History Main / VideogameFlamethrowersSuck

* While not completely useless in ''VideoGame/BattleTanx'' gameplay, the Inferno flamethrower tank still doesn't hold a candle to their real life counterparts in any area besides maybe ammo and effectiveness against the Rhino (a tank with a fixed gun and frontal armor that is nearly-impenetrable by anything else in the game). It also suffers from CripplingOverspecialization by having a special weapon in place of a normal cannon, meaning unlike every other tank in the game it has to rely on its limited supply of other special weapons to deal with threats at any range beyond near-point-blank.

Considering how, between KillItWithFire and IncendiaryExponent, fire has a habit of being portrayed as undistilled RuleOfCool, flamethrowers in VideoGames have an odd habit of being AwesomeButImpractical at best. This tends to be down to a combination of ConvectionSchmonvection, CriticalExistenceFailure and a variant of ShortRangeShotgun; game [[FireBreathingWeapon flamethrowers]] tend to have a very, VERY short range, a narrow area of effect and do slow damage over time with very little disabling effect (or the disabling effect requires enough sustained fire you may as well use an instant-damage weapon), in many cases the effect is very temporary as well and wears off soon after.

This is in part because they tend to be based on Hollywood-style gas flamethrowers rather than real ones; typically their fuel acts like pressurized gas rather than burning liquid, creating a long flame rather than an arcing stream. Game limitations mean the flamethrower's typical use (destroying buildings) is rarely possible in-engine, neither is it likely to mask the firer's position with smoke and flames (or even create smoke). On the plus side, games rarely allow the fuel tanks to be targeted by enemies (though enemies seem to carry [[MadeOfExplodium tanks of nitroglycerine]] rather than fuel on their backs [[FlamethrowerBackfire if]] ''[[FlamethrowerBackfire they]]'' [[FlamethrowerBackfire have a flamethrower]]), or simulate how staggeringly physically debilitating it is to operate such a device.

There are also additional issues; for instance, burning enemies frequently [[InfernalRetaliation damage you when close]], yet the Flamethrower requires enemies to be close to use it (bonus points if [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard other enemies are not damaged by the flames]]). Also, games (especially Sci-Fi ones) frequently put you up against mechanical enemies and make fire useless against them, yet even the weakest pistol can do some damage; this is hugely unrealistic, since flamethrowers are dangerous to vehicles for the same reason molotovs are: the fire and smoke can easily cause the engine to overheat or choke, burn or melt most circuit boards, and cause immense discomfort for any crew. Finally, flame propagation effects are very rare in games, so fire instantly dissipates in places that would be a fatal inferno in seconds in RealLife, not to mention that fuel itself rarely acts like napalm, slicks of intensely burning glue that coat every surface fired at.

To an extent this is TruthInTelevision. Flamethrowers were widely utilized in UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, UsefulNotes/WorldWarII and the UsefulNotes/VietnamWar to destroy thick foliage and take out bunkers full of enemy troops, but their weight, short range compared to other firearms, rapid fuel consumption, and tendency to give away one's position have since made them fall out of use in favor of {{incendiary|Exponent}} rounds for conventional weapons.

* While not useless in ''VideoGame/BattleTanx'' gameplay, the flamethrower tanks still don't hold a candle to their real life counterparts in any area besides maybe ammo and effectiveness against the Rhino (a tank with a fixed gun and frontal armor that is nearly-impenetrable by anything else in the game).

* ''VideoGame/AquaTeenHungerForceZombieNinjaProAm'': Frylock's eye flame attack aren't useful as they are in the [[WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce show]], with dealing damage only on close proximity to enemies.

* In the UK robot combat series ''Series/RobotWars'', House Robot Sgt. Bash was equipped with an AwesomeButImpractical flamethrower that hardly did anything but singe the paintjobs of the competitors... [[RunningGag and singe off]] [[LethalJokeCharacter Diotoir's]] iconic red polka-dot fur. This might be why Bash didn't return for the 2016 reboot.

[[folder:Flame]]
%% This Folder Needs Example Sorting

* Flamethrowers are among the first power-up weapons available in ''VideoGame/Alien3TheGun'', and it does wonders leaving behind piles and piles of crispy, roasted alien xenomorphs. Same applies for the two arcade-shooter sequels of the series, ''VideoGame/AliensExtermination'' and ''VideoGame/AliensArmageddon''.
* Flamethrower weapons in ''VideoGame/AliensFireteamElite'' are also quite amazing in that they make short work of most xenomorphs and apply a damage-over-time on them. The flamethrower that the Demolisher gets has an incredibly long range for what one might expect from a video game flame thrower. However, if friendly fire is enabled, this quickly becomes a [[AwesomeYetImpractical double edged sword]].
* One of the first and most frequent power-ups in ''VideoGame/{{Apocalypse}}'', which can incinerate lower-tier mooks with a single ''touch''. The flamethrower is also among the most frequent power-ups as well, and it's ''awesome''.
* The Flamesprayer from ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}''. On the Lame side, it has a VERY short reach, consumes quicksilver bullets at a continuous rate, deals a DPS kind of damage, has poor stopping power and, unlike almost all other sidearms, cannot riposte your enemies. On the Flame side, beast-type enemies are universally weak to fire, so its AOE makes it an effective crowd control tool against them, and its damage can be good enough against non-beasts to avoid making it a CripplingOverspecialization. Also, unlike almost all other sidearms, the Flamesprayer scales with Arcane instead of Bloodtinge, making it a lifesaver for SquishyWizard builds... What puts it squarely in the "Flame" category, however, is its amazing compability with the Bone Marrow Ashes: for all other sidearms, the Ashes are a crutch meant to give firearms some extra "omph", and even then they're only good for ''one'' bullet. When used with the Flamesprayer, on the other hand, the Ashes' effect lasts for as long as your stream of flames goes uninterrupted. Throw an Oil Urn on top of that, and let yourself be intoxicated by the euphoria of purification.
* ''Dead Target'' by VNG Games has a flamethrower that's a very solid DiscOneNuke. It's relatively inexpensive at over 1.5 million dollars and it's shortcoming of low range isn't that much of handicap as most encounters happen at fairly close range. What it has is a bit of an area attack, a rapid constant stream of fire that puts most assault rifles and submachine guns too shame and it starts with a fairly high damage per hit. Finally enemies struck by the flamethrower will burn significantly so the flamethrower actually inflicts a lot more damage than first realized.
* Averted in ''VideoGame/FireShark''. The flamethrower started out as a small stream of flame that did good damage, and them proceeded into [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Firesharklv4_3301.jpg this]] at maximum level. 6 streams of fire, four of which sweep the sides and back of the player character. And it downs both the regular Mooks and {{Giant Mook}}s in seconds. In fact, the fully upgraded flamethrower is so broken, using it for too long will cause the game to flood the screen with other weapon powerups in an effort to force you to use something else! It's still considered AwesomeButImpractical however, since the MutuallyExclusivePowerups for it are exceedingly rare compared to the other two weapons.
* Unlike the 1999 and 2010 ''Franchise/AlienVsPredator'' games, the second installment makes the flamethrower quite useful. It's just as great against Facehuggers as it was the previous installment, but Aliens will also light up and drop dead fairly quickly now. It does burn fuel rather fast, but its high capacity of 600 units helps balance that out.
** The flamethrower in the game for the Jaguar was pretty solid as well. It fires bursts of flame instead of a stream so it's got the same range as all your other guns and while it does the same damage per shot as the starting shotgun it also fires much faster making it great at taking out enemy xenomorphs even in larger numbers.
* Averted in ''VideoGame/CryptKiller'', where Flame Rounds expels a large fireball onscreen that destroys most enemies. One level had the player picking up Flame Rounds while in a mummy-infested pyramid, and three shots is enough to wipe out an entire screen of a dozen mummies. However, it ''does'' suck against stone-based enemies - five or six rounds are needed to take down golems or living statues, the same amount of damage dealt by the default shotgun.
* In ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'', The Pyro has a much better flamethrower than its classic counterpart (its incredibly short range is also justified: it blasts propane and not gasoline). It has afterburn damage, a DamageOverTime that can finish off your enemies even if they escape the Pyro's range. However, it provides a way to rebound projectiles, put out burning teammates, and push enemies off cliffs or into corners with its compressed air blast secondary fire. Plus, you can [[ArrowsOnFire light arrows]] for your friendly neighborhood sniper if he's using a bow. The Backburner has a more expensive compression blast in exchange for instant Critical Hits when attacking enemies from behind. Or, by equipping the Degreaser, some of the direct and afterburn damage can be traded for super-fast weapon switching. The weapon switching is handy for using the Axtinguisher, which deals guaranteed [[CriticalHit Crits]] to any burning enemy. All three flamethrowers are the core weapon of the Pyro class.
** Played straight in 6v6 competitive play, where the Pyro is considered a MasterOfNone. Quick reflexes and the rather unusual manner used to decide how much damage is done[[note]]It's based on how long the fire-particles are out before colliding. Since they gain no velocity from the Pyro even when he's moving, other players can take less damage by just running in the opposite direction ''even if the distance between them stays the same.''.[[/note]] makes direct damage rather unreliable, while attentive Medics reliably make the afterburn moot (the latter has even started being true for non-competitive play with the number of ways to put out fire).
** On the other hand, in 9v9 Highlander competitive play, the Pyro is an ''incredibly'' powerful asset in defense; an Ubercharged Pyro on defense can stop an enemy Uber dead in its tracks, reflect/defuse explosives away from Engineer buildings, and not least to keep Spies away.
** The Pyro was given another flamethrower in the Jungle Inferno update. The Dragon's Fury lacks the ability to simply spread flames everywhere, but in return it is given the ability to deal fast, consistent burst damage to any opponent under the crosshairs. It also does triple damage to buildings and opponents who are on fire...and fires so quickly that it can even achieve this against ''other Pyros.'' Oh, and every successful hit allows the next shot to be fired even faster. The end result is something resembling ''Metal Slug'''s Flame Shot, with similarly detrimental effects to anyone facing it.
* Averted in ''VideoGame/DeadSpaceExtraction'': the flamethrower, indisputably the worst weapon in the first game, is one of the best in Extraction. It deals high damage no matter where it hits, making dismemberment a non-issue. It has slower ammo consumption, longer range and a larger ammo capacity than in the first game. Best of all, every single damage tick stops a Necromorph in its tracks, allowing you to either stunlock most of the enemies in the game to death or hold entire groups at bay.
** ''VideoGame/DeadSpace2'' is a bit of a middle ground between the first game and ''Extraction''.
* In the 2008 ''VideoGame/{{Turok}}'' reboot, the flamethrower has considerable ammo, is almost an insta-kill against some enemies and has the awesome addition of a grenade launcher that can kill all but the largest enemies with one hit. Yes please!
* Similarly, ''VideoGame/TalesOfHearts'' gives its characters a system where TP regenerates effectively forever, ([[ItMakesSenseInContext it makes sense in practice]]), which means that the Flame Gun spell can effectively be spammed. Okay, it gets outclassed by other spells in its element eventually, but they're all of the DeathFromAbove variety.
** ''Hearts'' focus on comboing means two things for the mid-range-reaching Flame Gun: First, it's a good way to put a few free hits on a large slice of the field, and second, it's ''really'' annoying if an enemy gets you in it while you're trying to close in, because each hit knocks you back slightly.
* ''{{VideoGame/Paladins}}'' has Fernando, a Frontline character with a flamethrower call "Flame Lance". It might have a still fairly-small range as expected of a video-game flamethrower, but its damage and the additional burning effect it applies isn't too bad (as it burns for two seconds, it also prevents enemies from being able to WalkItOff for another two seconds), and it uses an {{Overheating}} meter rather than having to be reloaded entirely which Fernando can benefit from by halting his shooting which can be aided by raising his shield to keep him safe while the meter recharges. The weapon combined with Fernando's health, shield and Fireball ability makes him a formidable opponent that will probably kill or scare off any of the [[GlassCannon Damage]] or [[FragileSpeedster Flank]] champions that he gets close to.
* ''VideoGame/CompanyOfHeroes'' features pretty nice flamethrowers as the first heavy weapon available for the Wehrmacht and the Americans, as well as the Crocodile flame tanks. Although they are unrealistically ineffective against vehicles (probably due to balance reasons associated with ShortRangeLongRangeWeapon), they are nicely effective against infantry in cover and garrisoned infantry. This especially came into play with many of the stronger infantry units having a unit type that caused them to take extra damage from flames, putting it in a similar place to Battalion Wars.
** The aforementioned Croc Tanks can be a real terror for Axis players, since it's fast enough to ''flank'' and can fire on the move. "
---> '''Croc Tank''': "''Burn, motherfucker.''"
** In the second game, they are effective against light vehicles and utterly murder infantry - only heavy machine guns and artillery have comparable killing power. However, opentopped vehicles don't take nearly enough damage and die from loss of health rather than crew death or a fuel explosion. Heavy vehicles are still largely immune - while being unable to burn through the armor is realistic, not triggering critical effects is not.
** In the winter maps, flamethrowers are amazing, though. Using the "attack ground" or "flamethrower sweep" buttons to attack a target on ice results in an instant kill on ANYTHING if it was where you clicked, as the flames melt the ice and send whatever was on it [[KillitWithWater into the cold water below]].
* The obscure 1991 arcade game ''[=GunForce=]'' has flamethrowers that, while shorter ranged than other weapons, also inflict tremendous damage very rapidly. The flamethrower is an excellent weapon for boss fights on levels that have it.

