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{{
[[File:flamethrower-boat.jpg|link=Real Life|frame|*sigh* If only...]]
Considering how, between [[Kill It
This is in part because they tend to be based on Hollywood-style gas flamethrowers rather than real ones; typically their fuel acts like pressurized gas rather than burning liquid, creating a long flame rather than an arcing stream. Game limitations mean the flamethrower's typical use (destroying
▲Considering how, between [[Kill It With Fire]] and [[Incendiary Exponent]], fire has a habit of being portrayed as undistilled [[Rule of Cool]], flamethrowers in [[Video Games]] have an odd habit of being [[Awesome but Impractical]] at best. This tends to be down to a combination of [[Convection, Schmonvection]], [[Critical Existence Failure]] and a variant of [[Short-Range Shotgun]]; game [[Fire-Breathing Weapon|flamethrowers]] tend to have a very, VERY short range, a narrow area of effect and do slow damage over time with very little disabling effect (or the disabling effect requires enough sustained fire you may as well use an instant-damage weapon), in many cases the effect is very temporary as well and wears off soon after.
▲This is in part because they tend to be based on Hollywood-style gas flamethrowers rather than real ones; typically their fuel acts like pressurized gas rather than burning liquid, creating a long flame rather than an arcing stream. Game limitations mean the flamethrower's typical use (destroying buildings) is rarely possible in-engine, neither is it likely to mask the firer's position with smoke and flames (or even create smoke). On the plus side, games rarely allow the fuel tanks to be targeted by enemies (though enemies seem to carry [[Made of Explodium|tanks of nitroglycerine]] rather than fuel on their backs if ''they'' have a flamethrower), or simulate how staggeringly physically debilitating it is to operate such a device.
There are also additional issues, for instance, burning enemies frequently [[Infernal Retaliation|damage you when close]], yet the Flamethrower requires enemies to be close to use it (bonus points if [[The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard|other enemies are not damaged by the flames]]). Also, games (especially Sci-Fi ones) frequently put you up against mechanical enemies and make fire useless against them, yet even the weakest pistol can do some damage; this is hugely unrealistic, since flamethrowers are dangerous to vehicles for the same reason molotovs are; the fire and smoke can easily cause the engine to overheat or choke, burn or melt most circuit boards, and cause immense discomfort for any crew. Finally flame propagation effects are very rare in games, so fire instantly dissipates in places that would be a fatal inferno in seconds in [[Real Life]], not to mention that fuel itself rarely acts like napalm, slicks of intensely burning glue that coat every surface fired at.
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Subtrope of [[Scrappy Weapon]].
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{{examples}}
* The flamethrower from ''[[Marathon
* The flamethrower in ''[[
* In the first ''[[Soldier of Fortune]]'' the flamethrower requires some sustained fire before enemies catch alight and are disabled, however, as there's almost no spread and ammo is rare using a direct damage weapon is far more efficient outside of the sadism value (the secondary is pretty powerful, but you may as well take a grenade launcher).
* In ''[[
* 2007 title [[
** In fact, this weapon was considered so superfluous, it didn't make it into the sequel. Instead, the Plasmid equivalents for its ammo types were upgraded so that they could be fired in 'streams'.
* In the 2010 ''[[Alien vs. Predator]]'' game the marine's flamethrower is beyond useless: It makes the xenomorphs angry. Eventually they start crawling. Then they explode in an attack that will instantly kill you, but won't even annoy the other aliens around it. Oh, and when crawling they can grab your leg before exploding. So when you set one on fire, all you're doing is giving it a useful one-hit kill against you. Doesn't help that the flamethrower eats through its ammo in no time, and has all the range of the average loogie.
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*** Notable exception: best weapon in the entire game against the '''incredibly''' annoying facehuggers. Hunting facehuggers with a pulserifle is an exercise in frustration. The smartgun removes some of the fear of not knowing where the damn things are, but still remains woefully inadequate to the task. The flamer merely requires a short burst on the ground to render any facehuggers caught in the (large) blast harmless and, eventually, very dead.
** And in ''Alien Trilogy'', the Flamethrower is the weakest of the advanced weapons, being only better than the starting Pistol and consuming ammo extremely fast.
* ''[[Phantasy Star Online]]'' has the Flame Visit and the Burning Visit. On paper, they're fairly strong Ranger weapons of one of the most useful class. However, they lack the trait that makes that class useful (hitting multiple enemies) but retain most of its weaknesses (slow as death firing animation) making them essentially worthless. The upgraded Burning Visit does have a few very, very specific uses, but they're both essentially worthless.
* In ''[[Wolfenstein (
** Although if you [[Preorder Bonus|pre-ordered]] it from [[Best Buy]], you can get it at [[Disk One Nuke|the beginning of the game]], making this the only "heavy" weapon you have until you get the [[Wave Motion Gun|Particle Cannon]].
