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"And Isaac - I heard something up there, something big. Watch your back."
Zach Hammond[1]

The Brute is a large Necromorph composed of multiple human corpses. It has heavy organic armor in its front and possesses extreme physical strength, making it a deadly foe in combat.

Overview[]

Brute ch4

A normal variant of a Brute in the original Dead Space.

Dead_Space_Brute_Necromorph_Sounds_HD

Dead Space Brute Necromorph Sounds HD

DSR Brute Concept

Concept art of the Brute in Dead Space (2023).

The Brute is almost entirely encased in an armored, spiked exoskeleton made from bone and calcified skin. Its posterior is relatively unarmored, and from it sprouts a pair of vestigial arms used for support if one of its main arms is cut off. The chest is a sack where the Brutes produce highly explosive organic material, made from the similar material as the yellow weakspots as well as a hole in the middle of the chest. The Brute bursts out these projectiles when its limbs are severed, not being able to attack properly.

Despite its heavy armor, the Brute is also quick for its size, able to even acrobatically leap through objects such as on the roof, similar to a gorilla or any ape. The Brutes use this tactic to silently approach its prey and take them by surprise, usually just landing on top of them, crushing them, but most of the time just landing to the ground and attempting to smash them with their strong paws. The Brutes appear to be so strong that they can even carve a long tunnel into solid metal, as seen in Dead Space 2.

The Brute attacks up close with a devastating punch and a headbutt that can easily knock Isaac Clarke off his feet. There are, however, specific weak spots just before the shoulder joints, and towards the back along both rear legs. They are easily identified by their comparatively bright yellow coloration. When attacked on the weak spots, the Brute will contract within its armored plates to protect itself. This can be used as an advantage, for the back of the creature is still exposed and ripe for being blasted, and when combined with Stasis, serious damage can be done before the creature recovers. If one or both of the legs are severed, the Brute will be rendered completely immobile, but will actually resort to lobbing organic bombs from an otherwise rarely exposed hole in its belly.

Like many Necromorphs, the Brute has an Enhanced form. It appears black, and is much stronger, requiring more ammunition to take down.

Variants[]

"Normal" Brute[]

DSR Isaac vs Brute

Isaac being knocked down by a standard Brute.

Normal variants of the Brutes are the most common ones to be encountered in the Dead Space games. They also get a slight appearance change in Dead Space 2, with their textures changed to be a bit darker and parts like the head being more symmetrical. Despite their size and strength, they can be easy to put down by targeting the yellow weakspots in the armpit or the back when the creature stops charging or retracts into a defensive ball.

Three normal Brutes appear in Dead Space. One is confronted in the Main Atrium, the second one in Ship Systems, and the final one in the East Grow Chamber. In Dead Space 2, four of them are encountered. The first one in the train before the crash and it is unusually weak, the second one in the Transport Hub and the third and fourth one in the tram tunnel of the USG Ishimura.

Enhanced Brute[]

Superbrute overview

An Enhanced Brute.

Enhanced Brutes, like every other Enhanced Necromorph variant, are dark in their appearance with glowing red-yellowish eyes. They are much stronger than their normal counterparts and can take more damage, but still can be easy to put down with the right choice of weaponry and planning. A Contact Beam puts down the creature in just 4-5 shots to the armpits.

Only 4 Enhanced Brutes are encountered between Dead Space and Dead Space 2 (including one in Severed). One on the USM Valor (which is responsible for killing Zach Hammond in the original game), one on the Aegis VII Colony once bridge power is restored, one in the Government Sector of Titan Station, and finally one in the hospital docking bay of the Sprawl.

Death Scene[]

Brute_Death_Scene_-_Dead_Space_Remake

Brute Death Scene - Dead Space Remake

  • If Isaac fails to evade the melee attack of a Brute with his vitality at critical, it will knock him to the floor. Isaac attempts to crawl away from the behemoth, but the Brute crushes and picks him up. It bites his head off, then slams his corpse onto the floor, ripping Isaac in half. It looks at Isaac's remains for a moment, then rears up and roars in triumph.
  • If a Brute rushes Isaac when he is in low health, he will be split in half in mid-air.
  • In Dead Space 2, if Isaac fails to drive one off at the end of the sequence where he is hanging from the crashed train, it jars the train loose, causing it to fall and crush Isaac.

Strategy[]

"There's a gap in its armor - shoot it in the back!"
Zach Hammond[2]

Brutes serve as mini-bosses in Dead Space; they are resistant to damage and can kill careless players with ease. Brutes are often fought alone, so all attention should be paid on the creature and not the player's surroundings, unless looking for ammo and health.