* Pretty decently averted in ''VideoGame/Postal2''. Although the "flamethrower", dubbed a "napalm launcher", in the game is closer to a man-portable Livens Projector (albeit with projectiles which trail napalm as they fly forward/bounce around before exploding), and most of the flammable liquid the player has access to is simply ''pourable.'' The damage effects flame has on your in-game opponents are... let's just say, ''[[VideoGameCrueltyPotential very]]'' thoroughly planned out. The ''A Week in Paradise'' mod and the Steam version of the game also adds the ''VideoGame/{{Blood}}''-esque [[AerosolFlamethrower "aerosol can + lighter"-style flamethrower]], which shoots somewhat slow-moving puffs of flame. Very nice for area denial (though not as good as the can of gasoline) or when you want/need to burn somebody quickly. The Hidden "Enhanced mode" also gives your urine special modifiers... including turning your willy into a flamethrower. with long range. [[UrineTrouble "have fun."]]
* While flamers aren't great for most units of ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar'' as mentioned above - there is one unit that really makes them effective and that's the Possessed Squad with the daemonic fire upgrade. This gives every member of the squad, the equivalent of a flamer and lets the squad destroy enemy morale like it was nothing and getting close enough to enemies is seldom an issue for the speedy and durable Possessed Squad.
* In ''VideoGame/DawnOfWarII'', flamers for Imperial Guardsmen and Tactical Marines do less damage and have a shorter range than the baseline weapons they replace, but they hit in an area of effect and do a ''even more'' damage against units within cover or buildings, giving them a clear niche against opponents who you feel may be using larger squads. The burnas for the Slugga Boyz are the only weapon upgrade available to them, and are an obvious good choice with their area of effect attack, increased ranged damage over the pitiful pistols the Slugga Boyz normally use, and count as power weapons to do more damage against heavier infantry.
** In the ''Retribution'' expansion, the Space Marines get the Land Raider Redeemer. The sponson-mounted Flamestorm Cannons are devastating against enemy infantry of any kind and will quickly allow you to wipe out mobs.
* In ''VideoGame/Warhammer40000ChaosGate'', Chaos Marines are tough foes that are resistant to your bolters and storm bolters. Even the heavy bolter is rather ineffective against them. But any flamer weapon is OneHitKill against a Chaos Marine and getting close enough to roast one is rarely an issue for the turn-based game.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Gradius}}'', the Fire Blaster from ''Nemesis II/Nemesis III'' used to suck real bad, thanks to its short range and weak damage, the latter caused by a GameBreakingBug. Not anymore in ''Gradius V'', now that the Fire Blaster has excellent damage-per-second, a sweeping effect that's great for clearing clusters of popcorn enemies or destroyable projectiles, and a constant fire rate without the need for specific [[AttackDrone Option]] types. That being said, it's recommended to use Freeze Options due to the [[CallASmeerpARabbit Laser]]'s short range, but combine it with Spread Bombs and you can clear bosses in seconds. The Fire Blaster is also excellent for [[ThatOneLevel the nastier levels]], such as Stage 5 and its AsteroidThicket or Stage 6 and its green goo.
* In ''VideoGame/DeusEx'', one touch of its flame can turn most enemies into screaming balls of terror and pain, who continue to take damage while they burn. Of course, it doesn't have that much ammo, and it's heavy, and takes up 8 slots in the inventory, but it's a can of whoop-ass. However, even though you can kick ass with the flamethrower, so can your enemies. Catching on fire will burn away your health until it wears off, or when you find a extinguisher, or a source of water. [[CrazyPrepared Some players carry around a fire extinguisher at all times just for this reason]].
* ''VideoGame/Fallout3's'' DLC ''Broken Steel'' went above and beyond the job of adding viable flamethrower optios.
** Unlike the regular, short-ranged Flamer, the Heavy Incinerator is a very close simile to a ''real'' flamethrower, with the difference that the Heavy Incinerator fires globs of napalm instead of a continuous stream. Not only it is fully-automatic and lethal, it has a long range and can effectively be used as a bombardment implement, even outside of V.A.T.S. range. And it's semi-regular due to Enclave Hellfire Troopers spawning from when ''Broken Steel'' is installed. Also, due to their specialized Power Armor (which you can also loot, and it ''is'' very strong), they are resistant to fire, and hence, their own weapon. It is also affected by both Pyromaniac perk and the bugged Ghoul Ecology perk, which adds +5 unblockable damage to any enemy for every projectile fired. Also, like actual napalm, it explodes underwater.
** ''Broken Steel'' also introduces the Slo-Burn Flamer, which has all the drawbacks of the regular Flamer, but the addition of continuous burning damage for a ''very'' long time. Light an enemy on fire, and then run until they die (or you have to relight them, which you won't have to do more than once unless they have fire resistance).
** The Burnmaster, another ''Broken Steel'' unique variant, is a middle ground. It deals 150% of the Flamer's damage output if you don't have the Pyromaniac perk, which helps any player that doesn't play around with fire often enough to justify picking the perk.
* ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'':
** The game doesn't have quite as many flamers, nor the high-powered variants that ''Fallout 3'' did, but it does have the perfect place to use such a weapon-type: [[spoiler:Vault 22. An entire vault]] full of dangerous (but very flammable) plants. A flamer is conveniently provided there, and it doesn't seem half so sucky any more.
** There's also the regular Incinerator, which is much like the Heavy Incinerator [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin except smaller]]. Unlike the Heavy Incinerator, the regular Incinerator has a much lower Energy Weapons skill requirement at 25, a lower strength requirement, less spread and weight, with the logical compromise of doing less damage, shooting slower and having less range. It's perfect for more casual energy weapon users to haul around the Mojave to light up their enemies before weapon switching to finish them off with something that spits lead. And you can get your hands on one [[DiscOneNuke as early as the second town you come across, Primm]], in the first floor of the Bison Steve hotel, although it's in pretty bad shape.
** The ''Gun Runners' Arsenal'' DLC for ''New Vegas'' also introduces the unique flamer, the Cleansing Flame. The weapon is heavier than the base model and doesn't inflict a CriticalHit as often, but trades off those downsides for superior damage over time, a generously sized fuel reserve, greater durability, and perhaps most welcome of all, an extended range compared to the standard flamer. It also fires a very pretty stream of blue flames.
** The flamer becomes much more practical in ''Fallout: New Vegas'''s hardcore mode, which adds weight to ammo among other realistic challenges. Flamer fuel is one of the lightest ammo types in the game, and surprisingly the flamer doesn't burn through it as fast you think it would.
* The Plasma Thrower mod for plasma weapons in ''VideoGame/Fallout4'' is one of the most powerful short-range weapons available. It does high damage with multiple types, and due to a glitch, it gains the perk bonuses from either Rifleman or Gunslinger instead of Commando (it's treated as either a rifle or pistol weapon depending on which type of stock you've got equipped, both of which have better secondary bonuses from their perks than Commando). Equip one and watch as it melts all your enemies into green puddles of goo.

