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Essays 25 December 2021, 17:50

author: Darius Matusiak

Genre-Defining Weapons - Guns That Every Shooter Game Needs

Rifles, pistols, shotguns, sniper rifles, explosives – over the years, a set of weapons has been accompanying us in most games. What were the most significant guns that inspired subsequent developers?

Table of Contents

The pistol from Wolfenstein 3D – absolute basics

The Golden Pistol from GoldenEye didn't look attractive, but it was quite powerful. - 2016-01-09
The Golden Pistol from GoldenEye didn't look attractive, but it was quite powerful.

Wolfenstein 3D for PC offers the Walther P38 pistol, but in the Mac version it is already Luger. The port on the Jaguar console looks even different, where the weapon graphics were borrowed from Doom, and this in turn is based on the modern Beretta 92FS pistol.

The pistol is a rather strange position in this list, because you can say that it defined the FPS genre by... not playing any major role in it. It cannot be denied that it all started with the pistol – it's the German Walther P38 that is first fired in Wolfenstein 3D and since then, small handguns accompany us in practically every game. The pistol has become a showcase of the Duke himself, who is always depicted with a huge Desert Eagle or Colt 1911. However, do we often use them ourselves? My point exactly! These are mainly situations where the game initially forces players to carry only a handgun until they get a better weapon. On the other hand, in multiplayer skirmishes, when you run out of ammunition, it is faster to switch to auxiliary weapon and fire a few shots than to reload the main gun. There are few cases when a pistol in the FPS game has been designed in such a way that its power and versatility allow it to be used as a primary weapon. Such were the clumsy Golden Gun and PP7 in GoldenEye, the Magnum M6G in Halo: Combat Evolved and the revolvers in Call of Juarez. The ML-41 Minipistol from System Shock also deserves a mention – the first weapon with a limited magazine capacity that had to be replaced. Virtually every FPS that comes to our mind has a gun – realistic or fantastic: Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, Half-Life, Project IGI, Halo, Battlefield, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Destiny ... Whether we use them or not – an auxiliary gun is always at hand or in a holster, just in case!

Pistols aren't our first choice in combat, but they are still in every game and they can be a delight. - 2016-01-09
Pistols aren't our first choice in combat, but they are still in every game and they can be a delight.

Darius Matusiak

Darius Matusiak

Graduate of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Journalism. He started writing about games in 2013 on his blog on gameplay.pl, from where he quickly moved to the Reviews and Editorials department of Gamepressure. Sometimes he also writes about movies and technology. A gamer since the heyday of Amiga. Always a fan of races, realistic simulators and military shooters, as well as games with an engaging plot or exceptional artistic style. In his free time, he teaches how to fly in modern combat fighter simulators on his own page called Szkola Latania. A huge fan of arranging his workstation in the "minimal desk setup" style, hardware novelties and cats.

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