Bows and Arrows in video games

[Ix Rebound]

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?

 

[Bucht]

Pretty much all Fantasy RPGs use bow and arrow atleast once.
But the first thing that came to my mind was the Huntsman in Team Fortress 2.
As to what game uses it the best, I really have no idea.

 

[BlueberryMUNCH]

They're used in the futuristic game mode because they're basically completely silent. A silenced gun still makes a hell of a lot of noise eh.

As for what game does it best...mmh I don't know. They're common in fantasy RPG's though obviously, as Bucht said.
I really dislike the game as a whole, but the bows in Oblivion seemed quite fun. I'd imagine Skyrim would be the same.

 

[Cavan]

It's the same reason you get sci fi sword settings. The lightsaber is literally just a sword. It's different from the norm of modern day weapons, distinctive and exciting.

The bows in War of the Roses are probably the best weapons the game has.

 

[Jandau]

It's not that strange. There are some definite advantages to bows. They are easy to maintain, completely silent, less prone to malfunction than firearms. The main downside to bows is the amount of training required to use them effectively compared to the training required to use guns, meaning any widespread deployment of bows is pointless. However, in a survivalist/stealth context they make a fair bit of sense.

 

[Keoul]

Used best? I'd go with TeamFortress 2
The huntsman is pretty much the best, sure the hit boxes suddenly balloon to ridiculous sizes but that was clearly intended since this is a goddamn multiplayer game and you got people shooting back all the time! The "charge" feature was also a nice touch so that people couldn't just spam arrows and get instant kills all the time.

 

[Hamsterlad]

i am dating myself here but the van helsing games main weapon of choice was his crossbow and it in the end was pretty effective.

 

[TrevHead]

I Am Alive has a bow in it and while the game isn't a std gunho shooter as you only have 1 arrow that you must reuse, but I do like the fact that you hold down the 360 pads R Trigger to pull the bowstring and flick the button to fire, release the trigger slowly and you don't fire but release the bowstrings tension slowly.

 

[Proverbial Jon]

Shadow of the Colossus features a bow along with the default sword. Hey, it's pretty usable too!

Bows are my all time favourite weapon and I'll specialise in them wherever possible.

 

[-Ezio-]

In Skyrim, a fully upgraded Bow and Arrow perk tree and a dragonbone bow (smith-ed to legendary) and arrows turns you into a god of death, especially if you have a high sneak skill and the 3X sneak enhancement and damage enhancing equipment!

Their cool...but Crossbows are cooler!

i would use that, but i cant stand the look of the dragon bone bow.

instead my archer has 5 different bows with different enchantments for different situations. I'm the Green Arrow of Skyrim.

i like Dragon's dogma's archer classes too. playing a magick archer right now (only got the game at Christmas) and it's ossum.

 

[Blunderboy]

Mount and Blade, they're fairly shit at early levels. But if you level up your Archery it becomes a godlike talent.

Yep, especially is you focus on becoming a horse archer.

 

[ArcaneArchery]

All of the Thief games have a bow as the main/only ranged weapon, plus it comes with a range of useful magical arrows - especially the water arrow that can put out torches to create more dark areas to hide in

 

[Mordekaien]

Mount and Blade was mentioned already, they are really good there. I liked bows in the first Savage game- There was one that was fast, but weak and then something like a primitive Sniper Rifle, it hit like a truck.
I much more prefer close weapons/ melee weapons though.

Also, Dark Messiah had quite fun bows, if memory serves me right.

 

[kommando367]

I like the Torque Bow in gears and pretty much any bow/crossbow that shoots explosive arrows. If a bow doesn't 1-shot at least the basic enemies, then It's not usually worth using because you get only 1-shot before you have to redraw it.

 

[Nazulu]

I always loved the bows in Lineage 2 (an old MMORPG). There were many awesome designs, the animation of every shot is pretty stiff and it always made a satisfying bang sound. Especially if you added soul shots, every shot then would show a small explosion and do double damage. The best bow designs I've seen are in Lineage 2.

 

[NightmareExpress]

It's used in Crysis 3 because the power behind the arrow is dependent on the power of the person pulling the bowstring.
It actually makes sense for it to be used in "the future" because a person that has a suit that gives super strength on top of a great deal of natural strength can benefit greatly from the arrows more-so than they can with bullets (which are largely static in terms of power).

Team Fortress 2 has one that's pretty neat. If you don't see the person firing the Huntsman, you'll probably get pegged by it. However, if you see them you actually have an ample opportunity to escape (even with the arrow using the rocket's hitbox)...even ducking works wonders (as they always shoot for the head). Operates on a charge system, so you'll have to keep the string drawn for a certain amount of time to get the most of it but not long enough to "waiver" and make it inaccurate.

Very good in medieval games for the obvious reason that shooting projectiles that can be loaded fairly quickly at the advancing horde of sword/spear using infantrymen puts you at a gross advantage until they finally reach you (manage to breach the castle).

 

[Soxafloppin]

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

I really liked using the Bow in KOA, even though I played put most of my points into the Sorcery Tree.

 

[Tom_green_day]

I found the the bows in Skyrim just didn't damage enough. They were fun in Far Cry, though.
A bit of an older game but in Battle for Middle Earth I used to love archer heroes, especially Legolas, as they could easily take down hordes of enemies in seconds. Same goes for archers in Rome Total War if you have enough of them.