Weapons Part Deux

Pulse Blaster

The Pulse Blaster's primary fire mode shoots out balls of green plasma at a high rate. Each plasma ball hits for a good deal of damage, so if you can catch your opponent running in a straight line, he/she is pretty much toast. The secondary fire mode is arguably more useful than primary though - it's a medium range shaft of energy, very similar to Quake 1's lightning gun, though not as powerful. It's much easier to aim the weapon's secondary fire, so most of the time we end up using the weapon in that manner, rather than firing it in primary mode. On LAN and on high speed connections, the secondary fire mode is silky smooth. In fact, it's arguably easier to aim than the original shaft from Quake 1. The problem comes when you play games online and the ping climbs above 150 to 200. The shaft effect is done client side, so it's rather difficult to figure out if you're actually hitting your opponent or not - we'll elaborate more on this later.

Spraying primary plasma

Shaft time!

Minigun

The minigun is one of our favorite weapons in the game. Basically it's an ultra high speed machine gun that spits out hitscan bullets. The firing rate comes in two speeds: fast and disturbingly rapid. And you guessed it, those two speeds represent the gun's primary and secondary firing modes. In order to balance out the use of those two speeds, the higher rate of fire also means a reduction in accuracy. But when it comes down to it, there's no faster way to mow down an enemy than to give him a close range, force-fed meal of bullets. If you keep your opponents point blank, then you're not going to miss! Our only complaint is with the sound of the weapon; it sounds like you're firing bullets faster than you actually are, but once you get used to the feel, you start mowing people down a lot faster.

It's a mini gun turret - look at the muzzle flash

Rocket Launcher

What's a first person shooter without a rocket launcher? It's practically a requirement! UT includes one of course, and as it should be, it's arguably the most powerful weapon in the game. What makes this particular rocket launcher more innovative than your garden variety kind is that you can load up and launch multiple missiles. Borrowing a design aspect from Unreal's 8-ball gun, UT's RL allows you to slowly load up each chamber of your rotating barrel with a rocket by holding down the fire button (primary or secondary). The weapon fires when you release the button or when the maximum six rockets fill the chambers (whichever comes first). Where primary fire and secondary fire differ is that secondary fire spits out the rockets like a grenade launcher. They can bounce around a couple of times on the floor and walls before exploding. Primary fire of course, shoots out the rockets normally.

Many, many rockets

The impact of each explosion is powerful enough to knock opponents around, but splash damage from single rockets is rather subdued. If you want to kill or severely damage opponents off the splash then you'll need to load up two or three. It's always a satisfying feeling to just unload a stack of rockets on an enemy! Want to concentrate the power? You can press the secondary button while you're loading to compress your rockets into a tight hex instead of a spread.

Because of the loading mechanism, firing single rockets isn't quite as crisp as it could be - in response to this, Epic included an "instant rocket" mode that makes firing singles trigger-quick. The down side of enabling this mode is that you can't load up extra rockets. Given the power of multiple rockets over singles, we're more inclined to stick with the default rocket fire mode and utilize multiple projectiles.

Flak Cannon

If there's an overpowered weapon in the game, then this is it. At close range, nothing can save you from the raw power of its primary fire mode. Basically the Flak cannon is like a shotgun and grenade launcher rolled into one. Primary fire spits out molten hot shrapnel. These bits can actually bounce around corners to hit enemies who are hiding. They gradually get weaker with distance, but at close range, a full bore shot from the Flak Cannon is utterly devastating. It's easy to aim, and the rate of fire is pretty good too. If you make the mistake of letting your opponent grab one, then keep your distance. If they have the damage amplifier, then you can just smooch your butt goodbye.

Missed with the hot flak

Secondary fire lobs a grenade like projectile that explodes upon impact. Like the primary fire, it packs a wallop and has the added effect of bouncing opponents around, which can temporarily disorient them. Secondary works great on groups of enemies running around below you, or to cover doorways.

Sniper Rifle

The weapon of choice for campers, the UT sniper rifle's most notable feature is the head shot. If you can nail your opponent in the head, it will decapitate and automatically kill them. If you're good, you can squeeze off a headshot by firing from the hip, but if you've got a good spot you may as well use the scope (secondary fire mode). Relative to other games, the reload on the sniper rifle is rather fast - a bit too fast for our taste. It can really be an overpowering weapon on CTF maps like Facing Worlds or Lava Giant where there are huge, wide open areas of approach to the base. A slower reload time would have made this a more balanced weapon on those levels.

Yeah, baby

Redeemer

Ah, the uber-weapon of UT, and a fun one it is! The Redeemer is a single shot rocket launcher that fires a "miniature nuclear warhead. If you're going to fire this thing, then fire it far away from you! Nothing within its blast radius will live, but it's balanced in that hiding behind architecture will shield you, and the relatively slow moving projectile can be shot out of the air. Secondary fire mode on this weapon is really fun - you actually guide the missile in first person. There's nothing quite like turning corners, driving it through a window and nailing a camping bastard who thinks he's safe inside some hiding place. The bad side of secondary fire mode is that you stand perfectly still and vulnerable to anyone who walks by you. If they nail you while you're in the missile-cam, the warhead falls harmlessly to the ground.

Guide that sucker in