Boring but Practical/Video Games/Third-Person Shooter


 * Total Overdose: A Gunslinger's Tale in Mexico subverts this trope with gameplay style: though your starting pistol is the weakest weapon, impossible army-beating action stunts are only possible with the pistols, which by the end of the game have unlimited ammo. This is facilitated, only in part, by a high volume of Explodium in the environment.
 * For the most part, the only weapon worth a damn in Freedom Fighters is the basic AK-47. Nearly everything else suffers from horrible accuracy, problems refilling on ammo, or both. Also slightly averted in that the strongest and most accurate weapon, available after you have enough squad members at your disposal to conserve ammo reasonably, also has a large enough ammo capacity that you can safely keep using it provided you can aim.
 * John Woo Presents Stranglehold can be entirely completed using only the pistols up to medium difficulty.
 * Dead Space also has several fairly original and interesting weapons, but it's perfectly possible (and not all that hard) to end the game with the Plasma Cutter - the weapon you start out with. Even if you're not going for the related achievement, you'll still find yourself using the it very often, as ammo is plentiful and damage is high.
 * In fact, it's probably easier to beat the game with just the Plasma Cutter, simply because buying a weapon from the store means its ammo can now be found. If you didn't have the weapon, you would only find Cutter ammo and therefore have a lot more.
 * Most Gears of War fans rave about the chainsaw bayonette melee kill, but the simple fact is that the long-winded kill animation leaves you wide open. On the insane setting, this is certain death for the player. The less flashy Hammerburst has a faster melee knockback that won't paralyze you like the Lancer would while also offering decent damage and higher firing accuracy.
 * The Hammerburst being the Locust primary weapon choice will also let you find ammo everywhere.
 * In multiplayer, using anything but the shotgun will get you mocked relentlessly.
 * If by "mocked" you mean "yelled at and called every offensive name in the book by frothing angry Jerkasses," then yeah.
 * Gears of War 3 adds the Sawed-Off Shotgun, which a player can opt to spawn with instead of the original Gnasher Shotgun. It's a power weapon in PvP, but in the cooperative "Horde" multiplayer mode it's much less attractive; it has to compete against rocket launchers, bows with explosive-tipped arrows, sniper rifles, and even a weapon that tunnels under cover before (literally) exploding out of the ground (all of which are present in PvP, but much rarer). That said, the Sawed-Off is very simple to operate and can One-Hit Kill most non-boss enemies until wave 41 (of 50). Since it's classed as a "spawned" weapon, you'll also have your ammo topped up to 4 rounds at the start of each wave, meaning you'll always have enough on hand to make an impact.
 * S4 League has the Detector skill. It doesn't grant special moves or grant you some sort of defense like many of the other skills do. However, it's still mighty useful: in addition to showing invisible opponents, it also indicates the locations of enemies behind walls (by showing their nametags above their on-screen locations), allowing you to launch some surprise attacks or avoid running into some sort of trap set up by enemies. Additionally, it's a passive skill (you never have to activate it) and costs no SP to use.
 * The HP +30 skill also works wonders, especially in Chaser mode where survival is a VERY high priority.
 * Red Dead Redemption takes place at the sunset of the old west, 1911. The best gun your going to get is the Evans Repeater, not because it's super strong or has a special effect, but because it has good range, good damage, good speed, quick reload, and a large magazine. It might as well have the word PRACTICALITY stamped on the side.
 * One of the best pistols in the game is the FN M1903, or High Power Pistol. Not because it's fully automatic, or a fancy lever-action museum piece, or a 9-shot revolver, but because it's clip-fed for quicker reloads, semi-automatic for fast shooting, and does high damage.
 * Just Cause and Just Cause 2 give players access to all sorts of nifty toys, most notably the grappling hook, which are all good and fun. However, at the end of the day, you're going to be using the pistol and SMG more than a good bit to wipe out your enemies. In the sequel, the fairly common assault rifle and grenades are pretty solid bets for both utility and effectiveness. Not as interesting in the face of rocket launchers, sniper rifles, or hooking some poor Mook to the back of a fighter jet that's taking off, but extremely efficient.
 * Despite the vast array of weapons available for use in Resident Evil 4, a combination of a handgun, knife and Action Commands is enough to deal with many enemy encounters. Only for large groups, shielded enemies or bosses will you ever need to break out something more powerful, meaning that the majority of the weapons you have will end up not being used nearly as often.
 * Star Wars Battlefront gives you a bewildering array of improbably spectacular weaponry to choose from, including a laser-based Sniper Rifle, a Chaingun, a literal Sniper Pistol, a "arc caster", a flamethrower, a Grenade Launcher, a rocket launcher, a wrist-mounted semiautomatic rocket launcher, and a semi-auto pistol that shoots homing rockets from a 30-round magazine. But when it really comes down to it, all you're gonna need is a basic shotgun or assault rifle.