Guns are extremely underwhelming

[Pink]

First I'd like to say that I love the game.
My issue here is with a big part of it - the guns. They aren't nearly as strong as melee, or rather not as reliable and efficient to use.

Take the pistol for example - try to headshot an enemy, then try to headshot the same enemy with an axe. The first can take more than one bullet (if you even hit with how the pistol sways), while the other instantly decapitates the enemy.

The sway from firing a weapon, and the time it takes to aim back or even worse - reload, makes it a chore to play cat & mouse with an enemy until they go down.
With normal bullets it'd take you between 4 to 6 hits to bring down a single trash mob without a headshot, in some cases more.

Next we have the shotguns, which are my favorite. But the 2 rounds per reload makes them again too slow compared to a single head chop. Definitely more viable than the pistol thanks to their high damage, but shotgun is more costly, so it's best to save those bullets for the large enemies that are more dangerous to melee or the boss.

There are quite a bit of videos showcasing the game, but here's one that focuses at speedrunning it. While not being optimal, it does highlight the very high efficiency of melee: https://youtu.be/IBvTiUF03hQ

[Hara]

Man I hate hearing this. When you feature a cowboy arsenal where every shot counts due to long reloads and limited capacity, nothing's worse than weak effect per bullet.

[Vaulttrooper48]

Well the ones you find on enemies are in bad condition so those would be under powered. only good for selling and unloading for ammo. like finding better ones is key.

[Vaulttrooper48]

and there are perks in game that can help with aiming and reloading along with other things

[Pink]

You find a mint pistol at the beginning of the game, and another mint shotgun at the church or slightly to its east side for a different type. I didn't speak about using enemies weapons at all.

What I described is the current state of guns vs melee, even with all of the gun upgrades they are still inferior besides the shotgun vs big enemies, or if you get surrounded and need to peek and shoot.

At any scenario that isn't of the two above you are more likely to take damage using a ranged weapon than melee.

[DragynDance]

There's also the fact that the hitbox for the hitscan bullet is a tiny little laser size that basically requires perfect aim, and the laser of the hitscan is smaller then the big clunky screen covering ironsight on your gun. Meanwhile enemies just have to be on screen to headshot them with melee. So thats also heavily in melee's favor.

[Frosty]

I feel like people are expecting this to play like a doom FPS, but it's very much a horror survival game where guns are there, but you really have to think about how to use them. Not to mention the various ammo types you can get. The Hitbox issues probably a big one to address if it's as bad as people say.

[DragynDance]

Originally posted by Frosty:

I feel like people are expecting this to play like a doom FPS, but it's very much a horror survival game where guns are there, but you really have to think about how to use them. Not to mention the various ammo types you can get. The Hitbox issues probably a big one to address if it's as bad as people say.

No, it's meant to be a stealth shooter, but the stealth is really bad due to random enemy turning + bad controls; it's way more effective to jump towards an enemy (creates no noise) and/or to just rush them because you one shot on melee headshots even outside of stealth.

[geistXIII]

Aim for head, problem solved.

[Frosty]

Originally posted by DragynDance:

Originally posted by Frosty:

I feel like people are expecting this to play like a doom FPS, but it's very much a horror survival game where guns are there, but you really have to think about how to use them. Not to mention the various ammo types you can get. The Hitbox issues probably a big one to address if it's as bad as people say.

No, it's meant to be a stealth shooter, but the stealth is really bad due to random enemy turning + bad controls; it's way more effective to jump towards an enemy (creates no noise) and/or to just rush them because you one shot on melee headshots even outside of stealth.

If you say so, I just stand back and watch their pattern. The enemies have pretty obvious patrol patterns. But I dunno might be too hard for some people to wait.

[Pink]

Originally posted by Frosty:

Originally posted by DragynDance:

No, it's meant to be a stealth shooter, but the stealth is really bad due to random enemy turning + bad controls; it's way more effective to jump towards an enemy (creates no noise) and/or to just rush them because you one shot on melee headshots even outside of stealth.

If you say so, I just stand back and watch their pattern. The enemies have pretty obvious patrol patterns. But I dunno might be too hard for some people to wait.

Why observe an enemy that takes no effort to rush with melee?

I'll even double down and say that it's better to rush down two shotgun chicks with melee than take them out with range. Enemies in this game has taken the same shooting course as the star troopers.

[Frosty]

Originally posted by horheristo:

Originally posted by Frosty:

If you say so, I just stand back and watch their pattern. The enemies have pretty obvious patrol patterns. But I dunno might be too hard for some people to wait.

Why observe an enemy that takes no effort to rush with melee?

I'll even double down and say that it's better to rush down two shotgun chicks with melee than take them out with range. Enemies in this game has taken the same shooting course as the star troopers.

If you say so.

[Hara]

I've played the game myself now, and I don't think it's all that bad. The weapons do feel like they have punch (still disappointing to not get OHK with a surprise headshot). But the hitboxes are very unforgiving as been said.
I don't mind it as it creates a bigger incentive to avoid frontal assault. I can only imagine the possibility for direct approaches open up with skill progression.

Originally posted by DragynDance:

Originally posted by Frosty:

I feel like people are expecting this to play like a doom FPS, but it's very much a horror survival game where guns are there, but you really have to think about how to use them. Not to mention the various ammo types you can get. The Hitbox issues probably a big one to address if it's as bad as people say.

No, it's meant to be a stealth shooter, but the stealth is really bad due to random enemy turning + bad controls; it's way more effective to jump towards an enemy (creates no noise) and/or to just rush them because you one shot on melee headshots even outside of stealth.

I don't think the stealth is bad. But it's extremely bland. All tension is gone when you get all the info you need about detection via sound or sight, shown with a non-diegetic UI.

[Buntkreuz]

Stealth is blant, but i agree the guns are underwhelming, even completely pointless.
I had a few situations already where i had the same thought of "Huh? That was it? Better switch to a knife then, for the rest of the game."

[MarkedMarkyMark]

I kinda know what you mean but that wasn't my experience at all, most enemies I shot died from a headshot just like the Axe, even with the rusty guns, i'm 2 hours in and the only troublesome enemy so far is the Vendigo, and only kinda.

Honestly in my experience the guns are way more overpowered and ammo has been plentiful for me too, I was running with 40 slugs and a sawed-off shooting it like i'm Ash from Evil Dead, and because the headshots are so powerful the spread will sometimes hit multiple heads and its just a firework of blood.

I think I died once (my sticky keyboard killed me, cowboy just walked into his own dynamite), i hope it gets harder, not fake hard just like, more interesting enemies mix ups or new kind of enemies.

[geistXIII]

Originally posted by MarkedMarkyMark:

I kinda know what you mean but that wasn't my experience at all, most enemies I shot died from a headshot just like the Axe, even with the rusty guns, i'm 2 hours in and the only troublesome enemy so far is the Vendigo, and only kinda.

Yeah, I really don't get all the complaining. Headshots are as good as always an instant kill. And if you point your cross hair, right click, left click you have like guaranteed headshots. Just rinse and repeat and you can get rid of whole groups of enemies. Guns are fine as they are. Maybe even a tad too strong, once you skill in shooting.

I think I died once (my sticky keyboard killed me, cowboy just walked into his own dynamite), i hope it gets harder, not fake hard just like, more interesting enemies mix ups or new kind of enemies.

Same, once you have some ammo on stock, it's just the own stupidity that tends to kill me or if I get too ballsy.