Flamethrowers

[Johnny Novgorod]

Random peeve: they're invariably the worst weapon in any game whenever you pick one. And you're gonna pick one as soon as you've pocketed that game's equivalent of small/medium/large firepower gun. That's when the less than versatile weaponry starts unlocking. Your snarks and hivehands and crossbows and mine launchers.

Why flamethrowers suck:

1) They have very little reach.
2) They have little to no stopping power.
3) Enemy's charging you AND he's on fire, good for you.
4) You're probably going to take as much damage.
5) It takes absurd levels of fuel to kill a single enemy.
6) And usually it's a very, very slow boil.

The only game I can think of where it's actually a pretty handy weapon is in Dead Space 2, because it's got good stopping power and a decent AoE. Practically a game breaker if you've got the fuel and put some nodes into it. It's quite satisfying.

Can't think of any other game. CAN YOU?

(Not a controversial or terribly #relevant topic but hey where am I going to take my game discussion?)

 

[sXeth]

Clearly you've never used the Warframe flamethrower lol. Also known as the AoE cone of death that bends through space and time to hit enemies behind walls and everything.

(though its not really accessible within a casual glance into the game, being locked up in the second tier of clan research. And the upgraded version is even more a sticky widget to get ahold of, since you have to get it from a clan that was around for an event over a year ago)

 

[Chimpzy_v1legacy]

The flamethrower in Alien: Isolation is pretty damn good tho. It's one of only two weapons that can chase off the Alien, alongside the molotov, except it doesn't have the downside of hurting yourself with splash damage at close range like the latter.

Doesn't do you much good against a Working Joe tho, but those are far easier to lose if they've spotted you.

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

The ones that lob explosive fireballs at people are alright though.

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

Was going to mention Warframe. The Ignis/Atomos are both fantastic weapons, at least up to the point where enemies aren't crazy bullet-sponges. I will also mentioned Payday 2. The flamethrower and molotovs are both effective, at least on trash. They work when the status of being on fire also has a crowd control component, essentially reducing their damage output to zero, which they usually do on trash but not on lieutenant/boss level enemies.

I totally agree about fuel/ammo consumption almost always sucking. The challenge comes into the balancing of time-to-kill, ammo usage/fire rate, damage per tick, mag size and reload speed. It is a tough thing to get right, but if it were me doing it I'd put it into an LMG/Minigun category of long ass reload with a huge ass magazine/tank. It should also take about the same TTK and damage per magazine as those weapons.

The main issue they face is the same as all damage-over-type (DoT) weapons/builds have. DoTs are fine in long fights, like MMO/RPG boss fights/pvp which last long enough for the damage to outpace the more bursty weapons/abilities (including reload/cooldowns). But in many games they simply don't. ARPGs for example, they make no sense at all. Why use a DoT weapon/ability when abilities that instakill trash exist? Why use a flamethrower in a game where a shotgun, pistol headshot or high RoF SMG/AR can kill without the delay?

I do like my fire weapons/spells in many games, but the weak flamethrower types just aren't fun. Currently having a little fun with BL2 again, playing Hellborn Krieg which I'm really enjoying, despite knowing it's gonna fall off hard in the OP levels. But it works in BL2 because my flamethrower is actually a hellfire smg o.o

 

[Satinavian]

If i remember correctly Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines had a flamethrower and it was extremely powerful due to vampires being resistent to many things but not fire.

 

[Grouchy Imp_v1legacy]

The flamethrowers in earlier GTA games were pretty damn good as I remember - pretty much instant kill on cops and the like, as well as being by far and away the quickest way of taking down tanks.

 

[Squilookle]

I agree that game flamethrowers usually suck, but you're really reaching for reasons here. I've never seen 2, 4, 5, or 6 to ever really be much of a problem.

Best one I've ever seen is in Verdun- fitting for the flamethrower's actual historical debut. Good reach, immense psychological effect and instantly utterly lethal. The way they balance it, is that to fire it you have to open a valve which comes with a little delay. Since nearly everything is one hit kills, that delay can be pivotal.

 

[Catfood220]

The only game I can think of flamethrowers being useful is Valkyria Chronicles where you can unlock them as secondary weapons for your Shock Troopers. They are quite effective for taking out enemies behind sandbag cover. Plus they are pretty essential for taking out the final boss.