** ''[[Return to Castle Wolfenstein]]'' featured a somewhat useful flamethrower; while it was hamstrung by rare ammo and being a typical videogame gas-thrower, its flame was unusually tight before impact and long range for an aerosol weapon, making it somewhat possible to flood through windows and around corners.
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* ''[[Killzone]] 2's'' flamethrower is more of a [[Not Completely Useless]] weapon; it plays all the description straight (although the range is okay) and other weapons are mostly a better bet, but the flame from it lingers a little after landing; this is very helpful in a couple of situations where enemies can be easily lured into choke points where laying down a floor of fire creates a nasty trap. Unfortunately due to the game's one-weapon inventory system, arming yourself with ''anything'' situational tends to be a bad idea.
** At the end of the game, the [[Big Bad]] pulls an "cloak and run" once you get a few shots in, and if played wrong you will run out of ammo, but if you set them on fire then you can see where they will be and you can then use the melee before you are supposed to see them. However the weapon is still completely situational.
* In the early ''[[
* In ''[[UFO Alien Invasion]]'', the Flamethrower is more of [[Awesome but Impractical]]: it's very lethal against the aliens, because their armor is less effective against fire damage than almost anything else, and Inferno mode is a reliable overkill if you can avoid reaction fire and actually pull it. Of course, it also has the shortest range of all non-melee weapons. And it's so heavy that most soldiers can't also carry a sidearm without slowing down.
▲** ''UFO: Aftermath'' features a flamethrower that does 3900 damage per hit (comparatively, a direct hit from an RPG does 550), but has an effective range of 5 metres and weighs more than a pregnant rhinoceros.
* In ''[[Turok (
* Definitely the case in ''[[Grand Theft Auto|GTA]] San Andreas'' and ''Vice City'': the tendency for enemies to run directly at you when you light them on fire (leaving you completely helpless and vulnerable), the ridiculously short range meaning you could have killed the enemies with anything else in the game by that point, and that, since its technically classed as a BFG, you can't run and gun with it makes it all but useless.
* ''[[Halo]] 3'': Powerful but extremely easy to burn yourself with it. Also poor range.
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** And ''Prime's'' control scheme is partly to blame for its uselessness, since you couldn't aim and move at the same time. ''Trilogy'' fixes this, putting the flamethrower on equal terms with its beam combo brethren (situational but effective).
** The Flamethrower, though, is one of two weapons that is unaffected by the Beam Shields that the Elite and Omega Pirates use (the only other weapon that works are normal Missiles). Because of this, the Flamethrower is ''frighteningly'' effective at destroying the Omega Pirate's Phazon armor plates.
* The flamethrower in ''[[Dead Space (
** Oddly, the flamethrower in ''Dead Space'' is actually one of the few chemical designs that '''could''' work in a vacuum, as [[All There in the Manual|described in supplemental material]]. It is intended as a tool for melting ice in the absence of an atmosphere, which might justify its relative weakness as a weapon. That the game does not allow it to function in vacuum is [[The Coconut Effect|something of a gaffe]].
*** Fixed in [[Dead Space 2
* Partially averted in ''[[
** ''[[
* ''[[Resident Evil]] 2'' has a flamethrower which is weakened because the fuel hardly lasts any time. If you just hold and spray it will run out very soon; you have to tap it briefly to get reasonable of use out of it. That said, it is far, ''far'' more effective against Ivies then any of Leon's other weapons, including his upgraded magnum.
** ''[[Resident Evil 1]]'' and its remake also have a pair of flamethrowers; Chris uses one (if only to get through a pair of doors at the very least), and a broken one that Jill comes across. Barry will find one to use against Plant 42 if Jill gets caught up in its vines.
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* In the third and final episode of the Half-life Gamemod ''[[They Hunger]]'', you finally get a hold on a flamethrower for the first time. Being a [[Zombie Apocalypse]], it would appear to be useful, but there is a unique problem: it can´t set ''anything'' on fire. Not even the enemies, who only take a small point of damage for every puff of the flames that hit them, each one with short range. It can be used to kill slowly walking zombies, but once you encounter the infected military, with their assault rifles and shotguns and helicopters, it´s suicide to attempt to attack them with it. Oh, and it runs out of ammo quickly.
* The Gargantua in the original ''[[Half Life]]'' possesses two biological flamethrowers in place of hands. The short range works to the player's benefit as you can just avoid it, which is preferable as fire still burns.
* ''[[
* The ''[[Ratchet
** It is however, ''beautifully'' averted in [[Ratchet and Clank Future Tools of Destruction|Tools of Destruction]]; though it has the physics of an ordinary video game flamethrower, the [[Awesome Yet Practical|Pyro Blaster]] has high damage, a decent range (which you can upgrade) the ammo consumption is quite reasonable, and it evolves into a [[Up to Eleven|double-barreled helix flamethrower.]]
