Thanks for checking out another episode of Loadout! We've got a few more in production right now so be sure to subscribe so you don't miss out on those! We greatly appreciate all the support on the series so far, and as always you can let us know your thoughts or what you'd like to see an episode on in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @IrregularDave. Excited to hear what people think and to show you what else we have in store! Big love to you all xoxo
Love the timing. Just got done earlier today watching Jonathan's video on the ROKS-2 flamethrower over on the Royal Armories channel. Instantly searched for a video showcasing Flamethrowers in games and how they are all wrong. Didn't find it. Came back from my shopping and.. taadaaaa ;D
Maybe not exactly a firearm, but would you guys consider looking into anti-personnel mines like claymores and bouncing betties? The way mines are depicted in games is oftentimes rather simplified (like just throw it or deploy it on the ground and forget about it) as well as highlight their troublesome history and legacy (and maybe showcase the opposite, of how mines are detected and defused/dealt with in games) If not, then would you guys look into crossbows? Keep up the great work!
Rising Storm 1 had absolutely terrifying flamethrowers. Flames would roll along the floor, bounce off walls, and fill interior spaces like bunkers. Effective range was also pretty long. There were only 1 or 2 in the whole match. As the Japanese, if you saw flames, you crapped your pants. On the other hand, Japanese banzai charges were terrifying, and flamethrowers were one of the only good ways to stop them. What a great game, I miss it!
Btw for TF2: they depicted the flamethrower as something you could only use under the delusion of flowers and candy, as it's basically a warcrime. A really fun and honest trailer for TF2
@@jakehildebrand1824 yeah pyro doesn’t understand what he is doing. That’s why he is saying the only way you could physiologically use a flame thrower is with out knowing what you are truly doing to people
Rising storm 1 had the best/most realistic flamethrower I have seen in games. The US had the M2 flamethrower and I kept wondering why it stopped firing after a couple of times, even when the fuel tank was still full. It was only later that I figured out by watching forgotten weapons' video about the M2 that I had actually used up all the matches in the ignition cartridge and so the flamethrower couldn't fire anymore even though it had fuel left in the tank. I had never seen a detail like that in a game before, most flamethrowers in games just have some cooldown timer.
Funnily enough battlefield 5 for what little accuracy it has, also portrays the m2 like that. Granted the ignitions don’t run out, but you do reload a new ignition charge when reloading the flamethrower which is a nice detail even if it isn’t 100% realistic.
I do always find it daunting that during the first World War, flame troopers on both sides widely understood that they would never be taken prisoner which I think just adds to the psychological element of fighting a flamethrower, you know the person wielding it knows that they are such a target and yet still carries on
@@griz312 the entire conflict was both sides bickering over who used what weapons, like Germany is widely condemned today for its use of Gas, but it was the French in 1915 who first deployed tear gas in warfare. With the use of flame, flechettes, sawtooth blades and all sort of nasty things neither side could really take the moral high ground about what their opponents used.
@@jacobturnbull9424 arguing for certain weapons to be considered war crimes has always been a hilarious idea to me. Like two roughly equal countries engage in a literal fight to the death but one goes “WAAAAAHHHHHHH, Shotguns are no fair”. Even more ridiculous is The Hague convention’s restriction of hollow points. As if that’s so much more terrible than hitting someone with a FMJ bullet.
@@gokuss15 Picture this: you are in a dual with an evenly matched opponent. You get to pick between a shotgun with buckshot or a pistol, both parties get the same weapon. You are gonna be hurt or dead either way, but if you live, would you rather patch a few bullet holes, or extract dozens of ball bearings? This is in a microcosm the game theory behind the laws of war.
Deep Rock galactics flamethrower is great, up to 20m of range, the flames stick to the area for a while and to enemies and it feels satisfying to use against a horde of bugs
@@kaengurus.sind.genossen If knife fighting is fighting with a knife, firefighting must be fighting with fire. Right? Thanks for the interesting trivia @user-js9ho4sh6zx. (That username just rolls off the tongue.)
I think the real reason that the US and NATO don't use backpack flamethrowers is that an incendiary or themermoberic rocket, grenade, or bomb is just more effective and doesn't necessarily pose the same risk to your own troops.
M202 FLASH, same power as a flamethrower, at a range of about 1000 yards, and you get 4 shots. Mind you it does involve carting around a box launcher the size of a 1970s TV camera
@@wafflestcattash4818 Depends on the circumstances. Using them to disable equipment, mark targets with smoke, destroy fighting positions, etc is not illegal. But using them to deliberately target personnel is.
@@flyboymike111357 what about a self inserted canister model designed for the arctic, to help with breaking ice? Someone COULD theoretically use it for killing personnel, but that wouldnt be its primary purpose
A Loadout episode on the Barret M82 could be interesting, as it is hardly depicted correctly, and it would be possible to show how it should be used, there are several references of it being used incorrectly. It would be awesome if Jerry Miculek had a cameo with his impressive fast shooting of this gun.
Enlisted has a terrifying depiction of The flame thrower. When you see a 30m long flame hurdling towards your Squad you really want to just turn And run away
Hobo with a Shotgun's school bus scene is a horrific yet hilariously over the top portrayal of the flamethrower. Good to see the Wex get a shout, too! The wechselapparat. It apparats wechsels.
Recently I was playing _Ravenfield_ with Sofa's flamethrower mod, and it struck me how different it felt from most other video game flamethrowers. Aside from just dealing stupidly high damage at close to moderate range, it also set the terrain on fire, and killed enemies by proximity instead of just direct hits, making it great for the flamethrower's original use in real life--clearing enclosed spaces. You could blind a bunker with a smoke grenade, run up to it, put the muzzle of the flamethrower right up to the firing slit, and pull the trigger, killing _absolutely everyone_ inside and rendering the bunker uninhabitable to friends and enemies alike for a good five or ten seconds. Yikes.
Reactions to flamethrowers (as in like WaW where soldiers scream) reminds me of Far Cry 5 where cultists might try and run at you to take you down with them. Kind of neat to see their devotion to stopping you go that far.
I recall using an incendiary arrow on a honey badger in Far Cry 4. I learned very quickly that the only thing worse than an immortal demon weasel was an immortal demon weasel who was on fire.
@@Mr_T_Badger I very quickly learned that flamethrowers are not an anti-bear weapon. Having a fireball the size of a car charging me while roaring was terrifying.
I'm glad you included Depp Rock Galactic at the end. It has one of the best Flamethrowers in the genre - you can even choose to make your flames stickier, so they have a lingering effect. Rock and Stone!
More likely asphyxiation than CO poisoning. The inventor of the fireproof suit died this way - he had scientists test the suit by flaming a pill box while he was stood inside, once the pillbox had cooled down they went inside and found him stone dead, asphyxiated (but totally unburned). Not that he would lead a happy healthy life if he survived - those suits were almost completely made of asbestos.
