"And Only Two Weapons! WTF?!"

[Pandaman1911]

I was thinking about this the other day- a common complaint about modern FPS games is that you can only carry two weapons at a time, and back in the Doom era, and with games like Painkiller, you can have an obscene amount of weapons. I began to question this logic- because I thought about how I played these games.
For the majority of the time, I used two weapons. I used the pump-action shotgun on the majority of targets, turning imps into paste with a line of lead. Everything up to a Baron of Hell on the "oh shit" list got a shell sandwich. For situations where a pump-action weapons wouldn't do the trick, I pulled out the chaingun, and waved my arm around the crowded room until my problems stopped moving. And for the occasional situation where a different weapon needed to be used (the room was filled with Barons, there's a Cyberdemon looking at me lustily), I would take out the weapon that fitted the need. And with most modern games, if there's a situation where you need a different weapon (the room is filled with Japanese Banzai troops, there's a tank looking at you lustily), there's usually that weapon for you to pick up beforehand. (A shotgun and some breed of explosive device, respectively.) So I pose THIS question to you, Gamers of The Escapist...

Do I play old games wrong? Am I supposed to use the Plasma Gun on the masses, does the rocket launcher have an application on the lone Shotgun grunt? Or did anyone else play like me, where a modern FPS is hardly different from Doom in terms of weapon selection?

 

[GiantRaven]

I much prefer being able to carry less weapons than there are in the game. It requires a conscious strategic choice as to what a given player feels it the right weapon for the current (and upcoming) situation(s).

 

[Outright Villainy]

Well, it depends on the game, but more importantly for me, the platform.

On pc I have buttons everywhere, and a few on my mouse as well, so changing between many weapons is simple. So a game like half life 2 is much more fun because of all the weapons I can cycle though instantly for any sitation, hopping from blasting guys with shotguns, to deftly picking up their grenades with the gravity gun and throwing it back, to immediately tossing one of my own for good measure. That shit is fun.

On console however, there's no real way of selecting a weapon efficiently (the weapon wheel works well enough I think, but real time is incredibly frustrating, and paused breaks flow), so in that case I just stick to the one or two guns.

I imagine this is a factor in what started the trend in halo, to gear shooters as more console driven. Relying more on cover/pop out tactics with regenerating health also suits consoles more than the plough through waves of dudes with precision poing 'n' click death.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

Hi!

Shotgun/Rocket DOOM player here.

Shotgun the weaklings. Stand back and Rocket everything (and including) above a Caco.

I don't mind 2 weapons at all. Even in Resistance 1, most weapons were situational. Bullseye raped everything else.

 

[Calcium]

Being restricted to only two weapons can give an element of choice. Go with a rocket launcher that guarantees a few easy kills, or pick up a more balanced weapon. Will what's coming up be a good position to snipe, or would I be better suited to shotgun?

In RPG's carrying multiple weapons can seem less immersive, depending how deep you want to go into the role-playing. Even so, I never used all the weapons in Oblivion, and in games where I can have multiple guns (or even only two) then I usually stick with what suits my play style best or whichever is my favourite. I certainly try all the guns till I've worked that out, but I don't think it's playing wrong to restrict yourself to weapons you like best.

 

[smeghead25]

Go play Ratchet & Clank or Resistance 1. You'll soon see why having a large arsenal ready to use whenever you feel like it is such a fantastic way to play. It's just fun. In games likeHalo and CoD I spend five minutes just deciding which gun to take....... every time I die. Chances are you'll only use 2 for the encounter even with the huge arsenal. Just makes it easier and breaks the game up less if you have a weapon wheel.

Oh and Unreal Tourny's multiplayer is awesome because of it.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

On console however, there's no real way of selecting a weapon efficiently (the weapon wheel works well enough I think, but real time is incredibly frustrating, and paused breaks flow), so in that case I just stick to the one or two guns.

D-pad wheel? It's as fast as using as numpad on a PC shooter, to me at least. I tend to stick with the default binding on PC, aside from anything that requires [ or ].Or whatever you mapped them to. 3 quick taps for the.

Orange Box on consoles even had a gravity gun button, aside from the wheel, just to instantly select the GG.

You can see it in this video in the first few seconds.

 

[Outright Villainy]

On console however, there's no real way of selecting a weapon efficiently (the weapon wheel works well enough I think, but real time is incredibly frustrating, and paused breaks flow), so in that case I just stick to the one or two guns.

D-pad wheel? It's as fast as using as numpad on a PC shooter, to me at least. I tend to stick with the default binding on PC, aside from anything that requires [ or ].Or whatever you mapped them to. 3 quick taps for the.

Orange Box on consoles even had a gravity gun button, aside from the wheel, just to instantly select the GG.

You can see it in this video in the first few seconds.

Yeah, the tapping 3 times, along with taking your hand off the stick would just irk me I guess.

I'd use 2 extra buttons on the mouse, scroll wheel up, scroll wheel down (which don't scroll, rather pick specific weapons. Scrolling is to imprecise in thick combat), q and f.

