What is a Shotgun to you?

[cattypat]

No matter what FPS you play, past and present, you can be pretty sure there is a shotgun for the player. But this gun is quite controversial among the opinions of gamers.

To some it is prized as their savior and standby for getting through most tough guys and causing cheerfull amputations up close and personal, using their skill in shot timing and speed over worrying about accuracy and aiming.

Others however will sware that it's an idiots weapon, another option for an easier game, that it needs little skill or awareness to use, which can make a game boring, or make the player in multiplayer too strong.

So whilst I load another set of shells, tell me what do you think of the ol' banger and how you like to treat it in your games.

 

[RabbitDynamite]

An old reliable pal.

 

[CK002]

for the likes of COD2 the "trench gun" is as you stated and idiots weapon. sure far away ur not going to do anything but if you just run about and blast football sized holes in peoples chests your gonig to have a nice score. But on the other side of the gate, COD4 shotguns arnt that bad! mainly because cod4 is engineered to not be as retarded as COD2 meaning you cant run about as easily with one in hope of getting easy kills, especially when your enemy has a .50 barrat! i guess in other games the shotgun isnt all that bad but most ive played have shown it as a one shot one kill weapon that you can sometimes suspiciously snipe with...

 

[LexusReloaded]

Man's best friend

 

[BonsaiK]

The shotgun was almost single-handedly responsible for the success of Doom. Hence it has been in almost all FPS since.

Shotguns in multiplayer games are fine. High damage is offset by poor range. Don't want to get killed by a shotgun, then don't let the enemy get close enough to you to get hit by one. Simple as that.

 

[Saskwach]

Compensation.

 

[Lance Icarus]

The root of all frags for me. What's better than taking a sniper by surprise with a shotgun?

 

[Dectilon]

Imbalance. Sort of how any handgun is imbalanced. Oh, so you get better aim with a handgun than a rifle... uhu... yeah... Oh, so you can theoretically sniper someone with a shotgun, because the kinetic energy doesn't decrease with range. Yeah, okay : P

I personally hate shotguns in most games, because it's often the single best weapon. Maybe not in multiplayer, but easily in single player. HL2 for example. After ca 1/2 of the game I didn't use any other weapon (except the rocket launcher for some stuff of course) because there really was no point in using anything else ~~ Even at long range.

 

[Exposed Lie]

sometimes a true and loyal friend...but most of the time a pain in the ass as the recoil is so harsh you end up looking at the ceiling and the reload time is so slow you have time to tell the approaching enemy your life story twice before you have full ammo again (realistic: yes, annoying: absolutely)

 

[propertyofcobra]

A weapon that, because of it's all or nothing nature and extreme proximity necessary to use it, is a lot more tactical than some people think. It's much more dangerous (and exciting, and honorable) to use than a sniper rifle could ever be.
The fact that it's really fun to use, and is the reason I'm a pretty darn dangerous Resistance:Fall of Man player doesn't make matters worse.

 

[Blayze]

Bah. Honour is overrated. I'd want to protect my life as much as possible, not give the other guy a chance to kill me. You don't see soldiers saying to each other "Right guys, we're only going to use pistols here to give the other guys a chance."

But what is a shotgun?

To me, it's vengeance. A chance to let the adrenaline flow fully, to unleash a primal scream born of rage and to descend upon my foes and storm through their base, collecting spawn-frag after spawn-frag until they can get their act together and evict me from their base. That is, if it goes well.

 

[LordOmnit]

I find that I use it almost exclusively at some times and at others it is at the bottom of my character's magically ocean-deep pants.

The root of all frags for me. What's better than taking a sniper by surprise with a shotgun?

Nothing. Except cake.

 

[SeniorDingDong]

- good old fellow since Doom
- my standart weapon of choise in SP shooter
- I like to pick one up in a game after I got the melee weapon and pistol
- I like to have it on the Hotkey "3"
- coolnes bonus
- fits very well for me, because I have a good reflex but badly aiming

 

[DrmChsr0]

A breach weapon capable of opening doors.

Other than that, a nice manly weapon to have.

 

[Rottweiler]

On the whole, it's an available weapon which truly depends on the game implementation to have an opinion. In some games, it earns the nickname 'n00b cannon', in others you wonder if it's a reskin of a lesser weapon like a .22.

Myself, I never complain if it's done correctly. Let's face it, if any weapon class is 'overpowered' in most games, it's the 'Sniper Rifle'. A shotgun is supposed to be a short-ranged lethal weapon with limited accuracy at medium and none at all at long ranges, which is the essential trade-off of the weapon in real life. Frankly, I get more tired of watching "Sniper Rifle - Fire - Pistol - Sniper Rifle" thing which some games allow and which makes my internal organs bleed trying to picture in real life...

It all comes down to opinion, really. A shotgun is a nasty, effective weapon in real life, and if it's accurately portrayed in an FPS it's a nasty weapon there, too. As long as the designers put in the correct limitations (accuracy tapering off rapidly as range increases, low ammo capacity, etc.) there really isn't much I can say.

 

[Anniko]

I'd prefer the shotgun ALOT more if you could load it up with dart rounds. Firing a half-inch round out of a cannon that most people expect to be used for close range and hitting them about 50-60 metres away. So far only STALKER has done alternate ammo really well.

 

[REDPill357]

In CoD4 MP, they nerfed the shotguns so you can't hit a guy 4 feet in front of you.

In every other game, it rules the battlefield. I dare someone to tell me they didn't like getting the sawed-off in Max Payne 2, turning on bullet-time, blasting two guys in the face with the shotgun, pulling off an instant reload, and then wasting some more guys. Yeah.

 

[hooloovoonate]

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.

 

[Akirasfriend]

FPS wouldn't be what it is today without Doom's shotgun.