I don't know if the horror genre "detaches" us from the awful history of the flamethrower, though I see the argument. It's one of the most horrific things we've created, and in many fictional settings it's the one and only item that allows us to match and overcome other horrors. Almost a way of of saying "yeah, you're undead or a have tentacles or are a giant spider demon, and have killed 50 of my friends and tormented me for days in dark hallways..... but we can be just as bad".
You got a really good point and that is a very good comment. I would say it also probably has to deal with man’s fascination with fire as creative destruction. And a necessary evil because even today we still need fire for stuff and things also still catch on fire so it is like a tool but also can tempt us into our own Downfall with its power
Also, fire is classically one of the most powerful means of expelling the supernatural. In old folklore, it was regarded as a purifying element whose light and heat purges the undead.
TBH, Far Cry 2 have the best fire "simulation", especially how fire is spreading through dried grass, bushes, trees and also accidently pile of tires and explode couple of fuel drums on the way.
@@tiefensucht I think it spread a little more in 2 compared to 3. I found that you can easily get distracted by the chaos in FC2 and find yourself caught in the inferno you created during a firefight.
Guy who actually builds flamethrowers here. There is pretty much 0 chance you'd shoot a flamethrowers fuel tank with and incendiary round or any round and have it explode. Flamethrowers propellant is nitrogen and nitrogen is an inert gas. As the flamethrowers is used the fuel tank fills with nitrogen. There isnt any oxygen to create an explosive "air" fuel mixture. Flamethrower fuel can also have a very high Flashpoint depending on the mix, meaning the fuel is hard to ignite even if air is present and only through sufficient atomization and a powerful enough igniter can the fuel be reliably lit. In reality most kills attributed to flamethrowers happen as a result of the enemy forces breaking cover and being shot or deprived of oxygen. Its a terrifying weapon but not the harbinger of death its often made out to be. Cool for displays of power, not much of a role for modern combat.
@@chris.3711 Though the flamethrower isn't generally seen in war, trench warfare is seen on occasion. Notably in the Iran-Iraq in the 80s war and in some instances in the ongoing Russo-Ukraine war or in Syria at times.
7:54 shotguns are also often misunderstood in the exact same way: shotguns usually dont have a crazy spread and are very effective at ranges of 20m and beyond. also: one thing I never see represented in pop-culture is the silent killer: carbon monoxide (and dioxide) poisoning. The reason why you would use flamethrowers against fortifications is to literally "smoke them out".
The Division had a lot of flamethrower boom happening with it's faction of "The Cleaners" I remember one boss in particular having several tanks strapped to him that you could shoot to detonate.
Halo 3 added a flamethrower as a heavy weapon, where the game pulls you to 3rd person and slows you down significantly, but I noticed you only get to use it against the Flood and in the multiplayer. Looking back, probably a safe move.
Fantastic video as always guys! Although it has to be said, you missed a chance to highlight possibly one of the most gratifying-to-use flamethrowers of the last decade - the LPB-T Thermite Gun from Syndicate (2012). You get it exactly once in the game, halfway through a level full of narrow corridors that suits it perfectly, and to top it off it doesn't just project a stream of fire - it throws out a stream of searing 3,500°C liquid metal that pretty much instakills everybody you're likely to encounter for the remainder of the level. Perfect.
Rs2 definitely has the best flamethrower around. You can feel the "pressure " trying to throw it off target. having to reel it back in as you hear the screams of vc
Day of Infamy's flamethrower really does give you pause also. It's incredibly powerful but limited to one per team, and you always know when one is in the area because the death screams are really horrific.
The first time I saw a flamethrower in a game was in Syphon Filter 1 on Playstation 1. It had a bossfight in the Freedom Memorial against a flamethrower wielding man named Girdeux. The fight was pretty well done as the flamethrower spew arcing beam of flame that set the floor on fire and if you got hit with it, it was pretty much instant death. The fight was also pretty gimmicky as the boss was clad in armor you couldn't shoot through, so you had to shoot the fuel tank on his back and everytime you hit it, it made a small explosion until the screen faded to black and a cutscene played where the protagonist walked away whilst the man was burning alive in the background screaming.
Yup, that was a good fight. There was a section in Syphon Filter 2 where you got to use an improvised flamethrower, which was basically a petrol tanker hose with some sort of improvised pilot light.
Personally, I'm quite partial to the CRISPR in Deep Rock Galactic. I don't think it's super realistic (but also not the least realistic option out there by a long shot) but the setting allows it to be used at its full glorious potency, incinerating dozends of creepy space bugs in seconds. Baseline range is only 10 meters, but it will leave trails of flame on surfaces and depending on the upgrades you choose, you can also double that range. It's also a generally good pick, making easy work of large hordes and dealing reliable and consistent damage to elites.
Cool episode! Always a treat to see Jonathan Ferguson from the Royal Armories giving his insight. Also wanted to give a shout out to the various Twisted Metal characters who've used flamethrower-esque special weapons (namely Thumper).
"And what this indicates to me, it means that at some point, some person said to himself, "Gee, I sure would like to set those people on fire over there. But I'm way too far away to get the job done. If only I had something that would throw the flame on them."" - George Carlin and his thoughts on flamethrowers
Flamethrower while no longer commonly use in direct combat, it still very effective in burning down buildings or vegetation. It recorded being used as recent as a month ago in Myanmar civil war.
Great vid, thanks Dave (and Jonathan et al.) I've found flamethrowers both fascinating and terrifying ever since I was a kid, and both perceptions only grow stronger the more I learn about them. Factors like the exact mix of fuel and thickener, i.e. the stream travels further but burns more slowly, or the other way around, and the fact that in confined spaces they quickly exhaust all ambient oxygen (and generate copious carbon monoxide) aren't things I'm aware any game has, yet, tried to incorporate, but all add to the technical and military complexity of such devices. As a side note I'm impressed the Royal Armouries have an LPO-50 and I'm dying to know how/where they got it! And for all their unpleasantness I have to admit that the Flame Trooper kit is still almost always my favourite pickup to get in BF1.
It speaks to the brutality of WW1 and 2 that such weapons existed. Could you ever even imagine seeing Marines clearing buildings in a place like Fallujah with flamethrowers?
@@sainterasmus4545 Depends of how the media spun the story. Villages with often used by the Vietcong as garrisons. The media managed to manipulate the public into believing the Tet Offensive was a defeat when it was an overwhelming victory.
In 2015 China used flamethrowers in Xinjiang to "lure" suspected terrorists out of a cave. It was reported proudly on State Media. Not every culture or military cares about morals or optics.
Foxhole’s flamethrower (seen very early in the video) is primarily used as an anti-structure weapon, and it retains that heavy clunkiness used to wield it. I think it demonstrates it’s horrific capacity as a support tool quite well.
