Question: Why No Rifles?

Why does the rifle not appear as a weapon in most action/adventure computer games? Rifles do not appear in any such games that we are aware of (e.g., Doom, Strife, Rise of the Triad). Handguns, submachine guns, and shotguns tend to be the small arms of choice in such games. Do rifles just not seem glitzy enough? As the primary weapon of war for the past several centuries, they have seemed to do the trick. Overall, they have better range, accuracy, and knockdown than any other class of small arms, and modern assault rifles have these benefits along with the versatility of a submachinegun. Let us know what you think.

Answers From Readers

"The reason rifles aren't included in many of today's first person shooter games is because it takes the colour out of killing the targets in the game. Rifles are efficient, accurate, easy to use and they pack a good hit; in other words they take the challenge out of blowing the other guys' heads off. Where is the fun in blasting away an opponent in a single shot when you could waste ammo and make a violent and dead mess of another player? Sub machine guns, shotguns, rocket launchers, grenade launchers among other explosive and incindiary weapons make a much more attractive killing prospect to the blood thirsty, violent and egotistical people (myself included) that love to play these games (Quake, Blood, etc.).

Some more tactical games (Rainbow Six, Half Life, etc.) are now including rifles (mostly just assault rifles with scope features) in their inventory of body crushing goodies to make their games more realistic. Even some of the newer versions of blood lust classics (Duke Nukem to name one) have stuck a rifle or two in to satisfy the tastes of realism obsessed game players.

Rifles may not have had much of a show in earlier days, but you can bet that weapon realism is going to advance as the need for new challenges in game play increase."

--Unsigned

"Most of these games are set in close quarters. In close quarters combat, the more compact size of the submachine gun makes it preferable. Shotguns have more tissue damaging capacity. You usually will not find SMGs on an open battlefield for the same reason you don't see rifles in enclosed spaces. That is not what they are made for. Also, Starsiege Tribes has considerably more rifle weapons because of just that reason, more outdoor long range stuff."

--Allister Preist