Dead Space

[shadow_archmagi]

Why does cutting off the limbs deal more damage in Dead Space? I mean, I know the designers wanted a game that wasn't all about headshots, which is fair enough, but in-universe it doesn't make any sense.

It's not that the necromorphs are unkillable, and chopping them up just makes them 'armless, as it were, because they'll keel over and die with plenty of limbs that could rip and tear. They suffer the same "Whoop my HP hit zero! Time to die forever!" that everyone else in video games does, they just take double damage from limb hits, like all your guns are pikachu and all their limbs are Gyarados.

What's the in-universe justification for that?

[factotum]

I doubt there is one--they just wrote an engine that allowed easy dismemberment of opponents and thought they'd run with the idea! :smallwink:

[SiuiS]

Why does cutting off the limbs deal more damage in Dead Space? I mean, I know the designers wanted a game that wasn't all about headshots, which is fair enough, but in-universe it doesn't make any sense.

It's not that the necromorphs are unkillable, and chopping them up just makes them 'armless, as it were, because they'll keel over and die with plenty of limbs that could rip and tear. They suffer the same "Whoop my HP hit zero! Time to die forever!" that everyone else in video games does, they just take double damage from limb hits, like all your guns are pikachu and all their limbs are Gyarados.

What's the in-universe justification for that?

I think it has to do with the necromorph's quasidead state. They do have biological systems, they just don't work contiguously. Cutting them into bits interrupts those systems far more thoroughly than perforation or crushing does. In theory, the only reason they die from normal shots at all would be hydrostatic shock causing the same disruption.

[Octopusapult]

Something about a warped anatomy in the process of becoming a necromorph that spreads out the vital organs through each limb instead of centering them in the head and chest.

Like how spider brains extend into each one of their 8-legs a bit.

[Grif]

I think it has to do with the necromorph's quasidead state. They do have biological systems, they just don't work contiguously. Cutting them into bits interrupts those systems far more thoroughly than perforation or crushing does. In theory, the only reason they die from normal shots at all would be hydrostatic shock causing the same disruption.

I think this was mentioned somewhere ingame, in fact. They don't have organs like we do in the centre mass, thus shooting it there are less lethal compared to just cutting off limbs. Darned if I remembered where I saw it. Maybe one of the voice logs or research note.

[Nightgaun7]

They're undead-ish. You can have armless Necromorphs and legless ones, if you shoot the limbs off carefully, and the only reason they don't bother to have them keep going is because an armless, legless Necromorph is no threat to the player.

[Hiro Protagonest]

I don't know if shooting the legs does anything, but their "arms" are actually two new limbs that come out from the back. Chopping off both of those kills them instantly, no further damage required. I don't think chopping off the legs actually works, and the only reason that "both legs plus an arm" combo works is, as you said, deal enough damage and they'll die anyway.

I think it's because you have to hit the parasite's weak point, not the human's.

[FreakyCheeseMan]

It works beautifully in terms of the symbolism - all throughout the games you hear the Necromorphs focused on togetherness, unification, "Make Us Whole." To fight them, you literally divide them.

[shadow_archmagi]

It works beautifully in terms of the symbolism - all throughout the games you hear the Necromorphs focused on togetherness, unification, "Make Us Whole." To fight them, you literally divide them.

I really wish that we saw more of that in the actual game. Like, for being a hive mind, their movements seem really arbitrary and uncoordinated. It'd be really interesting to see a game where the AI actually gave the impression of cooperating.

[Alaris]

As far as I'm concerned, it's an interesting game mechanic, and nothing more. I'm sure there's some "in-universe reason" that explains why it is more effective, or why it works. But, I think I need to stay out of this thread beyond this post; I'm currently playing through Dead Space, and I need to avoid spoilers.

[GolemsVoice]

You also deprives them of their weapons, to some extent. So if it would take 3 shots to dimember-kill a necromorph, and 4 shots to just kill it, every shot that takes out a limb dis-arms them to some extent. So if they DO attack you, since they're tough buggers, they're left without a leg to stand.

[Morph Bark]

They suffer the same "Whoop my HP hit zero! Time to die forever!" that everyone else in video games does, they just take double damage from limb hits, like all your guns are pikachu and all their limbs are Gyarados.

Gyarados is a Water/Flying type and would therefore take quadruple damage from Electric attacks, rather than just double. [/nitpick] :smalltongue:

[FreakyCheeseMan]

It's a little off topic, but I do love the fact that, after you spend the entire first game chopping the limbs off necromorphs, they start the second game by... taking away your limbs. (Through a straight jacket, but the irony amused me.)

[Octopusapult]

It's a little off topic, but I do love the fact that, after you spend the entire first game chopping the limbs off necromorphs, they start the second game by... taking away your limbs. (Through a straight jacket, but the irony amused me.)

That hadn't actually hit me until I read this...

Pretty cheeky...