What annoys me most about flamethrowers in video games is the fact that they seldom actually set anything on fire other than the enemies, the player, or specific items in the game. Always seems goofy spraying flaming liquid all over the place and the wooden house, cloth furniture, and dry grass nearby is completely unaffected.
The fire was one of my favourite things about the Far Cry games. Igniting a small patch of grass and watching it spread into a raging inferno in the Sahara is always satisfying.
Deep Rock Galactic has a pretty good flamethrower design. I you hit the ground it sticks and keeps burning for a few seconds and feels pretty great to use.
Interesting to mention low ammo count as a gameplay mechanic, and not discuss the reality of how long (and often, how many discrete times) actual examples could be used for. Also would have been interesting to tie into the FarCry3 example that flamethrowers in Vietnam were most commonly used for deforestation (if I've got that history right). Range is an interesting question, because most games portray combat at vastly reduced ranges compared with reality, mainly for reasons of gameplay fun, but also hardware and programming limitations. The thing I think most games really miss is the psychological effect of different weapons on the battlefield. Was it that Vietnam game recently that had a mechanic of inducing "tunnel vision" when rounds passed close by the player? But still, enemies almost never flee, and the range of combat is always at essentially face-to-face. As I understand it, real combat happens at ranges where you're lucky to even see the enemy, and more commonly soldiers shoot in the general direction -- basically saying "stay away from here, we have guns." But that doesn't seem like it would make for an interesting game. On the question of the real horrors of these weapons, I think _Spec Ops: the Line_ did it best -- admittedly with White Phosphorus mortars rather than flamethrowers, but the same reaction applies.
I’m the game Skyrim there is a spell “wall of flames” if I remember correctly that basically functions like a more accurate flame thrower shooting a stream of fire that ignited surfaces and causes a lingering area of burning as if shooting out a burning fuel that sticks to the target
This episode reminded me of the Channel "Ahoy" and his series "iconic arms". Maybe you could collaborate with him as his videos are very well researched and in a similar style as yours.
Day of Infamy does a pretty good job at the flamethrower where the flames can travel along surfaces and the best way to use it is in a coordinated attack against a bunker or trench.
Video games treat flamethrowers like spraying a can of axe body spray infront of a lit lighter. The only game I played that really portrayed flamethrowers relatively realistically was in the japanese campaign missions in COD WAW, where it's actually shooting a straight line of molten gel at a relatively long range.
The Valkyria Chronicles flame thrower, the Heavy Incinerator from the fallout series and (I’m not sure if this counts but) the plasma casters from Borderlands 2 are my favorite flame throwers.
Metro exodus the two colonels had an impressive representation of the flamethrower, though it being home made still pretty cool and a close depiction to a flame thrower being made in a post apocalyptic environment and surprised they didn't mention it in this video
Fun fact, the first land war that experienced the use of flamethrower was not the world war 1 but the Vietnam civil war in 18th century. In these wars, the Tay Son dynasty used flamethrower extensively and successfully against its enemy. Later, the Tay Son dynasty even used flamethrower as its main weapons to beat the Qing dynasty. There are many Chinese's records about the devastating effect of the Tay Son's flamethrower in the Qing-Dai Viet war.
I'm not so sure about the vanilla Fallout 4 one but the Wasteland Flame Thrower from a mod for this game has the perfect balance and feel to it. It is very close range, so not super realistic, but it makes me fear for my life when I hear an enemy using it. Deadly and scary
XCOM 2: WOTC added a flamethrower unit for ADVENT even though it wasn't very effective at damaging troops in cover, it was more than enough to make them a priority due to the fact that the flames tend to destroy cover after a turn or 2 then spread to nearby as well as the psychological aspect where you have to make your troops flee the affected area and hunker down if they are on fire.
You should do an episode on Flaming arrows. As far as I know, they were never truly a thing, yet so many places, even this video, reference them as being a historical weapon. I'm certainly no expert, so a video about them could shed light on how historical and to what extent they may have been used!
Far Cry 2 had the best flamethrower mechanics because it wasn't just a weapon, it was a tool you can use to cause mayhem, alter enemy behavior, and use the environment to your advantage. The mechanics changed based on the weather and location. If it was raining the water would put out the flames and if you were in the jungle it would catch the trees on fire but they wouldn't stay lit for very long, BUT if you were in a dry grassy area it would engulf an entire acre of land in flames and force the enemies to retreat plus if it was windy the fire would spread like... well, like wildfire. It was the ultimate area denial weapon. Sometimes you could capture an entire outpost without shooting a single enemy, just one spray in the right location and under the right condition and the fire would spread so fast it would ignite fuel barrels, ammo crates, vehicles and just demolish everything in it's path leaving bodies and burned out husks in it's wake. They kept the flamethrower in the sequels but they abandoned the slick fire propagation system. No other game has anything like it
World at War and Far Cry 3/4/5 (I haven't played the earlier ones) have my favorite flamethrowers, just because (when used against NPCs anyways) they FEEL like flamethrowers. They feel like something that causes fear and horror wherever they're fired, making NPCs panic and run away.
Germany all mad we used shotguns for trench warfare but they were totally cool with freaking flame throwers!!! Fire is way more brutal then a shotgun.....
It is always funny to think about how upset they got about the shotgun and then where using some of the most inhumane weapons. Gas and flame throwers are a-okay, shotguns are cheaty!
Company of Heroes 2 did a pretty decent job at depicting the range of flamethrowers especially heavier ones like the ones mounted on Universal Carriers, 251 Half-Tracks or even the KV-8 Flamethrower tank. Most of the heavier ones light the ground ablaze for a good while and can easily torch down static defenses like bunkers or buildings where infantry is garrisoned. Also, like in some of the more realistic games, infantry does scream in terror or pain whenever they face a flamethrower unit.
I know this is going way out on a limb but in the God of War series, Particularly in the latest game: Ragnarok, Kratos' Blades of Chaos are essentially flamethrowers on chains and are frequently used to ignite enemies while also juggling them and to solve torch based puzzles. I realize that this is of course b/c of magic but there have been a lot of weapons and abilities in the God of War series that encourage you to set things on fire. I agree with you that fire has been a primary way of dealing with horror monsters and primal deities.
On the short ranges in games, that it true for ranged weapons in general. The video mentions that games tend to give flamethrowers ranges similar to shotguns even though real flamethrowers are able to fire for 20+ meters; the video completely ignores that real shotguns are considered to have a "killing range" of 35-45m when firing shot, and several times even that when firing slugs or sabot rounds. (For extra fun, an often overlooked detail that is that shotgun pellets can remain dangerous for hundreds of meters, with heavy pellets potentially remaining dangerous at distances over a kilometer.) That's without even getting into what games do to the ranges of other guns. Everything gets nerfed massively, while melee attacks tend to get exaggerated.
My favorite Flamethrower? The Pokemon move! It's a strong, useful attack, tried and true since 1996, and no Fire-Type Pokemon is complete without it. Also, Gyarados can learn it.
