The sniper rifle or anti-material rifle:
The ultimate small-arms level "stand off" weapon. From considerable distance, the skilled sharpshooter can score devastating one or two hit kills against unwary enemies. Dig in somewhere, keep your cool, and play your hand only when the opportunity knocks.
Far as I've always known, the sniper rifle is a weapon that requires precision handling, extreme discipline, knowledge of physics and Earth effects, and Job-level patience.
So what went wrong?
Putting sniper rifles in a fast-paced video game...that's what went wrong.
Again, I am going off of "far as I know" stuff regarding sniper rifles/anti-material rifles.
The sniper rifle/anti-material rifle is not a run and gun weapon. But many game developers have taken that factoid and got around it with a simple "solution". Make the "aim down sight" function lightning fast.
Honestly....that sucks.
Starting all the way back with Halo (perhaps even earlier), the ability to raise a 20-30 lb. sniper rifle to your eye, precisely onto a target way in the distance with lighning speed has removed the strategic/distance tactical aspect from these rather cumbersome weapons.
In a game like the Call of Duty series, especially starting with the Modern Warfare series, a player can just point their sniper rifle at a target with the on screen reticle, pull the ADS trigger (Aim Down Sight) and within a split second, aim and fire and generally score a headshot, often resulting in a 1HK (One Hit Kill). Some such players would call it "mad skillz".
I call it "bullshit". To be able to raise such a weapon that quickly in real-life, and score such a precise hit would be extremely difficult. It's one thing to be able to do it with assault rifles and sub-machine guns...they are far lighter in weight and easier in handling. Sniper rifles? I doubt it. Bringing up the scope is one thing....leveling it on your target while standing still, or prone, is patience taxing enough. To do it while on the move? That could cost you precious seconds in real-life combat...and I doubt that any sane infantryman/sharpshooter would dare try to use a sniper rifle as a close quarters weapon.
Alas, it is video games we speak of, and the "mad skilld" snipers can take down their targets with seemingly superhuman accuracy and speed.
And it really gets annoying when you see your death in the enemy's kill cam, how they brought up the sniper rifle scope (while on the move) for just a split second, and scored a headshot. (If a .50 caliber weapon, a shot just about anywhere should kill you. So, I call further bullshit when I do try to score a center mass hit with a .50 cal sniper rifle, and the target survives!)
Wanna know where these gamers get their "mad skillz"?
Some players have resorted to creating little cheats like placing a small piece of Scotch tape on the center of their tv screen (after determining where their bullets go in a hip fire shot) so that they don't even have to raise the scope, and can score a "from the hip" 1HK. It also enables them to get a read on their target to bring up their scope and score a more guaranteed hit/kill.
Alas, there is little to nothing that can be done to mitigate this problem.
If you slow down the ADS time to something more akin to real life, (and then account for target acquisition in-scope) the sniper rifle fanboys will go into a rage that would be the envy of the most hardcore Trekkie/er complaining about what they think is an asspull.
Some games have removed the hipfire reticle from sniper rifles, which, ideally, should make it impossible for a run'n'gun sniper player to score a precise hit on a target, no matter how close the target is. Again, some gamers place a small square of Scotch tape on the center of their tv's to take care of that sore little inconvenience. To do this, they'd have to go to the game's virtual target range, or play a botz game where they can almost safely "zero in" their sniper rifles for hip-fire so they can place the Scotch tape.
Some games like Destiny and the latter Call of Duty games have added "lens glint" to their multiplayer so that players being targeted by a sniper can see the sunlight glint off the sniper's scope in the distance (assuming the players have line of sight in the general direction of the sniper).
At least in the Battlefield: Bad Company games, snipers are relegated to more real-world limitations, but that is because the nature of the Bad Company games are more goal oriented rather than just twitchy, run'n'gun gameplay.
Sadly, at this point, the poison has worked its way so far into the body of gaming that anything that is done to mitigate the overwhelming advantage that "twitch" snipers have will be met with fanboyish resistance. "Hey, you took away my best weapon and skillz!"