* In ''VideoGame/SeriousSamTheSecondEncounter'', the flamethrower is a very powerful weapon. Although it has a short range, the flames do as much initial damage as the minigun or laser gun, deal further damage over time to those on fire, and flames go through enemies, allowing it to damage several at once, especially melee-oriented enemies like [[DeadlyLunge Kleer Skeletons]] and [[ChainsawGood Curcubitos]]; in the ''HD Edition'', a puff can {{stunlock}} a mob of [[ActionBomb Beheaded Kamikazes]] and give you time to get away from them. To top it all off, you get the flamethrower very early in every chapter, the ammo is more or less everywhere ''and'' it burns out fairly slowly.
* Averted in ''VideoGame/SyphonFilter''. In the first installment, one of the bosses, Anton Girdeaux, has a flame thrower, and any fire it creates stays throughout the level. Although his fuel tank is his only weak spot, it can easily withstand multiple shots (you will not be able to use grenades, as the shock it creates will detonate the bomb which Girdeaux is protecting). In the second installment, you use a flamethrower in one level, and it is pure carnage, although it is tied to a fuel truck, meaning you can't take it with you.
* In ''VideoGame/MenOfWar'', the flamethrower is one of the most powerful weapons. It sets any unit it touches on fire, with [[ManOnFire hilarious]] results, it can destroy any vehicle and its crew within seconds, can burn away nearly anything that can be used for concealment, and is a good weapon for clearing out buildings.
* ''VideoGame/{{Boktai}}: Lunar Knights'' has the Dragoon, Ernest's trademark Solar Gun, fulfill this role. When fighting Stoker, it spreads out in front of him a ways and ignores MercyInvincibility, but isn't that damaging and is by far the easiest attack to interrupt. Then again, what did you expect? Stoker's a vampire. On the other hand, when Aaron gets his hands on it, it proves more valuable; its range increases along with its rank, it's a damaging weapon in its own right, and it goes through enemies up to its limit, allowing you to damage more than one. If you pair it with lock-on and dash about (an advanced technique where you double-tap the cross pad to spurt a short distance), you can reliably barbecue every Vorn in the vicinity with minimal harm to yourself. [[PlayingWithFire Ursula]] [[KillItWithFire would be proud]].
* In a mass combat example, the RTS ''VideoGame/RiseOfNations'' also features a flamethrower infantry unit at Industrial Age and later. The unit is not particularly effective against enemy units, but in a nod to its actual battlefield role, it ''is'' extremely handy against enemy structures, forcing all garrisoned units inside to evacuate. Provided you can keep it alive long enough to get within its short attack range, the flamethrower can reduce an enemy building bristling with combatants to an abandoned shell instantly.
* In ''Alien Arena'', the flamethrower has a standard cone of fire effect on the primary fire, and a more realistic long range arc of flame for the secondary.
* ''VideoGame/{{Blood}}'s'' AerosolFlamethrower has an extremely short range, but also deals a ton of damage. It also fires rapidly, making it ideal for dealing with large groups of weaker enemies. The secondary fire, where Caleb ignites the tip of the can and either throws it like a MolotovCocktail or leaves it on the ground as a time bomb, is absolutely devastating when applied correctly but costs 48 ammo per use and can risk a lot of self-damage if you mess up and there's no water nearby. There are few better ways to deal with [[DeadWeight Bloated Butchers]] than this weapon, especially groups of them.
* The mine chapter in ''VideoGame/Waxworks1992'' features a chemical sprayer. Later on, you can fill its tank with gasoline to create an impromptu flamethrower. It can kill any enemy in one hit, while the rest of your weapons have only a microscopic hit chance and deal crap damage. [[OhCrap Just don't run out of fuel.]]
* There are situations in ''VideoGame/{{Worms}}'' where the blowtorch is the best weapon for the job, especially if you want to push a large group of enemy worms into a hole in one turn. It's primarily a tool for digging tunnels through the ground though. Yannow, if you're ''that'' sort of player.
** ''Worms: Armageddon'' features an actual flamethrower that squirts napalm over a short-medium range. It's highly effective in torturing worms cornered in tight spaces, less so in windy circumstances. In the open, worms tend to just skip and bounce over the burning fluid.
* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'' gives us "The Fury," a man with a jetpack and a very powerful flamethrower. You fight him in a series of narrow corridors which are ideal for his flamethrower, his flamethrower tends to set fire to things in the environment, which makes it harder to hide, and most JustForFun/{{egregious}}ly of all, ''his flamethrower can block your bullets.''
** That's because it was [[HandWave modified to fire]] ''[[HandWave rocket fuel]]''. The Russians you run into just before you meet The Fury also wield flamethrowers, though theirs are just normal. Still, they can do a lot of damage and tend to cause burns, which must be healed in the pause menu.
* ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles'' has short-range flamethrowers that bypass cover. Guns outclass them if you can get a clear shot, but they're very effective if an enemy is hiding behind sandbags and you can get up close. Also hits multiple targets with a single sweep, while a gun typically only hits one target at a time. There's also a tank-mounted flamethrower, which is a very useful anti-personnel weapon.
** ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChroniclesII'' has the flamethrowers still be short-ranged but they're very hard-hitting, ignores cover (and Armored Tech shields) and is the only weapon that can [[OneHitKill one-shot]] bunkers. This makes it a very good idea to invest in Commandos.
** Not to mention that Flamethrowers are the only reliable way of countering enemies in cover while leaving the cover itself intact. Meaning you can use it for yourself afterwards, which often helps IMMENSLEY.
** Unfortunately, at least in ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChroniclesIII,'' they are much weaker than machine guns and are rarely ever capable of killing a target in one use. Even against covered enemies, machine guns will do more. Also, its is very rare to have multiple enemies clumped together in a way that can fully utilize the flamethrower's area damage, and even in those cases, its probably more effective to line 2 enemies up and let the machine gun kill both of them due to its superior range and firepower.
** Fortunately, ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles4'' goes back to making flamethrowers as awesome as they were in the first game.
* ''VideoGame/ContraShatteredSoldier'' has a flamethrower among its weapons. Its normal shot lacks range and spread, but has the high rate of fire, since it's a constant stream of fire, making it possible for skilled players to chew up everything up to bosses in half the time it would take with other guns. Its charged shot is a ball of fire that not only has the highest damage per shot, but also pierces, making it possible to hit several targets in a row. The flamethrower is is good enough to be your main weapon, as a highly precise, controllable weapon, while leaving the Machine Gun and Spread Gun for situational use.
** The original ''Contra'' games (up to ''Contra 3'') also feature a very useful Flamer. It shoots to a consistent range, about two-thirds of the screen, and fires continuously, following the movements as you aim up, down, left and right. Absolutely nothing beats it for swarming enemy situations, and when effectively used against bosses, absolutely devastates them (as long as they don't have MercyInvincibility).
*** In the first ''Contra'', the flamethrower was a useless corkscrew attack. In Super C, it was a chargeable blast that exploded and spread on contact. In Contra 3, it was a constant-damage stream, and invaluable in many levels.
* ''VideoGame/AlienSwarm'': Now that the [[LightningGun Tesla Cannon]] is no longer the undisputed [[InfinityPlusOneSword King of Weapons]], the Flamethrower has mostly taken its place. Why? A single puff of fire ignites an enemy (only prolonged fire ignites teammates, thankfully... but when it does, it isn't pretty), making it highly ammo efficient. Each puff is weak, but the burn damage is high; a single flamer sweep can turn a horde of drones into a staggering, flaming mess: no squad members injured. Only an idiot goes into a nest of [[FaceFullOfAlienWingWong Parasites]] without one. Oh, and its alt fire ''extinguishes'' fire... how's ''that'' for handy?
** This is also something of a reaction to the flame thrower in the [[OlderThanTheyThink original Alien Swarm mod]]. The flamethrower there was quite useful as an ammo-efficient way of sweeping for enemies, slowed down whatever it set alight while the flame ran its course, and did a great deal of damage to anything it hit. However the danger of setting teammates on fire was high if used in a crowded area by a jumpy player, which lead to players who choose to use it being rather unpopular with their teammates.
* ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquer'' goes into both sections of this page, due to Dragon Tanks of the Chinese Army in ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerGenerals''. Utterly devastating in all against anything they can get in range of except aircraft and tanks (they can moderately damage the latter though), two or three will tear down even the strongest structures in the game in seconds. For area defense, they can spray fire into a rolling wall of flame. While their frailty increases as the games go on, so does their utility - once garrison clearance comes into play, flame tanks instantly incinerate all occupants of garrisonable buildings. Then probably destroy the building as well so it can never be used again (which is something the equivalent units on the other side cannot do).
** The Nod flamethrowers in ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerTiberiumWars'' both resemble real world flamethrowers in action and are ''insanely awesome'' against most targets; the flame tank is considered the go-to vehicle for most NOD players, and its infantry equivalent also has its uses (being near immune to anti vehicle weapons helps). In addition to nearly instant killing infantry units, they also burn down structures in mere seconds. Flame tanks can even be cloaked with the right support power, hidden until they suddenly pop up in the middle of the enemy base, reducing it to ashes with unparalleled speed. Then there's the expansion, which added the Black Hand sub-faction, which specializes in flame weapons. They lack access to the stealth trick, but their flame weapons can instead be upgraded to do even more damage, to a point they become dangerous against even armored targets, and can take down a structure in the time it takes to blink. They also get Nod's standard top-tier [[HumongousMecha walker]] with the otherwise impractical flamethrower upgrade right out of the box, in addition to the increased damage upgrade. Then there's the flamethrower upgrade for their even bigger walker.
** In the campaign for the FPS offshoot ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRenegade'', the flamethrower is one of the single most useful weapons against enemy troops. It has a surprisingly long range, deals good damage to pretty much anything (whether infantry, vehicle, or smaller structure), inflicts damage over time, and best of all, it stunlocks ''every kind of infantry in the game'' except flamethrower troopers; even a passing wash of flame will stop the toughest infantry in their tracks and make them flail about while on fire. The only thing it isn't really effective against is the aforementioned flamethrower soldiers - but the converse upside is that they show up often enough that you won't ever be hurting for flamethrower ammo, either. The flamethrower will be your go-to close-range weapon for the first half of the campaign until laser weapons (which combine the longer range of every other gun with the flamethrower's ability to stunlock/set things on fire) become available, and even then it will remain very useful for the rest of the game. It's also even ''more'' effective against Tiberium mutants, where they take extra damage from fire weapons. The game also includes a version which instead uses Tiberium gas, which is much the same with even better damage, stunlocking flame troopers (but not chemical troopers, who are immune to it, or Tiberium mutants, which are [[ReviveKillsZombie healed by it]]), and getting a similar longer-range upgrade with weapons firing Tiberium shards, but at the cost of there being a chance that any enemy you kill with it will [[ArtisticLicenseBiology instantly mutate into a Visceroid]] which you will then have to use up ammo for a different weapon to kill, and becoming almost useless with all the other Tiberium-based weapons introduced near the end game thanks to the aforementioned Tiberium mutants becoming commonplace.
* In ''VideoGame/DukeNukemII'', the flame thrower proves to be more effective than the rocket launcher, which is advertised as the best weapon. Not only does it deal a fair amount of damage, but if pointed at the ground it jumps you up in the air, making it very useful.