Once I accidentally put my hand on a piece of very hot metal. The skin didn’t heal for a weak, and those burns were probably the worst pain I’ve ever felt, and the skin died and swelled. Imaging that all over my body, never stopping… I can suddenly see why they were such horrific weapons. Burns are horrible…
Of all games I've played, Division 2 has had the best feeling flamethrower so far. Ammo is plentiful, it does great damage, has decent range. And I enjoy stat builds in that game, so spreading the fire to other enemies via gear talents makes it even more viable.
I remember liking the flamethrower in Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Vietnam DLC, but that was a long time ago. The only time I remember liking a flamethrower in a game
Metal Gear Solid 3 presented the flamethrower with fitting gravitas. With the player unable to acquire one, flame troopers are presented as heavily suited slow-moving monsters, and without the need for balance their firepower needn't be scaled down for balance.
I take it at some point you will do a video on improvised weapons, as while watching this I kept thinking about the common trope of the "improvised flamethrower" aka lighter + aerosol can.
Honestly that is not even a flamethrower. When I think of improvised flamethrowers I think of stuff that people make in their garage is that is actually using a pressurized fuel in a backpack mounted device with a dedicated projector. Made out of scraps and junk.
@@smokedbeefandcheese4144 Yeah it's more in line with being more of an improvised blowtorch, like how Dave mentioned a lot of flamethrowers tend to act more like. An improvised weapons ep could be really interesting though. Look at how it's done wrong, with stuff that'd never work. And look at ones that would actually make a lot of sense in context.
Best game flamethrower I've used would be Factorio. Decent range, creates burning puddles to set enemies on fire. Very effective at clearing enemy nests and can make for a decent base defence if you build flamethrower turrets. Also pretty easy to make ammo for (the turrets even more so, as they just take oil piped in). I end up using it far more than the shotguns, but tend to forget about the turret version.
I was just commenting to my friend while playing Darktide that it was funny how the flamethrower enemies don't explode when you shoot them in the tank. Turns out that's how it's supposed to be!
Thanks for checking out another episode of Loadout! We've got a few more in production right now so be sure to subscribe so you don't miss out on those!
We greatly appreciate all the support on the series so far, and as always you can let us know your thoughts or what you'd like to see an episode on in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @IrregularDave.
Excited to hear what people think and to show you what else we have in store!
Big love to you all xoxo
Love the timing. Just got done earlier today watching Jonathan's video on the ROKS-2 flamethrower over on the Royal Armories channel. Instantly searched for a video showcasing Flamethrowers in games and how they are all wrong. Didn't find it. Came back from my shopping and.. taadaaaa ;D
plutoniuuuuuum
Maybe not exactly a firearm, but would you guys consider looking into anti-personnel mines like claymores and bouncing betties? The way mines are depicted in games is oftentimes rather simplified (like just throw it or deploy it on the ground and forget about it) as well as highlight their troublesome history and legacy (and maybe showcase the opposite, of how mines are detected and defused/dealt with in games)
If not, then would you guys look into crossbows?
Keep up the great work!
Do a video on how video games get recoil wrong
@@manz7860 Recoil and muzzle flip are distinct, mind
Rising Storm 1 had absolutely terrifying flamethrowers. Flames would roll along the floor, bounce off walls, and fill interior spaces like bunkers. Effective range was also pretty long. There were only 1 or 2 in the whole match. As the Japanese, if you saw flames, you crapped your pants. On the other hand, Japanese banzai charges were terrifying, and flamethrowers were one of the only good ways to stop them. What a great game, I miss it!
nothing quite like watching a 15 man banzai charge stop in the middle of an artillery barrage to unload into the guy with the flamethrower
I never played rising storm 1. However, if the flamethrower is anything like it is in Rising Storm 2: Vietnam then it true it is terrifying
@@rileymcmann3744 imagine the rs2 flamethrower but almost no recoil and squads more grouped up
Every Japanese be actin' gangsta 'til someone brings a Flamethrower...
M2 Flamethrower that used by USMC both in the Pacific theatre and Korea
The flamethrower is either a midrange laser gun or just something to start a fire in games
BO3 purifier easily the most OP flamethrower I can think of 😂
@@zaidkidwai7831 BO3?
@@uria3679 call of duty black ops 3
@@V3RAC1TY alright then
@@uria3679 Body Odor 3
Btw for TF2: they depicted the flamethrower as something you could only use under the delusion of flowers and candy, as it's basically a warcrime. A really fun and honest trailer for TF2
Pyrovision has nothing to do with Pyros willingness to use the flamethrower.
Pyrovision is more of a character building tool than anything else.
@@jakehildebrand1824 yeah pyro doesn’t understand what he is doing. That’s why he is saying the only way you could physiologically use a flame thrower is with out knowing what you are truly doing to people
@@PartyRockerOG What about TFC pyro then? She is perfectly aware of what she's doing.
@@jakehildebrand1824she doesn’t look like she’s all good in the head, not like pyro, more like heavy but way, way worse
@@Cat-uv7dy still she is perfectly aware of what she's doing.
Rising storm 1 had the best/most realistic flamethrower I have seen in games. The US had the M2 flamethrower and I kept wondering why it stopped firing after a couple of times, even when the fuel tank was still full. It was only later that I figured out by watching forgotten weapons' video about the M2 that I had actually used up all the matches in the ignition cartridge and so the flamethrower couldn't fire anymore even though it had fuel left in the tank. I had never seen a detail like that in a game before, most flamethrowers in games just have some cooldown timer.
This. So awesome. Loved the asymmetry in that game.
Darktide
Funnily enough battlefield 5 for what little accuracy it has, also portrays the m2 like that. Granted the ignitions don’t run out, but you do reload a new ignition charge when reloading the flamethrower which is a nice detail even if it isn’t 100% realistic.
@@grahamhawes7089 Hmong 😅g g sg 17:18 nefefduuw gg ex CCg Ed Gmr g gI’m
As much as Heroes & Generals got worse in the recent years it's the only game I know that actually let's you reload the ignition cartridges.
I do always find it daunting that during the first World War, flame troopers on both sides widely understood that they would never be taken prisoner which I think just adds to the psychological element of fighting a flamethrower, you know the person wielding it knows that they are such a target and yet still carries on
It’s funny how Germany utilized flame throwers and chemical weapons and thought the US using 12 gauge shotguns was a war crime.
@@griz312 the entire conflict was both sides bickering over who used what weapons, like Germany is widely condemned today for its use of Gas, but it was the French in 1915 who first deployed tear gas in warfare. With the use of flame, flechettes, sawtooth blades and all sort of nasty things neither side could really take the moral high ground about what their opponents used.
