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{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|''"...While this may not be the case of every 3D game out there, the overwhelming majority feel the need to equip you with an axe, a chainsaw, a cleaver, a dagger, a @!#%'n tuba, I don't care. All these games give you a '''something''' when you're out of ammo. I don't know why. Whatever happened to being a p***y and kicking dirt like I do?"''
|Reason #1 as to why 3D games are not like real life, ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v{{=}}4kp_CkH5AKM 3D Games - Realistic My Ass]''.}}
The problem with having [[Breakable Weapons]] (or non-[[Bottomless Magazines]]) is that, if you run out of weapons, the game becomes practically [[Unwinnable]]. To work around this, many developers are nice enough to give you a weapon with unlimited ammo to use in case of emergencies. It may not be as flashy or powerful as your main arsenal, but it's there when you need to get out of a jam.
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* [[Good Old Fisticuffs|Fists (occasionally a kick.)]]
* [[Knife Nut|Knives]], or if you're really lucky, a [[Cool Sword]].
* [[Chainsaw Good|Chainsaws]], on occasions where they have unlimited fuel, though these often tend to be quite useful beyond just being an
* A weak gun, either with infinite ammo or the ability to fire [[Vendor Trash|random litter]].
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This can be averted with [[Boss Arena Recovery]], allowing the player to restock their weapons/ammunition midbattle.
{{examples}}▼
▲{{examples}}
== First Person Shooter ==
* Many [[First-Person Shooter]] games have a unique melee weapon - often a [[Improvised Weapon|random object]] that the protagonist uses like a club - which becomes iconic for the series, such as the crowbar from ''[[Half-Life]]''
* ''[[Doom]]'' actually includes two melee weapons: plain old fists, and a powerful [[Chainsaw Good|chainsaw]]. It also includes [[Quad Damage|Berserk Packs]] which make your punches ten times stronger, enough to [[Ludicrous Gibs|instantly gib]] smaller enemies. ''Doom 3'' has a similar powerup for the fists, but in addition to killing enemies instantly, it also slowed down time and made you invincible. Of course, it was only available twice in the ''entire game'', and it was accompanied by some rather disturbing screaming.
** ''Doom 3'' also adds the flashlight, which deals twice as much damage as the fists and actually [[Who Forgot the Lights?|lets you see what you're doing]], but swings twice as slowly (and, in the PC version, has shorter range). ''Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil'' adds the Grabber, which can be used to grab barrels, crates, and even most enemy projectiles and fire them back at the sender, and in addition its Soul Cube analogue gives the same bonuses as the above-mentioned powerup from the base game, depending on how many of the Hunters you've killed.
* [[Chex Quest]], based on the Doom engine, has the "Boot Spoon", pictured above, which can do some Zorch damage to enemies when used. Being a game about cereal, it makes sense... kinda.
* In ''[[Hexen]]'', each of the classes has a different infinite-ammo starting weapon. The Mage is unique because his Sapphire Wand is a ranged weapon - an infinite-range hitscan weapon which pierces enemies, at that. In many cases, it is more useful than his spells.
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* The ''[[Rainbow Six]]: Vegas'' series features pistols with infinite magazines (although limited shots per magazines), but considering the fact that you can carry two 'primary' weapons with upwards of ''ten'' full magazines for each, there's really no excuse for running out of ammo (unless you [[Crippling Overspecialization|over-specialize]] one of them). Though it does make you look much more [[Badass]].
** As do ''[[Medal of Honor]]: Airborne'' and the 2010 reboot.
** ''Airborne'' also lets you stomp on enemies during your parachute descent, making you lethal before your feet even touch the ground. ''[[Section 8 (video game)]]'', which has all players drop in from orbit when they spawn, does much the same.
* The ''[[Half-Life (
* ''[[
* ''[[Halo]]'' has the inventive solution of letting you [[Pistol
** ''[[Halo]]'' 2 and 3 have weapons that only function in melee (specifically, an [[Laser Blade|energy sword]] and a [[Drop the Hammer|gravity hammer]]), but they have limited energy. The sword becomes completely useless when depleted, and the hammer (while still usable as a simple blunt object) loses its knock-back ability.
*** In ''[[Halo]]'' 2 and 3, you can use your regular melee, and he will be holding the hilt of the sword, so it is still a blunt object.
* In ''Darkwatch'', ''every'' weapon had some bladed or spiked component to allow it to be used in melee.
** For those few situations where a bayonet will not do, [http://forum.pafoa.org/gun-pictures-24/10037-cz-75-sp-01-tactical.html breech teeth].
