History Main / EmergencyWeapon

* Samus' Power Beam was quickly obsoleted in many a ''{{Metroid}}'' game, especially the ''[[MetroidPrime 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 Emergency Weapon. Of course, the three Luminoth weapons can still fire without ammo by charging a shot, thus keeping Samus from being locked out of any doors. Ammo is required for those three weapons to regain full functionality, however.
** Samus also had a literal Emergency Pistol in Zero Mission that she uses during the UnexpectedGameplayChange 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 [[LampshadeHanging hangs a giant lampshade]] on its ineffectiveness in a cutscene.

*** You'd think she would be better suited to just [[PistolWhipping bash the Pirates over the head with the silly thing]]. Apparently she came to the same conclusion herself by the time of ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Brawl.''
** 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 power-up; 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.

** And it comes all the way around to awesome once again in ''MegaManStarForce 2''. The BusterMax 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.

* ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonor: Airborne'' and the 2010 reboot do the same. Warfighter extends this to the entire secondary slot, which now includes shotguns and submachine guns. It also lets you stomp on enemies during your parachute descent, making you lethal before your feet even touch the ground. ''VideoGame/{{Section 8}}'', which has all players drop in from orbit when they spawn, does much the same.

** In the first mission in ''Original Generation'', the only character under the player's control is a mech with no weapons (it was a test run that got interrupted), which must kill eight enemies. However, since the pilot is [[{{Badass}} Elzam]], this is easier than it sounds.

* ''VideoGame/RainbowSix: Lockdown'' and the ''Vegas'' games feature pistols with infinite magazines (although limited shots per magazines), but considering the fact that in ''Vegas'' 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 [[CripplingOverspecialization over-specialize]] one of them). Though it does make you look much more BadAss.

* In ''VideoGame/ShadowWarrior2013'', Lo Wang's WeaponOfChoice is his favourite katana. Rather than simply being something you pull out as a last resort when you run out of ammo, the katana makes for a very potent primary weapon as it can be upgraded to deal more damage and is also capable of powerful KiAttacks as Lo Wang grows in strength. There's a more powerful demon-slaying katana, the Nobitsura Kage, up for grabs too.

* In the first ''AlienVsPredator'' 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.

* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' has a different melee weapon for every single class - A [[BatterUp baseball bat]] for the Scout, an [[ShovelStrike entrenchment shovel]] for the Soldier, a [[PercussiveMaintenance wrench]] for the Engineer, a ButterflyKnife for the Spy, a {{Kukri|sAreKool}} for the Sniper, a bonesaw for the Medic, a [[GrievousBottleyHarm whiskey bottle]] for the Demoman, a [[AxeCrazy fire axe]] for the Pyro, and [[GoodOldFisticuffs bare fists]] for the Heavy. The 'unlockables' added in subsequent patches provide alternative melee weaponry on top of these.

** ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'' also has the Gravity Gun, which has infinite uses and [[WreakingHavok can turn any loose object in the environment into a lethal projectile]], from boxes, oil drums, old tires, and iron stakes to giant buzzsaw blades, exploding barrels, and enemy grenades. Quite a fun weapon! Buzzsaw blades are particularly useful for bisecting crowds of zombies with one attack.

* Unlike most FPS games, ''VideoGame/BioShock1'''s wrench is arguably the most useful weapon in the game. With the proper upgrades, it allows you to effortlessly kill Big Daddies as well.

* In ''VideoGame/BioShock2'', 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... but unlike the melee option in the first game, it requires fuel. Played straight with each weapon's pistol whipping functionality, a quick melee strike that can be performed with any weapon minus the Research Camera.

** This is carried over into ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' 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.

[[quoteright:228: [[VideoGame/ChexQuest http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/emergency-weapon_bootspoon2_8469.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:228:One of the few times [[TheTick SPOON!!]] is an appropriate battle cry.]]

* Sports equipment, particularly [[BatterUp baseball bats]] or [[GolfClubbing golf clubs]].

* [[KnifeNut Knives]], or if you're really lucky, a CoolSword.
* [[ChainsawGood Chainsaws]], on occasions where they have unlimited fuel, though these often tend to be quite useful beyond just being an Emergency Weapon.

* ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' actually includes two melee weapons: plain old fists, and a powerful [[ChainsawGood chainsaw]]. It also includes [[QuadDamage Berserk Packs]] which make your punches ten times stronger, enough to [[LudicrousGibs instantly gib]] smaller enemies.

