traversing the USG Ishimura and its miscellany of dangers.

Kinesis And Stasis Are Your Best Friends

The player has several tools at their disposal in Dead Space Remake, with each offering invaluable utility in different circumstances. Kinesis and stasis are the two tools that are almost universally guaranteed to save the players life in any scenario.

Stasis allows Isaac to shoot a freezing projectile that stops enemies dead in their tracks and slows them down considerably. Doing so gives the player some much needed breathing room in sticky situations, and can also make fighting bosses easier.

Kinesis is the perfect ammo-conserver. The player can throw objects to stagger necromorphs and deal small amounts of damage, or to create makeshift barricades. The player can also throw explosive canisters and severed explosive sacs of deceased Exploders to outright kill several common necromorphs. Another excellent strategy is to use to claws of dead Slashers and Leapers to shoot them back at enemies, dealing massive damage.

Don’t Underestimate Melee

Because Dead Space Remake is a horror game, melee is purposely made risky and weak. However, in a pinch, melee can save the player’s life and also conserve precious ammunition. When an enemy is up close and personal with Isaac, he can swing his weapon at them to deal a small amount of damage and push him back, allowing him to land easier follow-up shots.

Another excellent use case is to use Isaac’s stomp on downed enemies. Knocking enemies down with objects thrown using kinesis or with the Force Gun’s primary fire and then quickly running up to stomp them when they are on the ground is a great way to kill most common necromorphs.

When low on ammo and faced with a single enemy, an ideal strategy is to use Stasis and simply beat the enemy to death. In most cases, the enemy will be dead long before the effects of stasis are finished.

Use The Right Tool For the Right Job

Dead Space Remake has a plethora of weapons for the player to use, with each weapon offering unique utility and benefit. In Dead Space Remake, similar to the original, every weapon has a primary fire and alternate fire mode. With the ability to hold up to 4 weapons at once, this gives the player no less than 8 different attacks at any given time.

Below we will outline the characteristics and use cases for each weapon in Dead Space Remake Impossible Mode.

Plasma Cutter

The Plasma Cutter is the first weapon the player encounters, but due to its precision and well roundedness, it maintains its utility throughout the player’s playthrough (there is even an achievement for only using the Plasma Cutter). The plasma Cutter fires a beam of ionized plasma in either a horizontal or vertical line, with the alternate fire changing the orientation of this line.

The Plasma Cutter is an excellent tool no matter what situation the player is in, as its ammunition is cheap, its damage and precision is excellent and it can work well in almost any situation.

Pulse Rifle

The Pulse Rifle is a weapon that is unique in its placement in Dead Space Remake, in that all of the other weapons are repurposed mining equipment but the Pulse Rifle is a weapon. However, the player should not underestimate it; in the right hands and right circumstances, the Pulse Rifle can chew through hordes of enemies with ease.

The primary fire of the pulse rifle works as an automatic weapon, firing bullets in a straight line towards the enemy. The alternate fire of the Pulse Rifle fires a grenade launcher at the enemy, dealing massive area-of-effect damage but consuming a lot of ammunition.

The Pulse Rifle has excellent utility when dealing with crowds of necromorphs, but its damage against single targets is low. Moreover, it chews through ammo, making skillful use of this resource essential to success. Overall, depending on the situation and the player’s playstyle, this is an excellent weapon that will serve them well on their trudge through the USG Ishimura.

Ripper

The Ripper is the ultimate keep-out tool at the player’s disposal. The primary fire projects a spinning saw blade a few feet away from the player, which can then be manipulated to cut through enemies like butter. The alternate fire launches a saw blade that ricochets off of walls and deals damage to anything in its path.

The Ripper is an excellent weapon for when the player is being rushed by necromorphs, as it will stagger them and not let them get close to the player. It is also a very ammo-efficient player, allowing several different enemies to be killed with just a single saw blade.

Flame Thrower

The Flame Thrower has always been considered a rather weak weapon within the Dead Space community. The flames do low damage and stagger enemies very rarely, and also obscure the weapons a great deal. This seems to have changed in Dead Space Remake, with the Flame Thrower doing much more damage, and also staggering enemies much more reliably.

The alternate fire of the Flame Thrower has seen a rework and is now much more useful. It can now be used to cordon off sections of the arena by creating a wall of flame, damaging all enemies that pass through and funnelling them through a smaller chokepoint, making them slower and much easier to kill.

Contact Beam

The Contact Beam is the single most powerful weapon at Isaac’s disposal, easily killing most common enemies in one shot. The primary fire is not exceptional, firing a continuous beam of energy that does reasonable damage, but it is the alternate fire mode that will absolutely destroy enemies.