** Sadly, In ''[[Ratchet and Clank Size Matters]]'', the flamethrower is completely useless. It has a three-foot range, and is pitifully weak.
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** In earlier titles, the flamethrower was pretty much a heavy waste of time. Its range is ridiculously short, the ammo is ridiculously heavy, and end-game enemies tend to resist fire. Fun for toasting lower-level random encounters, but that's about it.
** Fallout3 has the Heavy Incinerator which is a flamethrower variant that uses the same fuel as regular flamethrowers, but is a devastating weapon. It throws fireballs which burst on impact, setting everything nearby on fire. It has long range, the fireballs can be lobbed over walls and other objects, and it only takes one unit of fuel per fireball (holding several thousand on you is not uncommon), which makes it a very effective aversion to the trope.
** [[Fallout: New Vegas]] made the flamethrower more powerful but less durable. While it can hold its own at short range against even higher level enemies, it's an eminently [[Breakable Weapon]] that will require you to lug around either replacements or Weapon Repair Kits if you plan to use it for an entire dungeon.
* The ''[[Battalion Wars]]'' Flame Vets, while scorching infantry into ashes in mere seconds, can only hope for [[Scratch Damage]] at best to any vehicles except an ''immobile'' [[Fragile Speedster|Recon]]. They're not going to even touch air or sea units, of course.
* ''[[R-Type]] Final's'' "Principalities" and "Dominions" fighters utilize flamethrowers as both their primary weapons and [[Wave Motion Gun]]; they're not particularly good ships, being outclassed by others in every conceivable department. They generally reach across the screen, and function in space, but not underwater. Erm...
* ''[[Haze]]'' has an absolutely ''terrible'' flamethrower; the range is woeful, it's hideous to look at, the fire effect is comically 2D, ammo is fairly rare, and all told you might as well just pack a shotgun.
* The ''Heli Attack'' series ties a flamethrower's damage inversely to the distance from whatever it's targeting. If the enemy's at a reasonable distance, it does the worst damage of any weapon in the game. If you're really close, it can kill someone in less than a second, but by then they've probably shot you at least once, and it's a series where avoiding bullets is a ''really good idea''.
* Flamethrowers in the ''[[Naval Ops]]'' series suffer from very short range and very low damage. While they can set enemy ships on fire more easily than other weapons, it's better to go for the outright kill.
** It can actually bestow negative effects on the ship, and things become very if your ship catches on fire (damage over time and destruction of ALL ammo reserves)
* In the original ''[[Command
** Flamethrowers return in ''Red Alert'' with fireballs, and are remarkably more effective at their jobs, if still heavy on the friendly-fire. However, the cheaper and faster Grenadiers serve much the same purpose, and Flamethrowers inexplicably cannot be built until you've constructed a Tech Center and rendered the poor fellow completely obsolete.
* Even with the perk that makes flame-based weapons do more damage, the ''[[Crimsonland]]'' flamethrower (and its joke counterpart the [[Joke Item|blowtorch]]) is pretty awful.
* In ''[[
* The Flamethrower in ''[[Jet Force Gemini]]'' is a classic example of this trope. It performs more like a very large blowtorch. It has a ridiculously short range, ammo for it is rare, it runs out of ammo incredibly quickly, and enemies who run around wildly while aflame can damage you. The only upside is that it actually deals quite a bit of damage.
* The ion blaze rifle in ''[[Gun Bros]]'' smokes enough to conceal incoming enemy fire, which means you get blasted more because you can't see it and therefore won't dodge it. It's also hard to aim and quite inaccurate.
* Zigzags in the ''[[Time Splitters]]'' series, where catching on fire does serious DOT, can be caused by the smallest spark (including another burning player) and is very hard to extinguish (although this makes it less useful in story mode, where being set on fire is likely to be a death sentence). The flamethrower is tremendously deadly, but has a ridiculously tiny range. So tiny in fact, that it's a miracle if anyone you set on fire doesn't run into you, spreading the flame and almost certainly killing you too.
** In Arcade Mode in ''Future Perfect'', and possibly the previous games as well, the flamethrower seems to render bots helpless, as they will run around screaming until they die. Player characters have full control while ablaze and can still attack. In the story mode, the Mansion of Madness level gives you a flamethrower from the start, but it only works when it is
* ''[[Diablo]] 2'' has the Inferno spell which is a flamethrower, complete with short range at low spell levels, low area coverage at all spell levels, no persistent damage, slow-moving flames and it takes a long time to cast ''and'' roots you to the spot while you channel and stops when you get hit. Between its weak damage and the danger factor of planting yourself in front of the onrushing enemies that will proceed to stunlock you, this is the worst sorceress spell in the game. The expansion provided the new druid class with an ''Ice'' thrower which was useful for no other reason than the very long chill length, providing some much-needed crowd control until players figured out that there's a passive area effect chill spell in the druid's arsenal and most enemies you want to chill are immune to it anyway.