@@jacobturnbull9424 arguing for certain weapons to be considered war crimes has always been a hilarious idea to me. Like two roughly equal countries engage in a literal fight to the death but one goes “WAAAAAHHHHHHH, Shotguns are no fair”. Even more ridiculous is The Hague convention’s restriction of hollow points. As if that’s so much more terrible than hitting someone with a FMJ bullet.
@@gokuss15
"Sounds like a skill issue"
@@gokuss15 Picture this: you are in a dual with an evenly matched opponent. You get to pick between a shotgun with buckshot or a pistol, both parties get the same weapon. You are gonna be hurt or dead either way, but if you live, would you rather patch a few bullet holes, or extract dozens of ball bearings? This is in a microcosm the game theory behind the laws of war.
Deep Rock galactics flamethrower is great, up to 20m of range, the flames stick to the area for a while and to enemies and it feels satisfying to use against a horde of bugs
I was hoping to see Deep Rock Galactic footage, I was not disappointed. Rock and stone!
Darktide
Rock and Stone
Ah, yes, Flamethrower with Face Melter and exploding bugs on direct damage death... Very satisfying popping.
Best part? You can microwave them while they are burning for more damage. mmm popcorn
Fun fact: German Flamethrower were crewed by Firefighters and first guy that used it is named Bernhardt
Well, it's basically reverse firefighting.
@@kaengurus.sind.genossen If knife fighting is fighting with a knife, firefighting must be fighting with fire. Right?
Thanks for the interesting trivia @user-js9ho4sh6zx. (That username just rolls off the tongue.)
I think the real reason that the US and NATO don't use backpack flamethrowers is that an incendiary or themermoberic rocket, grenade, or bomb is just more effective and doesn't necessarily pose the same risk to your own troops.
Also pertinent is the tremendous and encumbering weight and size of the fuel tank.
M202 FLASH, same power as a flamethrower, at a range of about 1000 yards, and you get 4 shots. Mind you it does involve carting around a box launcher the size of a 1970s TV camera
Aren’t incendiary weapons a war crime?
@@wafflestcattash4818 Depends on the circumstances. Using them to disable equipment, mark targets with smoke, destroy fighting positions, etc is not illegal. But using them to deliberately target personnel is.
@@flyboymike111357 what about a self inserted canister model designed for the arctic, to help with breaking ice? Someone COULD theoretically use it for killing personnel, but that wouldnt be its primary purpose
Seeing the flamethrowers used in The Thing and Alien always puts a smile on my face.
Killing Floor 1 has a great flamethrower, it actually shoots a stream of flaming liquid.
Same for Turok. Way ahead of it's time on flamethrower realism.
@@FarengastI loved playing Turok evolution; shame the pc port is so buggy
return to castle wolfenstein has also flamethrower that shoots flaming liquid.
Rising Storm 2 gets flamethrowers perfect. They have a longer range than most game adaptations and are incredibly lethal.
They're also horrifying!
Another site once described real flamethrowers as firing "a stream of burning glue."
That stayed with me.
Oh god...that honestly sounds truly gruesome...
I appreciate you mentioning RS2V several times in this video, it's got to have one of the, if not the best flamethrower in any games.
Gamespot loves talking about that game but not enough people play it 🥲 guys just get the game, it’s good I assure you
oh yeah that game seems more like a horror movie I love it
@@PassTheSnails I'm a big fan of that game. I think Vietnam shooters have a place in my heart since playing Vietcong back in 2003
For sure. Balancing around realism really allows it to be terrifying and powerful in the right application.
A Loadout episode on the Barret M82 could be interesting, as it is hardly depicted correctly, and it would be possible to show how it should be used, there are several references of it being used incorrectly. It would be awesome if Jerry Miculek had a cameo with his impressive fast shooting of this gun.
Enlisted has a terrifying depiction of The flame thrower. When you see a 30m long flame hurdling towards your Squad you really want to just turn And run away
On the flip side, it is really satisfying when you clear 10+ people off a point by yourself with a flamethrower
Hobo with a Shotgun's school bus scene is a horrific yet hilariously over the top portrayal of the flamethrower. Good to see the Wex get a shout, too! The wechselapparat. It apparats wechsels.
An apparat to wech sels
Oh my god i forgot about that amazing movie!!!! Lol
Recently I was playing _Ravenfield_ with Sofa's flamethrower mod, and it struck me how different it felt from most other video game flamethrowers. Aside from just dealing stupidly high damage at close to moderate range, it also set the terrain on fire, and killed enemies by proximity instead of just direct hits, making it great for the flamethrower's original use in real life--clearing enclosed spaces. You could blind a bunker with a smoke grenade, run up to it, put the muzzle of the flamethrower right up to the firing slit, and pull the trigger, killing _absolutely everyone_ inside and rendering the bunker uninhabitable to friends and enemies alike for a good five or ten seconds. Yikes.
Reactions to flamethrowers (as in like WaW where soldiers scream) reminds me of Far Cry 5 where cultists might try and run at you to take you down with them. Kind of neat to see their devotion to stopping you go that far.
Their nerves have probably been literally burnt out, so it’s likely that they can’t feel anything while charging you.
I recall using an incendiary arrow on a honey badger in Far Cry 4. I learned very quickly that the only thing worse than an immortal demon weasel was an immortal demon weasel who was on fire.
@@Mr_T_Badger Oh gods no...
@@Mr_T_Badger I very quickly learned that flamethrowers are not an anti-bear weapon. Having a fireball the size of a car charging me while roaring was terrifying.
@@torgranael The cassowaries in FC3 were “fun” too. 🤣
I'm glad you included Depp Rock Galactic at the end. It has one of the best Flamethrowers in the genre - you can even choose to make your flames stickier, so they have a lingering effect. Rock and Stone!
ROCK AND STONE
FOR KARL!
ROCK AND STONE!
ROCK AND ROLL AND STONE
ROCK AND STONE FOREVER!
in ww2 it was often found that the big killer when it comes to flamethrowers when used against bunkers was not the fire but carbon monoxide poisoning
More likely asphyxiation than CO poisoning. The inventor of the fireproof suit died this way - he had scientists test the suit by flaming a pill box while he was stood inside, once the pillbox had cooled down they went inside and found him stone dead, asphyxiated (but totally unburned). Not that he would lead a happy healthy life if he survived - those suits were almost completely made of asbestos.
I don't know if the horror genre "detaches" us from the awful history of the flamethrower, though I see the argument. It's one of the most horrific things we've created, and in many fictional settings it's the one and only item that allows us to match and overcome other horrors. Almost a way of of saying "yeah, you're undead or a have tentacles or are a giant spider demon, and have killed 50 of my friends and tormented me for days in dark hallways..... but we can be just as bad".
You got a really good point and that is a very good comment. I would say it also probably has to deal with man’s fascination with fire as creative destruction. And a necessary evil because even today we still need fire for stuff and things also still catch on fire so it is like a tool but also can tempt us into our own Downfall with its power
Also, fire is classically one of the most powerful means of expelling the supernatural. In old folklore, it was regarded as a purifying element whose light and heat purges the undead.