The alternate fire allows the player to charge up a shot and deal massive damage at the target. The downside of this mode is that it takes a few seconds to charge up, which may leave the player open to being overwhelmed by advancing necromorphs.

The Contact Beam is slow, expensive and often difficult to use, but it more than makes up for these downsides by the sheer damage output that the player can do.

Line Gun

The Line Gun is essentially the Plasma Cutters bigger, meaner brother. Its primary fire launches a horizontal line of energy in a wide dimension that travels through enemies until it hits a wall. This means that if there are several enemies lined up, the primary fire will damage each and every single one of them, making it an excellent weapon against crowds of enemies.

The alternate fire is also a good option for crowd control. It launches a proximity mine that explodes, dealing great damage to anything caught in the blast radius. In general, with excellent damage against both single targets and hordes of enemies, the Line Gun more than makes up for its expensive ammunition.

Force Gun

The Force Gun is considered by many to be the best weapon in the game, and absolutely not without reason. The Force Gun’s primary fire is a shotgun blast shockwave that deals excellent damage in a wide radius at close ranges, but its biggest utility lies in the fact that it can knock down most enemies, making it the most useful tool when surrounded by enemies.

The knock back effect is also highly important when dealing with the Hunter (the unkillable regenerating necromorph), as the player can simply knock it down, throw stasis on it and run past it. The alternate fire of the Force Gun synergizes well with the primary fire, creating a gravity well that traps enemies and does massive damage to them.

Shoot The Limbs!

What separates Dead Space from the hordes of other zombie games is its unique soft-body destruction mechanics with regards to the enemies (called Necromorphs) that the player encounters throughout their journey. Strategic targeting of appendages allows the player to slice them clean off. This is more than a cosmetic change, and can in fact fundamentally change gameplay, making things easier or harder for the player, depending on which limb has been blasted off.

There are several different necromorphs stalking the corridors of the USG Ishimura, and a different approach must be taken to each enemy.

Slasher

The Slasher is the basic and most common enemy in the game, but should not be underestimated. It can quickly sprint up to the player to deal a devastating attack with its razor-sharp claws, and can kill the player on full health in 2-3 hits. Moreover, it moves in a stumbling fashion, making precision targeting of the limbs that much harder.

There are two dominant strategies with the Slasher, depending on circumstances. If it is a lone Slasher, the player should go for the arms. A Slasher will instantly die once both of its arms have been cut off, and so, it is the most ammo-efficient strategy.

If a Slasher is among several other enemies, an excellent idea is to target the head. Once a Slasher’s head is removed, it will begin swinging its claws wildly, staggering and lightly damaging all enemies close to it, which can give the player some much needed breathing room. Also, going for the legs will cause it to fall to the ground and slow it down significantly, which allows Isaac to focus on other, more pressing threats.

Lurker

The Lurker is best described as “demon-spawn sent straight from hell”. Although not particularly threatening on its own, it is the only other enemy in the game to have a ranged attack. The Lurker resembles a child that has 3 tentacles formed from its intestines, which shoot 3 barbs at the player from a distance.

The Lurker, due to its small size and ranged attack, can be extremely annoying, especially when fighting groups of necromorphs due to its ability to continually pester the player and drain their HP from afar. Since its barbs also stagger the player, they can leave Isaac open to being mauled by other necromorphs.

The best way to kill the Lurker is to cut off all 3 of its appendages, which will kill it instantly. The Line Gun works exceptionally well for this task, as a single well placed shot will sever all 3 appendages in one strike.

Leaper

Grotesque in appearance and deadly in attack, the Leaper can easily kill the unprepared player. The Leaper has two attacks; a leaping (hence the name) attack, in which it flys across the room towards the player. This leap has massive range, easily covering the length of the largest levels in the game in a single leap, then dealing massive damage upon hitting the player. The Leaper uses its second attack in close range, which involves swiping its tail at the player, dealing a great chunk of damage.

Stasis is the player’s best friend when fighting the Leaper, as it will slow down the creature mid flight to a dead slow pace, making targeting the limbs extremely easy. Also, the force gun’s primary fire can stop the Leaper dead in its tracks, even when it is jumping at the player. Afterwards, Isaac can finish it off by stomping on it, or frying it with the alternate fire of the force gun.

Infector

The Infector on its own is the weakest enemy in the game, dealing low damage even on Impossible difficulty, but its ability to turn corpses into Slashers makes it the priority in a fight, no matter how many other enemies are in the room. If left to its own devices, the Infector will create a horde of slashers that will overwhelm even the most skilled of players.

When the Infector is not currently infecting a corpse, use stasis on it and your strongest weapon to dispatch it. Although the Contact Beam has scarce ammo and is an expensive weapon to use, its ability to eliminate the Infector, even when without upgrades, makes it the ideal choice.