Anyhoo....that's my rant.
The ultimate small-arms level "stand off" weapon. From considerable distance, the skilled sharpshooter can score devastating one or two hit kills against unwary enemies. Dig in somewhere, keep your cool, and play your hand only when the opportunity knocks.
Far as I've always known, the sniper rifle is a weapon that requires precision handling, extreme discipline, knowledge of physics and Earth effects, and Job-level patience.
So what went wrong?
Putting sniper rifles in a fast-paced video game...that's what went wrong.
Again, I am going off of "far as I know" stuff regarding sniper rifles/anti-material rifles.
The sniper rifle/anti-material rifle is not a run and gun weapon. But many game developers have taken that factoid and got around it with a simple "solution". Make the "aim down sight" function lightning fast.
Honestly....that sucks.
Starting all the way back with Halo (perhaps even earlier), the ability to raise a 20-30 lb. sniper rifle to your eye, precisely onto a target way in the distance with lighning speed has removed the strategic/distance tactical aspect from these rather cumbersome weapons.
In a game like the Call of Duty series, especially starting with the Modern Warfare series, a player can just point their sniper rifle at a target with the on screen reticle, pull the ADS trigger (Aim Down Sight) and within a split second, aim and fire and generally score a headshot, often resulting in a 1HK (One Hit Kill). Some such players would call it "mad skillz".
I call it "bullshit". To be able to raise such a weapon that quickly in real-life, and score such a precise hit would be extremely difficult. It's one thing to be able to do it with assault rifles and sub-machine guns...they are far lighter in weight and easier in handling. Sniper rifles? I doubt it. Bringing up the scope is one thing....leveling it on your target while standing still, or prone, is patience taxing enough. To do it while on the move? That could cost you precious seconds in real-life combat...and I doubt that any sane infantryman/sharpshooter would dare try to use a sniper rifle as a close quarters weapon.
Alas, it is video games we speak of, and the "mad skilld" snipers can take down their targets with seemingly superhuman accuracy and speed.
And it really gets annoying when you see your death in the enemy's kill cam, how they brought up the sniper rifle scope (while on the move) for just a split second, and scored a headshot. (If a .50 caliber weapon, a shot just about anywhere should kill you. So, I call further bullshit when I do try to score a center mass hit with a .50 cal sniper rifle, and the target survives!)
Wanna know where these gamers get their "mad skillz"?
Some players have resorted to creating little cheats like placing a small piece of Scotch tape on the center of their tv screen (after determining where their bullets go in a hip fire shot) so that they don't even have to raise the scope, and can score a "from the hip" 1HK. It also enables them to get a read on their target to bring up their scope and score a more guaranteed hit/kill.
Alas, there is little to nothing that can be done to mitigate this problem.
If you slow down the ADS time to something more akin to real life, (and then account for target acquisition in-scope) the sniper rifle fanboys will go into a rage that would be the envy of the most hardcore Trekkie/er complaining about what they think is an asspull.
Some games have removed the hipfire reticle from sniper rifles, which, ideally, should make it impossible for a run'n'gun sniper player to score a precise hit on a target, no matter how close the target is. Again, some gamers place a small square of Scotch tape on the center of their tv's to take care of that sore little inconvenience. To do this, they'd have to go to the game's virtual target range, or play a botz game where they can almost safely "zero in" their sniper rifles for hip-fire so they can place the Scotch tape.
Some games like Destiny and the latter Call of Duty games have added "lens glint" to their multiplayer so that players being targeted by a sniper can see the sunlight glint off the sniper's scope in the distance (assuming the players have line of sight in the general direction of the sniper).
At least in the Battlefield: Bad Company games, snipers are relegated to more real-world limitations, but that is because the nature of the Bad Company games are more goal oriented rather than just twitchy, run'n'gun gameplay.
Sadly, at this point, the poison has worked its way so far into the body of gaming that anything that is done to mitigate the overwhelming advantage that "twitch" snipers have will be met with fanboyish resistance. "Hey, you took away my best weapon and skillz!"
Anyhoo....that's my rant.