Worst use of flamethrowers, that would be the end of LA Noir where the Detective swaps his perfectly functional gun for a flamethrower with limited range. While all the enemies have guns and are quite happy to shoot away at you at range while plod along with this fucking flamethrower.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Someone has never played Dawn of War. Flamers are a great weapon. Excellent range, coverage, okay damage against light infantry, but way more importantly they cut through morale. Try to keep a bunch of soldiers motivated to stand and fight when 4 walls of fire are cutting through them.
Also they ignored cover, which was great!

 

[Casual Shinji]

The Last of Us' flamethrower is really good. So good in fact I tend to not pick it up because of how it turns every infected encounter from then on into pest control. It stunlocks all enemies, even bloaters. Against human enemies it isn't too effective what with them having guns, but against infected it's stupidly strong.

 

[jademunky]

Warpfire throwers in Total War: Warhammer II.

If you can get them around to the back of the main enemy blob, you can rack up hundreds of kills.

 

[Ender910_v1legacy]

Clearly you never tasted the flame-y fun in Rising Storm. No Banzai charge can repel fire of that magnitude!

 

[I can't enter my old name]

Clearly you never tasted the flame-y fun in Rising Storm. No Banzai charge can repel fire of that magnitude!

I was going to mention this. It's quite a cheap weapon.

The range is gigantic and kills everything in its path. One touch from the tiniest puff, you lock up and die. You can't even shoot back. The flamethrower also creates a giant screen, so even though everyone can see your fireball of instant death, they won't be able to actually see you.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

The flamethrower in Alien: Isolation is pretty damn good tho. It's one of only two weapons that can chase off the Alien, alongside the molotov, except it doesn't have the downside of hurting yourself with splash damage at close range like the latter.

Doesn't do you much good against a Working Joe tho, but those are far easier to lose if they've spotted you.

I liked the flamethrower in Alien: Isolation but it felt more like a tool than an actual weapon, something to keep the Alien at bay and a handy flashlight to boot (making flares practically useless once you get it).

The Last of Us' flamethrower is really good. So good in fact I tend to not pick it up because of how it turns every infected encounter from then on into pest control. It stunlocks all enemies, even bloaters. Against human enemies it isn't too effective what with them having guns, but against infected it's stupidly strong.

The Last of Us had flamethrowers??? Did I miss mine or have I just completely forgotten about it?
All I remember are the bow, the gun and those sweet melee weapons.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I agree that game flamethrowers usually suck, but you're really reaching for reasons here. I've never seen 2, 4, 5, or 6 to ever really be much of a problem.

I'll give you 4, 5 and 6 as somewhat rare problems. I sure have sustained more self-inflicted damage from flamethrowers than from most other weapons, third only to RPGs and grenades. But I maintain flamethrowers in videogames usually have shit stopping power. And I'll add a 7, which is pretty nitpicky and specific but it has definitely happened: it's difficult to know for how long you should continue to spew fire, and for how long will the flames damage the enemy before they go away without a steady income. More often than not I feel like I'm wasting fuel on enemies that will probably remain alight even if I stop spewing fire at them, but you never know so you go the extra mile.

 

[Specter Von Baren]

I've found that the usefulness of a flamethrower is inversely proportional to how modern or well maintained your other weapons are. In settings where you're a soldier they tend to be pretty poor compared to your other weapons while in games where you're playing just some dude just using whatever they have they tend to be much better.

 

[Kyrian007]

They were useful in Syndicate. One of the most effective tactics was to take one of your guys, have him run out and agro enemies and run for cover around a corner and then ambush anybody following him with your flamethrower guy. Plus flamethrower-ing in a crowd in Syndicate was one of the most funny spectacles in gaming with one on fire person running and screaming turned into whole masses of burning humanity and complete chaos. It would often lose you the level, but was still totally worth it for the mass Wilhelm-ish screaming.

 

[an annoyed writer]

Yeah I can?t really disagree there, a lot of games with flamethrowers tend not to do them justice, and if they do, it?s usually because they treat them as area-denial tools. I remember Halo 3?s flamethrower being alright in that regard, but sadly fire didn?t spread or even stick around long. Thing was cumbersome though.

 

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

Fuck the Flamethrower, its the Lava Gun from Ratchet Going Commando that's superior.