Bows and Arrows in video games

[Karma168]

Well Skyrims bows are fun to use, currently have a high damage one (daedric I think) with a damage enchantment that I use for most enemies and a lightweight one with soultrap so I can keep my main charged up. Nothing beats sneaking around and one-shotting stuff thanks to stealth bonuses.

Been playing Assassins Creed lately (revelations and 3) and both bows are fun to use; using the crossbow with Ezio is great for long range stealth kills (since the knives are utterly worthless) and it's always fun to kill a guard who's suspicious without breaking stride. Though it does kinda ruin the look of Ezio when he's got that crossbow strapped to his back which isn't as well hidden as other weapons. Connor's bow is good all round; perfect for hunting (no damage to pelts), has pretty much unlimited ammo (just go collect them from the corpses) and is so much quicker to use than firearms it's pointless to use the pistol.

Any game that offers me a bow and arrow is great and it's always my first choice of weapon, no idea why I find them so cool.

 

[x EvilErmine x]

Explosive tipped arrow tiger hunting in FarCry 3, most fun I've had in a game with a bow. Second only to explosive tipped arrow bear hunting. Honorable mention also goes to .50 cal shark fishing just for the lulz. Fuck you tiger, fuck you bear...screw you shark Mwah ha ha ha!

Oh i nearly forgot C4 Pig ambushing...DIE PIGGY! Ah ha ha haaa ha haa

*Ahem*...Sorry don't know what came over me there o_0

 

[Brainwreck]

Those ain't bows.

Spoiler: Now THIS is a bow:

Yes, I'm compensating for being a lazy fatass nerd who'll never do awesome shit.

 

[SckizoBoy]

Same goes for archers in Rome Total War if you have enough of them.

Souped up Cretan Archers... right... riiiiiight?! -_-

However, as an archer, the mechanic always feels really, really off when I RPG as a rogue (or variant). Petty, I know, so then I prefer using crossbows. (Currently replaying AC:B... so guess what I'm gleefully killing folks with...) *shrug*

 

[Gormech]

I'd say a lot of the Zelda games got it down pretty well. You can shoot on the go but to hit with accuracy you gotta aim. Arrows can sometimes be recovered and different arrows can have quirks. Dark souls is another with gravity being in play but they made it more of a sidearm thing rather than a primary option. It's possible to play the game with it but you gotta do a lot of backtracking. Needs a damage upgrade.

 

[KingGolem]

Without a doubt, the bows in the Elder Scrolls series are the most fun to use. It's an utterly wasted feature, though. They're magic system is way more fun.

Another interesting example is the Monster Hunter series, of which I'm quite the fan. One installment on the PSP (MH2, I think) allowed the player to craft and use bows. Like all weapons in the game, it was oversized to facilitate monster hunting. Their bows were collapsible, and more than six feet high when unfolded. It fired arrows longer than a man's arm! I thought it was alright, though I still preferred the great sword. What was odd is that the game already featured the bowgun, a sort of combination of rifle and crossbow. That weapon could fire a dizzying array of special trick-shells, like tranquilizer, explosive or piercing rounds. I thought it was completely useless, nevertheless.

The only other games that come to mind where bows are concerned are the LoZ series and Minecraft.

 

[MrGalactus]

Lately I have seen the use of bows in several new games such as Far Cry 3 and Assassins Creed 3 as well as the upcoming Tomb raider and Crysis 3
It seems strange to me that they would to use them in modern day (and futuristic) game world, although in AC3 and Tomb Raider I can sort of understand it
I definently not complaining though, they are fun as well to use and a good change of pace

So what im asking is what games do you know (new and old) that use bow and arrows the best? and why?

If I can get away with it, it's pretty much all I use in Far Cry 3. There are several different cool types of arrowhead that are dead easy to change on the fly, and there's just something stylish about it. The game reminds me of Green Arrow's origin so much that I never want to use anything else. Seriously, it should be called Green Arrow Year One: The Game.

We need a Green Arrow game..Or at least have him DLC in the next Arkham game .

KJEFBIUEDNIJEMXDUJUEMFKE

 

[Souplex]

To be fair, they're silent, and never misfire.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

I was a terror with Sheva's bow in RE5. I was better with that than I was with an actual gun. I can hit the hidden emblem inside the container in chapter 6 with the bow--something that's supposed to only be able to be done with an explosive.

Bows in Skyrim were fun for taking out people quietly and from range.

 

[teh_Canape]

To be fair, they're silent, and never misfire.

and ammo is, literally, reusable as long as you don't shoot it where you can't recover it
also the examples he gave, FC3 and Crysis 3, both games' characters heavily act as predators, thus, they'd use as much stealth as they can have, making bows the perfect weapons for such
bows are basically knives for long distance in this context =P

 

[mad825]

It's not that strange. There are some definite advantages to bows.
They are easy to maintain

Compounds? Nope. Recurves maybe and traditional bows likely so.

completely silent,

Yea, no. Unless you're clouting it or in a quite noisy area, you'll hear something specially when the arrow hits something very hard although the sound of the bow is somewhat indistinguishable to any other kind of twang. Even so, improper release can make a racket.

less prone to malfunction than firearms.

Very debatable.

The real major downside of bows is the fact it isn't as lethal. Guns can almost grantee an instant kill whereas with bows you'll have to be pretty lucky as most of the time it's a death where you bleed to death rather than causing irreparable damage where they drop down dead.