** There is a very cheap [[Socketed Equipment|runeword]] that averted this by giving a massive bonus to all fire spells, and to the Inferno spell in particular; like most spells, it could become [[Game Breaker|much more effective]] as you pumped its effective level up beyond 20, making it a [[Awesome Yet Practical|cheap and effective]] tool that could be acquired [[Disc One Nuke|by the end of Act 1]] and remained useful until [[Difficulty Spike|everything becomes immune to fire]].
** The first ''Diablo'' also contained Inferno and it was even ''worse''. At least you didn't have to channel it, but it was a very slow moving flame that crept along the ground, had a very short range, almost always missed if cast at an angle due to the game being grid-based and its only benefit was that it could hit multiple targets if they were right in your grill. You would [[Randomly Drops|probably]] get a book of this spell at about the point where the first Lightning Bolt staves started to show up, which had the same line damage effect, unlimited range, a much wider area of effect and did about five times as much damage.
* Unlike its [[Tabletop Games]] [[Warhammer
** The Hellhound flame tank in the first expansion uses a [[Real Life]]-like flame thrower, however. It is still quite short-ranged and not very effective against non-infantry, but at least it ''looks'' like a proper gasoline-based flame thrower.
* In ''[[Silent Hill 3]]'', where a flamethrower can be found in a [[New Game+]]. It has infinite ammo. It stuns enemies and keeps them in place, but takes so long to kill even the weakest enemies that you might as well tape down the fire buttons and go finish a crossword puzzle while they die.
* In [[Star Wars]]: [[Shadows of the Empire]], Dash Rendar's blaster could somehow switch from a blaster to a flamethrower by using the pickups found almost everywhere. As expected, the range is weak, but since most of the on-foot missions involve close spaces and your long range enemies are usually [[Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy|Stormtroopers]], it becomes quite effective in short puffs.
** Due to the way the damage calculations worked, a single puff of flame dealt the same damage as a continuous stream. meaning even the AT-ST and the Gladiator Droid could be easily defeated by just standing behind them, emitting a puff, and waiting for the enemy health indicator to fade before doing it again. Once the Gladiator Droid goes to its alternate forms, though...
* In ''[[
** Where, depending on your actions earlier in the game, it can be combined with one of your other weapons to be able to shoot through walls (the only gun in the game capable of doing so).
* In ''[[Alien Soldier]]''. Flame Force is [[Difficult but Awesome]]; it has very short range and doesn't work against mechanical enemies or underwater, but it does such absurd amounts of damage to organic enemies (including at least a few [[That One Boss]] candidates) that it's considered pretty much mandatory for Speedruns and similar.
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** It's much more fun to face enemies using flamethrowers and use a sniper rifle to blow open the fuel tanks, causing a massive explosion.
*** On the other hand, incendiary ammo and incinerate are incredibly useful: they burn through armor, stop regeneration, and can cause enemies to panic for several seconds.
* ''[[
* Thumper's signature weapon in ''[[Twisted Metal]] 2'' is a flamethrower, and the strongest special in the game. Even the final boss takes huge amounts of damage from it... if you want to get into melee range of a giant ice cream monster truck that takes off 2/3 of your health just by running you over. Better keep a lot of energy handy for freeze missiles.
** It got worse in ''[[Twisted Metal]] 3'' and ''4'' where the developers decided to give the weapon to a very fast, but very fragile character, because this is exactly the kind of vehicle you want to carry a short ranged damage over time weapon, right? The flamer was dumped for ''Black'', although there is a boss that uses a turret-mounted one at close range. Then for ''Head-On'' we're back to the Thumper incarnation.
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* The flamethrower from ''Gorky [[17/Odium|Odium]]'' has a very short range, but does quite nice damage, and doesn't use up ammo (though it needs to recharge for a few turns after each use.)
* The flamethrower in ''[[Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines]]'' seems like it should suck. It is expensive and acts like an oversized blowtorch in range and type of flame (it even sounds like a propane flame). However, because it deals aggravated fire damage it is the premier anti-vampire weapon in the game. A pity it [[Shaped Like Itself|eats ammo like something that eats ammo very fast]] and can only be acquired right before the endgame, making it something of a [[Too Awesome to Use]] weapon.
* While the flamethrower (and blowtorch) in videogame version of ''[[The Thing (
* The Fire Wave of ''[[Mega Man X]]'' is generally considered to be that game's worst weapon. Low damage, a range of approximately three character widths (the charged version shoots out for about half a screen), and does not work at all underwater. Oh yeah, and it "fires" while you are charging it, meaning you'll lose at least a sixth of your weapons energy whenever you attempt a charged shot. Its only saving grace is how rapidly it hits normal enemies and minibosses, so there's no need to mash Y when shooting them.