* In ''[[
** A karate chop to the back of the neck is more powerful than any other single attack in the game, with the exception of the [[One-Hit Kill|Golden Gun]] of course.
** In its spiritual successor, ''[[
* Some newer games are providing very useful backup melee attacks. ''[[
* In ''[[Painkiller]]'', the emergency weapon is the titular Painkiller. It's actually quite
** Its "combo" attack (launching the blade extended and spinning at low speed) has even higher damage and pierces shields and armor, though it's too slow for anything but sniping. The Painkiller's also the preferred weapon for corpse juggling, which can shake gems out of defeated enemies to give you some extra gold.
* ''[[
** Inverted with the Spy class however: the Spy's ability to [[Back Stab]] makes the butterfly knife his primary weapon most of the time, while his [[Revolvers Are Just Better|Revolver]], while still powerful, is the
** Indeed, the unlockables in the game can end up being that character's secondary or even primary weapon! For example, the "DemoKnight", in which the Demoman trades in his Bottle for various [[Heroes Prefer Swords|swords]], his Stickybomb Launcher for a [[Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me|shield]] which grants him a [[Foe-Tossing Charge]], and sometimes even his [[Grenade Launcher]] for [[Tricked
*** It seems the game is deliberately programmed to enforce this trope: one of the Spy's unlockable weapons is an icicle that, when the Spy is lit on fire, melts to grant the Spy immunity to fire for two seconds. Normally the icicle takes an additional 13 seconds to regenerate, but in Medieval Mode, where the Spy has no other weapon slots, the icicle regenerates instantly.
* ''[[
** Not to mention being a one-hit kill when used in combination with the shrink weapon - squish is the byword.
* ''[[Serious Sam]]'' starts the player off with an [[Lethal Joke Weapon|incredibly powerful knife]] and a rather less powerful infinite-ammo revolver.
* ''[[Star Wars: Dark Forces
* The difference between ''[[
** With correct augments (combat strength, bullet resistance, fast running, etc) this trope is subverted and they become very, very, VERY deadly. Not many games let you frontal charge an assault bot armed with miniguns and rockets with a sword-and win. Comfortably and easily.
* ''[[Deus Ex: Human Revolution
* In ''[[
* The ''[[
** ''[[
* Quake II provides the blaster which, despite being an "advanced technology" energy weapon, is quite weak. (The Hyperblaster, which ''isn't'' an emergency weapon in that it actually hungrily uses up ammunition, is a much more useful variant that emits the same plasma bolts, but at a much higher rate than the Blaster.)
* Unlike most FPS games, ''[[
* Same with ''[[
** In System Shock 2, learning to properly use the wrench is actually a requisite of completing the [[Harder Than Hard|Impossible]] setting as buying upgrades becomes prohibitively expensive in cyber modules (making energy or exotic weapon skill an utter folly to pursue), enemies can take more damage than ever before, specialized ammo supplies dwindle to a trickle (especially precious armor-piercing bullets) and vending machine prices for extra ammo will make you think twice about spending your nanites like they're going out of style.
* ''[[Prey]]'' gives you both a pipe wrench and an alien hybrid machine gun/sniper rifle that can slowly recharge one clip worth of ammo when you run out.
* ''[[Star Wars]]: [[Republic Commando]]'' has melee attacks associated with every weapon via the melee quick-hit button. The default Commando-issue [[Swiss Army Weapon|Swiss Army Rifle]] includes a deadly strike with the [[Blade Below the Shoulder|retractable blade in the left glove]], while other weapons resort to [[Pistol
* The starting weapon in ''[[Far Cry]] 2'' is an enormous machete the [[Big Bad]] slammed into the wall just above your head. Any attack from stealth with it will either kill or critically wound the target, but they'll usually shout and give away your position before they die.
* ''[[Crysis (
** In Strength Mode, you can also throw barrels/crates, debris, and even [[Grievous Harm
** ''Crysis 2'' does away with having fists in a melee weapon slot, but combines more functions into the quick-hit button. Tapping it deals a regular punch, holding it down launches a Strength Mode kick (Strength Mode is no longer a separate suit mode), and pressing it while behind an enemy deals an instant-kill [[Back Stab]].
* ''[[Command
* ''[[
* [[Heretic]] gives you a wooden staff you can poke enemies with and the much more useful ''Gauntlets of the Necromancer'' which can electrocute enemies at close range.
