History AwesomeButImpractical / FirstPersonShooter

* Half the weapons in ''VideoGame/DukeNukem3D'' fall in this trope, whether because they eat rare ammo like popcorn (Devastator), are only useful at close range (Shrinker/Expander), or only prove handy in specific situations (Laser Trip Bomb). The Freezethrower also doesn't have much practical use outside of picking off weaker enemies to conserve a bit of ammo, but even then you still have to kick or shoot them to shatter their bodies or they'll just thaw out in a few seconds. Not to mention its shots ricochet, so if you're not careful you'll just damage yourself instead. It's a bit more worthwhile in deathmatches, where freezing and shattering a player will drop an Atomic Health.

** The Shrinker does have a niche use against the Battlelord Sentries; they're notorious damage sponges but for some reason it takes only one shot to shrink them. Saves a good chunk of your more valuable ammo pools!

** The Spy is considered one of the most conceptually fun classes in the game, but he's also developed a reputation as being perhaps the weakest, ''especially'' in competitive circles. His ability to [[StealthExpert turn invisible]], [[AntiStructure sap enemy buildings]], [[MasterOfDisguise disguise as enemies]], and -- most exciting of all -- [[OneHitKill instantly kill enemies by backstabbing them]] makes for a thrilling playstyle built on deception and sabotage, but the biggest issue is that especially in more limited, highly coordinated competitive environments, [[OvershadowedByAwesome other classes do his job far better and more consistently]] (not helped by how [[DifficultButAwesome Spy is also very difficult to play correctly]]). Backstabs get valuable picks, but so does a Sniper who can land [[BoomHeadshot headshots]], and he doesn't have to be in breathing distance of his enemy to do so. Sappers can wreck enemy buildings, but you can also blow them up with Soldier's rockets or Demoman's various explosives, again from a much safer distance that the Engineers who created them generally have a worse time against. He's also [[SkillGateCharacter incredibly gapped by skill levels]], with veterans being able to spot disguised Spies just through experience, and voice chats especially can almost immediately blow his cover. Whenever you do see a Spy in competitive play, it's usually to take advantage of his reconnaissance ability (i.e., disguising and hiding among the enemy team not to kill them, but to give your team vital information), and the question is not whether Spy will die the moment he's found, but whether he can at least get ''one'' high-value backstab before then.

** A meta version of this trope was why the version of BFG 9000 in first ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'''s [[http://doom.wikia.com/wiki/Doom_press_release_beta press release beta]], which [[http://doom.wikia.com/wiki/File:BFG2704.png rapidly launched a lot of fireballs]], was cut in favor of the version in the final game which simply launches a single powerful plasma ball; not only because it "looked like Christmas", but it slowed the computer down to a crawl.

*** The railgun is heavily reworked in the remake and now behaves more as you'd expect a railgun to, firing high-speed projectiles that penetrate multiple targets in a line. It also does a massive 350 damage and ignores armor, making it capable of eliminating nearly all enemies in a single hit and dealing massive damage to bosses. That said, ammo for it is scarce, it only holds a single round at a time and there is a lengthy cooldown sequence after each shot, so it's basically your designated boss-killing weapon.

** The Reaper is another example; it's a triple-barreled bladed Gatling gun designed by an alien race who are much stronger physically than humans. So of course it's horribly inaccurate and has a ton of recoil when a player attempts to fire it, making it useless at anything but point blank/melee range; and since it takes a couple seconds to rev up its barrels, you have to be ready to get the jump on your opponent or they'll probably kill you first. But of course, said aliens have no trouble wielding it with pinpoint accuracy, nor do simulated opponents in multiplayer mode (who will happily mow you down ''mid-strafe'' from across a large room in about half a second).

** The Reaper is another example; it's a triple-barreled bladed Gatling gun designed by an alien race who are much stronger physically than humans. So of course it's horribly inaccurate and has a ton of recoil when a player attempts to fire it, making it useless at anything but point blank/melee range. But of course, said aliens have no trouble wielding it with pinpoint accuracy, nor do simulated opponents in multiplayer mode (who will happily mow you down ''mid-strafe'' from across a large room in about half a second).

** The Plasma rifle is made much more useful in the remake by giving it a primary fire that rapid-fires powerful energy-based projectiles, taking 6 or 7% of your battery with each shot. Recharge stations and batteries are also quite common in the final stretch of the game, making it a good choice there. The old ricocheting plasma ball mode still exists as its secondary fire, but requires special ammo to use.

** The Plasma rifle is made much more useful in the remake by giving it a primary fire that launches a powerful energy-based projectile, taking 6 or 7% of your battery with each shot. Recharge stations and batteries are also quite common in the final stretch of the game, making it a good choice there. The old ricocheting plasma ball mode still exists as its secondary fire, but requires special ammo to use.

*** The railgun is heavily reworked in the remake and now behaves more as you'd expect a railgun to, firing high-speed projectiles that penetrate multiple targets in a line. It also does a massive 350 damage and ignores armor, making it capable of eliminating nearly all enemies in a single hit and dealing massive damage to bosses. That said, ammo for it is scarce, it only holds a single round at a time and there is a very lengthy cooldown sequence after each shot, so it requires some finesse to use effectively.

* ''VideoGame/{{Blood}}'' has lots of fun and creative weapons like a spray can/lighter combo, the voodoo doll and the Life Leech staff, which looks awesome to boot. However, more often than not, the good old shotgun, tommy gun and bundles of dynamite are much more plentiful in supply and deal far more consistent damage.