TBH, Far Cry 2 have the best fire "simulation", especially how fire is spreading through dried grass, bushes, trees and also accidently pile of tires and explode couple of fuel drums on the way.
Didn't play FC2; was it different to FC3-6, which also have this fire mechanic?
@@tiefensucht I think it spread a little more in 2 compared to 3. I found that you can easily get distracted by the chaos in FC2 and find yourself caught in the inferno you created during a firefight.
@@tiefensucht its more flammable rather than the other iterations. Also the backblast of the RPG can set things on fire
In the metro universe. The homemade flamethrower is one of the best weapons to destroy the spider bugs with possibly the only weapon
The only weapon I’ll ever use against those things
Spider lair dlc mission anyone?
@@streetwatcher_ you know it
@@streetwatcher_ a story of the most unlucky man alive
@@lowlife1368 including ending
Guy who actually builds flamethrowers here. There is pretty much 0 chance you'd shoot a flamethrowers fuel tank with and incendiary round or any round and have it explode. Flamethrowers propellant is nitrogen and nitrogen is an inert gas. As the flamethrowers is used the fuel tank fills with nitrogen. There isnt any oxygen to create an explosive "air" fuel mixture. Flamethrower fuel can also have a very high Flashpoint depending on the mix, meaning the fuel is hard to ignite even if air is present and only through sufficient atomization and a powerful enough igniter can the fuel be reliably lit. In reality most kills attributed to flamethrowers happen as a result of the enemy forces breaking cover and being shot or deprived of oxygen. Its a terrifying weapon but not the harbinger of death its often made out to be. Cool for displays of power, not much of a role for modern combat.
Still though you wouldn't want to be covered in fuel while spraying flames all over the place....
They proved themselves useful against defensive only combatants. Trench and tunnel warfare are pretty much dead by modern standards.
@@chris.3711
Though the flamethrower isn't generally seen in war, trench warfare is seen on occasion. Notably in the Iran-Iraq in the 80s war and in some instances in the ongoing Russo-Ukraine war or in Syria at times.
What a treat. Get off from my night shift, come home to find a bafass video all about flamethrowers. This channel never disappoints.
The Royal Armouries channel did a nifty video on a soviet flamethrower, the ROKS-3, that was shaped like a rifle just recently too.
@@Mr_T_Badger Sounds pretty nifty. Gonna have to add it into my Modern Day DnD campaign if it's everything I hope it is.
enlisted doesn't shy away from it's power, the range is still quite short tough
7:54 shotguns are also often misunderstood in the exact same way: shotguns usually dont have a crazy spread and are very effective at ranges of 20m and beyond.
also: one thing I never see represented in pop-culture is the silent killer: carbon monoxide (and dioxide) poisoning. The reason why you would use flamethrowers against fortifications is to literally "smoke them out".
Shotguns can shoot as far as any rifle could with slug rounds at the least. But anything else for ammo and they don't come close.
Enlisted has pretty decent realistic flamethrower mechanics with decent range and sticky flames.
Yeah, 32 meters range rocks!
Mr. Furguson does have the coolest title. "Keeper of Firearems & Artillery, Royal Armouries."
That title alone makes me want to work for him :)
I'm surprised they didn't mention the the KILLZONE series. It has perhaps the most realistic flamethrower in my opinion.
they never talk about killzone I DON'T KNOW WHY.
What is killzone?
@dafaq117 A great, but poorly handled series of fps games
Still remember hearing the sound it made in world at war, so viscerally badass. awesome video as always
The Division had a lot of flamethrower boom happening with it's faction of "The Cleaners" I remember one boss in particular having several tanks strapped to him that you could shoot to detonate.
Halo 3 added a flamethrower as a heavy weapon, where the game pulls you to 3rd person and slows you down significantly, but I noticed you only get to use it against the Flood and in the multiplayer. Looking back, probably a safe move.
It's almost ridiculously effective against the flood and doesn't show a stream of liquid, but I appreciated how it sticks to the environment.
@@Hypernefelos Super effective! Which is ironic, as a sudden flood would typically put out flames
It was also in Halo CE too
Fantastic video as always guys! Although it has to be said, you missed a chance to highlight possibly one of the most gratifying-to-use flamethrowers of the last decade - the LPB-T Thermite Gun from Syndicate (2012). You get it exactly once in the game, halfway through a level full of narrow corridors that suits it perfectly, and to top it off it doesn't just project a stream of fire - it throws out a stream of searing 3,500°C liquid metal that pretty much instakills everybody you're likely to encounter for the remainder of the level. Perfect.
Rs2 definitely has the best flamethrower around. You can feel the "pressure " trying to throw it off target. having to reel it back in as you hear the screams of vc
Day of Infamy's flamethrower really does give you pause also. It's incredibly powerful but limited to one per team, and you always know when one is in the area because the death screams are really horrific.
The recoil of Rising Storm 2's flamethrower really gives you a sense of the power
Cod world at war flamethrower is devastating in close quarters
The TF2 flamethrower having a short range makes sense as it was hand-made using a propane tank, making it a propane flamethrower
The first time I saw a flamethrower in a game was in Syphon Filter 1 on Playstation 1. It had a bossfight in the Freedom Memorial against a flamethrower wielding man named Girdeux. The fight was pretty well done as the flamethrower spew arcing beam of flame that set the floor on fire and if you got hit with it, it was pretty much instant death. The fight was also pretty gimmicky as the boss was clad in armor you couldn't shoot through, so you had to shoot the fuel tank on his back and everytime you hit it, it made a small explosion until the screen faded to black and a cutscene played where the protagonist walked away whilst the man was burning alive in the background screaming.
Yup, that was a good fight. There was a section in Syphon Filter 2 where you got to use an improvised flamethrower, which was basically a petrol tanker hose with some sort of improvised pilot light.
I remember that one. Then in the second one you find his charred remains in a morgue.
Really appreciate the thoughtful, interesting approach to covering this.
The best flamethrower is the one you use at the end of Darkwood not because of its impact itself, but because of the way you "use" it to end the game.
Darktide
It's extremely effective on woods. I saw the ending descriptions.
Cool to see clips from Verdun, and Return to Castle Wolfenstein in this, and they both have great flamethrowers.
Personally, I'm quite partial to the CRISPR in Deep Rock Galactic. I don't think it's super realistic (but also not the least realistic option out there by a long shot) but the setting allows it to be used at its full glorious potency, incinerating dozends of creepy space bugs in seconds.
Baseline range is only 10 meters, but it will leave trails of flame on surfaces and depending on the upgrades you choose, you can also double that range. It's also a generally good pick, making easy work of large hordes and dealing reliable and consistent damage to elites.