If the Infector is currently converting a corpse, the priority shifts to the corpse. Make sure to remove both of the corpse’s arms, which will kill it instantly the moment it turns. Another excellent strategy is to shoot a Line Gun mine, which is the alternate fire of the Line Gun, directly at the corpse. Doing so will instantly vaporize both the corpse and the Infector.

Brute

The Brute is the big bad enemy in the game, and a mini-boss in many sections. It primarily attacks by charging at the player, knocking them to the ground and dealing massive amounts of damage.

The Brute is large, with a lot of health, but with the right weapons and strategy, can be dealt with very easily. Always keep it at a distance. When the Brute begins charging, shoot stasis at it and quickly move out of the way (ideally behind it). Once behind the Brute, immediately go to work dismembering the arms. The Brute cannot be damaged from the front due to its protective armor, and the weak spots for its appendages are glowing yellow spots visible from its back.

Once behind the Brute, shoot one arm as fast as possible (focus on only one arm for now). The Contact Beam and Line Gun are excellent weapons for this task, with both capable of dismembering with only a few shots. After the Brute loses one of its arms, it is slowed down considerably, making taking the other arm off much easier. The Brute will die after it loses both arms.

Another strategy is to take out the legs of the Brute first, but we advise against this strategy for two reasons. Firstly, after its legs are removed, it will begin spitting explosive orbs at the player, which both stagger them and deal significant damage. Secondly, getting behind the Brute without stasis becomes much more difficult, since it will attempt to continually face the player.

Exploder

Exploders are extremely dangerous on Impossible difficulty, as a single hit in close proximity from their suicide attack will instantly kill the player, ending their run. Isaac should always keep their distance from the Exploder, never letting it get even remotely close to the player. Should they close the gap, immediately use stasis and back away before it has a chance to explode.

The Exploder can also be a useful tool, if approached correctly. Shooting at its explosive sac will instantly kill it and other enemies around it, saving precious ammo. The sac will explode no matter which weapon is used, so it is best to use weapons for which ammo is cheap, such as the Plasma Cutter and the Pulse Rifle.

If the player manages to dismember the exploding sac, they can carry it around with themselves using kinesis, and throw it at groups of enemies, killing them instantly.

Swarmers

Swarmers are little critters that are annoying at best, and easy to dispatch. They attack by jumping on to the player and dealing small amounts of damage, and the player must mash the “Use” button to shake them off. An area-of-effect weapon such as the Force Gun’s primary fire and the Line Gun’s alternate fire is the most efficient way to dispatch Swarmers.

Pregnant

The Pregnant is best described as a combination of the Slasher and the Swarmers. It is a hulking beast with a massive stomach that, when damaged, releases a horde of Swarmers towards the player. Therefore, extreme care must be taken to dismember the Pregnant without damaging the torso, as the release of Swarmers presents another challenge in a hectic fight.

Similar to the Slasher, removing both arms of the Pregnant will kill it instantly, and not release the Swarmer payload. This, however, is difficult to do, as when the Pregnant is running towards the player, it will swing its arms in front of itself, requiring extreme precision and timing. Stasis will slow its movements down considerably and allow the player to accurately hit its arms without damaging its stomach.

Guardian

The Guardian is an enemy that will end the run of the unaware player instantly and without hesitation. It is a stationary necromorph plastered on a wall, with 6 tentacles spread around its torso. Its main attack is to launch a pod that has single tentacle that attacks the player by shooting barbs at them, similar to the Lurker in Dead Space Remake Impossible Mode.

The player should be extremely cautious when tackling the Guardian, as if they get too close, it will instantly decapitate and kill the player, ending their run. The best strategy is to shoot it from a distance, targeting each tentacle individually. If Isaac manages to land the Line Gun and Force Gun’s alternate fire directly into the chest cavity, the resulting explosion will sever all of the tentacles at once, killing it instantly. A very precise shot with the Contact Beam directly at the point from which all tentacles emanate will also instantly kill the Guardian.

Twitcher

The Twitcher is the slasher on steroids. When the stasis modules on slashers melds with their flesh, its effect is reversed, speeding them up instead of slowing them down. As such, Twitchers are extremely fast, by far the fastest necromorphs in the game, and can cross a room even faster than the Leaper. Their erratic movement also makes them extremely difficult to target.

When the Twitcher is approaching, it is hard to hit them. Therefore, the best strategy is to let them get close, and the moment they are about to attack, to hit them with stasis. This slows them down and allows the player to quickly eliminate them.

Conclusion

Thus we can conclude that by knowing the general strategy with which to approach the game along with knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of both weapons and enemies, players will be able to no doubt beat Dead Space Remake Impossible Mode and gain the rewards from completing it.