3. Shotgun Spread
What am I talking about? Am I talking about a awesome new spreadable jam for warm toast? No, I'm talking about the amount of 'spread' in a shotgun's bullets. Many games portray shotguns as extremely powerful close-ranged cannons of death and as weak little pea shooters from long ranged. But what's the truth behind it? If you see a man twenty meters in front of you with a shotgun pointed at your face, should you laugh him off and expect a few scratches or cry in the corner begging for life?
In this scenario apparently, you can easily estimate exact distances.
The truth is, shotguns have incredibly unexpected "grouping". What that means is the bullets that come out of the shotgun are extremely close to each other in a tight "cone". The close grouping easily disregards the theory of "uselessness" in long range and puts it behind other long-distance weapons. The power behind the bullets isn't all dance and games either, you can easily reach out and touch your buddy Joe from across a long hallway. The bullets don't simply roll after traveling two meters.
Not Pictured: Shotguns
But why would games trick us like this? How could they do this to their loyal fans? Because of gameplay and balancing. Most FPS games aren't made to create a military grade simulation of real-life firearms, it was made for enjoyment. Having guns behave like their real-life counterparts will result in single or double shot kills for every gun, which isn't as exciting for most people.
2. Gun "Damage"
This one may be pretty obvious to certain people, but it never hurts to say it again. If someone takes a pistol to your face and demands your money, are you going to simply shrug it off and walk on your merry way? Obviously not. What people tend to forget is, guns take lives.
Deaths may or may not be related to this photograph.
A pistol or sniper to your head will end up the same way, you'll be dead. A pistol bullet compared to a bunch of shotgun pellets in your brain will have you on the pavement in no time. There aren't any guides telling you the amount of damage a gun can do on the head, body, legs, and arms. Using almost any caliber or weapon, placing shots on "kill zones" will effectively "kill" the target.
We have to stop thinking of guns as magical devices that remove health points and give you points. It propels a metal object into your body, destroying tissue, flesh and vital organs. Unlike games, you can't simply get shot six times, ignore it, and start running around looking for more terrorist to kill. It's more likely that a single shot into your hip will result in months of recovery and rehabilitation. But obviously, that's not very god gameplay.
1. Dramatic Gun Clicking
At the end of almost every action movie, we see the bad guy and the protagonist face off. They both engage in a six minute montage of shooting, using hundreds if not thousands of bullets without reloading, but the bad guy finally gets the better of the protagonist and gets the gun in his face. Right as he pulls the trigger, the gun clicks indicating that he ran out of ammunition. After a ten minute fight scene, the movie ends and everyone lives happily ever after. So what's wrong? The predictable plot? The poor continuation mistakes? Actually, the problem is the guns.
Almost all automatic pistols' slide locks back after firing the last shot. Which means that once they fire their last shot, it'll clearly be indicated by the locked slide. The gun won't remain in a "ready to fire" looking position for dramatic final scenes. Thankfully, some movies address this issue by allowing both characters to run out of ammunition at the same time with the good ol' locking slides, followed by another ten minute fight scene.
Just another good ol' Friday.