Games where using a shotgun feels awesome/Games where the shotgun sucks

[JohnnyDelRay]

I am utterly dissipointed at not a single mention of any Shotgun from Resident Evil.

Specifically Resident Evil 2's upgraded shotgun:

Shit on a bagel, that's a gosh darn satisfying watch. I love resident evil 2 and 3, those shotguns just take the cake. They keep their awesome physics and handling throughout the series IMO.

For me, there is no perfect shotgun feel, because I'm very picky and break it up into 3 parts.

1) Sound/looks
How it looks in the hand, obviously realism, textures, overall badass-ness. Extra things like the sound of the cocking and shells hitting the floor are a plus.
-Rainbow 6: Vegas 2
-Double Barrel in Far Cry 4, animations and all

2) Damage/useability
How good it is at range, or how much carnage it brings down on opponents.
-F.E.A.R.
-Max Payne

3) Recoil/Physics
Determined by how much it moves after firing, and how far enemies fly back. Mind you, this is hardly ever realistic, but determines how satisfying the gun is to use.
-Soldier of Fortune (of course)
-XCOM 2 believe it or not

The shotguns in Killing Floor 2 are pretty satisfying too actually (except for the middle of the road semi-auto). But the grand daddy of them all I still give it to the original Doom super shotgun, that thing is such a beast, makes the best sound, and for it's time and even well after, nothing came close. Except Hitman 47 maybe.

 

[-Dragmire-]

Borderlands 1 specifically.

This is mostly due to the enemy models allowing for dismemberment. One thing that always feels dissatisfying in a game is when the death animation for an enemy is just to fall to the ground or ragdoll falling a foot away from a point blank shotgun hit. Along with the sound effect, dismemberment really sells the force the enemy is taking.

A good way to test the feel of a game shotgun is to play with all the sound muted. Without sound to sell the illusion of the weapon you're using, you can see if the enemies look like their basically being hit with a weak force push.

In Borderlands 2/Presequel I still use shotguns but in those games I just use them for the high numbers and not for weapon feel.


It's been a while but I remember liking the auto shotgun from Left 4 Dead but I don't remember if it was because of game feel or pure effectiveness.

 

[MHR]

http://www.nerfnow.com/comic/748 relevant. Shotguns that work like this in games are lame.

Accurate shotguns with big punches are best. Half-Life 2's shotgun will 1-shot almost everything and it will do so even from medium range. That's fantastic. Because of this it's super ammo-efficient as well. It makes the pulse rifle sad by comparison.

Doom 3 has the worst example of a shotgun I have ever seen. The spread is almost as wide as your FoV, and the damage is unreliable because of it. If you're right up and touching an imp you'll kill it in one shot, if you're standing 5 steps back it's going to take 2 or 3 shots to do the same thing. That's pathetic. I fucking hate it.

It matters a lot to me whether the shotguns in a shooter I'm playing are any good. Inaccurate scatterguns really bother me. Shotguns in real life are actually very accurate.

 

[Mister K]

Most games where shtguns are awesome were already mentioned.

As for those games where they suck, I remember being dissapointed by shotgun in Bioshock 1, especially with that it didn't kill basic mooks in one shot at later levels. It felt so wrong.

 

[PapaGreg096]

I like a shotgun that has range, like in Max Payne 3. Having to get so close is a movie thing.

The one in Half-Life 2 was also satisfying.

Thank you. Yeah it's really odd. Games developers need to take note -

 

[JohnnyDelRay]

...Doom 3 has the worst example of a shotgun I have ever seen. The spread is almost as wide as your FoV, and the damage is unreliable because of it. If you're right up and touching an imp you'll kill it in one shot, if you're standing 5 steps back it's going to take 2 or 3 shots to do the same thing. That's pathetic. I fucking hate it.

It matters a lot to me whether the shotguns in a shooter I'm playing are any good. Inaccurate scatterguns really bother me. Shotguns in real life are actually very accurate.

Oh god, thanks (or no thanks) for reminding me, I remember most shotguns in games annoy me with their range, but Doom 3 actually made me hate the damn thing. Esp since original Doom set the perfect shottie standard. I have a feeling they nerfed it due to the number of close encounters, especially early in the game, but man that thing was shit. You had to literally stick a barrel in their nostrils.

I remember modding it, as well as the Duct Tape Mod for the flashlight on my second playthrough many years later (as well as some Sound FX).

 

[jedisensei]

-XCOM 2 believe it or not.

Glad you mentioned this. Few units in even fewer games have given me the satisfaction I got with my Implacable, Untouchable CQC Shotgun ranger: when I wanted an enemy dead, the Ranger would unfailingly oblige...so much blood spilt...

And that's the real crux of the shotgun: the god-like sensation of shear power or ludicrous overkill. When done right, you instinctively cringe or cackle with each hit.

 

[Cold Shiny]

Good Shotgun: F.E.A.R. Punchy and powerful and explodey

Bad Shotgun: Conduit 2 No feedback, weak damage

 

[BrawlMan]

Doom & Doom 4 - The super shotgun at max upgrades for the latter makes it all the more better.

Wolfenstein: TNO - Nazis become insta-gib with the automatic shotgun.

F.E.A.R - Need I say more. When playing through the campaign, I never went without one.

Serious Sam - Similar to Doom, the Double Barrel is just too fun to use in close quarters.

 

[x EvilErmine x]

Metro 2033 has a really satisfying one to use, and the Fallout New Vegas hunting shotgun (using coin shot) is just bad ass. Props to the Executioner from Black Ops II Zombies too, especially when pack'a'punched.

 

[PapaGreg096]

Good Shotgun: F.E.A.R. Punchy and powerful and explodey

Bad Shotgun: Conduit 2 No feedback, weak damage

This reminds me, I should really finish F.E.A.R.

 

[Adeptus Aspartem]

Okay, to all the people sayin' ME1 Shotguns were bad: What strange bizzaro universe version of the game did you play?
It was by far the strongest guntype in ME1, basically 1shotting every standard enemy up to the very end. It was nearly boring, how strong the shotgun was - but it felt incredibly satisfying to just plow through enemies with it.

Anyway, another good shottie is definitly Mr.Shotgun himself, Serious Sam. Double the barrels, double the fun.
And the Flak Cannon from the UT games is just.. mhhh. Splattering people all across the map - neato.

A weak shotguns: Xcom1 and Borderlands 2 - Mainly due to my comparison to BL1, where they were pretty awesome.

 

[MHR]

Mainly due to my comparison to BL1, where they were pretty awesome.

I dunno. BL2 had some beast shotguns. Especially the Torgue shotguns that shot explosive ammo. When it's so close you can't miss, and you turn the enemy into a meat explosion.

 

[Adeptus Aspartem]

Mainly due to my comparison to BL1, where they were pretty awesome.

I dunno. BL2 had some beast shotguns. Especially the Torgue shotguns that shot explosive ammo. When it's so close you can't miss, and you turn the enemy into a meat explosion.

Jeah, that's true. Explosive weapons made for good times - but that's mainly due to the explosive tag than the shotguns itself. Because i liked all the explosive weapons.
There's also that funny unqiue shotgun that starts chasing people when you reload and keeps shooting them - i really liked that weird piece of equipment.

But overall i had the feeling the BL1 shotties had way more oomph to them.