* ''VideoGame/SurvivalCrisisZ'' has a great flamethrower. It instantly kills every non-boss enemy, has good range, burns through ammo slower than most other weapons, and has relatively inexpensive ammo compared to other high damage guns. Its only flaw is that you must purchase its ammunition, and cannot be found in briefcases, backpacks, or corpses like you can with other weapons. If you have a ''partner'' with a flamethrower, however, the ammo for it becomes even cheaper, and you ''can'' resupply it by looting.
* ''VideoGame/RiseOfTheTriad'' features both aspects of this trope. The useable weapon Flamewall is easily one of the best in the game, sending out an expanding wall of moving fire that [[OneHitKill instantly kills]] any enemy in its path leaving behind a charred skeleton that crumbles into dust. On the other hand the flame throwers that [[MalevolentArchitecture adorn the levels]] are of the gas variety and take away health only while you are directly being seared by them.
** The weapon has one other niche which guarantees it's frequently found: one of the many weird bonuses you can get upon completing a level (and the Bonus Bonus, which requires getting that one) requires you to have used a projectile weapon to hit ''yourself'' (and have survived, of course). With the ''projectile'', not the explosion. This is the only weapon which can be reliably used to do that.
* ''VideoGame/Interstate76'' has car-mounted flamethrowers that are some of the most effective weapons in the game. They don't do damage to armor or the chassis, but tear through systems like there's no tomorrow. The enemy can't do much harm to you if their engine is dead, their weapons can't fire, and they have no tires. Alas, compatibility issues can lead them to being an exaggerated version of this trope instead, where they can't even clear one inch in front of your car.
* While upgradable, ''VideoGame/DeadNation'''s flamethrower only does a fraction of the damage one would expect, but it does have a decent range. It does however, open the zombies up to further attacks. And it spreads like, well like [[ShapedLikeItself wild fire.]] It's also completely useless against firefighter zombies, natch.
* While ''VideoGame/Killzone2'' had rather effective flamethrowers that were nevertheless considered useless because the two-weapon inventory system made arming yourself with anything situational a very bad idea, ''Killzone 3'' had a ''three''-weapon inventory system with the third slot made specifically for weapons like this which makes having a flamethrower a good idea whenever you can actually get it. You can ever only find the flamethrower in trench and jungle areas where you'll find them to be very effective, and you won't need to find chokepoints to try to funnel enemies into for maximum efficiency anymore.
* Flamethrowers in ''VideoGame/StarWarsBattlefrontII'' have got the same range problems as most videogame flamethrowers, but everyone who can use one has a way to mitigate the short range (Bothans turn invisible, Boba and Jango have jet packs), and they actually do a horrific amount of damage (one complete burn from ambush is likely to kill whoever you're shooting at as a Bothan, the Fetts do a bit less damage but can hit multiple people and leave them burning).
** ''VideoGame/StarWarsBattlefrontII2017'': The First Order's Flametrooper is lame if you don't know how to use him properly, but flame if put into his element. Offensively, he is easily the worst Enforcer-type unit, simply because its main weapon has an extremely short range and does low gradual damage. Not helping matters is that the unit lacks the mobility to necessary to get close enough to its target without getting shot up repeatedly and it has no stagger or flinching effect so they can keep attacking you without interrupt after being set on fire. Put him near a chokepoint, and he becomes an insurmountable wall: his Overload gives him infinite ammo for a decent 15 seconds at max level, and his short range is countered by a WIDE zone of attack: if he catches a a clump of enemies in an enclosed space, every one of those enemies is probably dead. Not to mention the ArtificialStupidity of the enemies in co-op multiplayer makes him a great asset, as he is practically built to counter the computer's ZergRush tactics.
* The Mechanic class in ''VideoGame/{{Maplestory}}'' averts this. The flamethrower has decent damage and covers up a wide range that can quickly roast large mobs of monsters at the same time. Sure, it is then overshadowed by more advanced and deadly skills available in further levels, but considering this is one of the first skills that the Mechanic gets, its a practical, reliable and awesome tool to use against your enemies.
* ''VideoGame/RedFaction''[='s=] flamethrower, though with the typical short range and hazardous to wield, had the beneficial effect of instantly making all targets stop shooting at you [[VideogameCrueltyPotential because they're too busy running in circles and screaming in agony]]. An additional plus was the [[SecondaryFire ability to chuck the tank (even if it's almost empty) to produce a huge explosion that sets everything on fire]].
* ''VideoGame/SteelPanthers: World At War'' has a flamethrower that's relatively short range (1 hex/50 meters), but devastatingly effective against whatever's in that hex. It will set whatever terrain's in that hex on fire, which is useful for screening (smoke blocks line-of-sight) and area denial (it's hard to convince infantry to move through flaming forests, and even tanks will think twice).
* ''Steel Panthers: MBT'', from the same series, had incredibly deadly flamethrower weapons, courtesy of a GoodBadBug, that turned Russian troops packing RPO incendiary rockets into the deadliest infantry units in the game. The rockets had incredible accuracy on par with a sniper rifle and enough hitting power to wipe out a squad in a few hits--in addition to a bug that would sometimes give them enough armor penetration to knock out any vehicle in the game at 400 meters. Later versions of the game fixed it, so that RFT weapons, like in real life, were mainly used for closer-ranged bunker-busting.
* ''VideoGame/MetalSlug'' series
** The flamethrower is one of the better special weapons from the second game onwards. The flame is quite large, has moderate range,[[note]]except when shooting straight down[[/note]] and is capable of toasting multiple enemies in a single shot, burning even through vehicles with tremendous ease. The rare [[BiggerIsBetter Big Flamethrower]] shoots a massive fireball that will basically clear out everything unfortunate enough to be standing on the wrong half of the screen. Interestingly, it used to be a ''terrible'' weapon in the first installment thanks to doing very little damage to vehicles.
** Zig-zagged in the remake, ''VideoGame/MetalSlugCodeJ''. The Flame Shot makes a comeback and it's regressed to the weak fireball from the original series, but this time players can hold down the fire button for a ChargedAttack, unleashing a powerful, explosive RingOfFire that works wonders on bosses and vehicles.
* ''VideoGame/{{Strife}}'' does better than many shooters at implementing a flamethrower. Due to the limits of the id Tech 1 game engine, the flamethrower squirts out an arcing stream of napalm globs that can stunlock and quickly destroy even high-tier mooks. Unusually, it's fed by power cells rather than fuel.
* ''Doom'' {{game mod}}s which include flamethrowers (at least those made before the advent of source ports allowing weapons that act differently from the vanilla game's) often also avoid the usual game-flamethrower problems by way of just making it a reskin of the plasma gun, complete with the un-flamethrower-like range and fast, powerful projectiles.
** ''VideoGame/BrutalDoom'' doesn't have a proper flamethrower, but it does have the Mancubus' flame cannon arm, which you can rip off its corpse and use for yourself. Thing is, there aren't many reasons to do that -- it's not a ''weak'' weapon, but the projectiles are slow and travel in an arc, and ignited enemies turn into human torches. This is more than a special death animation -- they deal damage to anything they run into, be it other monsters or ''you'', and they keep running around in a frenzy for a ''very'' long time (sometimes entire minutes. Depending on the map this can be useful or a huge pain in the ass. And there aren't really that many Mancubi around anyway, and it's difficult to actually remove the cannons from said corpses (hint: you have to gib them), so ammo isn't easy to come by -- which prevents the sort of general spraying on masses of weaker enemies that a weapon like this would be suited for.
** ''Project Brutality'' has both the Mancubus Flame Cannon and the SecondaryFire of the Heavy Plasma Rifle. The Mancubus Flame Cannon can shoot both flame shots that travel just like how a Mancubus does as well as function as a flamethrower. It also can act as a acid launcher to serve as area denial/trap to lead in foes at the cost of much less range. The Heavy Plasma Rifle's SecondaryFire shoots a short-range burst of plasma that Doomguy spreads by swinging the gun from side to side, useful to clear space in front of you as well as dealing great damage up close.
* The ''VideoGame/XUniverse'''s Plasma Burst Generator is essentially a flamethrower InSpace. It shreds fighters and can still put a hurting on capital ships. On enemy ships it can be a BossInMookClothing. This is mainly a result of the way AreaOfEffect weapons work: each blast has multiple hitboxes, and [[SplashDamageAbuse ships take additional damage based on how many of the weapon's hitboxes line up with their own]].
* ''VideoGame/{{Terraria}}'' averts this. The flamethrower has a very good range, deals a lot of damage (though a single flame doesn't hurt that much, it fires a lot of them per unit of ammo), sets enemies ablaze for even more damage, and its ammo is ridiculously easy to find and hoard. 1.2.2 introduces an even more potent flamethrower in the form of the Elf Melter, from the Christmas themed Frost Moon event available late in the game.
* ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpiresIII'' expansion ''The Asian Dynasties'' gives the Imperial Chinese faction a flamethrower unit. While the range is far shorter than that of any other field artillery unit, its splash effect and damage bonuses against infantry means it sweeps away pikemen and skirmishers faster than anything else. They're also pretty effective against buildings.
* ''VideoGame/EmpireEarth'' has flamethrower soldiers (during the WWII and Modern eras) with shorter range and slightly higher cost than normal infantry. Their strength is that they do the same damage to any type of target (infantry, tanks, buildings) making them a JackOfAllStats in the TacticalRockPaperScissors the game's units are based on.
* ''VideoGame/ZombieRevenge'' had a devestating flame thrower which did ridiculous amounts of hard-hitting, enemy-flinching damage that spelt certain doom for any enemy, bosses included. [[PowerEqualsRarity It's found once or twice in total as a result]].
* 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.
* ''Franchise/MassEffect'':
** ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'': In the ''Arival'' DLC, the Project Pyro enemies were the original inspiration for the Geth Pyros in ''Mass Effect 3''. Their attack does instant knockback to Shepard and drains the players shields completely in less than a second.
** ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'':
*** Several multiplayer classes (mostly Vorcha, but also the Geth Soldier) have the new ability "Flamer", a flamethrower that's tied to a power instead of a heavy weapon (and therefore has cooldown instead of ammo). Although short-range, Flamer is absolutely ''devastating'' against armored opponents; when properly upgraded for damage over duration and range, it can kill a [[SmashMook Brute]] in a few seconds, and destroys Ravagers and their spawn even quicker. Although it loses some of its usefulness against Cerberus and geth forces (owing to their preference for shields over armor), it can be activated and then left to run until its duration runs out. This will kill almost anything short of the boss-type monsters in short order.
*** Enemy Geth Pyros are nasty as hell, too. Because they have a constant stream of damage, they bypass Shield Gate. Combined with the fact that they have very high damage outputs, they'll put anything short of a raging krogan Vanguard down in short order if they get too close.
* The ''Ghost Bear's Legacy'' expansion pack for ''[=MechWarrior=] 2'' features the flamer as a lightweight weapon. It has significant drawbacks, among which high heat generation and very short range, but needs no ammo and packs a punch - a few shots will send an enemy Mech into thermal shutdown, and a few more will overheat the reactor and blow them up regardless of armor, bypassing the usual problem of punching holes in them. Heavy Mechs have more efficient ways to hurt the enemy, but light ones - which in the pre-[=GBL=] game had to choose between "scratch your enemy with small cannons" or "slightly annoy them with light lasers" - can use them to great effect.
* The flamethrower from ''VideoGame/{{Odium}}'' has a very short range, but does quite nice damage, and doesn't use up ammo (though it needs to recharge for a few turns after each use.)
* ''Franchise/FarCry''
** ''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/FarCry3'', the flamethrower is an extremely potent weapon. It has realistic range, does tremendous damage (being one of the most reliable weapons for taking out heavy armor troops), can spread quite well, and ignite and clear out entire buildings near-instantly. The only downside is that it still doesn't have the long range of most guns, and that the flames can quickly catch up with you, especially if you're advancing into the brush or encampments you're clearing.
** The same type of flamethrower comes back in ''VideoGame/FarCry4'', and nothing has changed about it, but it is still slightly better than the one in 3 just for the simple fact that Ajay is no where near as allergic to fire as Jason is.

