Hand Cannon: the foam finger that kills anything in one shot

The Hand Cannon is an unlockable weapon in Dead Space 2, earned by completing the game on Hard Core mode, and in the 2023 remake, earned by completing it on Impossible mode. It takes the shape of a comically large red foam sports hand worn on the right hand by Isaac Clarke or Gabe Weller, and it kills almost everything in the game in a single shot.

What does the Hand Cannon actually do?#

Pressing the primary or secondary fire button makes Isaac shout "BANG, BANG!" or "pew, pew, pew!", and whatever Necromorph he is pointing at explodes on the spot. There is no ammunition to manage and the rate of fire is capped only by how fast the player can pull the trigger. The flashlight's illumination is still visible even though the flashlight itself is not present on the model.

In Dead Space 2, a hit does not knock a creature back. It pops off all of its limbs immediately, which is an instant kill. The 2023 remake changes this: the Hand Cannon no longer dismembers everything, though it still kills anything in one shot, with the Leviathan and the Hunter as the exceptions. Melee attacks with it are as powerful as either fire mode. Aiming is the catch. Dead Space 2 gives it no crosshair, so hitting anything at a distance means spamming fire until a shot lands. The remake fits a laser sight, which makes aiming far easier, but the area of effect is narrowed to roughly a dot.

What can it not kill?#

A handful of things resist it, and the list is short enough to memorize: the Leviathan and the Hunter in the remake, plus a Nest, which survives several shots because each weak spot needs its own hit and the random movement pattern makes that tedious with no crosshair to work from. Some ordinary Necromorphs can also survive if the shot catches a limb right at the edge of the weapon's hitbox.

The Pregnant behaves in opposite ways across the two games. In Dead Space 2 it is impossible to kill one without making it release its payload, whether the shot lands on an arm, a leg, or a body already damaged. In the 2023 remake it will not release the payload at all, even aimed straight at the belly.

Notable targets#

In Dead Space 2 the shots have an area of effect about the size of a Ripper blade, enough to blow off both of the Ubermorph's legs with one hit to the lower torso. The Tripod inside the Titan Station Church of Unitology can be killed by shooting it around twenty times in the stomach rather than the tongue. The final boss takes two shots: one direct hit on the Nicole vision, one on the Site 12 Marker's heart.

Quirks#

Switching weapons briefly shows the Hand Cannon carrying four bullets despite the ammunition being infinite. Firing it too fast for too long stops the controller vibrating, which fixes itself once the weapon gets a break.

Despite being technically upgradable it does not count toward the "Fully Loaded" achievement, and it is not needed for "The Sampler Platter" either.

Isaac is meant to be the one shouting, but firing in a vacuum blurs the gun sounds in a way that suggests they come from the weapon instead. Chapter 7, during the solar panel realignment, makes this easy to test: Isaac holds a perfectly normal conversation with Ellie while the gun noises come out muffled. It may simply have been overlooked.

In Dead Space 2: Severed the weapon still uses Gunner Wright's voice rather than Ramon Tikaram's, so Gabe Weller shouts in Isaac's voice, and its secondary fire makes Gabe flail his arms on every shot while primary fire behaves normally. Dead Space 3 repeats the trick with the Devil Horns, which also use Wright's voice whether the player is Isaac or John Carver. Outside the series, the Hand Cannon shows up in PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale as one of Isaac's taunts, unlocked at rank 40.