** ''VideoGame/{{Halo 2}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Halo 3}}'' have weapons that only function in melee (specifically, an [[LaserBlade energy sword]] and a [[DropTheHammer gravity hammer]]), but they have limited energy. Both are still usable as blunt objects once they run out, but the sword is no longer a near-instant kill and the hammer loses both its power and knock-back ability.

* The ''VideoGame/HalfLife'' series has the crowbar for every game except ''Opposing Force'', which gives you a slower but more powerful pipe wrench, and later a combat knife that works just like the crowbar.
* ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'' also has the Gravity Gun, which has infinite uses and [[WreakingHavok can turn any loose object in the environment into a lethal projectile]], from boxes, oil drums, old tires, and iron stakes to giant buzzsaw blades, exploding barrels, and enemy grenades. Quite a fun weapon! Buzzsaw blades are particularly useful for bisecting crowds of zombies with one attack.
* ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' has the inventive solution of letting you [[PistolWhipping use your guns as melee weapons]]; a melee attack dealt to a sleeping or unaware enemy is a OneHitKill. This has become somewhat popular in games such as ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar'', where your main gun has a built-in [[ChainsawGood chainsaw]] ''[[BayonetYa bayonet]]'' for just this purpose. Also found in the earlier ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' games.
* ''VideoGame/{{Halo 2}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Halo 3}}'' have weapons that only function in melee (specifically, an [[LaserBlade energy sword]] and a [[DropTheHammer gravity hammer]]), but they have limited energy. Both are still usable as blunt objects once they run out, but the sword is no longer a near-instant kill and the hammer loses its knock-back ability.

* The Snub Pistol from ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar'' is rather bad, unless you're skillful enough to fire all shots into an enemy to down them. Because of that, it's rather impractical to use unless you swap it for [[RevolversAreJustBetter Boltok]].

* In the ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare'' games, ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDuty World At War]]'', and ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps'', the knife is meant for when you find yourself in melee situations. Since it's an instant kill, however, many people just run around the battlefield using it as their primary weapon. Combine this with the Commando Perk(allows longer melee range), Tactical Knife (faster melee speed), and Lightwight (faster character speed) in [=MW2=] and you have what is arguably a GameBreaker.

[[folder:First Person Shooter]]

* ''Doom 3''

* ''BinaryDomain'' gives you the infinite-ammo sidearm - a simple semi-auto pistol. It's fairly useful even when other guns are available - if you're only facing a few standard mooks, downing them with a few pistol headshots lets you save up ammo for the big guns. And if you haven't upgraded the assault rifle's precision, and don't have a sniper weapon as your secondary, the pistol is also the most precise weapon at your disposal.

** And then there are [[VendorTrash grey weapons]]. Some classes (like rogues) rely on having a certain kind of weapon. If the raid's having a bad night, or the player is just out of it, their weapon can break, and then they can't use those special "must have an X equipped" abilities. In these times of desperation, a grey dagger can be better than having nothing. Note that you may encounter approximately one or two of these moments in your entire WoW career.

* ''AmericanMcGeesAlice'' 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.

* ''VideoGame/{{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.

** Starting from the second game onward, there is the Type-07 Film. It's the weakest of the film types, but you have an infinite supply of it; this makes it a good film to use when snapping at the [[GuideDangeIt many, many hidden and vanishing ghosts]] in the game and it's still around, even if you have used up all your stronger films.

* The first ''SyphonFilter'' 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 Emergency Weapon too damn useful, so they changed it to a combat knife in later games. [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks And killed all the fun.]]

* In ''Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold'' you start off with the Auto Charge Pistol. It's very weak and can only fire one shot at a time, but it automatically recharges (giving effectively infinite ammo) and has stealth capability (firing it does not alert other enemies).

* ''{{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.

* In ''VideoGame/{{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... but unlike the melee option in the first game, it requires fuel. Played straight with each weapon's pistol whipping functionality, a quick melee strike that can be performed with any weapon minus the Research Camera.

* Unlike most FPS games, ''Franchise/{{BioShock}}'''s wrench is arguably the most useful weapon in the game. With the proper upgrades, it allows you to effortlessly kill Big Daddies as well.

* Ein, the hero of ''RivieraThePromisedLand'' possesses a Diviner, an unbreakable mystical weapon which grows in strength with its user. He can use it as a powerful holy sword if he doesn't want to use one of the BreakableWeapons made by mortals; the other party members can use it as a rather ineffective throwing weapon in emergencies. If you play right, you can gain the Diviners of two other Grim Angels as well; like your own, they are unbreakable and can only be used effectively by Ein.

* ''RedDeadRedemption'' 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.