Dead Space[]

  • The Flamethrower is one of the most effective weapons to use on a Brute. It can even be used from the front, as the flames can still reach its back, just keep up a continuous spray of fire.
  • When the Brute charges, use Stasis on it and at the right time, run behind it and shoot its hind leg as much as possible very quickly with either the Plasma Cutter or the Line Gun.
  • If you sever a leg, it will no longer run at you and instead start shooting organic bombs, which are relatively easy to catch and to fling back using Kinesis. This tactic saves on Stasis energy and ammo.
    Brute defense

    A Brute contracting itself into a ball in defense.

  • Enhanced Brutes can be taken down with ease by shooting them from the front causing them to huddle into a ball, then using Stasis, getting behind them, and unloading your ammunition into their back. An upgraded Pulse Rifle is particularly useful because of its high damage output and high accuracy due to the large target area.
  • Heavy hitting weapons like the Line Gun, Contact Beam, or the Flamethrower are recommended.
  • Force Bombs can be used to keep the Brute at bay while inflicting massive damage on it; one Stasis shot and some Force Bombs are enough to kill the Brute without you having to evade it even on Impossible Mode.
  • With the Plasma Cutter, one can simply shoot the Brute in its unarmored spot by its shoulder, possibly even managing to sever its arm. If it seeks cover in its shell, its frontal weak spots will still be slightly exposed.
  • A Ripper, even when not upgraded, can be effective against a Brute. Although the Ripper's range is short, it can easily shred a Brute's weak point under the shoulders. This is also effective when the Brute goes into his shell, considering its legs are open to attack.
  • On Hard difficulty, one shot of the Contact Beam's fully upgraded primary fire will sever an arm off a Brute when it hits the shoulder weak spot.
  • An easy way to kill a Brute is to fully upgrade your Plasma Cutter and when the Brute is charging at you put it in Stasis go around it and shoot both of the arms and the two shots will sever the arms.

Dead Space: Extraction[]

  • Players will have to fight a Brute as Dr. Karen Howell during Chapter 7: Life and Death. The strategy here is the same as in the original game: use Stasis to slow it down when it charges at you and then use your weapons (ideally the Pulse Rifle) to shoot at the yellow spot on its back and then the weakspot on its arm/shoulder once exposed to dismember it. Once it has lost an arm, use Kinesis to hurl its explosive pods (which it will continually fire at the player) back at it until it dies.

Dead Space 2[]

  • An easy way to defeat the two Brutes in the Ishimura's tram tunnel is to lure them to the end of the hallway you have just entered through. Enter the doorway and move back and forth between one room and the next quickly. The Brute will spin around as you leave, and then again as you enter. Make use of this odd glitch to get the Brute to stand still while you assault its weak points with your weaponry. But know that you will have to be very quick because the Brute turns around about a second after you come in the room.
  • Use Stasis and then drop a mine from the Line Gun. If upgraded, you'll kill in 1-2 shots, depending upon difficulty.
  • Another easy way kill a Brute is to use Stasis, then shoot the shoulders with the Contact Beam. One shot will sever each arm, killing the Brute.
  • Though hard to achieve, it is possible to kill the Brute with just 2 shots from a fully upgraded Javelin Gun: use Stasis, shoot the javelin in one of its shoulders weak points, then activate the alternate fire. If the explosion effect activates when the Brute is just about to charge at you, it will kill him instantly even on Zealot. Even if it doesn't though, the Brute will be left with extremely low health, to the point where a single Kinesis impale will kill him.
  • It is easy to kill a Brute when it charges and is close to you: use Stasis, and then run around the Brute to his back. Using the Javelin Gun, one or two shots can sever its leg, and the Brute will fall down to the ground, and, being unable to move, use its organic bomb to attack you. At this point, aim and use Kinesis to catch the bomb and throw it back to Brute, 3-5 shots will kill it without any difficulty. (For the Brute, this way is very ammo-efficient, as you do not have to upgrade the Javelin Gun to be able to cut off its leg with two shots. However, upgraded Stasis Duration is highly recommended for an easier shot at the Brute's leg.)
  • An easy way to kill the Brute is with the Seeker Rifle. When the Brute charges, use Stasis to slow it down. Then, use the Seeker Rifle's alternate fire to zoom in on either shoulder's weak spot. Even if it's not fully upgraded, 3 to 4 shots will easily sever the arm. Then, when it starts firing the organic bombs, just catch them and return to sender.
  • The final Brute of the game in Chapter 13 can be killed without firing a shot if you saved a severed Exploder arm from the previous floor in the Thermal Conduit Access and have upgraded TK (confirmed for every difficulty).
  • The Detonator Mine can be used to deny a Brute the ability to charge, if the player lays mines before hand, they can stun the Brute for a few seconds with each mine (when fully upgraded) and save Stasis. If used as an impromptu launcher, it will have the same effect. Keep in mind that it takes quite a few applications even on Normal difficulty to kill a Brute, so only use it to disorient them or to cover your flanks.
  • A second strategy involving Detonator Mines is to can place three mines very close to one another and having the Brute charge straight at them to get an instant kill.
  • Another, very easy, way to kill the first Brute you encounter is to have a slightly upgraded Line Gun, put the Brute in stasis, lay a timed mine down and shoot the brute once more with stasis and it should die.

