History Main / VideoGameFlamethrowersSuck

* ''VideoGame/TotalCarnage'' the flamethrower is easily the best weapon in the game. It does a lot of damage and is rapid-fire. But best of all it generates a huge cloud of flame that takes up a good chunk of the screen and unlike most video game flamethrowers, it has good range.

* ''VideoGame/FarCry5'' runs smack into this trope. While flamethrowers are fairly good at killing things, their range is short, they ignite the whole area (and therefore typically you), and ''everything'' will respond to being on fire by [[InfernalRetaliation charging the poor, dumb bastard who did it]].

** ''VideoGame/FarCry2'' features an ''extremely'' useful flamethrower, largely due to the developers wanting to show off the game's dynamic fire effects. A couple of short bursts can result in a raging fire that lays waste to a whole checkpoint. The ''[=FC2=]'' weapon is actually ''more'' useful than it is in real life, since the real LPO-50 fires in fixed-length bursts and only has three shots. You even have to be aware of prevailing winds, because if you just start burning shit with the flamethrower, it can and ''will'' make the entire area burn up. Including you. Flames also kill the enemy ridiculously fast. As a bonus, when an enemy is on fire he stops shooting and tries (in vain) to put himself out before inevitably succumbing to it. They did balance it out by giving it quite a short range, though. You either have to get really close to someone or corner them with a brush fire to do any good with it.

* In ''VideoGame/AssaultSuitsValken'', the secret Napalm Gun upgrade fires a flaming ball of death across the screen. Both the rate of fire and rate of travel might be low compared to the usual standbys of the [[MoreDakka Vulcan cannon]] or [[WaveMotionGun Laser cannon]], but it basically annihilates most non-boss enemies in a single shot. Even a near miss can wipe out smaller units.

* Unfortunately for you, averted in ''Warhammer: Shadow of the Horned Rat''. Your Skaven foes often have access to the dreaded Warpfire Thrower. This weapon has significant range, especially in the earlier stages of the game where almost all your units are melee. It also has very high strength, so it almost guarantees that it kills your men if it hits them and has fairly good AOE to blanket overlapping squads. Your saving grace against this powerhouse weapon is that it causes friendly fire, so you can trick enemies to get between a Warpfire Thrower and you. It also sometimes explodes from a random misfire.

* If the early flamethrowers were meh, things start turning around in ''Dead or School''. The flamethrowers are now of Modified tier rather Reinforced (so they have improved damage) and will continue to advance as you go further until they reach Ultimate at Roppongi. Random abilities will also tend to be better (including a higher chance of getting Absorb at a good activation rate). As well, the areas now tend to have more obstacles so the flamethrower's penetrating objects feature becomes very useful. Also there are new heavier flamethrower-template weapons like the Cold Thrower and Toxin Thrower, which trades a reduced rate of fire, smaller ammo supply and greater stamina use for improved damage.

* ''VideoGame/DeadOrSchool'': Flamethrower type weapons from the flamethrower to the venom sprayer can be amazing weapons. They have a fairly good range that can be upgraded even further, the rate of fire is a constant attack and it holds a lot of ammo, finally it inflicts continuous damage on every kind of enemy including bosses. Since Hisako is a WalkingArsenal, there's no reason not to carry at least one high-end flamethrower type weapon that has good properties.

* In ''Videogame/{{Syndicate}}'' flamethrowers are cheap, have a huge deposit of fuel and can turn anyone into a howling torch in one second. Its short range is not that important as you can take cover behind a building and just let the enemy agents come for you to be killed even before they can draw their own weapons. And in later missions, you can combine it with a [[DeflectorShields force field belt]] and just wait until all hostiles have surrounded you to unleash a torrent of flames that will burn them all instantly.