* ''[[Vigilante 8]]'' ''Second Offense'' has the Brimstone Burner weapon. Most weapons in the game are fairly balanced and all have their roles, except for this. It is turret mounted so you can toast enemies in any direction and deals decent damage, but lingering in close range makes you a target and there is the [[Short-Range Shotgun|Bruiser Cannon]] turret which has a scattershot special attack that removes half of an enemy's health bar. The flamer's special attacks on the other hand consist of a pointless oil slick, a weak firewall created behind you and thankfully a ranged attack... a slow moving skipping fireball that only deals damage when it bounces off the ground, goes right through enemies, consumes half of your flamer ammo and doesn't even do a lot of damage.
* ''[[
** Worse, it is an unlockable weapon and you cannot ''avoid'' unlocking it once you have completed a few races, after which you will start seeing it with [[Power-Up Letdown|annoying frequency]], usually when you are in second place on the final stretch and all you wanted was a basic missile.
* ''[[Time Crisis]]: Crisis Zone'' has a flamethrower as an unlockable weapon in the [[
* The ''[[Blaster Master]]'' series has a notoriously bad flame thrower, though depending on who the player is using it may not be that noticeable as most handheld weapons are pretty weak and short range. It is pretty noticeable in the tank though, which otherwise has good rounds.
* ''[[Combat Mission]]'' also has potent but very hard to use flamethrowers. If you do manage to get them in range of an enemy tank, trench or garrisoned building, they'll make short work of them. Good luck getting to that point though; flamer teams are slow moving, they're usually only two man strong so suppressing or even destroying them outright is quasi effortless, and they can't safely fire from buildings or forests which makes ambush tactics hard to pull off. Now, flame throwing ''tanks'' on the other hand are lovely, if expensive.
* The flamethrower in ''[[The Punisher (
* While not useless in ''Battle Tanx'' gameplay, the flamethrower tanks still don't hold a candle to their real life counterparts in any area besides maybe ammo.
* Completely averted in the [[Shoot'Em Up]] ''[[Fire Shark]]''. The flamethrower started out as a small stream of flame that did good damage, and them proceeded into [[media:
** In fact, the fully upgraded flamethrower is so broken, using it for too long will cause the game to flood the screen with other weapon powerups in an effort to force you to use something else!
* Averted in ''[[
** However, played straight in competitive play, where the Pyro is considered a [[Master of None]]. Quick reflexes and the rather unusual manner used to decide how much damage is done<ref>It's based on how long the fire-particles are out before colliding. Since they gain no velocity from the Pyro even when he's moving, other players can take less damage by just running in the opposite direction ''even if the distance between them stays the same.''.</ref> makes direct damage rather unreliable, while attentive Medics reliably make the afterburn moot (the latter has even started being true for non-competitive play with the number of ways to put out fire).
* Averted in ''[[Dead Space: Extraction
* In the 2008 ''[[Turok (
* Similarly, ''[[
** ''Hearts'' focus on comboing means two things for the mid-range-reaching Flame Gun: First, it's a good way to put a few free hits on a large slice of the field, and second, it's ''really'' annoying if an enemy gets you in it while you're trying to close in, because each hit knocks you back slightly.
* Averted in ''[[
* ''[[Far Cry]] 2'' features an ''extremely'' useful flamethrower, largely due to the developers wanting to show off the game's dynamic fire effects. A couple of short bursts can result in a raging fire that lays waste to a whole checkpoint. The ''FC2'' weapon is actually ''more'' useful than it is in real life, since the real LPO-50 fires in fixed-length bursts and only has three shots. You even have to be aware of prevailing winds, because if you just start burning shit with the flamethrower, it can and ''will'' make the entire area burn up. Including you.
* Pretty decently averted in ''[[Postal]] 2''
** The ''A Week in Paradise'' mod also adds the ''[[Blood]]''-esque "aerosol can + lighter"-style flamethrower, which shoots somewhat slow-moving puffs of flame. Very nice for area denial.
* In ''[[Dawn of War]] 2'', flamers for Imperial Guardsmen and Tactical Marines do less damage and have a shorter range than the baseline weapons they replace, but they hit in an area of effect and do a ''even more'' damage against units within cover or buildings, giving them a clear niche against opponents who you feel may be using larger squads. The burnas for the Slugga Boyz are the only weapon upgrade available to them, and are an obvious good choice with their area of effect attack, increased ranged damage over the pitiful pistols the Slugga Boyz normally use, and count as power weapons to do more damage against heavier infantry.
* In ''[[
** However, even though you can kick ass with the flamethrower, so can your enemies. Catching on fire will [[Incredibly Lame Pun|burn away your health]] until it wears off, or when you find a extinguisher, or a source of water. [[Crazy Prepared|Some players carry around a fire extinguisher at all times just for this reason]].