* ''[[Left 4 Dead]]'' has a pistol as your backup weapon that has unlimited ammo and it's the only weapon that you can use if you are downed. Grabbing a second pistol gives you [[Guns Akimbo]].
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== Third Person Shooter ==
* ''[[
* ''[[Oni]]'' has limited ammunition available for guns (even though there are only two ammo types overall), and some later bosses are resistant to them. This isn't much of a problem, though, as the hand-to-hand fighting is typically the focus of combat, anyway.
* On the two easier modes of the ''[[Crusader:
* The wrench from [[Ratchet and Clank]] not only has unlimited uses but boomerangs when thrown and when properly upgraded is described as the most deadly weapon in the galaxy.
* The ''[[Tomb Raider]]'' series has Lara with her defaul dual Pistols that have unlimited ammo, which is used mainly as a backup weapon halfway through the game once you collect other guns and ammo. It's the weakest weapon.
* In [[Psi
* The first ''[[Syphon Filter]]'' had the Air Taser, which uses no ammo, had long range, counted as a silent weapon (unless the enemy starts screaming when they get lit on fire), and is pretty much an instant kill if it latches on any part of the enemy's body. The developers seem to have realized how they've made the
** ...Though they did include it as an [[Infinity+1 Sword|unlockable weapon]] in at least one of the later games. One of the rare cases of a weapon appearing on BOTH ends of the spectrum. Oh, and the by the way: "long range" means technically ''infinite''. The game is also nice enough to tell you when you're aiming at someone's head, so that street with a bunch of snipers just waiting for you to walk down becomes trivial when you realize you can sit far beyond their engagement range and fiddle with your aiming until you ''light them on fire''.
* In ''[[Jet Force Gemini]]'', your basic weapon is the Jet Force pistol. It's weak, can only be fired 5 or so times before needing to pause, and has limited ammo. But if you run out, it can still fire an infinite supply of emergency pellets, which are even weaker.
* ''[[Metal Arms]]: Glitch in the System''. The starting weapon is the recharging "mining laser", and even fully upgraded, it's only slightly better than useless. And even that's better than Glitch's weak Melee.
* In the first ''[[Max Payne (
== Action ==
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* In ''[[Silhouette Mirage]]'', all of your attacks require Spirit. IF you run out of Spirit, your equipped parasite will be consumed to regain 100 points. If it was your last parasite, you will be given a Sloth (basic shot) parasite as well - however, this only happens ''once''; run out of spirit with just a Sloth left and you're screwed. This is considerably more annoying in the American version, where Spirit is your [[Mana Meter]], than in the Japanese, where Spirit was only drained by enemy attacks. Although they ''did'' grant a mercy that when you were stuck with the Sloth, you never lost it.
* The arcade game ''Narc'' switched you from automatic fire to semiautomatic if you ran out of ammo, cutting your firing speed in half.
* The ''[[
* Similiarly, ''Abuse'''s base weapon, a simple repeating laser rifle, uses ammo to increase its firing rate (up to several hundred units) rather than to shoot at all. If its ammo falls to zero, it just shoots less quickly.
* Later iterations of the ''[[
* The console ports of ''[[Ikaruga]]'' offer a "Prototype Mode" in which you have limited shots. If you use up those shots, you switch out for weaker shots that are only effective at point blank.
* ''Punisher'', 2005 game has 'Instant Kills'. Grab an enemy, horribly dispose of them and take their guns. Sometimes with a knife to the face. Oddly, face/knife is possible early on in the Ryker's Prison section. Someone forgot to search Frank.
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== Action Adventure ==
* ''[[
** It can also be used as a boomerang.
* Samus' Power Beam was quickly obsoleted in many a ''[[Metroid]]'' game, especially the [[Metroid Prime|Prime]]s, as you got upgrades. In Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, the Luminoth beam weapons required energy sources alien to Samus' Power Suit, thus turning the Power Beam into the
** Samus also had a literal Emergency Pistol in Zero Mission that she uses during the [[Unexpected Gameplay Change]] stealth sequence during which she's lost her power suit. It's only able to stun enemies, and for exceptionally short periods at that; Samus herself [[Lampshade Hanging|hangs a giant lampshade]] on its ineffectiveness in a cutscene.
{{quote|
*** You'd think she would be better suited to just [[Pistol
** In the original ''Metroid'', all of the bosses could be harmed with your regular beam in case you ran out of missiles (with the exception of metroids, but they always gave you missiles when you killed them). In fact, Kraid {{spoiler|is particularly weak against ''morph ball bombs''}}. The later games are able to mix it up thanks to the Charge Beam powerup; bosses take no damage from uncharged beam shots, while charged shots are just as strong as missiles but take a second or two to actually charge up.