Also there's the clunkiness, reload time,"rounds" per minute, health and safety to the archer.

Bows in games very often give a inaccurate representation and tend to make them more overpowered and accurate than they are actually in real life (Skyrim is a very good example).

 

[WWmelb]

Seems noone mentioned it yet, but i found the bow play in Dragon's Dogma to be THE most fun (if not realistic) bow and arrow play in a game to date. The variations between magic archer and ranger/strider are huge to too, so you have multiple play styles for the one weapon type.

My first character was a magic archer and i had a blast with it.

3 phase attack system for bows in the game :

Draw arrow/s.

Select Ability you wish to use to charge weapon.

Aim and fire.

It was so fluid that it was amazing. the way you could strafe around, and change attacks on the fly if a new threat appeared.

ranger

magic archer
Might play that game through again i think

 

[Rednog]

I'm wondering where the argument that bows are silent come from. I went down to an archery range I found because I really wanted to learn to shoot a bow, sadly they only offered classes for younger people/kids. But while I was there it definitely wasn't silent, you could definitely hear the sounds of the arrows hitting the targets and even the sound of the string (?) made a sound when it let the arrow go.

 

[Lugbzurg]

Why wouldn't games that take place in the future feature bows? They're still used to this day. Arrows are bigger than bullets and bows are quieter.

 

[kajinking]

Ok anyone besides me remember the Stronghold 2/Legends Archer spam? My god to this day whenever I see the word spam I don't think of marines or zerglings, I just think of those 500+ red archers/crossbowman standing on my walls killing anything that gets close.

BTW I also noticed the weird obsession with bows in modern or futursistc games lately. I'm honestly surprised we didn't see Shepard with an laser longbow in ME3.

 

[Fisher321]

How many people have actually shot a bow on here? No they are not completely silent. And remember, arrows are designed to bleed out the target by cutting through its major arteries. An "insta-kill" with a bow is a rare phenomena. Go hunting with a bow and you know what I mean. So if one did try to stealthily take out enemies with a bow an arrow more than likely the first guy you hit would have enough time to set off an alarm/alert others before he bleeds out. Unless of-course, you magically hit him in the head.

Sorry to be nit-picky but its not called a silencer, its called a suppressor, because it doesn't completely "silence" the weapon.

OT

Stronghold Crusader.. Can never have enough Archers... Especially if you give them braziers.

 

[Fisher321]

Why wouldn't games that take place in the future feature bows? They're still used to this day. Arrows are bigger than bullets and bows are quieter.

Arrows have less destructive power than bullets. Arrows usually travel at around 300fps (feet per second) While a standard NATO 5.56mm round will travel at around 2800 FPS. Plus bullets are smaller, and you can carry more of them.

As for video games it just makes it more fun.

 

[yamy]

It doesn't actually really make sense to have bows in games in a modern setting. There's a reason why guns replaced bows. They simply aren't as lethal (as people above has pointed out). The take lots of training to do, and unlike in games you'll rarely ever one shot someone, and is much louder than you'd imagine (though no where near as loud as guns).


If you tried to take out a camp like in Far Cry 3 in real life with a recurve bow, chances are you will A. Miss or B. Hit something hard and reveal your location or C. Nail his foot and annoy him and be covered with bullet holes in you.

That said, archery is fun in game though, not disputing that.

 

[Christopher Fisher]

Best Archery in a game: War of the Roses

As for why bows are becoming popular...I assume it's just a symptom of many peoples' weariness with the modern military shooter and their trappings; the bow changes it up a bit.

 

[Jandau]

Compounds? Nope. Recurves maybe and traditional bows likely so.

Even modern bows are easier to maintain than an average assault rifle...

Yea, no. Unless you're clouting it or in a quite noisy area, you'll hear something specially when the arrow hits something very hard although the sound of the bow is somewhat indistinguishable to any other kind of twang. Even so, improper release can make a racket.

Yes, bows do produce some kind of sound. But compared to pretty much any firearm, it might as well not be there. A gun can be heard clearly in a very large radius.

Very debatable.

No, I don't think it is.

The real major downside of bows is the fact it isn't as lethal. Guns can almost grantee an instant kill whereas with bows you'll have to be pretty lucky as most of the time it's a death where you bleed to death rather than causing irreparable damage where they drop down dead.

At this point you are VERY much overestimating the lethality of guns. They don't guarantee a kill, unless you're in a Hollywood movie of something. Depending on the type of arrowhead used a bow can do more damage to the flesh than a bullet. Both are fatal if they hit a vital organ. While I'm not saying a bow will outperform a high-caliber sniper rifle or anything like that, a solid bowshot can at the very least match most small firearms.

Also there's the clunkiness, reload time,"rounds" per minute, health and safety to the archer.

These are all reasons why they aren't deployed in quantity anymore. All I'm saying is that they make sense as a specialist tool for certain situations. Also, health and safety to the archer? Really? Ok, then guns are a health risk because the kickback can punch you in the nose and the ejected spent casings can hit you if you hold it at a wrong angle...

Bows in games very often give a inaccurate representation and tend to make them more overpowered and accurate than they are actually in real life (Skyrim is a very good example).

You really hate bows don't you? Also, are you saying guns are accurately represented in games? Because if you are, well... just lol

EDIT: Oh, and before I forget - recycleable ammo. You fire a bullet, it's gone, but arrows can be recovered and reused, making it a factor in low resource/survival environments (which is where you usually see them). Also, an arrow is easier to make than a bullet...