What is a Shotgun to you?

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GrowlersAtSea

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Nov 14, 2007
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I don't think the problem is with the Shotgun in most games, it's with level design and running abilities.

In most first person shooters, players can still run very fast for very long periods of time and most levels consist of mostly close quarters with lots of blind turns. If the vast majority of your encounters are going to be at close range, why not chose a weapon that can down an opponent in one shot? It's a specialized weapon for close-range combat, so of course it should excel at it. Shotguns in most games play to players who are fast and play aggressive, looking to get close to enemies and finish them quick. When range is rarely an issue due to level design, power and spread become the selling points, and shotguns win.

The Clark shotgun from Battlefield 2142 was a surprisingly difficult weapon to score well with, but I thought it was how Shotguns should be done in games. It was a fairly good weapon, but was probably more what I thought a shotgun should be; powerful but unreliable. Turn a corner with the Clark, one shot down a guy with a shot to the chest. Turn another corner and see a sniper lying down, aim right for the upper chest/head, first, and the player turns around angry with their knife looking for payback. Compared to the virtually fail-safe Voss (upgraded Assault Rifle, at fully automatic was awesome at close range, and single shot great at medium to long range) using the Clark was a gamble. But if you played smart, stuck to the areas of the level that played to the Clark's advantage it could be a very useful weapon, especially when playing very aggressive.

The original Halo I think is a good example of how a Shotgun can be wrong. Once you got the Shotgun in the singleplayer, it outclassed basically all of your other weapons. No need to use plasma weapons to down shields then conventional to kill an enemy, you could just run up to them with the shotgun and half the time the first blast would do the job. If for whatever reason it didn't you could follow up with a second blast fast enough to make it a non-issue.

But in the end, I think most shotguns aren't broken, it's levels. Most first person shooters still rely on a lot of corridor running close range that are one step up from the Maze Screensaver on Windows machines. Balanced levels with open expanses and close range areas that allow all weapons to shine is the way to make shotguns feel less cheap or annoying, I think.

And I'm pretty sure the "I like to keep this handy for close encounters" line was originally from the film Aliens (when the ammo is collected from the Marines, one of them takes a shotgun off his back and says the line before they continue onward). I think Call of Duty 4 was paying homage, or else it was a bizarre coincidence considering the circumstances.
 

innocent42

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Nov 3, 2007
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Shotguns are weapons that are essentially unique to run-and-gun games. Realistic games that try to implement them often fail horribly (COD4), while old-school shooters make them lots of fun (Doom, HL2, etc.) Real shotguns are nothing like the ones in videogames, since real-life shotguns have zero advantages over assault rifles. I generally don't use them, since I like medium range combat the best. I don't like sniping or corner jumping.
 

General Ma Chao

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Jan 2, 2008
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Reminds me of my Battlefield Vietnam days. The Mossberg 500 shotgun was an insane weapon to have. Keep in mind that Battlefield games have always had very open environments. It was very much a 1 shot, 1 kill gun. Interestingly, it was rarely used by other players. Many people favor that distance shot. I was willing to do without it though and it benefited my score greatly.
 

Alphavillain

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Jan 19, 2008
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I think that you need to be an accurate shot to wield the shotgun, because if you don't get the kill and the other guy has an automatic rifle... You. Are. Screwed. Me, i just pray 'n spray...
 

xMacx

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Nov 24, 2007
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I liked GOW's multiplayer. But there was something inherently frustrating about emptying a clip into someone's chest, only to have them run up on you with the 1-2 shot kill.

That, and seeing beautiful level design reduced to "mad rush followed by rugby scrum with shotguns" was a horrible thing.
 

AlexanderAstartes

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Jan 1, 2008
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I don't like them in prolonged firefights. But as for walking between encounters, the shotgun is gold. Especially in Halflife and Bioshock where I want a quick kill on things jumping out on me. Its a comforting gun to hold I think.
 

GloatingSwine

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Nov 10, 2007
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Depends on the game. Some games it's the daddy, and for games with lots of close up fights it's always nice to have that punch, but in games with decent assault rifles or SMGs it's not always necessary.
 

Duck Sandwich

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Dec 13, 2007
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I don't like how in most multiplayer games, it's a "ZERG RUSH KEKEKE" type weapon. The shotgun used to be my weapon of choice in Halo 1 multiplayer, but after a while I got tired of having 1 on 1 shotgun duels on Blood Gulch.

I like the idea of a shotgun being a weapon you sneak up on enemies with as opposed to rushing them head on. I also like the Scout's scattergun in TF2. The Scout's low health means you can't rush head on. You have to jump around like a monkey on meth, waiting for the perfect chance to get up close and hit 'em when they leave themself open.
 

Kikosemmek

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Nov 14, 2007
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The remedy to fear. Think of it: What's the most common scary scenario in an FPS? A claustrophobic, close-quarters fight. Well, that's what the shotty's there for, man. Hold it to your enemy's face, stay confident and true, and send the bastard to his afterlife in pieces. Cheap? No. I think that's something people say when they can't cope with a certain challenge. The shotgun is strictly a close-range weapon. I won't be taking on a rifleman at a distance with my double-barreled piece. I'll switch to a rifle of my own, or even a gun. It's a horrid waste of ammo to take on a far-away target with the shotgun, an offense that is heretical to the church of FPS.

It's my favourite weapon because I absolutely hate scary, fast, melee foes, and I hate them more when they're all close to me, and even more when it's dark. That's a lot of fuss (Half-Life Episode 1...), but who worries when ole' faithful is right there, loaded and ready to go. I wouldn't want anything else in such a situation. A handgun? A melee weapon? A rifle? Please. For anything that is 30' away or less, I'll take the shotgun over any other weapon.
 

REDPill357

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Jan 5, 2008
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Now, I'm just curious here. Which game has THE BEST shotgun ever? I'm guessing the overwhelming response will be Doom, but the heck with it.
 

L4Y Duke

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Nov 24, 2007
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Like many before me have said, the usefulness of the shotgun depends on the game in which it is present.

In some tight areas, I like to have one as it really kicks some major ass. But, when I'm out in large expansive areas I prefer to leave it behind in favor of a good assault rifle.
 

Duck Sandwich

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Dec 13, 2007
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REDPill357 said:
Now, I'm just curious here. Which game has THE BEST shotgun ever? I'm guessing the overwhelming response will be Doom, but the heck with it.
Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles. The Shotgun AT. It's fast, and it has a LOT of ammo. And if you abuse the reload trick, you gotcherself a Shotchine gun. And this is in a rail shooter in which almost every enemy has to get in your face to attack.

The shotgun in Halo has a hell of a lot of power. Mmm. Power.

All this shotgun talk makes me want to play Resident Evil 4 and upgrade the default shotgun to the max level, where it can be used for long distance shooting (never tried the gun before, but it sounds cool)
 
Nov 6, 2007
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hooloovoonate said:
In every shooter I've played I've relied strongly on the shotgun. From Max Payne to Perfect Dark, it's been my best friend. One day we'll be dual-wielding them, and it will truly be a magnificent thing.
I see you haven't tried the Turok demo yet. The time is now! But the game is shitty!


EDIT: And to answer REDPILL's shotgun question. The best shotgun ever (If people want to count it as such) ...

Unreal's FLAK CANNON!