Dead Space (Mobile)[]

  • In the mobile game, the strategy is exactly the same. Use Stasis and circle around it, then let loose with your weapons.
  • Unlike the console versions, however, you cannot use Kinesis to redirect the bio-bombs the Brute fires at you, so your only choice is to either dodge them or use an indestructible object as a shield to block the bombs (such as an oxygen tank or a metal crate).
  • The Core Extractor's secondary fire is incredibly lethal against the Brute, taking just around 2 to 3 continuous shots to put it down.

Trivia[]

  • The Alien Necromorph takes the place of the Brute in Dead Space 3.
  • Although the normal Brute variant received a new model in Dead Space 2, the Enhanced variant retains its appearance from the first game. The Enhanced Brute is a rare example of a model being ported from the original game rather than remade like the majority of returning assets found in Dead Space 2.
  • In Dead Space, if you shoot the armor of a Brute enough, it will pound its fists and curl into a ball. In Dead Space 2, it is more difficult to provoke this response; you actually have to distract it by shooting it in the armor, but it will pound its fists for only a short time; that is your time to run to its back and shoot it for as long as you can without it running into you.
  • Despite the Brute's massive size and apparent weight, its corpse can be easily moved by both Kinesis and by merely running into it without much effort.
  • The Contact Beam is very useful against Brutes on easier difficulties; one well-placed shot to the arm on Easy/Casual will sever it instantly; however, in Dead Space, the Brute will still launch pods at you.
  • Only one Brute appears in Dead Space: Extraction, knocking Lexine into a wall and attacking Dr. Howell. This Brute is unusually acrobatic, as it swings from the support beams on the ceiling of a room and flips to the ground before the fight. The first Brute encountered in Dead Space (mobile) also displays this unusual athleticism by swinging down from an overhead catwalk.
    • The Brute in Dead Space: Extraction also has a yellow bulb weak point, which none from the rest of the series have. The inclusion of the bulb might have been made in order to compensate for the rail-shooting nature of the game, as the constant moving of the player character would make aiming and shooting at a particularly small weak spot like the ones under the Brute's shoulders almost impossible.
  • It is possible to shoot a Brute's arms off, as it exposes the space between the shoulder plate and arm. You can also dismember the tiny arms near the back of a Brute, though it is unknown whether or not this damages it.
  • In Dead Space, although the first one is encountered in Chapter Four, a Brute's roar can be heard as early as Chapter One, just before the player gets the Stasis Module.
  • The Brute in the Tram at the end of Chapter 2 of Dead Space 2 is unusually weak; 2-3 shots, even on Hard Core mode, from the Plasma Cutter can dismember its arm.
    • This is likely the developer's choice of giving the average player a fighting chance; at this point in the game, the only highly damaging weapon available is the Javelin gun, and even then, players still would have been hard pressed to take down the Brute in the harder difficulty settings if it had a more consistent degree of health.
  • Only one (Enhanced) Brute appears in Dead Space 2: Severed, in the area where Isaac fights his first Tripod. Next to the Stasis Recharge Station, it will smash through the door. Crawlers will come to its aid.
  • In Dead Space (mobile), whenever there's a boss fight with a Brute, the Dead Space song "The Leviathan" plays until the Brute is defeated or you are dead.
  • In Dead Space 2, before Isaac first fights a Brute in the Transport Hub, a large hole is seen in the wall with a dead body in it. Then the player will hear the Brute's roar, just like in Dead Space when Isaac goes into tram hallway.
  • Even though no Brutes are physically encountered in Dead Space 3, their roars are sometimes heard in the later chapters while on Tau Volantis.
  • When the Brute's armor is shot at, the bullets can be seen ricocheting off the armor and flying away.
  • In rare occasions, a Brute can still charge at Isaac with one of its arms dismembered.

Gallery[]

Concept Art[]

Screenshots[]

Appearances[]

Sources[]

Videos[]

Dead_Space_-_death_by_Brute

Dead Space - death by Brute

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