For those of you new to the awesome experience that is Dead Space 2 you’re probably having one hell of a time playing through it. However, just in case you’re having trouble surviving the hordes of necromorphs I’ve got some very useful tips to help you on your way. Don’t worry, I’m not going to state the obvious things like use stasis on groups of enemies or use melee when possible. The game has already told you that...
Tip 1: Weapons
Simply put ,
the only weapons you’ll need in Dead Space 2 are the Plasma Cutter, the Ripper, and The Contact Beam (I’ll get to that one in a minute). Only bother upgrading
the Plasma Cutter and Ripper, there is simply nothing either one of those
weapons cannot handle. The Ripper is amazing for cutting down groups of enemies
at close range and the Plasma Cutter is just great for everything. By only
upgrading these two weapons you’ll have two very powerful weapons quite early
on that can cut through necromorphs with ease. 
Tip 2: Easy Money
Remember that Contact Beam you’re carrying? By only having 3 weapons in your inventory you can influence what ammo the game gives you. Having only these three weapons increases the chances of getting ammo just for them. Which is exactly what you want, let the Plasma Cutter and Ripper do the dirty work and pick up all the Contact Beam energy you find. These sell for 1,000 credits per round at the shop, so a full pack is worth 6,000. Just think of every ammo pickup as money, this works for any weapon, but Contact Beam energy is the most valuable by a significant margin. To give you some perspective, a power node costs 8,500 with the discount suit. Just one stock of this ammo will take off ¾ of that price.
Tip 3: Manipulate Upgrades
If you’re packing more than just the three weapons above, it’s vital to take advantage of the upgrade system. Because you can reload while running, reload speed is not very valuable. Damage and capacity upgrades are what you want, take note of the most efficient ways to get to those upgrades with the least amount of nodes. Also, an important thing to remember is that if you know you’re near a bench and have a weapon that is due for a capacity upgrade, do not reload it. Upgrading the capacity will give you a full clip of ammo in it for free.
Tip 4: Do not stop shooting to pick up items/kinesis items
You may have
picked this up already but it’s a vital thing to remember when playing the
harder modes. Especially when using the Ripper. While you’re busy re-arranging
their limbs you can hit the A button to pick up the items without having to
lower your aim. Also important to note that you can target the items and
kinesis them towards to you, just in case there happens to be a horde of
monsters between you and that crucial health pack. Be very careful when doing
this when they are enemies around though, the game will always prioritise
spikes on fallen enemies before items.
Tip 5: Abuse the Vintage suit
This one is a little obvious, but something you can easily overlook. The individual bonuses that suits have do not carry over to your RIG. So when you have the Vintage suit (the one with the shop discount) be sure to remember to change into it before you buy anything. 10% might not sound like a huge discount, but it soon mounts up over the course of the game and it makes power nodes much more affordable.
Well there you go. Five not so obvious tips that will make anyone’s life a bit easier while playing. The weapons are (of course) just my personal bests. I simply encountered nothing that the Plasma Cutter and Ripper couldn’t handle but if you prefer a certain weapon that’s fine. Just be sure to keep that Contact Beam in your inventory, it can earn you tons of money throughout the game by simply selling the ammo for it.