Poll: The whole point of iron siting...good or bad?

[Dopubalimatu]

Really depends on the game.As someone already pointed out games like Battlefield really need iron sights to enhance the accuracy so the player could actually hit enemies from far away.However, I really dislike games like CoD having iron sights.Those are the games that are supposed to be fast-paced but all iron sights do is make killing up close a nuisance and enduce camping in a sense that the player who gets the iron sight on faster gets better accuracy and therefore kills the enemy faster.How do you combat someone who is looking at the doorway with his iron sight on?

OT:That was 1 looong sentence.

 

[Cowabungaa]

It works in some games (CoD, Battlefield, STALKER, Metro 2033, etc) and it's unneccesary or even bad in others (Serious Sam, Unreal Tournament, Quake, TF2). Simple as that.

How ironsights in games should work: Decreased deviation and recoil at the cost of decreased movement speed. A situational tradeoff, not a universal positive or a necessity.

Um, doesn't it always work like that? I can't recall any shooter using iron sights in which you can run just as fast while you're using them.

 

[DustyDrB]

This isn't applicable in any game I play. In TF2, doesn't really matter. Metroid Prime? Nope.

Fallout: New Vegas? I play in third person.

 

[Richardplex]

I like adjusting my aim from recoil and seeing why I'm missing, not praying to the RNG gods hoping that the target within my reticle gets hit instead of just missing them. Although in close range games, like say L4d, I was cool without them because of the close range encounters. Mid-to-long ranges though, I prefer the sights.

 

[KarlMonster]

I missed the part where Yahtzee said iron sights were bad.

Watch ever or any Yahtzee vid where he "reviews" (some people will argue calling them that..lol) an FPS game. =/

With respect sir, I think you may have misinterpreted what Mister Croshaw was saying.

When YC complains about 'dodgy' aiming, its typically a failure of the game engine to target what the player is actually trying to target, or the unbelievably complex combat procedures in other games. While the latter is usually found in all iterations of the game, the former ('dodgy' aiming) may be a consequence of the specific console that the game is being played on. The Wii is definitely a 'usual suspect'.

So any FPS vid? I can only remember about 3 instances where he complains about aiming. Lego Indy (dodgy), Devil May Cry (procedural), and crap, now I can't remember, but it was more recent. He also mentioned that recoil was stinky in MoH Airborne, if you use the Allies default SMG, but that isn't a complaint about iron sights. Also he mentioned that the V.A.T.S. system in FO3 was probably unnecessary, since normal aiming works just fine, though I really like V.A.T.S.

On the other hand, he managed to get through CoD4, S.T.A.L.K.E.R., F.E.A.R. 2, Perseus Mandate, F3AR, Crysis, CoD:MW2, and BF:BC2 without mentioning "sight" issues. Well, he did complain about DUST in BF:BC2, but that was more about visibility. Other games either didn't use iron sights, or I haven't played and can't possibly know whether sights were used.

Oh, wait... was it Wolfenstein? Darn, I still can't remember what the third game was. This is going to bug me until I watch them all over again. Which I was going to do anyway.

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

I really like ironsight aiming. Especially when it increases accuracy. Don't know why, I think it has to do with this assurance that my bullets will hit where I'm aiming, but I really, really like ironsight aiming.

 

[klasbo]

It works in some games (CoD, Battlefield, STALKER, Metro 2033, etc) and it's unneccesary or even bad in others (Serious Sam, Unreal Tournament, Quake, TF2). Simple as that.

How ironsights in games should work: Decreased deviation and recoil at the cost of decreased movement speed. A situational tradeoff, not a universal positive or a necessity.

Um, doesn't it always work like that? I can't recall any shooter using iron sights in which you can run just as fast while you're using them.

Neither can I...? I did say "the cost of decreased movement speed", after all.

But yes, ironsights work in some games because they add another layer of complexity. Team Fortress has that complexity in the class-system, while UT/Quake are more about weapon spawn hoarding and pure fast-paced unadulterated aim & movement skill.

Anything that requires skill to use properly (aka separates the men from the boys) is a good thing. Proper use of iron sights can be one of these things if implemented properly. Usually it isn't, though.

 

[Captain Epic]

I love games that have ironsights but don't sacrifice the effectiveness of hip fire. I think Brink did this well, where ironsights were only really used for long range combat.

 

[mjc0961]

*snip*

I noticed you said that iron sights are useless in a game like Call of Duty where you have a reticle when aiming from the hip. Now, I'm just going to assume you haven't played at least Black Ops yet, because if you had, you'd know that aiming from the hip in that game is so inaccurate that you should never ever do it unless you have a shotgun at point blank range (and at that point, why waste the bullet when you can melee kill?). I've been playing it and I'm going to start calling this game Call of Iron Sights: Iron Sight Ops (that or Call of Bullshit: Infinite Enemy Spawns Ops) because you might as well tape down whatever button you've assigned to iron sights because you need them if you want to hit anything.

