Weapon Balance

Why weapon balance

Weapon balance is yet another sticky issue. No matter what game developers try, there are always going to be weapons that dominate over all the rest, and weapons that you end up not using a whole lot. What gets controversial is whether or not there should be one or two weapons that are completely dominant over all the rest, or if a real effort should be made to make every weapon as lethal as the rest. Our feeling is that no matter what choice is made, the weapon attributes should promote more close in battles that provide the most excitement, rather than just long range, instant hit weapons that turn the game too slow and "strategic."

Not much left of that

The Biorifle can cover entrances

The low end

There's really no doubting that the GES Biorifle is the worst weapon of the bunch. It seems to dole out the least damage of all and is primarily suited for setting traps because of the way it sticks to the ground and explodes a short time afterward. The fact that it fires in a slow, lazy arc further hinders its usefulness in close combat situations. We'd actually rather be using dual enforcers (maybe even a single enforcer) given the choice between the two. The other weapon that seems a little bit under powered is the Ripper. Sure you can get a 1 hit kill if you score a headshot but that's not all that likely when you're up against a skilled opponent. The bounciness of the razor blades proves to be as much of a hazard to yourself as anyone else in a narrow hallway.

The better weapons

Our favorite weapons were definitely the Flak Cannon and the minigun. If there was one weapon we'd pick to be the most dominating it would probably be the flak cannon. At close range the primary fire is simply devastating. It gibs your opponents more often than not, and the ricochet of the molten metal bits is a lot more predictable than the Ripper. That makes it less dangerous for user. The secondary grenade attack is great for attacking enemies on higher ground or for covering doorways - it packs quite a punch and bounces opponents around too. The other weapon we like a lot is the mini gun. It's ease of use and power is reminiscent of the Quake 2 chain gun, and the sound effects and firing animation are quite cool as well.

Taking some abuse

Eat plasma!

The rest

The other weapons all have their usefulness and will get their share of use. One concern is that the sniper rifle seems to have a very short reload time. If you find a good camping position you can squeeze off a good deal of pot shots very quickly. The fact that there is no smoke trail or other visual feedback to the source means that it will take a second or two extra for the other players to find the rogue sniper. One thing that balances it out though is that players move quickly so it's not as easy as it would seem to hit people from distance. As for the rocket launcher, it packs a good amount of punch and will remain a staple weapon for UT - we could stand to have the rockets sped up a bit though.