Are melee weapons in shooters overpowered?

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Bradd94

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Nov 16, 2009
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I wouldn't say so.
However, Halo, and Call Of Duty appear to both have over powered melee.
Actually on second glance, most games appear to have insane melee powers equal to that of Altair :s

Currently I think Bioshock was the only game to rectify it.
High powered melee (wrench) could only be obtained through sacrificing other high powered tonics etc.

Personally I think thats how melee should be adressed.
As a powerful option that must be obtained in place of high powered ranged weapons for example.

But thats just me.
 

Vrex360

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Mar 2, 2009
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OpiateChicken said:
inpachi said:
and the only game to ever fck this up was Halo..
I agree with that. I don't know if Halo was the only one because I haven't played too many FPS's, but Bungie sure did screw that one up.

After that one patch in Halo 2 that made melee more powerful (continuing into Halo 3), it changed the entire dynamic of the multiplayer game, turning large sections of it into crap.

It's almost like a dance move, walking down a corridor shooting medium-powered guns at each other until you're both close to each other, then methodically tapping B furiously, then jumping back and attempting to shoot if the opponent somehow lived.

Before that there was a lot more strategy with cover and grenades, especially on small indoor levels.
I disagree but respect your opinion.

In my own personal preferance I actually kind of like Halo with the melee functions, yes you do tend to get a lot of people charging into each other's faces yes I agree but still I see enough guys shooting at each other from distance so I'd hardly say it ruined the basics.
To be honest I actually liked the swordplay mechanic in Halo 3, while it isn't the best of it's kind having two swords clash, sending two people back and then retaliation and leaping from side to side, whatever I find it a joy to play.

OT: Of course when it's close quarters melee weapons have an advantage but of course that's the one part of the game where they should shine the most. I mean running out into the open field in say Halo 3 with the energy sword or Gravity hammer proudly displayed is a really goood way to get yourself riddled with gun fire so naturally if you have a melee weapon you'll want to stay hidden and wait until they get close to you. This can be applied to Call of Duty and most other games with melee weapons or melee functions in some sense, if they are right in your face go right ahead, if they are far away open fire.
However I do partly agree that a melee whack shouldn't always equal instant death, maybe a bit of health damage but that's all. I mean again some games it makes sense like in Call of Duty being stabbed right in the jugular can often lead to death but still it isn't what I would call overpowered because in Call of Duty, it's all about who stabs first and in all fairness he stabbed me (metapohrically) first so I have no reason to complain. Same with Halo, Team Fortress 2 and any other mutliplayer game, it all comes down to who hit first and while the damage boost is a little unfeasable at times it still boils down to that simple fact.
He who moves quicker, gets the point.
 

Samurai Goomba

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Oct 7, 2008
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Well they're either going to be overpowered or crap, in most cases. Melee weapons weren't too bad in Halo 2 Campaign mode because you couldn't get close to enemies in later levels without being totally bum-rushed and murdered. Multiplayer was, sadly, another story.
 

AWAR

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Nov 15, 2009
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The thing that pisses me off in MW2 is the commando perk. It would be more fair if didnt have "auto target" and you could miss but its just so annoying, the newbs who have it just press a button when they see you nothing else...
 

Zepren

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Sep 2, 2009
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Yeah you've deffo got a point there. Also look at L4D2 or Halo 3. All big on the melee for kills. But theres the other side. In GTA4, melee, espcially the knife, can be underpowered. Though saints row 2 makes up for it. Long live Saints Row 2 basically.
 

Taerdin

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Nov 7, 2006
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Only in Left 4 Dead. I mean they nerfed the shove in L4D already, its pretty obvious that melee is overpowered in that game. (apparently)
 

sooperman

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Feb 11, 2009
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Deadlock Radium said:
and the Crowbar in the Half-Life 2 games.
It takes five hits to kill a Metro-Cop. Not what what I would call "powered" at all, really. Crowbar is useful, but not especially strong.

kidigus said:
half life made a reasonably powerd melee weapon but fcked it up by giving you a gun that regenerates ammo so you never have to use it
O rly? Which weapon is this? Original Half-Life or #2?
 

Admiral Stukov

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Jul 1, 2009
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lovetropicana said:
did OP get knifed, teabaged, pwnd, then is now coming on a forum to complain?
It's not that knives are overpowered, normal guns are underpowered in games
Honestly, you think you can still run around from bullets in your limbs and torso? Even if you can still move (ignoring the pain/blood loss) you'd lose use of a limb at least! Games brush off non-lethal wounds like "Oh i'll re-spawn a leg in a sec, just gimmie a med kit"
This is why i only play hardcore mode on CoD4; one bullet is usually enough to severly cripple what you aim at and if aimed correctly, kill.
 

Keepitclean

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Sep 16, 2009
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Definitly not, if you manage to get close enough to someone with out getting killed I'm pretty sure you deserve the quick easy kill.
 

Rahnzan

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Oct 13, 2008
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TheSlee said:
LordNue said:
It's pretty fair. If someone is capable of getting next to you in a game all about guns and explosives, you pretty much screwed up and deserve the severed spinal cord. Shoot them before they stab you, you really, really have range on them.
erm... have you seen the commando perk on MW2?? in it's later evolved pro state you can jump off a ridiculously high building and then knife someone who is about 10m away from you with the press of a button. Also, have you seen people using the marathon, lightweight, commando, tac knife loadout on MW2, I don't think people run around the battlefield shanking anyone foolish enough to actually use a gun.