*** The railgun is heavily reworked in the remake and now behaves more as you'd expect a railgun to, firing high-speed projectiles that penetrate multiple targets in a line. It also does a massive 350 damage and ignores armor, making it capable of eliminating even the strongest enemies in a single hit and dealing massive damage to bosses. That said, ammo for it is scarce, it only holds a single round at a time and there is a very lengthy cooldown sequence after each shot, so it requires some finesse to use effectively.

*** The railgun is heavily reworked in the remake and now behaves more as you'd expect a railgun to, firing high-speed projectiles that penetrate multiple targets in a line. It also does a massive 350 damage and ignores armor, making it capable of eliminating even the strongest enemies in a single hit. That said, ammo for it is scarce, it only holds a single round at a time and there is a very lengthy cooldown sequence after each shot, so it requires some finesse to use effectively.

*** The railgun is heavily reworked in the remake and now behaves more as you'd expect a railgun to, firing high-speed projectiles that penetrate multiple targets in a line. It also does a massive 350 damage and ignores armor, making it capable eliminating even the strongest enemies in a single hit. That said, ammo for it is scarce, it only holds a single round at a time and there is a very lengthy cooldown sequence after each shot, so it requires some finesse to use effectively.

** The Railgun isn't nearly as fun as you'd think, either. On paper it looks awesome (rapid-fire explosives) and has thr stats to make it look ferocious and deadly... but in practice its damage output seems to be really crap for some reason. Even a basic humanoid mutant takes several hits to kill, to say nothing of the much tougher cyborgs and kill-bots you'll be encountering by the time you find it. Using it in close quarters is extremely unwise too, as you can take heavy splash damage from the explosions. And since much of Citadel Station consists of cramped, narrow corridors, the only thing the railgun kills with any degree of efficiency is the player.

** The Railgun isn't nearly as fun as you'd think, either. On paper it looks awesome (rapid-fire explosives)... but in practice its damage output seems to be really crap for some reason. Even a basic humanoid mutant takes several hits to kill, to say nothing of the much tougher enemies you'll be encountering by the time you find it. Using it in close quarters is extremely unwise too, as you can take heavy splash damage from the explosions. And since much of Citadel Station consists of cramped, narrow corridors, the only thing the railgun kills with any degree of efficiency is the player.

** The Plasma rifle is made much more useful in the remake by giving it a primary fire that launches a powerful energy-based projectile, taking 6 or 7% of your battery with each shot. The old ricocheting plasma ball mode still exists, but requires special ammo to use. Recharge stations and batteries are also quite common in the final stretch of the game, making it a good choice there.

*** The railgun is heavily reworked in the remake and now behaves more as you'd expect a railgun to, firing high-speed projectiles that penetrate multiple targets in a line. It also does a massive 350 damage and ignores armor, making it capable eliminating even the strongest enemies in a single hit. That said, ammo for it is scarce, it only holds a single round at a time and there is a very lengthy recharge sequence after each shot, so it requires some finesse to use effectively.

** The Plasma rifle is made much more useful in the remake by giving it a primary fire that launches a powerful energy-based projectile, taking 6 or 7% of your battery with each shot. The old ricocheting plasma ball mode still exists, but requires special ammo to use. Recharge stations and batteries are also quite common in the final stretch of the game, making it a good choice for the final gauntlet!

*** The railgun is heavily reworked in the remake and now behaves more as you'd expect a railgun to, firing high-speed projectiles that penetrate multiple targets in a line. It also does a massive 350 damage and ignores armor, making it capable eliminating even the strongest enemies in a single hit. That said, ammo for it is scarce, it only holds a single round at a time and it has a very lengthy recharge sequence after each shot, so it requires some finesse to use effectively.

** The Plasma rifle is made much more useful in the remake by giving it another fire mode that simply fires out a powerful energy-based projectile, taking 6 or 7% of your battery with each shot. The ricocheting plasma ball mode still exists, but requires special ammo to use. Recharge stations are also quite common in the final stretch of the game, making it a good choice for the final gauntlet!

*** The railgun is heavily reworked in the remake and now behaves more as you'd expect a railgun to, firing high-speed projectiles that are capable of penetrating multiple targets in a line. It also does a massive 350 damage and ignores armor, making it capable eliminating even the strongest enemies in a single hit. That said, ammo for it is scarce, it only holds a single round at a time and it has a very lengthy recharge sequence after each shot, so it requires some finesse to use effectively.

*** The railgun is heavily reworked in the remake and now behaves more as you'd expect a railgun to, firing projectiles that are capable of penetrating multiple targets in a line. It also does a massive 350 damage and ignores armor, making it capable eliminating even the strongest enemies in a single hit, though it only holds a single shot at a time and has a very lengthy recharge sequence, so it requires some finesse to use effectively.

*** The railgun is heavily reworked in the remake and now behaves more as you'd expect a railgun to, firing a single projectile at colossal speeds capable of penetrating multiple targets in a line. It also does a massive 350 damage and ignores armor, making it capable eliminating even the strongest enemies in a single hit, though it only holds a single shot at a time and has a very lengthy reload/recharge time, so it requires some finesse to use effectively.

*** The railgun is heavily reworked in the remake and now behaves more as you'd expect a railgun to, firing a single projectile capable of penetrating multiple enemies and penetrating multiple targets in a line. It's more than capable of eliminating even the strongest enemies in a single hit, though it only holds a single shot at a time and has a very lengthy reload/recharge time, so it requires some finesse to use effectively.