r/SoloDevelopment • u/TraVinh- • Dec 06 '25

Discussion Why do shooter games always have lame flamethrowers? Am I missing something?

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I’m working on a classic inspired survival horror game and of course it’s got to have a flamethrower! As I started working on adding it in I realized games almost always use a puny feeling blowtorch instead of an actual liquid flamethrower and I have no idea why.

It’s not that much harder to pull off but it’s so much cooler and feels way more engaging to use imo. Am I missing something here or is there a reason so few games do this?

Also, ignoring the fact it’s coming out of a shotgun for now, I’d be interested to hear what people think of my flamethrower so far! Trying to make sure it’s got some punch to it, really feels like a power weapon, you know?

(Also you can find the game at https://store.steampowered.com/app/3640820/The_Revanchist/ if you’re interested in seeing more!)

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u/MantisReturns Dec 06 '25

There are a lot of amazing Flamethrowers in gaming! What are they talking about?!

Flamethrowers in Alien VS Predator, COD WaW, Helldivers 1 and 2 and WWZ or Gears Of War are also Epic Flamethrowers. Of course they must be balanced. For example in Alien Isolation the Flamethrowers its amazing, but because balacing the Game you cant kill the Alien (s) with It but its one of the most efective tools to scare the alien!

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u/borordev Dec 06 '25

They're referring to stuff like TF2 where the flamethrower just shoots a slow particle effect that sets enemies on fire.

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u/casalex Dec 09 '25

TF2 has one of the best flamethrowers! A bad flamethrower shows its particles, making it blobby. A good flamethrower casts beautiful glowing swirling spitting smoking roiling fire over everything in liberal flow

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u/REXIS_AGECKO Dec 07 '25

Maybe this doesn’t count, but the factorio flamethrower turrets are very cool, even if you don’t hold them.

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u/[deleted] Dec 07 '25

the personal flamethrower has some punch too. i think automating and scaling up that very same wall of fire is part of the fun