As far as iron sights go, I'd prefer first person shooters used them if they are going to have some kind of zoom/increased accuracy function. Playing the Duke Nukem Forever demo and finding that aiming was just the camera zooming in a bit was not something I liked about the game. It didn't feel more accurate at all, and in fact I'm pretty sure I stopped using it because it never really helped me aim.

How ironsights in games should work: Decreased deviation and recoil at the cost of decreased movement speed. A situational tradeoff, not a universal positive or a necessity.

Agreed. There are games that do this well and still allow you to hit things with some degree of accuracy if you just fire from the hip. Then there's games like Black Ops that make iron sights mandatory if you want a chance of hitting anything.

 

[Zergadooful]

I generally look down the side of the gun instead of the sights and guess where to shoot. I guess I just got so used to shooting a bow that I use a gun similarly.

 

[pspman45]

I like a mix of both, sometimes Iron Sights add to game play, and sometimes they get annoying. the Ironsights in Call of Duty are pretty good, while the ones in New Vegas are actually pretty crap, they're either too small to actually aim with or they fill up the whole screen.
I believe the best example of Iron-sight aiming recently was Crysis 2, where they would cover up things on the side, but allowed you to focus on your target.
It made blind firing in close quarters a good idea, because it would be easy to get flanked with so little view space

 

[XHolySmokesX]

Games that don't have iron sighting, and instead let you headshot a mouse from 100 meters away by shooting from the hip while running is down right ridiculous. Thankfully, i don't know any games where aiming is like this, but you get what i'm doing there.

I call games like that fun. Half Life 2, for example, is like this. The .357 Magnum is perfectly accurate, it fires exactly to the center no matter the range, yet Gordon doesn't have to ram the damn thing up his nose to aim it. The game is still highly fun despite that.

Thats a fair point, i imagine half life 2 was one of the first FPS's you played, right?

My first experience with a Rifle, was being an army cadet between 14 and 16 years old, we used a few different firearms with blank rounds for firefights or live for firing down a range. In all my experiences with a firearm the only way to get an accurate shot was to fire down the sights and i have to admit i enjoyed focusing my eye through the sights, choosing my target and carefully squeezing the trigger to get the shot.

I guess, because of this being my first experience with rifle sights, i have grown with the idea of using the iron sights to get a shot, to me the iron sights are the target on the back board that your aiming for and this is the reason i preffer iron sights to hip fire.


I guess if you want to make a game where the focus is less on the actual gun, and more on the storyline and other elements of gameplay, iron sighting is not a nescesity and can be a potential slow to the pace of the game, as in half life 2.

I'm not the biggest fan of hip fire, but i haven't played any games that use it well, only badly. I guess i should give half life 2 a shot, may broadern my horizons on the subject.

 

[ZeroMachine]

Did the mechanics change between Bioshock 1 and 2 that much? 'Cause ironsiting in the first makes aiming so much easier.

 

[Knight Captain Kerr]

I like using iron sights they allow me to aim easier and better.

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

I really like ironsight aiming. Especially when it increases accuracy. Don't know why, I think it has to do with this assurance that my bullets will hit where I'm aiming, but I really, really like ironsight aiming.

I think im with this point of view.

I also love sniper rifles in games. It's probably becuase I'm a horrible shot. xD
Most satisfying moment was one shotting one of those big dudes in crysis on veteran. I felt very pro lol.

I'm okay with shooting from the hip if a little haphazard but I think iron sights are a nice addition. You trade situational awareness and time for some extra aiming ability. Not so bad.

 

[Clive Howlitzer]

Well, I never used to iron sight too much back in the old days. However I always scope up before firing in Bad Company 2, although I use a red dot sight. It actually causes me to die sometimes because in the split second I take to scope up in a close encounter, I get gunned down.

 

[Grouchy Imp_v1legacy]

I use iron sights pretty much all of the time in games. It's a hell of a lot more accurate than hip-firing and a hell of a lot realistic than a floating cross-hair in the middle of the screen. Firing from the hip is just too damn inaccurate - you can blast off an entire mag at a guy and still not be sure you'll kill them, whereas iron sights allows a flawless double-tap headshot that a) is guaranteed to take your opponent down, b) is effective at much longer ranges, c) uses 2 rounds, not 30, so your ammo last longer, and d) means that because you're not forced to reload after every kill you can deal with more than one opponent at a time.

The OP asks why do people use iron sights? I would ask the OP why do people spray-and-pray from the hip?

 

[SammiYin]

Isn't it just that little bit more immersive? Sure you could have your gun at your hip, and blast a fool, but the feeling of bringing your weapon up, lining up your target up and physically directing the bullets at an opponent is just so much more intimate than the old "Hyuck I'm Gordon Freemaaaaaan!"