* Averted in ''VideoGame/{{Abuse}}'', where the flamethrower is possibly the most powerful weapon in the game, capable of clearing half a screen of baddies with a single shot. The only downside is the incredibly sparse ammo; you aren't likely to find more than 10 shots through the normal course of the game.
* Averted heavily in ''Artic Combat'', the local flamethrower fires out what seems to be a stream of [[BuffySpeak orange stuff]] that bursts into fire on contact with something. Its range is enough for most close quarter battles, it can completely blind an opponent and does more damage than most guns.
* The flame thrower in ''VideoGame/HostileWatersAntaeusRising'' is an exceedingly useful weapon. The biggest drawback is naturally its range. It is a realistic 60 meters, but that is not all that impressive in a game which revolves around vehicular combat in wide open areas. On the plus side, it deals damage very quickly, and it can set just about any vehicle or structure on fire, which deals continuous damage until destruction. It is especially useful when you bolt it to a vehicle which is equipped with a cloaking unit.
* The expansion to ''VideoGame/RedOrchestra2HeroesOfStalingrad'' game, ''VideoGame/RisingStorm'', gives the US Marines and Army an M2 Flamethrower. While still a short ranged weapon, it has far more reach than most video game flamethrowers, often able to instantly kill targets 20 meters away. The flame effect is quite wide as well, making it very forgiving to fire from the hip. The flame also deflects off of surfaces, which makes the flamethrower one of the best choices in clearing out bunkers, since it can kill enemies inside cover without being able to directly see them.
** ''VideoGame/RisingStorm2Vietnam'' gives us the improved [=M9A1-7=] Flamethrower for the Combat Engineer class, behaving in much the same way, except this time it allows for its users to sprint farther and faster thanks to its lighter weight.
* The ''VideoGame/UnrealTournament2004'' mod ''VideoGame/BallisticWeapons'' shows why it's generally a bad idea to invert this trope, especially in competitive games. The [=RX22A=] Flamethrower added in the mod functions more like a real-life flamer would, with a realistic distance on its stream of flame. The problem is that many maps, including almost all vanilla deathmatch maps, were not designed with this in mind, so you have a weapon that allows you to KillItWithFire at impressive distances (including outside the effective range of [[ShortRangeShotgun many shotguns]] added in the mod), without much recourse available to opponents besides finding something longer-ranged (and being able to see through the bright, disorienting flame effect), or just fighting a battle of attrition and waiting for the enemy to run out of ammo or die a DeathOfAThousandCuts. In more open maps, however, using it is very risky, as if the fuel backpack takes a single hit from anything, it will rocket the user up into the air and then explode, invariably killing them.
* 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.
* In the arcade game ''Cal.50'', the starting weapon for your P.O.W is the heavy machine gun you get from the blown up chopper. After that you upgrade to rapid-fire rockets and finally a flamethrower. That flamethrower as a final weapon is justified, it really is that powerful. It does tremendous damage and lets loose a long-ranged, rapid-fire stream of flaming clouds that'll torch most enemies in one shot.
* In ''Victory Road'', Ralf Jones and Clark Still are fighting on an alien world and they get a flamethrower which fires a large cloud of flame that goes fairly far and hits like a beast. Compare that to the weak-ass machine gun in ''VideoGame/IkariWarriors''.
* ''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/HalfLife2'' [[GameMod fan-attempts to add flamethrowers to the game]] vary widely, but the "SMOD" mod has an attachment that turns the Gravity Gun into a flame-spewing monstrosity. In lieu of the expected clouds of flame, it instead fires burning, arcing streams of napalm that cling to walls, floors, objects, and enemies, whereupon it burns all of them with equal vigor. It's quite effective against anything that you need dead and several things that you don't. Best of all, the ammo is technically infinite – it has a limited capacity to draw from, but its fuel automatically recharges when not in use.
* The Flamethrower subsystem for MEC Troopers in the ''VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown'' expansion ''Enemy Within'' is a pretty effective weapon: It deals 6 damage (upgradable to 9) to every organic target in its cone of fire -- about as good as a laser rifle, but more reliable --, makes the enemy panic if it survives, and unlike regular panic, units panicked by a Flamethrower never shoot back, and always run, thus making them lose a turn (even Ethereals, who are otherwise extremely dangerous and hard to neutralize without killing). The main issue is pretty short range. As a Tier 1 tactical subsystem for a MEC suit, it's even an extra that doesn't take inventory space. It has only one major drawback: it competes against the [[RocketPunch Kinetic Strike Module]] as a Tier 1 subsystem, which deals ''monstrous'' damage to a target on an adjacent square (12, or 18 that can be delivered twice with the Foundry upgrade) and [[BoringButPractical passively provides three tiles of extra mobility]]. [[MutuallyExclusivePowerups You can only have one subsystem for each tier on a given MEC suit]].
* The flamethrower is easily the player's best friend in ''VideoGame/AlienIsolation''; it's not terribly practical against hostile human survivors and trying to use it on a Working Joe is an incredibly bad idea -- it takes several minutes for them to die from the flame, in which time they're very likely to strangle you --, but after you've spent six to eight hours hiding from a bulletproof monster that will kill you in ten seconds flat if it so much as ''hears you breathing'', having a weapon that can make it retreat with just a few quick bursts is a welcome bit of empowerment. It works so well that after using it enough, the Xenomorph will outright hesitate and keep its distance for a moment if you point the flamethrower at it. [[MuzzleFlashlight Its pilot light also doubles as a handy flashlight]] that, while not quite as bright as the real thing, also doesn't consume batteries and won't alert enemies to your presence.
* ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars''
** In a few more modern games, flamethrowers and other flame based weaponry have the ability to lower the weapon power of enemy units - for instance, [[Anime/MobileFighterGGundam Dragon Gundam's Flamethrower]] in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsJudgment'', and [[Anime/{{Voltron}} Golion's Flamethrower]] and [[Anime/GaoGaiGar three of Hyoryu's attacks (and one of Choryujin's)]] in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsW''. In ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsNeo'' and ''OE'', there's a new type of status effect these and other heat based weapons can inflict called Fire, which causes extra damage (and at high levels has a very high activation rate)
** Older games had these fall fully into "suck", however, most flamethrowers (Like [[Anime/BlueCometSPTLayzner Layzner's]], [[Anime/CombattlerV Combattler V's]], and [[Anime/VoltesV Voltes V's]] were one range, weak, and generally never worth using.
* While the range of the flamethrower in ''VideoGame/TheLastOfUs'' is far from impressive, enemies you set on fire will die in short order, making it easily the best weapon in the game against any enemy you can get close enough to.
* In the VideoGame/GundamVsSeries, there's a specific kind of stun caused by fire-based weapons like napalm and flamethrowers, which makes them quite useful (especially for stringing together combos). They're used primarily by the [[Anime/MobileFighterGGundam Dragon Gundam]] and [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing Altron Gundam]]; the fact that both Gundams are melee fighters mitigates the flamethrowers' relatively short range.
* Zigzagged in ''VideoGame/{{Factorio}}''.
** The flamethrower is one of the few weapons capable of a OneHitPolyKill, making it capable of taking on ZergRush attacks by the BigCreepyCrawlies. However, its damage scales poorly as the bugs [[GaiasLament evolve and enlarge in response to your pollution]], and it has a tendency to harm the user if they fire it while walking forward. Players have found the flamethrower [[MundaneUtility very useful for burning down forests]] in the way of their expanding factories; you can even use it to burn down forests from the comfort of your coal-powered car!
** The flamethrower ''turret'' is arguably the strongest of the three defensive turrets in the game. It has the longest range, setting an enemy on fire dooms it to die in a few seconds, and it leaves pools of fire on the ground which ignite following enemies. However it has a limited firing arc, [[ArbitraryWeaponRange minimum range]], and tends to miss the leader of a group of enemies, so it needs other turrets to support it.
** By contrast the tank's flamethrower is more like a blowtorch with no lingering fire. It instantly destroys trees but does little damage to bugs. This is actually how the handheld flamethrower worked in earlier versions of the game.
* In ''VideoGame/HotlineMiami2WrongNumber'', The Soldier's flamethrower can reach almost a screen away and kills even heavies in a single shot, making it the strongest weapon in his arsenal. As a downside, it rewards less points per kill and can't fire through glass.

* In the Sega Genesis version of Robocop vs. The Terminator the flamethrower is one of the better weapons for early game. It's essentially a shotgun, firing a three-pronged cone of flames across the entire screen, making it incredibly useful for the present day Detroit levels. What's more, it eats up incoming enemy projectiles, helping it retain its usefulness even against Terminators in the future levels even if it takes several hits to kill them.
* All Gunners in ''VideoGame/DungeonFighterOnline'' get access to the M-3 Flamethrower, which is strong but suffers from a short range. Launchers get an upgrade to it called the Flame Pillar which makes it one of their strongest skills, by the simple fact that it enables them to move while holding the flamethrower.
* While the flamethrower (and blowtorch) in videogame version of ''VideoGame/TheThing2002'' might not have the range that of real life, it's still an absolutely required weapon to permanently put down alien enemies.
* ''VideoGame/PAYDAY2'' has two: the Flamethrower [=MK.1=] introduced in the [[DownloadableContent Butcher's BBQ Pack]], and the MA-17 Flamethrower (blatantly modelled on the Boring Company's "Not a Flamethrower"), that has higher base concealment while providing the same damage, as well as being a secondary weapon. While they doesn't set enemies on fire immedietely, they do damage over time, and it acts more like a short-ranged beam of destruction, in that whoever it hits will have all of their health sucked away in short order. Their range aren't too shabby either, being comparable to that of [[VideoGame/TeamFortress2 the Pyro's flamethrower]]. The only Special Unit that can stand up to the flames is the Bulldozer, and even then if they're hit by the flames, it'll immobilize them. The only downside to all this power is that it chews through ammo like nobody's business, takes an eternity to reload, and is incredibly impractical for dodge builds. On higher difficulties, the flamethrower loses its damage potential as enemies just simply have too much health. However, it still can be a useful utility as Cloakers and Tasers can't use their abilities on you while they're on fire, and enemies too busy trying to put out the flame won't be shooting you. When you're only shooting enough to catch enemies in afterburn, reloading becomes less of an issue.
* 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.
* ''Gunple: Strange World Gunman's Proof'', an obscure Japanese Famicom game that was essentially a [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Zelda Clone]] with a western motive, hands you an ''awesome'' flamethrower after beating dungeon 3. Its range and ammo capacity are low, but both are moot points as most enemies attack at close range and ammo drops for it are ''very'' common. It also blocks enemy projectiles and kills most enemies in one hit.