* ''UFO: Aftermath'' features a flamethrower that does 3900 damage per hit (comparatively, a direct hit from an RPG does 550), but has an effective range of 5 metres and weighs more than a pregnant rhinoceros. The ''advantage'' is that very few enemies are strong against fire, and many are ''weak'', particularly the "transgenant" mutants that make up the bulk of the enemies in the game (and most of which don't have a ranged attack). However the weapon really comes into its own when boarding UFO's, dealing with Aliens armed exclusively with RPG's and no sense of self preservation. Otherwise this is an awful weapon to carry, besides the weight and lack of range, the other HUGE drawback to this weapon is that it easily inflicts friendly fire - it's especially easy in THIS game due to its real-time action(and with the damage it does, it'll outright kill your troops even with the best armor) and in tight corners its area of effect means you could set yourself on fire. With all these disadvantages, it's no surprise that the flamethrower doesn't show up in the sequels.

* ''VideoGame/DeadOrSchool'': Flamethrower type weapons from the flamethrower to the venom sprayer are amazing weapons. They have a fairly good range that can be upgraded even further, the rate of fire is a constant attack and it holds a lot of ammo, finally it inflicts constant damage on every kind of enemy including bosses. Since Hisako is a WalkingArsenal, there's no reason not to carry at least one flamethrower type weapon.

* Studio Nanafushi's ''Dead or School'' has the story-plot weapon "The Anti-Mutant Weapon", a weapon you're supposed to get because you can't harm the bionic "Steel Mutant"'s armored endodermis. When you go to the army base and find it, it turns out to be an artifact flamethrower. Your friend Daiba says it should be effective as the napalm will soak in through gaps in the mutant's armor. When you actually use it, the "Anti-Mutant Weapon" is mediocre. It has a really nice bonus effect of doing double damage to mutants, it goes through enemies and obstacles and has a fast rate of fire. Unfortunately it's base damage is atrocious. This flamethrower starts off doing 57 damage which is typical of Level 1 firearms of this tier. However the flamethrower is Level 6, meaning it's got awful damage increase per level of upgrade. Most firearms at this point will simply be better, though it is a pretty fun and nice-looking weapon. The flamethrowers you first find are only at Reinforced quality level and are far weaker than the Anti-Mutant Weapon (but they do have an extremely good rate of fire), unless you're lucky enough to find one with a strong rare ability.

A flamethrower that ''doesn't'' suck is usually a {{BFG}}. If a {{mook}} has one, it will probably suck, [[FlamethrowerBackfire paint a giant target on his back]] and make him that much more evil for having it. [[UnusableEnemyEquipment Even if you can pick it up and use it yourself]]. If you can, it is almost a certainty that it won't work on the class of mooks who carry flamethrowers.

* ''VideoGame/{{Palworld}}'' has the player character use the {{mon}} [[EquippableAlly Foxsparks]] as a flamethrower, which has decent range, pretty good damage output, reasonably high ammunition capacity and sets enemies on fire for additional damage. The flamethrowers used by Syndicate Cleaners and Brothers of the Eternal Pyre Martyrs are also quite nasty as they share the same attributes as the player's own [[EquippableAlly Foxsparks]] flamethrower.

* ''VideoGame/{{Palworld}} has the player character use the {{mon}} [[EquippableAlly Foxsparks]] as a flamethrower, which has decent range, pretty good damage output, reasonably high ammunition capacity and sets enemies on fire for additional damage. The flamethrowers used by Syndicate Cleaners and Brothers of the Eternal Pyre Martyrs are also quite nasty as they share the same attributes as the player's own [[EquippableAlly Foxsparks]] flamethrower.

* ''Pickle Pete'' is ''Vampire Survivor''-style survivor shooter. The flamethrower is a fairly advanced and very rare weapon to appear in shops, but it's hardly a loss. It's a poor weapon for a similar reason why melee weapons are AwesomeButImpractical, enemies simply grow more powerful almost exponentially as you unlock more stages. Not only do they cause and withstand more damage but newer more dangerous enemies appear with abilities like firing an obstacle piercing laser beam. Being in close quarters against mooks that will take 25% of your max health by simply brushing against them is suicidal.

** ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil1'' and its UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube remake have a flamethrower only available to Chris, which he gets instead of the [[DiskOneNuke Grenade Launcher]]. It has only enough fuel for 7 seconds of firing, can never be reloaded, has pitiful range, low damage, and can only be used in the underground caves. Adding insult to injury in the 2002 remake, if the player cheats it into their inventory, they'll find it has absolutely ''no effect'' on zombies: not only was it not coded to do any damage but can't even be used to burn their corpses to prevent them from returning as [[DemonicSpiders Crimson Heads]].

* In ''VideoGame/MidnightResistance'', the supercharged flamethrower was perhaps the best weapon in the game. The UsefulNotes/{{Commodore 64}} version nerfed it by reducing its range.

* ''VideoGame/AgeOfWonder'' has Flame Throwers which are Dwarven vehicles with a weapon inspired from a cooking accident. And it shows, the vehicle is slow and not particularly enduring while it's cone of fire is short-ranged and doesn't do that much damage.

* ''Pickle Pete'' is ''VideoGame/VampireSurvivor''-style survivor shooter. The flamethrower is a fairly advanced and very rare weapon to appear in shops, but it's hardly a loss. It's a poor weapon for a similar reason why melee weapons are AwesomeButImpractical, enemies simply grow more powerful almost exponentially as you unlock more stages. Not only do they cause and withstand more damage but newer more dangerous enemies appear with abilities like firing an obstacle piercing laser beam. Being in close quarters against mooks that will take 25% of your max health by simply brushing against them is suicidal.

** The Caulk-and-Burn in ''VideoGame/KillingFloor2'' is kinda pathetic, with bad range and poor ammo efficiency. But then, no one expected it to be amazing, because [[WithThisHerring every Firebug spawns with one for free]] to [[IncrediblyLamePun warm up]] in the first wave, so you can buy better guns later. It's also not a proper flamethrower, [[MacGyvering but an improvised mount for sprays cans full of fuel]], so poor range makes sense. The flamethrower returns as the third tier weapon, but has grown quite a bit in usefulness since then.

* ''VideoGame/TotalWarWarhammer'': The Dwarves' Irondrakes (heavy flamethrower-wielding infantry) and Flame Cannons (fixed artillery) are late-game units for their armies. They shoot burning gouts of liquid instead of burning gas, and do so over a respectable range, but their unit sizes are tiny for their price and their weapons are terrible against the heavy armour and flyers of most late-game units.

* The flamethrower in the ''VideoGame/{{Battletech}}'' videogame is by far the least damaging weapon in the game, has a measly five ammo (which is integrated into the weapon, so you can't add any more) and as a support weapon can only attack at point-blank range or as part of a melee attack. That said, the flamethrower increases its target's heat on top of its pathetic damage. ''One'' flamethrower is weak tea, but a Firestarter or Grasshopper mounting ''six'' of them [[LethalJokeCharacter will often bring its target right into overheating and potentially shut down the entire 'mech for a round]]. Flamethrowers are, however, completely useless against vehicles and turrets who do not have heat gauges.

* In ''Star Wars: VideoGame/BountyHunter'', the flamethrower has two down sides: it has short range, and it uses the same fuel as your jet pack. But its also very powerful against regular enemies, and easily the best way to get rid of the most dangerous enemies, Bando Gora cultists. They normally gang up on Jango with melee attacks and can kill him in seconds. But with the flamethrower, just light em up, fly to a high spot, and watch them burn.

* ''Steam Defense'' a TowerDefense {{Steampunk}} sci-fantasy game from [=MightySword=] Studio has an upgrade for human HeroUnit Vince Gear. It's the Flamethrower which allows Vince's assault rifle to temporarily change into flamethrower mode. This is a huge boost for Vince who's only earlier effective measure against bosses and tough units was a DifficultButAwesome grenade. Flamethrower mode had short range but it's attacks are extremely damaging and it affects all targets in the path of fire. Enemies that don't die from the initial shot will soon perish from the high continuous burning damage.