* In ''[[Fallout]] 3's'' DLC ''Broken Steel'' (and also in ''[[Fallout: New Vegas|New Vegas]]''), unlike the regular, short-ranged Flamer, the Heavy Incinerator is basically a napalm launcher, fulfilling the trope almost faithfully with the difference that the Heavy Incinerator fires globs of napalm instead of a continuous stream. Not only it is fully-automatic and lethal, it has a long range and can effectively be used as a bombardment implement. Across a river.
** Best thing? It's semi-regular due to Enclave Hellfire Troopers spawning from when ''Broken Steel'' is installed. However, you do have to kill one to get it, and they are one of the [[Demonic Spiders]] of the game. Also, due to their specialized Power Armor (which you can also loot, and it ''is'' very strong), they are resistant to fire, and hence, their own weapon. [[But Wait! There's More!]]! It is also affected by both Pyromaniac perk and the bugged Ghoul Ecology perk, which adds +5 unblockable damage to any enemy, every projectile fired. Watch your DAM skyrocket indeed.
*** Also, it explodes underwater. You don't need to worry about them pesky Mirelurks swimming with relative safety anymore you ain't!
** ''Broken Steel'' also introduces the Slo-Burn Flamer, which has all the drawbacks of the regular Flamer, but the addition of continuous burning damage for a ''very'' long time. Light an enemy on fire, and then run until they die (or you have to relight them; you won't need to do it a third time unless they have fire resistance).
** ''[[Fallout: New Vegas]]'' doesn't have as many flamers, nor the high-powered variants that ''Fallout 3'' did, but it does however have the perfect place to use such a weapon-type: {{spoiler|Vault 22. An entire vault}} full of dangerous (but very flammable) plants. Conveniently a flamer is provided there, and it doesn't seem half so sucky any more.
** The ''Gun Runners' Arsenal'' DLC for ''New Vegas'' also introduces the unique flamer, Cleansing flame. The weapon is heavier than the base model and doesn't inflict a [[Critical Hit]] as often, but trades off those downsides for superior damage over time, a generously sized fuel reserve, greater durability, and perhaps most welcome of all, an extended range compared to the standard flamer. It also fires a very pretty stream of blue flames.
* ''[[Gunstar Heroes]]'' also goes both ways. The normal Flame weapon is very short-ranged (but powerful). Double Flame has only about twice the range, but when you let the fire button go, the flames fly off across the screen. Flame + Chaser is a fireball that is controlled by the player.
** Flame plus Lightning gives you a fully-functional ''lightsaber''.
* In ''[[
* Averted in ''[[Syphon Filter]]''. In the first installment, one of the bosses, Anton Girdeaux, has a flame thrower, and any fire it creates stays throughout the level. Although his fuel tank is his only weak spot, it can easily withstand multiple shots (you will not be able to use grenades, as the shock it creates will detonate the bomb which Girdeaux is protecting). In the second installment, you use a flamethrower in one level, and it is pure carnage, although it is tied to a fuel truck, meaning you can't take it with you.
* In ''[[Men of War]]'', the flamethrower is one of the most powerful weapons. It sets any unit it touches on fire, with [[Man On Fire|hilarious]] results, it can destroy any vehicle and its crew within seconds, can burn away nearly anything that can be used for concealment, and is a good weapon for clearing out buildings.
* ''[[Boktai
* In a mass combat example, the RTS ''[[Rise of Nations]]'' also features a flamethrower infantry unit at Industrial Age and later. The unit is not particularly effective against enemy units, but in a nod to its actual battlefield role, it ''is'' extremely handy against enemy structures, forcing all garrisoned units inside to evacuate. Provided you can keep it alive long enough to get within its short attack range, the flamethrower can reduce an enemy building bristling with combatants to an abandoned shell instantly.
* In ''Alien Arena'', the flamethrower has a standard cone of fire effect on the primary fire, and a more realistic long range arc of flame for the secondary.
* ''[[Blood]]'s'' "flamethrower" (an aerosol can with a lighter) has an extremely short range, but also deals a ton of damage. It also fires rapidly, making it ideal for dealing with large groups of weaker enemies. The secondary fire is absolutely devastating when applied correctly. However, if you aren't careful, it can blow up in your face, setting you on fire.
* The mine chapter in ''[[Wax Works]]'' features a chemical sprayer. Later on, you can fill its tank with gasoline to create an impromptu flamethrower. It can kill any enemy in one hit, while the rest of your weapons have only a microscopic hit chance and deal crap damage. [[Oh Crap|Just don't run out of fuel...]]
* There are situations in ''[[
** It should be noted that the "flamethrower" is called a blowtorch (Explaining the tiny range), and is pretty much one of the best tools for digging yourself a hidey-hole. Yannow, if you're that sort of player.
** ''Worms: Armageddon'' features an actual flamethrower that squirts napalm over a short-medium range. It's highly effective in torturing worms cornered in tight spaces, less so in windy circumstances. In the open, worms tend to just skip and bounce over the burning fluid.