* While the ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' series tends to play this straight (see the ''Lame'' folder), ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOpsIII'' has the rather infamous Purifier, Specialist Weapon of Firebreak. Extremely long range, surprising amount of fuel and damage so high it basically counts as an instant kill; if the stream even ''grazes'' you, you will inevitably drop dead from the immense afterburn damage. Despite its disadvantages [[note]]last Specialist Weapon to be unlocked, small window of time to use it, must be charged up first, vanishes on death and basically useless if used underwater[[/note]], the Purifier is generally considered the most broken of the (already poorly balanced) Specialist Weapons and it and Firebreak are near universally despised by the Black Ops 3 community.
** ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyWWII'' gets the M2 and Flammenwerfer 35, where they actually are useful, with decent range, powerful damage, and wide spread, making them great for blitzing Germans.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Broforce}}'', two characters use flamethrowers, and both avert this trope. B.A. Broracus (an {{Expy}} of B.A. Baracus from ''Series/TheATeam'' has it as his primary attack. It deals ''massive'' damage, scares enemies it sets on fire (preventing them from firing back) and is one of the best tunneling weapons in the game, its only limitation being its short range. Ellen Ripbro (an {{Expy}} of Ellen Ripley from the ''Franchise/{{Alien}}'' franchise) has it as her special. It fires a wide wall of flame that moves across the screen, dealing massive damage to anything it touches. It has limited uses, however, being her special and all.
* ''VideoGame/PathOfExile'' has the Scorching Ray spell, which creates a beam of fire that extends a good way across the screen. The beam applies a stacking debuff to any enemies it touches that not only inflicts burning damage-over-time but also lowers their fire resistance. One stack of the debuff is usually enough to kill basic mooks, while magic and rare monsters take only a few seconds longer. Even bosses melt surprisingly fast under sustained fire. The only drawbacks are that the beam must be channeled while standing in place and it slows down the caster's turning rate.
* "Flamethrower" is actually a special [[PlayingWithFire Fire-Type]] move in the ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' games. With solid power and perfect accuracy, it is one of the strongest and most reliable Fire attacks in the game.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Battlerite}}'', Iva's Flamethrower costs 2 energy to activate (unlike most EX abilities which only cost 1), but if you oiled your enemies with her JetPack first, it will inflict [[ManOnFire Burning Oil]], dealing hefty DamageOverTime on top of the good damage of the flamethrower itself. And it's an area-of-effect, meaning it won't activate {{counter attack}}s.
* The flamethrower unique weapon in ''VideoGame/{{Starbound}}'' has reasonable range, applies a burning DOT and has low ammo consumption. Coupled with the ''insane'' rate of fire and you can stunlock enemies.

* While Hawk's regular flamethrower in ''VideoGame/TwentyXX'' is Lame, she also has a fire ''flask'' that can be lobbed at the ground to create an advancing sheet of fire. This is ''vicious''. It does a fair amount of damage, lasts long enough that a boss's MercyInvincibility will only reduce it a bit, and since the fire sheet is affected by gravity, you can use it to pour mayhem down a vertical shaft by throwing it just a little short of the opening (handy when a shaft contains Flapps or a turret).
* While there are many disappointing fire-based weapons in ''VideoGame/MegaManClassic'', the [[VideoGame/MegaMan1 Fire Storm]] and [[VideoGame/MegaMan6 Flame Blast]] are notable exceptions. The former is a decent projectile weapon, but also doubles as the game's very first shield weapon, as each press of the fire button also creates a brief wheel of flames around Mega Man that will damage anyone nearby, while the latter drops a fire glob that erupts into a pillar of flames on whatever wall or floor it lands on, and deals obscene amounts of damage.
* Creator/{{Compile}}'s [=NES=] shooter ''VideoGame/GunNac'' features a potent fire weapon dubbed the Dragon Napalm. It delivers massive damage to enemies and, when fully powered up, it shoots ''three'' steady streams of incendiary death at the same time!
* In Outplay Entertainment's ''Alien Creeps TD'', the hero Cinder gets a great flamethrower. It's actually treated as an experience-locked power of hers (her standard weapon is a small minigun built into her power armour). What makes her flamethrower so effective is it fires in an area-of-effect burst that has better range and damage than her minigun.
* While the Ignis flamethrower in ''VideoGame/{{Warframe}}'' used to be a straight example of this trope, subsequent updates have turned it into a respectable weapon. A large ammo capacity, high fire rate and considerable area of effect make it ideal for taking out hordes. While it still falls short against heavier enemies, clearing out the weaker mooks is often a matter of sweeping the reticle across the room once, then sweeping back for the occasional survivor. There's also an enhanced version called the Ignis Wraith.
* The ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2'' 2019 remake finally gives the franchise an awesome example with the Chemical Flamethrower. It's still the go-to weapon to wipe out the Ivy monsters (who in this game, are not as easy to dodge as they were in the original), but it also turns zombies into toast and is invaluable against bosses as well. The major downside to it is that it [[{{Pun}} burns]] through fuel pretty quickly, but there is a regulator upgrade available that reduces the fuel consumption by half.
* In the {{freeware}} game ''C-Dogs'', by Ronny Wester, the Flamer is a very powerful weapon in close quarters, its DPS only surpassed by explosives, {{molotov cocktail}}s, and the Knife.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'' has the Flamebreath Cannon, a machinery weapon (useable by Noctis and Prompto) added in the ''[[UpdatedRerelease Royal Edition]]/[[DownloadableContent Royal Pack]]'' which straddles the line between Lame and Flame.
** Statistically, it's superior to the [[ThisIsADrill Drillbreaker]], the strongest non-upgraded machinery weapon in the base game, but weaker than the [[AutomaticCrossbow Auto Crossbow]] Plus, the weakest upgraded machinery weapon. However, every machinery weapon has a different auxiliary function, so statistics are (usually) not the deciding factor when picking your machinery.
** The flamethrower function can be maintained for as long as Noctis has enough MP to sustain it, which gives it the most flexible useability; all other machinery weapons' auxiliary functions activate under a set timeframe. However, enabling this results in [[DamnYoumuscleMemory a different control scheme from the other machinery weapons]]; most have the Attack button provide the airblast and the Warp button provide the auxiliary, the Flamebreath Cannon has it the other way around.
** Naturally, the auxiliary function offers fire-elemental damage, which means its damage output is variable depending on enemy resistances; all other machinery weapons' auxiliary functions are non-elemental or status-inducing. However, it also deals magical damage, whereas the others that are strictly damage-dealing are physical.
** Rangewise, it has respectable coverage (considering the typical size of a ''XV'' combat zone), which serves as a double-edged sword; the stream can be manually aimed, which the combat system is not designed for, so a slight turn will put the end of the stream much further away than you might want it. However, if you equip it as a Secondary Arm for Prompto (or use character swap to play as someone other than Noctis), the AI knows exactly how to aim that thing at the enemy.
* ''VideoGame/EndlessSky'' has a flamethrower outfit meant to be used on a starship, [[RuleOfCool in vacuum no less.]] It does little actual damage and has short range, but it inflicts a ton of heat damage that can cause enemy ships to overheat and shut down for a few seconds, during which they can be [[VehicularTurnabout boarded and captured]] even if their shields and armor are still up. It's also very lightweight and uses little energy because it uses hyperspace fuel as ammo, so you could kit a couple of fighters with them along with some fuel pods to create a mobile squad of sappers.
* The flamethrower in ''VideoGame/TheMummyDemastered'' is like someone looked at your average video game flamethrower, wrote a list of all the reasons they tend to suck, and then set out to avert every single one. It has a decent fuel capacity, enemies drop extra fuel almost non-stop for it (''especially'' if your other weapon is the Mercury Harpoon or the Plasma Gun, which don't get often ammo drops), it has a wide hitbox, inflicts ''ludicrous'' damage to many enemies and all bosses, and pierces enemies to hit multiple targets. It's only weakness is it has a short range, but since most combat in the game is close-range to begin with this won't set you back much. It's worth noting the moment you pick up this DiskOneNuke is when the game's combat gets notably easier.

* In most other games, the flamethrower of ''VideoGame/RushnAttack'' would be awful with its limited range and only 3 shots. But your Green Beret will be happy to have a flamethrower in his hands as he normally only has a combat knife to work with. The flamethrower gives him some range and can burn multiple enemies with each attack.

* ''VideoGame/CyberChaser'': The Flame Gun (which functions like a flamethrower, despite the name) has a long range and the fire sticks around for a long time while dealing high damage.
* ''VideoGame/HorizonZeroDawn'':
** Bellowbacks are large machines that resemble an armless therapod dinosaur with a large liquid container on their backs. Fire Bellowbacks are walking flamethrower units that can attack Aloy with long-range arcing fireballs or a short-range sustained blast of fire that sets everything in the area alight. They're not a foe to be taken lightly at either range.
** In ''The Frozen Wilds'' DLC, the Forgefire is a new weapon that functions like a flamethrower. Its range is short but it deals tremendous damage in a short time, is capable of hitting multiple enemies at once, and sets things on fire for even more damage. Plus, it can be upgraded to the Improved Forgefire, which adds a second attack mode consisting of long-range fireballs. Given that most of Aloy's weapons are not well-suited for close range fighting, it's actually a very good weapon. The same DLC also provides you with the Icerail and Improved Icerail, which are the same weapon but [[FreezeRay dealing ice damage instead of fire]].
* ''VideoGame/FreedomWars'': While having the second-shortest range of all autocannons (on par with the Dragonfang, a massive shotgun with piercing bullets), the Aldering flamethrower is an excellent anti-mook weapon, capable of keeping small targets in [[CycleOfHurting stunlock]] as you roast them crispy. This also works on [[BigBad Abel]], since he's considered a small enemy. Not even [[HumongousMecha Abductors]] are safe from the Aldering, as its high damage-per-second, high stun rate, and ''massive'' ammo capacity (the highest ammo capacity out of the other guns), makes it ideal for [[InCaseOfBossFightBreakGlass breaking their pods]], or in [[spoiler:[[FinalBoss Peltatum]]'s case, the statue]].
* The [=FT-74=] is a flamethrower and the most damaging weapon in Cutter Slade's arsenal in ''VideoGame/{{Outcast}}''. Given that his arsenal includes a rocket-based ''perforator'' gun and a mortar, this is saying something.
* If the early flamethrowers were meh, things start turning around in Shibuya of Studio Nanashi's ''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.
* The flamethrowers in ''VideoGame/{{Besiege}}'' are ''very'' effective at crowd control. Got a level where you're being swarmed by enemy soldiers? Just strap a flamethrower or two to the front of your contraption and light the bastards up! Its main drawback is it's possible to accidentally light your own contraption on fire if one of the burning soldiers runs into your creation, but it's certainly not difficult to avoid this using HitAndRunTactics.
* The Man o' War flamethrower in ''VideoGame/{{Valfaris}}'' is one of the more powerful special weapons. It will tear through the user's energy bar (which can be recharged with melee attacks), but it's powerful, obliterates projectiles, and has decent range to go along with it all. It's particularly useful in the area it's obtained in, where the player will be dealing with hordes of weak enemies and the {{Mook Maker}}s spawning them.
* ''VideoGame/{{Tyrian}}'' doesn't play around with its flame arsenal: Fireball Front and Rear Guns can tear through masses for decent damage and all, but two Sidekicks really stands out:
** Zica Flamethrower: This is a short-ranged sidekick, but one dishes out damage fast and hard. It can help melt most bosses and tough enemies like hot knife on butter. And the best part is that it has no ammo cost!
** Plasma Storm: When hot knife won't cut the butter, use a white-hot buster blade instead! Plasma Storm releases a burning cloud of pain that can melt nearly ANYTHING to the point it can glitch bosses, killing off the front half before it fully appears and leaving a harmless back half to try and assault you. Its overkill comes with a price of 10 shots, which was later nerfed to 6 shots, and a very, very slow recharge ratio (to the point you might not see a single shot be recovered through the level), but even after the nerf it can be used to destroy anything that moves!
* The Magmamaker flamethrower in ''VideoGame/TheAscent'' not only outranges the game's shotguns by a wide margin, being able to hit enemies across almost the entire screen, but deals massive damage both up front and over time.
* The Pyro's flamethrower in ''VideoGame/BedWars'' is quite potent. Initially, it doesn't deal much damage per second, though to compensate, the flames are completely intangible, meaning that it can phase right through blocks, making players who thought they were safe behind cover being set up for a nasty surprise, and it also inflicts the brittle debuff (think the Axtingisher from ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'', except with a ''much faster'' swing rate), making it quite deadly. As you obtain embers to upgrade it, it has a larger range, more potent brittle debuffs, and even more damaging flames. Even better is that thanks to an BalanceBuff, you can even keep it after you die, though to compensate you (reasonably) need two Emeralds.
* 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.
* The Master Blaster in ''VideoGame/Ashes2063'' has two firing modes -- launching a gravity-prone gob of napalm that explodes with SplashDamage and has great range, or squirting it out in a short-ranged cloud of fire with no risk of self-injury -- and both deal solid, consistent, ammo-efficient damage. In ''Afterglow'', the second workbench upgrade[[note]]the first is just a magazine size increase[[/note]] replaces the nozzle with a high-pressure variant that dramatically increases the range of both firing modes, making the gobs easier to aim and the spray usable against more ranged enemies. It also helps that [[spoiler:the tough and strong PlantMooks in [[ThatOneLevel the Biodome]]]] are ''very'' weak to fire.