That's usually enough to cover me, and it's super quick then.

Example: See 2 guards, click mouse 5, double blast both with the shotgun, see 2 more up ahead, scroll down for grenade and fire it, press mouse 4 for the assault rifle so I can quickly let off it's massively powerful alt fire, scroll up for the crossbow to pick off faraway guards.

I could do all that without pausing once, whereas with a dpad, I'd have to stop everytime. It's not a major thing I know, but I like my shooters to be smooth playing, so I'd generally try and get as much use out of one gun at a time, since pausing for a second during combat could often result in death.

 

[Woodsey]

On console however, there's no real way of selecting a weapon efficiently (the weapon wheel works well enough I think, but real time is incredibly frustrating, and paused breaks flow), so in that case I just stick to the one or two guns.

D-pad wheel? It's as fast as using as numpad on a PC shooter, to me at least. I tend to stick with the default binding on PC, aside from anything that requires [ or ].Or whatever you mapped them to. 3 quick taps for the.

Orange Box on consoles even had a gravity gun button, aside from the wheel, just to instantly select the GG.

You can see it in this video in the first few seconds.

Yeah, the PC version had a key for the gravity gun too (G).

 

[Koeryn]

I prefer the 'fewer weapons' option, though I don't really have a problem with Metal Gear Solid's Holster of Holding (tm), or Half-Life's weapon selection, etc. so on and so forth.

Part of my preference for only carrying one or two guns stems from my favorite way to play MP in 'realistic' shooters, which works like this:

Pick a class, it doesn't matter what. Sprint out, kill someone, take their gun. After all, you shot bullets with your gun. That breaks the freshness seal, and who wants a gun that isn't fresh? So you toss it and grab the dead guys gun, and use that one until you kill someone else, and then take their gun, etc. so on and so forth.

Really, the only time it fails me is when someone dies holding a frag. Or I pick up their empty gun and try to shoot someone with it. Or they die in the middle of a wide open field and there happen to be people watching it.

Still though, it's hella fun.

 

[Trolldor]

Fewer weapons.. I like fewer weapons options because it suits my play style.

I like it on the sole condition they allow you to adapt your approach rather than giving you a linear set of events in a one-way level.

 

[MasterOfWorlds]

I only generally use one or two weapons in almost every shooter I play, even if I'm allowed to carry more.

In New Vegas for example, I used the Sniper Rifle and the Marksman Carbine most of the time. I did carry another weapon too, but that was mostly in case I ran out of ammo. Sometimes my two weapons would switch depending on the situation, but for the most part, I carry two and sometimes a backup on the off chance I run out of ammo.

I played Doom much the same way. And Quake. I found two or three weapons I really liked and stuck to my guns. The only time I ever really used something else was, again, if I ran out of ammo or the gun just wasn't suited for it.

Then again, I like to actually come up with a plan and not just run and gun or spray and pray. Sometimes though, you just have to run in with everything you've got blazing because sometimes it just plain works better.

 

[Xanadu84]

Depends on the game. A game filled with actiony set-pieces and lots of destruction, you should be able to switch on the fly to anything. A survival horror, you shouldn't have a huge arsenal to choose from. It all depends on the game. 2 weapons is a little low though: 3 or 4 gives you variety while forcing you to make tactical choices.

 

[Ashcrexl]

i always feel bad that my handy pistol, which i used for the first few chapters, would become obsolete when i got my first machine whatever. walkin over ammo that says i cant carry anymore. so sad. i much prefer one multi-use weapon and one situational weapon.

 

[SckizoBoy]

As with a couple other guys here, depends on context... also depends on my mood. Do I want to dick about in the irradiated wastelands, or actually play through the story?

Having a small nation's weapons cache on your back makes for enormous fun... shoot a guy's arms off before shotgunning him in the crotch is so smile inducing. But you don't complete games that way. In general though, I only need two, maybe three weapons to suit my play style: sniper rifle (btw, is it me or is the AWARD sniper rifle from SWBFII absolute shit?!); shotgun; and explosive packs (interchangeable with anything that causes mass-destruction). I've been accused of being a noob in that way... well fuck you, I play very well with that load out.

 

[dragonburner]

For Uncharted I think it is fun with only two weapons because it gives you the idea where you barely have enough fire power and it feels like a crazy thrill ride.

 

[hannan4mitch]

Why do most FPS games made in the last 2-3 years have the same dingy brown color palettes?
REALISM.

 

[KaiRai]

It's mainly because these games are all based on real war. As a team thing, respectively. So you might have a shotgun and a pistol, but you're the close range guy, somebody else will have a sniper rifle etc.

 

[Delusibeta]

It's dumbing down. No-one complained about having to handle five or six weapons using a controller in TimeSplitters or Perfect Dark or GoldenEye, did they?

 

[pyrosaw]

If you want to play with two weapons, I don't really mind. I just don't like that every game has you pick between two weapons. I like a variety of weapons to use( I use them all, some not as intended), so if there's a a FPS or two that has a weapon wheel, or a large amount of guns, then I'm fine.