* ''[[Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater]]'' gives us "The Fury," a man with a jetpack and a very powerful flamethrower. You fight him in a series of narrow corridors which are ideal for his flamethrower, his flamethrower tends to set fire to things in the environment, which makes it harder to hide, and most [[
** That's because it was [[Hand Wave|modified to fire]] ''[[Hand Wave|rocket fuel]]''. The Russians you run into just before you meet The Fury also wield flamethrowers, though theirs are just normal. Still, they can do a lot of damage.
* ''[[
** ''[[
** Not to mention that Flamethrowers are the only reliable way of countering enemies in cover while leaving the cover itself intact. Meaning you can use it for yourself afterwards, which often helps IMMENSLEY.
* ''[[Contra]] Shattered Soldier'' has a flamethrower among its weapons. Its normal shot lacks range and spread, but has the high rate of fire, since it's a constant stream of fire, making it possible for skilled players to chew up everything up to bosses in half the time it would take with other guns. Its charged shot is ball of fire, that not only has the highest damage per shot, but also pierces, making it possible to hit several targets in a row. The flamethrower is not just useful, but both [[Awesome Yet Practical]] enough to be your main weapon, as a highly precise, controllable weapon, while leaving the Machine Gun and Spread Gun for situational use.
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*** In the first [[Contra]], the flamethrower was a useless corkscrew attack. In Super C, it was a chargeable blastthat exploded and spread on contact. In Contra 3, it was a constant-damage stream, and invaluable in many levels.
* ''[[Alien Swarm]]'': Now that the [[Lightning Gun|Tesla Cannon]] is no longer the undisputed [[Infinity+1 Sword|King of Weapons]], the Flamethrower has mostly taken its place. Why? A single puff of fire ignites an enemy (only prolonged fire ignites teammates, thankfully... but when it does, it isn't pretty), making it highly ammo efficient. Each puff is weak, but the burn damage is high; a single flamer sweep can turn a horde of drones into a staggering, flaming mess: no squad members injured. Only an idiot goes into a nest of [[Face Full of Alien Wingwong|Parasites]] without one. Oh, and its alt fire ''extinguishes'' fire... how's ''that'' for handy?
** This is also something of a reaction to the flame thrower in the [[Older Than They Think|original Alien Swarm mod]]. The flamethrower there was quite useful as an ammo-efficient way of sweeping for enemies, slowed down whatever it set alight while the flame ran its course, and did a great deal of damage to anything it hit. However the danger of setting teammates on fire was high if used in a crowded area by a jumpy player, which lead to players who choose to use it being rather unpopular with their teammates.
* ''[[Command
** The NOD flamethrowers in ''C&C3'' both resemble real world flamethrowers in action and are ''insanely awesome'' against most targets; the flame tank is considered the go-to vehicle for most NOD players, and its infantry equivalent also has its uses (being near immune to anti vehicle weapons helps). In addition to nearly instant killing infantry units, they also burn down structures in mere seconds. Flame tanks can even be cloaked with the right support power, hidden until they suddenly pop up in the middle of the enemy base, reducing it to ashes with unparalleled speed. Then there's the expansion, which added the Black Hand sub-faction, which [[It Got Worse|specializes in flame weapons]]. They lack access to the stealth trick, but their flame weapons can instead be upgraded to do even more damage, to a point they become dangerous against even armored targets, and can take down a structure in the time it takes to blink. They also get Nod's standard top-tier [[Humongous Mecha|walker]] with the otherwise impractical flamethrower upgrade right out of the box, in addition to the increased damage upgrade. Then there's the flamethrower upgrade for their even bigger walker...
** In the campaign for the FPS offshoot ''Renegade'', the flamethrower is one of the single most useful weapons against enemy troops. It has a surprisingly long range, deals good damage to pretty much any infantry unit, inflicts damage over time, and best of all, it stunlocks ''everything in the game'' except flamethrower troopers; even a passing wash of flame will stop the toughest infantry in their tracks and make them flail about while on fire. The only thing it isn't really effective against is the aforementioned flamethrower soldiers. The flamethrower will be your go-to close-range weapon for the first half of the campaign until laser weapons become available, and even then it will remain very useful for the rest of the game.
* In ''Duke Nukem II'' the flame thrower proves to be more effective than the rocket launcher, which is advertised as the best weapon. Not only does it deal a fair amount of damage, but if pointed at the ground it jumps you up in the air, making it very useful.
* ''[[Survival Crisis Z]]'' has a great flamethrower. It instantly kills every non-boss enemy, has good range, burns through ammo slower than most other weapons, and has relatively inexpensive ammo compared to other high damage guns. Its only flaw is that you must purchase its ammunition, and cannot be found in briefcases, backpacks, or corpses like you can with other weapons. If you have a ''partner'' with a flamethrower, however, the ammo for it becomes even cheaper, and you ''can'' resupply it by looting.