!!Non-Video Game Examples

[[folder:Literature]]
* This is discussed in the web-novel ''Literature/{{Domina}}''. There are three types of flamethrowers in the city: Flamers, which are standard "cone of burning gas" video game flamethrowers. Flamethrowers, which are more realistic, shooting a stream of burning liquid that has an unfortunate tendency to set an entire street on fire. And then there are the incinerators, which lob globules of burning napalm at a target, and cause far less collateral damage. Although not really a "flamethrower," there are also incendiary bullets for use in guns, including shotgun shells containing beads filled with pyrophoric dust.

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* The tabletop game ''TabletopGame/AxisAndAllies Miniatures'' has Flamethrower-equipped units that have very powerful close-ranged attacks (and infantry tends not to have much in the way of medium or long ranged attacks anyway), ignore cover, and can possibly deal a OneHitKill against infantry or vehicles.
* Mech-mounted flamers are generally considered to be among the worst weapons in ''TabletopGame/BattleTech''. They have pitiful range and do trivial amounts of damage to armored targets including battle armor infantry, and while they can be used to inflict some extra heat on another 'Mech instead of (i.e., not even ''in addition to'') damaging it, that amount is still (a) pretty small and (b) actually lower than the heat buildup on the firing 'Mech for using the flamer in the first place. Their main saving grace under Total Warfare rules is that they're potentially literally murder on ''conventional'' infantry if they're ever in a position to hit it; in at least some earlier editions they didn't even have that.
* Creator/GamesWorkshop games:
** Generally averted in ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' with flamers. Prior to the game's Eighth Edition rules, all weapons classified as flamers used an 8" long conical plastic template (with a much larger version in Apocalypse games) which was placed with the narrow end at the nozzle of the weapon and then turned by the shooting player to cover as many enemy models as possible. These models were automatically hit by the flamer's shot with no cover save allowed and significant reduction in armor saves depending on the weapon, along with other penalties depending on the rules edition in question. In 8th edition, the player has to roll one or more dice to determine the number of enemy models that are hit by a flamer shot, but they are still automatic hits. Flamers also ignore the 6+ Ballistic Skill limitation for shooting in Overwatch[[note]]a special shooting phase in which projectile weapons have to shoot with the worst possible chance of successful hits[[/note]].
** ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000KillTeam'' averts this even more than in the parent game. As well as retaining the main game's automatic hits, the 2018 ''Kill Team'' rules make the weapon's short range less of an issue than in ''Warhammer 40,000'' due to smaller playing area. In addition to this, the Demolitions specialist has access to the Level 2 skill 'Pyromaniac' that increases the likelihood of wounding with flamer weapons. Their main weakness remains that their lack of armour penetration.
** Infamously one of the two worst units to have ever existed in the game was a living flamethrower; the Pyrovore. It's flamethrower was nothing to write home about (being the same as a standard heavy flamer) but weirdly for a tyranid creature, it had zero combat ability. This meant that it's one and only gun could be shut down by enemies charging it (and it has to get within charging range to use the flamethrower in the first place). And while it could explode, it only did so if it was gibbed; being shanked multiple times just resulted in it dying normally. All of this for a model that costs twice the amount for a heavy flamer platform that other armies have, resulting it becoming memetic for how crappy the unit was. Thankfully in 8th edition the rules for it were overhauled and, while not gamebreaking, it is no longer as bad as it was.
* ''Obsidian: Age of Judgement'' from Apophis Consortium has the Blue Flame. It's described as being a popular weapon because it's effective against undead (regular guns only do half damage). In reality, the Blue Flame is a joke. It's damage is only a measly 1d6 and sadly it's the only flamethrower available (whereas guns have many different sizes and models) so you won't find any flamer stronger than the Blue Flame. In contrast a mediocre pistol has 2d6 damage and it goes up from there, so you're better off using a regular gun with flame-gel ammunition instead of this flamethrower. And even if you only have a gun with regular ammunition, chances are you'll still do more damage than a Blue Flame.

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce'': In "Rubber Man", Frylock uses one to dispose of [[VillainOfTheWeek Lance the Rubberduck]]. It goes a few feet without damaging the house at all.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* The Boring Company [[https://www.boringcompany.com/not-a-flamethrower sold a limited-edition "flamethrower"]] that's essentially just a big gas torch shaped like a gun. It was [[RefugeInAudacity rebranded as "Not a Flamethrower"]] in an attempt to get around customs.
** Torches of similar size and function have been sold in catalogs and hardware stores for decades. What are they for? ''[[https://en.m.wikibooks.org/wiki/Horticulture/Flame_Weeders Weeding.]]''
* In the UK robot combat series ''Series/RobotWars'', House Robot Sgt. Bash was equipped with an AwesomeButImpractical flamethrower that hardly did anything but singe the paintjobs of the competitors... [[RunningGag and singe off]] [[LethalJokeCharacter Diotoir's]] iconic red polka-dot fur. This might be why Bash didn't return for the 2016 reboot.

* In ''[[VideoGame/ShadowsOfTheEmpire Star Wars: Shadows of The Empire]]'', Dash Rendar's blaster could somehow switch from a blaster to a flamethrower by using the pickups found almost everywhere. As expected, the range is weak, but since most of the on-foot missions involve close spaces and your long range enemies are usually [[ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy Stormtroopers]], it becomes quite effective in short puffs.
** Due to the way the damage calculations worked, a single puff of flame dealt the same damage as a continuous stream. meaning even the AT-ST and the Gladiator Droid could be easily defeated by just standing behind them, emitting a puff, and waiting for the enemy health indicator to fade before doing it again. Once the Gladiator Droid goes to its alternate forms, though.
* Thumper's signature weapon in ''VideoGame/TwistedMetal2'' is a flamethrower, and the strongest special in the game. Even the final boss takes huge amounts of damage from it... if you want to get into melee range of a giant ice cream monster truck that takes off 2/3 of your health just by running you over. Better keep a lot of energy handy for freeze missiles.
** It got worse in ''VideoGame/TwistedMetal3'' and ''4'' where the developers decided to give the weapon to a very fast, but very fragile character, because this is exactly the kind of vehicle you want to carry a short ranged damage over time weapon, right? The flamer was dumped for ''Black'', although there is a boss that uses a turret-mounted one at close range. Then for ''Head-On'' we're back to the Thumper incarnation.

* ''VideoGame/Vigilante8'' ''Second Offense'' has the Brimstone Burner weapon. Most weapons in the game are fairly balanced and all have their roles, except for this. It is turret mounted so you can toast enemies in any direction and deals decent damage, but lingering in close range makes you a target and there is the [[ShortRangeShotgun Bruiser Cannon]] turret which has a scattershot special attack that removes half of an enemy's health bar. The flamer's special attacks on the other hand consist of a pointless oil slick, a weak firewall created behind you and thankfully a ranged attack... a slow moving skipping fireball that only deals damage when it bounces off the ground, goes right through enemies, consumes half of your flamer ammo and doesn't even do a lot of damage.

* The flamethrower in ''VideoGame/KillingFloor'' certainly isn't the worst on this list, but it has its share of downsides. It's custom-tailored for effortlessly chewing through [[NightOfTheLivingMooks the hordes of weak specimens]] in the early stages; masses of Clots, Gorefasts, Stalkers and Crawlers will be nothing but ash before they can even reach you. After the first few stages, though, the enemy waves start to have much more sturdy and intimidating freaks mingling amongst the cannon fodder, and they laugh off anything short of being force-fed a full tank of fuel - pray that one of your [[BoomHeadshot marksman-class]] teammates is nearby and has great aim, or get used to being eaten. Bear in mind that InfernalRetaliation is in full effect. Plus, unless you're a firebug-class, the flamethrower is expensive, very prone to damaging yourself, and you won't be able to afford it until you're most likely better off using something else - and, to add insult to injury, the "Husk" enemies, one of the more dangerous types due to being the only one with a ranged attack, are almost immune to the weapon. If you are a high level firebug, you can spawn with it in the first round, and those first three rounds is where the flamethrower is the most useful. Because there are higher-level weapons that excel at taking out hordes of enemies or priority targets, it's a definite case of a LowTierLetdown.
** However, keeping a tougher enemy [[StatusEffects lit up]] for some time (about ten seconds) will cause their skin to burn off entirely and they'll panic, making them unable to use their special attacks.

* ''VideoGame/TimeShift'' zigzags a little on this with the Hellfire. It either operates as a normal video game thrower --short range, although it sets enemies on fire-- or it shoots flaming bullets which also set enemies on fire. Its one of the better weapons, even including the exploding crossbow thing.