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== Platformer ==
* ''[[Mega Man (
** Note that the Mega Buster actually becomes ''more'' useful than some boss weapons in later games, once the [[Charged Attack|charge-shot ability]] was introduced in ''[[Mega Man (
* ''[[Harry Potter]]'' video games have introduced the Flippendo knockback jinx, a basic attack spell which consumes no [[Mana]].
* ''[[American McGee's Alice]]'' gives you the Vorpal Blade, a kitchen knife that can be used as a melee weapon or thrown, after which it will reappear in your hand several seconds later. It is the only weapon that uses no Willpower for either attack.
* ''[[Earthworm Jim (
== Role-Playing Game ==
* In ''[[
* ''[[Summon Night]]: Swordcraft Story'' lets you use your forging hammer if all of your [[Item Crafting|forged weapons]] break.
* ''[[Pokémon]]'' have limited uses for all of their moves. If they run out, they can resort to Struggle, which does little damage and costs HP. Also comes into play when the opponent uses Encore, which only allows the use of the last used move. Once that move runs out, Struggle ensues.
* ''[[
** ''Battle Network 6'', or at least the [[One Game for
** And it comes all the way around to awesome once again in ''[[Mega Man Star Force]] 2''. The [[Buster Max]] giga card (the most powerful type of card, of which you can only use one at any given time) turns the Buster into the game equivalent of a gatling gun that can chew anything in your path into little tiny crunchy bits.
* Ein, the hero of ''[[Riviera:
** The Diviners of the other two Grim Angels are acquirable, however, they are one use items, as according to the game's lore, only the Angel for which a Diviner was made can use it effectively.
** ''[[Knights in The Nightmare]]'' requires weapons to be equipped to do any sort of damage, but the Knights can also perform a very weak attack without a weapon to refill the [[Limit Break]] bar which is, of course, required to Break Out with a weapon.
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* In the ''Total War'' series, archers and most other ranged units will pull out a knife when out of ammo. Needless to say, they're totally useless at that point. However, some ranged units will pull out swords and are rather well-trained at using them or just so heavily-armored to the point where they can just hold off the enemy with pure defense.
* In ''[[Pikmin]]'', Olimar had a very weak punch that could slightly damage and distract enemies. The second game introduced the Rocket Punch for better damage.
** This is carried over into [[Super Smash Bros.]] Most of Olimar's moves requires him to use a Pikmin to actually strike the foe, though he does have a (very few) weak melee attacks that don't use Pikmen.
* ''[[Sword of the Stars]]'' has surface-to-orbit missiles. While they might destroy lone scouts or even small groups of starships that are [[Point Defenseless]], they become much less useful once the enemy either has sufficient point defence or [[We Have Reserves|brings enough spares]] to the battle. No substitute for a proper battle fleet, they are.
* Units in the ''[[Super Robot Wars]] Original Generation'' may or may not come with a ''useful'' no-energy no-ammo attack (if nothing else, for example, a Grungust can always [[Rocket Punch]]). If they don't, you can bet they'll come with either the option to perform a generic Attack (basically, bodyslamming the enemy), or head-mounted short-range vulcan cannons with unlimited ammo (one of many, many [[Shout
== Other ==
* Should Jack run out of spears in ''[[
* In 4/fA, the Hanger ability becomes a set, permanent ability, with a catch: NEXTs with tank-type legs have no restriction in hangar weapons, meaning that carrying grenade launchers with gatling gun backups is perfectly valid option (obviously, barring weight restrictions).
* In ''Beat Blades Haruka'', the characters have attacks that require no energy to use. However, they're very inaccurate and will only ever inflict 1 damage whenever they do hit, meaning that if you ever run out energy for normal attacks, [[Literal Metaphor|you're pretty]] [[H
* ''Driv3r'' - Tanner's 17-bullet-per-mag [[AKA
* In fourth edition ''[[Dungeons
== Real Life ==
* Mag-Lite brand flashlights were the makeshift melee weapon of choice for both law enforcement and criminals alike, especially biker gangs such as the Hells Angels. There have indeed been incidents where Angels and their rivals were seen bludgeoning each other to pulp with Mag-Lites no thanks to their all-metal construction. They were however banned by some law enforcement units due to incidents of police brutality using Mag-Lites. That being said, one could just simply flash a Mag-Lite on a perp to temporarily blind him and thus buy time to make a quick escape.