Rock and stone brother! absolutely agreed, the CRISPR is just one of the most satisfying flamethrowers in video games in my opinion
Helldivers has a great representation of flamethrowers
Cool episode! Always a treat to see Jonathan Ferguson from the Royal Armories giving his insight. Also wanted to give a shout out to the various Twisted Metal characters who've used flamethrower-esque special weapons (namely Thumper).
Said it hundreds of times over the years "It's either so weak you never touch it, or so overpowered you touch nothing else"
"And what this indicates to me, it means that at some point, some person said to himself, "Gee, I sure would like to set those people on fire over there. But I'm way too far away to get the job done. If only I had something that would throw the flame on them.""
- George Carlin and his thoughts on flamethrowers
Flamethrower while no longer commonly use in direct combat, it still very effective in burning down buildings or vegetation. It recorded being used as recent as a month ago in Myanmar civil war.
Enlisted has long range flamethrowers that leave burning patches on the ground for a few second, pretty realistic if you ask me.
Great vid, thanks Dave (and Jonathan et al.) I've found flamethrowers both fascinating and terrifying ever since I was a kid, and both perceptions only grow stronger the more I learn about them. Factors like the exact mix of fuel and thickener, i.e. the stream travels further but burns more slowly, or the other way around, and the fact that in confined spaces they quickly exhaust all ambient oxygen (and generate copious carbon monoxide) aren't things I'm aware any game has, yet, tried to incorporate, but all add to the technical and military complexity of such devices. As a side note I'm impressed the Royal Armouries have an LPO-50 and I'm dying to know how/where they got it!
And for all their unpleasantness I have to admit that the Flame Trooper kit is still almost always my favourite pickup to get in BF1.
It speaks to the brutality of WW1 and 2 that such weapons existed. Could you ever even imagine seeing Marines clearing buildings in a place like Fallujah with flamethrowers?
Flamethrowers were actively used by, at least, the US military up until 1978, but are occasionally used to clear brush.
An article in the Army Times back in 2003 or so mentioned talk in the Pentagon of deploying flamethrowers to clear caves in Afghanistan.
@@supremecaffeine2633 Yeah, there's terrifying footage of them burning villages down in Vietnam, likely didn't help with public perception.
@@sainterasmus4545 Depends of how the media spun the story. Villages with often used by the Vietcong as garrisons.
The media managed to manipulate the public into believing the Tet Offensive was a defeat when it was an overwhelming victory.
In 2015 China used flamethrowers in Xinjiang to "lure" suspected terrorists out of a cave. It was reported proudly on State Media. Not every culture or military cares about morals or optics.
Foxhole’s flamethrower (seen very early in the video) is primarily used as an anti-structure weapon, and it retains that heavy clunkiness used to wield it. I think it demonstrates it’s horrific capacity as a support tool quite well.
What annoys me most about flamethrowers in video games is the fact that they seldom actually set anything on fire other than the enemies, the player, or specific items in the game. Always seems goofy spraying flaming liquid all over the place and the wooden house, cloth furniture, and dry grass nearby is completely unaffected.
The fire was one of my favourite things about the Far Cry games. Igniting a small patch of grass and watching it spread into a raging inferno in the Sahara is always satisfying.
@@torgranael surrounding a camp in fire and watch as the troopers run into them, really despicable :)
16:45. Did I hear... A ROCK AND STONE?
ROCK AND STONE
ROCK AND STONE
We're Rich!
In the Cortana mission , the flamethrower was very helpful in dealing with the infection and the tank forms
Deep Rock Galactic has a pretty good flamethrower design. I you hit the ground it sticks and keeps burning for a few seconds and feels pretty great to use.
I want an episode on healing items :)
Emotional support sturmgewehr have healing powers
YES been waiting for a flamethrower ep for ages!
The CnC Generals Chinese Flame Tank is pretty close to how real flamethrowers work
Interesting to mention low ammo count as a gameplay mechanic, and not discuss the reality of how long (and often, how many discrete times) actual examples could be used for. Also would have been interesting to tie into the FarCry3 example that flamethrowers in Vietnam were most commonly used for deforestation (if I've got that history right). Range is an interesting question, because most games portray combat at vastly reduced ranges compared with reality, mainly for reasons of gameplay fun, but also hardware and programming limitations.
The thing I think most games really miss is the psychological effect of different weapons on the battlefield. Was it that Vietnam game recently that had a mechanic of inducing "tunnel vision" when rounds passed close by the player? But still, enemies almost never flee, and the range of combat is always at essentially face-to-face. As I understand it, real combat happens at ranges where you're lucky to even see the enemy, and more commonly soldiers shoot in the general direction -- basically saying "stay away from here, we have guns." But that doesn't seem like it would make for an interesting game.
On the question of the real horrors of these weapons, I think _Spec Ops: the Line_ did it best -- admittedly with White Phosphorus mortars rather than flamethrowers, but the same reaction applies.
I’m the game Skyrim there is a spell “wall of flames” if I remember correctly that basically functions like a more accurate flame thrower shooting a stream of fire that ignited surfaces and causes a lingering area of burning as if shooting out a burning fuel that sticks to the target
The flammenwerfer from WAW was historically accurate using the single man flammenwerfer 35 that could spit a flame 18 meters
Dave can't get through a single episode without saying "iconic".
Drink every time I say it
Propane? Hank Hill approves.
And propane accessories.
The production on this is great
This episode reminded me of the Channel "Ahoy" and his series "iconic arms". Maybe you could collaborate with him as his videos are very well researched and in a similar style as yours.
Perhaps inspired by, but the styles are not comparable and having Stuart Brown (XboxAhoy) on would be too many cooks in the kitchen
Day of Infamy does a pretty good job at the flamethrower where the flames can travel along surfaces and the best way to use it is in a coordinated attack against a bunker or trench.
I remember Killzone 2 being the first time I experienced a more “realistic” flamethrower in video games.
It also made the final boss a joke. Flame him once, he doesn’t stop dancing till he’s dead.
Video games treat flamethrowers like spraying a can of axe body spray infront of a lit lighter. The only game I played that really portrayed flamethrowers relatively realistically was in the japanese campaign missions in COD WAW, where it's actually shooting a straight line of molten gel at a relatively long range.
The Valkyria Chronicles flame thrower, the Heavy Incinerator from the fallout series and (I’m not sure if this counts but) the plasma casters from Borderlands 2 are my favorite flame throwers.
That is an exotic list
Syphon Filter very much comes to mind when thinking about exploding flamethrower backpacks.
Metro exodus the two colonels had an impressive representation of the flamethrower, though it being home made still pretty cool and a close depiction to a flame thrower being made in a post apocalyptic environment and surprised they didn't mention it in this video
Fun fact, the first land war that experienced the use of flamethrower was not the world war 1 but the Vietnam civil war in 18th century. In these wars, the Tay Son dynasty used flamethrower extensively and successfully against its enemy. Later, the Tay Son dynasty even used flamethrower as its main weapons to beat the Qing dynasty. There are many Chinese's records about the devastating effect of the Tay Son's flamethrower in the Qing-Dai Viet war.