/end rant
You sound like a complete newb (read: not n00b) to me. That's off the cuff and I'm sure you have a rebuff, take that as you will.

Those Knifers turn into confetti if you possess a shotgun. The SPAS-12 is awesomely powerful, it's overlooked simply because it's the first shotgun unlocked and that it's pumping animation is roughly 1.5 times longer than it needs to be, so it's firing rate is a lot faster than people think. AA-12 is fully automatic, Striker just plain hurts, M1014 is still a nice piece of work and the model 1887, used so frequently with a certain attachment its simply called the Akimbo are all very nice options for putting 6 pounds of metal in anyone stupid enough to try and knife you from the front - otherwise? Yeah, you bloody well deserve to have your ass handed to you, neatly carved, on a silver plate.

Fact - All of the automatic weapons at optimal ranges kill in 3-4 bullets with no cover.
Fact - Shotguns either kill in one or two shots depending on range, and the ones that need 2 are either akimbo, auto or semi-auto. Did a lot of testing, the shotgun damage doubles within 2 meters so there's no reason you can't oneshot someone.
Fact - Knives are still used at close range even with commando. At it's maximum range (say 4 meters?) there's plenty of time for the target to sidestep.
Fact - Assault rifles can get about 2 shots in before you get hit by the knife.
Fact - If you nerfed the knife even a little say, make it a two hit kill? The target would have enough time to kill you dead when you pull back for round two even if you knife him from behind he can probably prime a grenade. Try to get the backstabber achievement sometime and figure out just how difficult it will be to knife them precisely from behind if you want to do this DnD style. Instead of crying bullshit over the lunge people would cry bullshit over not one-hitting someone.

Things you should do:
1) Bring a Shotgun. Failing that?
2) Side step the dumbass. Failing that?
3) Don't hang around in tight spaces with a weapon that needs 3 shots to kill.
4) Stay out in the open. This is related to 3
5) Play with friends who know how to watch your back. Cant tell you the number of times I died because everyone thought they were Rambo.

Yes there's an advantage that lets you leap from incredible heights - consider this, there aren't a lot of really high places you can leap off of to outright kill yourself. In Call of Duty 4 there was something like, 5 places? The best you got in most of the maps in the new game are second story buildings and you survive those easily enough in the previous game. If someone leaps down and cracks his legs with a red face and stabs you dead, the end result isn't going to be much different from the guy who jumps down, doesn't crack his legs, doesn't have a red face, and stabs you dead.

Another thing? the knife at it's longest optimistically has a range of 4 meters. That's the longest kill I've been able to get judging by eye and considering that the character model is roughly 5 feet in height (since he crouches a little) to compare the distance too. That's a lot but in the old game there was enough dedicated-server lag I could run straight up to someone from a more literal ten meters away, swerve up to them and jab steel into their face. This game doesn't have that kind of lag anymore. Commando is necessary to go in knifing and the old defense method of using a shotgun STILL - WORKS. There's no sense including a weapon in the game that does less damage than a shotgun at a maximum of 3 feet with a one second reload time.
 

Manhattan2112

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Jul 5, 2009
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Don't forget, in L4D2, using a non-melee weapon is almost useless. The Guitar will smash the heads off of zombies all around you.
 

Rahnzan

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Oct 13, 2008
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I've got the feeling they'll soon be nerfing the melee weapons in L4D2, at least against the Tank.
 
Jun 11, 2008
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mrhappyface said:
In games like Killzone and Call of Duty, knives are pretty much one hit kills, prompting you to do things you wouldn't do in most games like rush into fire and shank someone like an psychopathic murderer from a slasher movie. There's also a similar problem with the Lancer in Gears of War, where you could almost casually slay locusts individually as easily as Leatherface kills dumb teenagers. I'm not sure, but this kind of defeats the purpose of a shooter almost, no? But that's what i think. What do you think?
Well trust me if someone gets that close and you see or know they are coming chance are you've done something horribly wrong and porbably deserve the one hit. Either that or you were unlucky so unlucky you probably need to make a suit out of four leaf clovers.

The other scenario where they sneak up on you in real life you would be dead as they would slit your throat or unreparbly damage your spine so you couldn't do anything.
 

ShotgunSmoke

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Apr 19, 2009
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Hubilub said:
If they weren't overpowered, they would be pretty worthless.
This.

Does anyone remember the knife from Counter Strike? It was completely worthless. One slash took 30HP and the stab was slow enough for your enemy to turn around and shoot you in the nostrils.

Melee weapons need to be one-hit kills, otherwise it's not worth the risk.
 

Cherry Cola

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Jun 26, 2009
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TimeLord said:
Hubilub said:
TimeLord said:
Hubilub said:
If they weren't overpowered, they would be pretty worthless.

Plus it's fun to stab someone to death.
Add "always" to that last sentence
"Plus it's fun to stab always someone to death"?

That doesn't make any sense!
ha ha [sub]ha...[/sub] no

You know what I meant :p
Duuuuhr, maj English bad bicasue I from uther contrie.