* While ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'' does include melee attacks, most bosses can only be harmed by heavy weapons (or, in one case, a [[Beat Them At Their Own Game|sniper rifle]]). To help out, infinitely respawning ammo pickups are placed in the boss arenas.
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** Unless you spend an obscene amount of time, points, and tools to increase the strength of the club. While the lack of range remains a problem, it can become ridiculously overpowered.
*** Due to its swinging in an arc, and having little recovery time the Tonfa was very spammable, and was probably the most effective weapon vs [[Goddamn Bats]].
* In ''[[Dead Space (
** The melee attacks with your "guns" (read: hastily modified power tools with their safeties disabled) are not that useful, but Isaac's ground stomp can SEVER LIMBS from prone enemies! He must work out in high gravity.
*** Plus it's a fantastic stress relief to just stomp those monstrosities into necromorph pulp with those heavy boots.
* This is what melee weapons are for the Hunter class in ''[[World of Warcraft]]'', as well as the Raptor Strike ability (a melee attack that deals more damage). Once you start getting melee weapons that increase attributes and stats, you're best off with those that boost ranged combat, your primary role/attack form.
* In ''[[
* In the ''[[Twisted Metal]]'' series, the
* In all ''[[Fallout]]'' games, if push comes to shove (literally) you can always switch to fists (and kicks in ''F1'', ''F2'' and ''Tactics''). Of course, some characters fight with their fists anyway, and there are plenty of spiked knuckles and other melee weapons available.
** Note that ''Fallout 3'' and ''Fallout New Vegas'' are the only games in the series where items can get damaged. This means that in previous games, melee weapons that don't consume ammo are always usable. And some of them can kill a super-mutant in a few slashes, if your character is built properly for that. This also means that Unarmed Masters avoid much of the hassle of collecting and carrying ammo at all, although some of the [[Power Fist|best]] fist-weapons do use electric ammo for that [[Incredibly Lame Pun|extra punch]].
** ''Fallout New Vegas'' also introduces special unarmed techniques, granted as rewards for a few unmarked quests (except the Kahn Trick, which is a reward for a marked quest), and only one of them requires any points invested in the unarmed skill. Some of the more useful ones are those that can buy you time to rearm yourself, such as the Ranger Takedown (knock-down effect), or the aforementioned Kahn Trick (stun effect), making your bare fists a more useful emergency weapon.
** In the "Operation Anchorage" DLC quest, you lose all your equipment (since you're in a simulation) and have only a knife and a weak gun to start with - you have to find other weapons if you want to use them. Halfway through you reach your HQ, lose all your weapons and can then requisition a weapons package suited to your skills, most of which contain one main weapon and one weaker emergency weapon. However you rarely need to use them, since there are several bottomless ammo dispensers placed everywhere.
** [[Fallout: New Vegas]]: Also gives you [http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Recharger_pistol Recharger pistol] and recharger rifle which don't require ammo (but can still break)
* In the first ''[[Alien vs. Predator]]'' game for the PC, if you ran out of weapons for all of your guns you ended up using your pulse rifle as a club. The exception is the fact that, given the type of enemy you face in the game, if it comes down to that you're pretty much screwed already.
** The second replaced this with a knife, which was about as useful as you'd expect. The most recent addition to the series gives you an infinite-ammo pistol, which is generally enough to fight off a single Alien, but not much more.
* The Vulcan Cannon in the original ''[[Descent]]''. It recieved a [[Game Breaker|game-breaking]] upgrade in ''II'' with the Gauss Cannon, but was once again [[Nerf
** To a greater extent, the Flare. Since you can run out of energy for your energy weapons and ammo for the above, launching flares(horribly slow without energy) will always do one point of damage.
* In the ''[[Modern Warfare]]'' games, ''[[Call of Duty|World At War]]'', and ''[[Call of Duty: Black Ops
* In Bioshock 2, your Drill can be ludicrously useful. With the right Gene Tonics and all upgrades, you can drain health, freeze enemies, and even reflect projectiles with your drill. Played straight with each weapon's pistol whipping functionality, a quick melee strike that can be performed with any weapon, minus the Research Camera.
* ''[[Red Dead Redemption]]'' gives you a knife and your fists as emergency weapons when you run out of ammo, but since Marston is carrying 30 guns on his person at all times this is unlikely to happen.
* While [[
{{reflist}}
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[[Category:Weapons and Wielding Tropes]]
[[Category:Emergency Weapon]]
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