"Gift of Prometheus at the palm of your hand"
That's a cool quote
I'm not so sure about the vanilla Fallout 4 one but the Wasteland Flame Thrower from a mod for this game has the perfect balance and feel to it. It is very close range, so not super realistic, but it makes me fear for my life when I hear an enemy using it. Deadly and scary
Fun fact, in AVP Classic, firing a flamethrower at (without hitting) any bot alien will cause it to freeze in place and play a taunt animation.
XCOM 2: WOTC added a flamethrower unit for ADVENT even though it wasn't very effective at damaging troops in cover, it was more than enough to make them a priority due to the fact that the flames tend to destroy cover after a turn or 2 then spread to nearby as well as the psychological aspect where you have to make your troops flee the affected area and hunker down if they are on fire.
You should do an episode on Flaming arrows. As far as I know, they were never truly a thing, yet so many places, even this video, reference them as being a historical weapon. I'm certainly no expert, so a video about them could shed light on how historical and to what extent they may have been used!
Far Cry 2 had the best flamethrower mechanics because it wasn't just a weapon, it was a tool you can use to cause mayhem, alter enemy behavior, and use the environment to your advantage. The mechanics changed based on the weather and location. If it was raining the water would put out the flames and if you were in the jungle it would catch the trees on fire but they wouldn't stay lit for very long, BUT if you were in a dry grassy area it would engulf an entire acre of land in flames and force the enemies to retreat plus if it was windy the fire would spread like... well, like wildfire. It was the ultimate area denial weapon. Sometimes you could capture an entire outpost without shooting a single enemy, just one spray in the right location and under the right condition and the fire would spread so fast it would ignite fuel barrels, ammo crates, vehicles and just demolish everything in it's path leaving bodies and burned out husks in it's wake. They kept the flamethrower in the sequels but they abandoned the slick fire propagation system. No other game has anything like it
The Salamanders chapter of the Adeptus Astartes approve of this topic.
World at War and Far Cry 3/4/5 (I haven't played the earlier ones) have my favorite flamethrowers, just because (when used against NPCs anyways) they FEEL like flamethrowers. They feel like something that causes fear and horror wherever they're fired, making NPCs panic and run away.
The far cry 2 flamethrower is better than 3 imo, the fire spread horrifyingly fast! Especially on windy days
Great Video! 👍
Hearing the words "The wicked beasts of Yharnam" reminded me that I'm yet to finish the masterpiece that is Bloodborne. 🔥
Germany all mad we used shotguns for trench warfare but they were totally cool with freaking flame throwers!!! Fire is way more brutal then a shotgun.....
It is always funny to think about how upset they got about the shotgun and then where using some of the most inhumane weapons. Gas and flame throwers are a-okay, shotguns are cheaty!
Company of Heroes 2 did a pretty decent job at depicting the range of flamethrowers especially heavier ones like the ones mounted on Universal Carriers, 251 Half-Tracks or even the KV-8 Flamethrower tank. Most of the heavier ones light the ground ablaze for a good while and can easily torch down static defenses like bunkers or buildings where infantry is garrisoned. Also, like in some of the more realistic games, infantry does scream in terror or pain whenever they face a flamethrower unit.
I know this is going way out on a limb but in the God of War series, Particularly in the latest game: Ragnarok, Kratos' Blades of Chaos are essentially flamethrowers on chains and are frequently used to ignite enemies while also juggling them and to solve torch based puzzles. I realize that this is of course b/c of magic but there have been a lot of weapons and abilities in the God of War series that encourage you to set things on fire. I agree with you that fire has been a primary way of dealing with horror monsters and primal deities.
On the short ranges in games, that it true for ranged weapons in general. The video mentions that games tend to give flamethrowers ranges similar to shotguns even though real flamethrowers are able to fire for 20+ meters; the video completely ignores that real shotguns are considered to have a "killing range" of 35-45m when firing shot, and several times even that when firing slugs or sabot rounds. (For extra fun, an often overlooked detail that is that shotgun pellets can remain dangerous for hundreds of meters, with heavy pellets potentially remaining dangerous at distances over a kilometer.) That's without even getting into what games do to the ranges of other guns. Everything gets nerfed massively, while melee attacks tend to get exaggerated.
My favorite Flamethrower? The Pokemon move! It's a strong, useful attack, tried and true since 1996, and no Fire-Type Pokemon is complete without it. Also, Gyarados can learn it.
Once I accidentally put my hand on a piece of very hot metal. The skin didn’t heal for a weak, and those burns were probably the worst pain I’ve ever felt, and the skin died and swelled. Imaging that all over my body, never stopping… I can suddenly see why they were such horrific weapons. Burns are horrible…
Of all games I've played, Division 2 has had the best feeling flamethrower so far. Ammo is plentiful, it does great damage, has decent range. And I enjoy stat builds in that game, so spreading the fire to other enemies via gear talents makes it even more viable.
I remember liking the flamethrower in Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Vietnam DLC, but that was a long time ago. The only time I remember liking a flamethrower in a game
The cut New Vegas companion's "on fire" response screams are honestly quite horrifying
The first Command & Conquer had the best flamethrowers i've come across
I can hear it
Metal Gear Solid 3 presented the flamethrower with fitting gravitas. With the player unable to acquire one, flame troopers are presented as heavily suited slow-moving monsters, and without the need for balance their firepower needn't be scaled down for balance.
I take it at some point you will do a video on improvised weapons, as while watching this I kept thinking about the common trope of the "improvised flamethrower" aka lighter + aerosol can.
Honestly that is not even a flamethrower. When I think of improvised flamethrowers I think of stuff that people make in their garage is that is actually using a pressurized fuel in a backpack mounted device with a dedicated projector. Made out of scraps and junk.
@@smokedbeefandcheese4144 Yeah it's more in line with being more of an improvised blowtorch, like how Dave mentioned a lot of flamethrowers tend to act more like.
An improvised weapons ep could be really interesting though. Look at how it's done wrong, with stuff that'd never work. And look at ones that would actually make a lot of sense in context.
In skyrim theres a flame wall spell that leaves a trail of flames for a while to keep enemies at bay
Best game flamethrower I've used would be Factorio. Decent range, creates burning puddles to set enemies on fire. Very effective at clearing enemy nests and can make for a decent base defence if you build flamethrower turrets. Also pretty easy to make ammo for (the turrets even more so, as they just take oil piped in). I end up using it far more than the shotguns, but tend to forget about the turret version.
I always liked the use of the flamethrower in The Thing... You can shoot the creatures all you want but they can only die to fire
I was just commenting to my friend while playing Darktide that it was funny how the flamethrower enemies don't explode when you shoot them in the tank. Turns out that's how it's supposed to be!