Dead Space: How to Get the Backbreaker Trophy and Achievement

In the 2023 Dead Space Remake, your melee attacks are generally there to break crates or knock the last bit of loot out of a fresh corpse. Necromorphs are undead monsters made from 50% knife parts, so only the foolish or the desperate would want to run up and punch one in its face. To unlock the Backbreaker trophy and achievement, however, you have to do just that. Here’s what you need to know.

Dead Space Remake Backbreaker Trophy and Achievement Explained

Screenshot by GameSkinny

The first thing to keep in mind is that getting this trophy on PlayStation 5 or achievement on Xbox Series X|S or PC isn’t as difficult as it looks. It just requires you to go against your first instinct.

To get the Backbreaker trophy or achievement, you have to kill 10 enemies with a stomp. By default, this is mapped to the Space bar on PC, R2 on PS5, and RT on Xbox. Like your other unarmed attack, the pistol whip, this only comes out if you press the corresponding button without your gun being readied.

Screenshot by GameSkinny

The stomp, as you may have noticed, does very little damage to a standard necromorph. While it’s theoretically possible to kill a single, typical Slasher by freezing it with stasis, then grinding it into the floor tiles, it’d take a while, and you’d probably have to burn at least one stasis pack in the process.

Instead, the “proper” way to curb stomp a necromorph to death is to grind it down with gunfire (from the Plasma Cutter, for example), then finish it off with your boots. This is best done against rank-and-file Slashers, which have low enough health pools to make it a realistic combat option, particularly on easier difficulties.

Of the other common necromorph types, Exploders are right out for obvious reasons; Guardians can’t be stomped, since they’re stuck to walls; Lurkers tend to die before they hit the floor (but are perfect stomp targets if they are grounded); Leapers are best dealt with at extreme long range; and since Pregnants explode into Swarmers when they die, you don’t want to be that close at the time.

Screenshot by GameSkinny

The remake also adds in occasional encounters with severed Divider heads (above), which didn’t show up on their own in the original version of Dead Space. Divider heads first show up toward the end of Chapter 4 as you’re heading back to the bridge from the Asteroid Defense System. One can die to a single stomp attack if you time it right, which makes them perfect to farm for Backbreaker.

If you’re sticking with Slashers, however, use your Plasma Cutter to take off their legs. Many Slashers will still be alive after this, particularly early in the game before you start stacking damage modifiers onto the Cutter.

At this point, hit them with stasis, then finish them off with a few good kicks. Each time one of them keels over from the stomp damage, you’ll be 10% closer to unlocking the Backbreaker trophy or achievement in Dead Space.

In the late game, when your weapons pack a little more punch and/or inflict a damage-over-time effect, it can be difficult to get them to the point where a stomp will kill them. Fortunately, you’ll still be able to crush Divider heads to get the Backbreaker trophy/achievement to unlock.

Featured image by GameSkinny.