Video Game Flamethrowers Suck: Difference between revisions

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[[File:flamethrower-boat.jpg|link=Real Life|frame|*sigh* If only...]]

 

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.

 

Subtrope of [[Scrappy Weapon]].

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== Lame ==

* The flamethrower from ''[[Marathon Trilogy|Marathon]]'', humorously named the TOZT (Toaster, later used in Halo 3 as 7057), is one of the best weapons for burning up crowds, and in fact can overheat and destroy most mechanical enemies, however its range is ridiculously low, and if you're up against a shotgunner in multiplayer you only stand a slight chance if you strike first. On the plus side, people who are burned make the most over the top and hilarious scream, and the aliens sound like chickens being kicked.

* The flamethrower in ''[[Killing Floor]]'' is custom-tailored for effortlessly chewing through [[Night of the Living Mooks|the hordes of weak specimens]] in the early stages, with its damage over time burning up masses of Clots, Gorefasts, Stalkers and Crawlers before they can even reach you. After the first few stages, though, the enemy waves start to have much more sturdy and intimidating freaks mingling amongst them who laugh off anything short of being force-fed a full tank of fuel - pray that one of your [[Boom! Headshot!|marksman-class]] teammates is nearby and has great aim, or get used to being eaten. Plus, unless you're a firebug-class, the flamethrower is expensive, very prone to damaging yourself, and you won't be able to afford it until you're most likely better off using something else - and, to add insult to injury, the "Husk" enemies are almost immune to the weapon. (If you are a high level firebug, you can spawn with it in the first round, it becomes somewhat more viable, and gives you the opportunity to use it in the first rounds.) Because there are weapons that excel at taking out hordes of enemies *or* priority targets, it's a definite case of [[Tier-Induced Scrappy]].