* The classic shooter ''[[Rise of the Triad]]'' features both aspects of this trope. The user weapon Flamewall is easily one of the best in the game, sending out an expanding wall of moving fire that [[One-Hit Kill|instantly kills]] any enemy in its path leaving behind a charred skeleton that crumbles into dust. On the other hand the flame throwers that [[Malevolent Architecture|adorn the levels]] are of the gas variety and take away health only while you are directly being seared by them.
** The weapon has one other niche which guarantees it's frequently found: one of the many weird bonuses you can get upon completing a level (and the Bonus Bonus, which requires getting that one) requires you to have used a projectile weapon to hit ''yourself'' (and have survived, of course). With the ''projectile'', not the explosion. This is the only weapon which can be reliably used to do that.
* While ''[[Killzone]] 2'' had rather effective flamethrowers that were considered useless because the two-weapon inventory system made arming yourself with anything situational a very bad idea, ''Killzone 3'' had a ''three''-weapon inventory system with the third slot made specifically for weapons like this which makes having a flamethrower a good idea whenever you can actually get it. You can ever only find the flamethrower in trench and jungle areas where you'll find them to be very effective, and you won't need to find chokepoints to try to funnel enemies into for maximum efficiency anymore.
* Flamethrowers in ''[[Star Wars Battlefront|Battlefront 2]]'' have got the same range problems as most videogame flamethrowers, but everyone who can use one has a way to mitigate the short range (Bothans turn invisible, Boba and Jango have jet packs), and they actually do a horrific amount of damage (one complete burn from ambush is likely to kill whoever you're shooting at as a Bothan, the Fetts do a bit less damage but can hit multiple people and leave them burning).
* The Mechanic class in ''[[Maple Story]]'' averts this. The flamethrower has decent damage and covers up a wide range that can quickly roast large mobs of monsters at the same time. Sure, it is then overshadowed by more advanced and deadly skills available in further levels, but considering this is one of the first skills that the Mechanic gets, its a practical, reliable and awesome tool to use against your enemies.
* ''[[Red Faction]]'''s flamethrower, though typically short range and hazardous to wield, had the beneficial effect of instantly making all targets stop shooting at you [[Video Game Cruelty Potential|because they're too busy running in circles and screaming in agony]]. An additional plus was the [[Secondary Fire|ability to chuck the tank (even if it's almost empty) to produce a huge explosion that sets everything on fire]].
* ''[[Steel Panthers World At War]]'' has a flamethrower that's relatively short range (1 hex/50 meters), but devastatingly effective against whatever's in that hex. It will set whatever terrain's in that hex on fire, which is useful for screening (smoke blocks line-of-sight) and area denial (it's hard to convince infantry to move through flaming forests, and even tanks will think twice).
* The ''[[Metal Slug]]'' series flamethrower is one of the better special weapons. The flame is quite large, has moderate range,<ref>except when shooting straight down</ref>
* In the [[Freeware]] game ''C-Dogs'' by Ronny Wester, the Flamer is a very powerful weapon in close quarters, its DPS only surpassed by explosives, [[Molotov Cocktail|molotov cocktails]], and the Knife.
* Despite being one of the first ever (if not ''the'' first) First Person Shooters to include a flamethrower, ''[[Strife]]'' does better than many. Due to the limits of the game engine (based off that of ''[[Doom]]'', another early game that had avoided a [[Short-Range Shotgun|now-common trope]]), flamethrowers acted somewhat more like "napalm squirtguns" than the useless cloud of flame seen in modern games, and had better range than most examples. Still less potent than a real flamethrower, but overall far more effective than the flamethrowers seen in today's games.
* The [[X (
* ''[[Terraria]]'' averts this. The flamethrower has a very good range, deals a lot of damage (though a single flame doesn't hurt that much, it fires a lot of them per unit of ammo), sets enemies ablaze for even more damage, and its ammo is ridiculously easy to find and hoard.
* ''[[
* Zombie Revenge (a sort of hybrid beat 'em up/shooter game in the same world of House of the Dead) had a devestating flame thrower which did ridiculous amounts of hard-hitting, enemy-flinching damage that spelt certain doom for any enemy, bosses included. It's found once or twice in total as a result.
* In ''[[Metal Saga|Metal Max]] 2: Reloaded'' you can buy a flamethrower in the first town and it will have the highest attack power ''and'' widest attack arc of any small-arm you can find for a long time. When you do start finding weapons with a higher attack power you are waist deep in mutant plants and insects that are weak to fire and the game lets you equip up to three weapons at once, swapping between them in battle without penalty, so it stays useful for a ''long'' time. Ted Broiler, the main bad guy for most of the game, uses a pair of wrist mounted flame throwers as his weapons of choice and he regularly uses them to devastating potency.
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