** In the 2009 ''VideoGame/{{Wolfenstein|2009}}'' the flamethrower can be quite deadly, however, it has barely any ammo at all, such that you are mostly forced to buy ammo if you use it, so you tend to be better off using an equally deadly weapon (most of them) that doesn't require you to waste money on ammo. Although if you [[PreOrderBonus pre-ordered]] it from [=BestBuy=], you can get it at [[DiskOneNuke the beginning of the game]], making this the only "heavy" weapon you have until you get the [[WaveMotionGun Particle Cannon]].
** ''VideoGame/ReturnToCastleWolfenstein'' featured a somewhat useful flamethrower; while it was hamstrung by rare ammo and being a typical videogame gas-thrower, its flame was unusually tight before impact and long range for an aerosol weapon, making it somewhat possible to flood through windows and around corners. You also first get it in a close-quarters level with a number of nasty melee enemies, making it ''very'' useful at that time.
** In ''Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory'', the soldier class may opt to start with a flamethrower and full ammo. It is ''okay'' at very short range, but even the basic SMG (that any class may use) is more than a match for it. The only time it proves to be useful is indoors or in closed spaces where the person you're trying to kill can't simply take a few steps back.

There are also additional issues, for instance, burning enemies frequently [[InfernalRetaliation damage you when close]], yet the Flamethrower requires enemies to be close to use it (bonus points if [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard other enemies are not damaged by the flames]]). Also, games (especially Sci-Fi ones) frequently put you up against mechanical enemies and make fire useless against them, yet even the weakest pistol can do some damage; this is hugely unrealistic, since flamethrowers are dangerous to vehicles for the same reason molotovs are; the fire and smoke can easily cause the engine to overheat or choke, burn or melt most circuit boards, and cause immense discomfort for any crew. Finally, flame propagation effects are very rare in games, so fire instantly dissipates in places that would be a fatal inferno in seconds in RealLife, not to mention that fuel itself rarely acts like napalm, slicks of intensely burning glue that coat every surface fired at.

* In ''VideoGame/TeamFortressClassic'' the Pyro flamethrower (and their other fire weapons for that matter) does pathetic damage and is only useful for its view-obscuring effect, making them by far the worst class and a gimmick at best (although their flame-launcher can be okay at times).

* In the UK robot combat series ''Series/RobotWars'', Sgt. Bash a House Robot was equipped with an AwesomeButImpractical flamethrower that hardly did anything but singe the paintjobs of the competitors... [[RunningGag and singe off]] [[LethalJokeCharacter Diotoir's]] iconic red polka-dot fur. This might be why Bash didn't return for the 2016 reboot.

** The flamethrower ''turret'' is arguably the strongest of the three defensive turrets in the game. It has the longest range, setting an enemy on fire dooms it to die in a few seconds, and it leaves pools of fire on the ground which ignite following enemies. However it has a limited firing arc, [[ArbitraryMinimumRange minimum range]], and tends to miss the leader of a group of enemies, so it needs other turrets to support it.

* The flamethrower in ''VideoGame/KillingFloor'' certainly isn't the worst on this list, but it has its share of downsides. It's custom-tailored for effortlessly chewing through [[NightOfTheLivingMooks the hordes of weak specimens]] in the early stages; masses of Clots, Gorefasts, Stalkers and Crawlers will be nothing but ash before they can even reach you. After the first few stages, though, the enemy waves start to have much more sturdy and intimidating freaks mingling amongst the cannon fodder, and they laugh off anything short of being force-fed a full tank of fuel - pray that one of your [[BoomHeadshot marksman-class]] teammates is nearby and has great aim, or get used to being eaten. Bear in mind that InfernalRetaliation is in full effect. Plus, unless you're a firebug-class, the flamethrower is expensive, very prone to damaging yourself, and you won't be able to afford it until you're most likely better off using something else - and, to add insult to injury, the "Husk" enemies, one of the more dangerous types due to being the only one with a ranged attack, are almost immune to the weapon. If you are a high level firebug, you can spawn with it in the first round, and those first three rounds is where the flamethrower is the most useful. Because there are higher-level weapons that excel at taking out hordes of enemies or priority targets, it's a definite case of TierInducedScrappy.

** [[PlayingWithATrope That said]], the flamethrowers fitted into the arena floor were very effective because they shot flames ''up'' into the unprotected underbellies of the robots and roasted the electronic components.

* In ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'', The Pyro has a much better flamethrower than its classic counterpart (its incredibly short range is also justified: it blasts propane and not gasoline). It has afterburn damage, a DamageOverTime that can finish off your enemies even if they escape the Pyro's range. However, it provides a way to rebound projectiles, put out burning teammates, and push enemies off cliffs or into corners with its compressed air blast secondary fire. Plus, you can [[ArrowsOnFire light arrows]] for your friendly neighborhood sniper if he's using a bow. The Backburner has a more expensive compression blast in exchange for instant Critical Hits when attacking enemies from behind. Or, by equipping the Degreaser, some of the direct and afterburn damage can be traded for super-fast weapon switching. The weapon switching is handy for using the [[AnAxeToGrind Axtinguisher]], which deals guaranteed [[CriticalHit Crits]] to any burning enemy. All three flamethrowers are the core weapon of the Pyro class.

* ''VideoGame/Battlefield1'''s flamethrower has good range, unlimited fuel, and stupidly high damage output at close range along with heavy armor to make them immune melee and resistant to small arms fire. Which makes both the [[EliteMook flametroopers]] in the campaign and the players who pick up the flamethrower kits to be high priority targets, especially with snipers as they can bypass their armor or shoot out their fuel tanks. If used well, players can take out whole squads before dying.

** There is a very cheap [[SocketedEquipment runeword]] that averted this by giving a massive bonus to all fire spells, and to the Inferno spell in particular; like most spells, it could become much more effective as you pumped its effective level up beyond 20, making it a cheap and effective tool that could be acquired [[DiscOneNuke by the end of Act 1]] and remained useful until [[DifficultySpike everything becomes immune to fire]].

* ''VideoGame/PAYDAY2'' has two: the Flamethrower [=MK.1=] introduced in the [[DownloadableContent Butcher's BBQ Pack]], and the MA-17 Flamethrower (blatantly modelled on the Boring Company's "Not a Flamethrower"), that has higher base concealment while providing the same damage, as well as being a secondary weapon. While they doesn't set enemies on fire immedietely, they do damage over time, and it acts more like a short-ranged beam of destruction, in that whoever it hits will have all of their health sucked away in short order. Their range aren't too shabby either, being comparable to that of [[VideoGame/TeamFortress2 the Pyro's flamethrower]]. The only Special Unit that can stand up to the flames is the Bulldozer, and even then if they're hit by the flames, it'll immobilize them. The only downside to all this power is that it chews through ammo like nobody's business and takes an eternity to reload and is incredibly impractical on dodge builds. On higher difficulties, the flamethrower loses its damage potential as enemies just simply have to much health. However, it still can be a useful utility as Cloakers and Tasers can't use their abilities on you while they're on fire, and enemies too busy trying to put out the flame won't be shooting you. When you're only shooting enough to catch enemies in afterburn, reloading becomes less of an issue.

** ''VideoGame/StarCraftII'' has this with Hellions (and Firebats in the campaign), which completely destroy certain early units and are very fast but tend to not hold up to stronger stuff. The Hellbat, an upgrade to the Hellion, is more useful as it has a much wider area of effect. The reason Firebats are campaign only in II is that the fumes leak into the user's compartment, guaranteeing they go insane after a while, hence their being phased out and replaced with Marauders.

* The flamethrower in ''VideoGame/VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines'' seems like it should suck. It is expensive and acts like an oversized blowtorch in range and type of flame (it even sounds like a propane flame). However, because it deals aggravated fire damage it is the premier anti-vampire weapon in the game. A pity it [[ShapedLikeItself eats ammo like something that eats ammo very fast]] and can only be acquired right before the endgame, making it something of a TooAwesomeToUse weapon.
** The flamethrower is the best and perhaps only weapon to use against the antepenultimate boss for non-combat focused characters. However, for characters with [[SuperSpeed Celerity]], it is very easy to run into your own flames and perish.

* The Flamethrower in ''VideoGame/{{XCOM 2}}'' and its upgrade the Hellfire Projector received a nerf from the genuinely useful one in the previous game and are generally considered the worst of the heavy/powered weapons. Mediocre damage, range and area of effect, doesn't destroy cover, doesn't pierce or shred armour. They can set enemies on fire, dealing damage over time and disabling special abilities, but there are other sources of such and some of the most dangerous foes are {{Kung Fu Proof|Mook}}. Their one unique advantage, making enemies panic, is bugged and doesn't even work, so much for that.

* The ''VideoGame/MetalSlug'' series flamethrower is one of the better special weapons from the second game onwards. The flame is quite large, has moderate range,[[note]]except when shooting straight down[[/note]] and is capable of toasting multiple enemies in a single shot, burning even through vehicles with tremendous ease. The rare [[BiggerIsBetter Big Flamethrower]] shoots a massive fireball that will basically clear out everything unfortunate enough to be standing on the wrong half of the screen. Interestingly, it used to be a ''terrible'' weapon in the first installment thanks to doing very little damage to vehicles.
** Zig-zagged in the remake, ''VideoGame/MetalSlugCodeJ''. The Flame Shot makes a comeback and it's regressed to the weak fireball from the original series, but this time players can hold down the firing button for a ChargedAttack, unleashing a powerful, explosive RingOfFire that works wonders on bosses and vehicles.
* Despite being one of the first ever First Person Shooters to include a flamethrower, ''VideoGame/{{Strife}}'' does better than many. Due to the limits of the game engine (based off that of ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'', another early game that had avoided a [[ShortRangeShotgun now-common trope]]), flamethrowers acted somewhat more like "napalm squirtguns" than the useless cloud of flame seen in modern games, and had better range than most examples. Still less potent than a real flamethrower, but overall far more effective than the flamethrowers seen in today's games.
** ''Doom'' {{game mod}}s which include flamethrowers (at least those made before the advent of source ports allowing weapons that act differently from the vanilla game's) often also avoid the usual game-flamethrower problems by way of just making it a reskin of the plasma gun, complete with the un-flamethrower-like range and fast, powerful projectiles.
** ''VideoGame/BrutalDoom'' doesn't have a proper flamethrower, but it does have the Mancubus' flame cannon arm, which you can rip off its corpse and use for yourself. Thing is, there aren't many reasons to do that - it's not a ''weak'' weapon, but the projectiles are slow and travel in an arc, and ignited enemies turn into human torches. This is more than a special death animation - they deal damage to anything they run into, be it other monsters or ''you'', and they keep running around in a frenzy for a ''very'' long time (sometimes entire minutes. Depending on the map this can be useful or a huge pain in the ass. And there aren't really that many Mancubi around anyway, and it's difficult to actually remove the cannons from said corpses (hint: you have to gib them), so ammo isn't easy to come by - which prevents the sort of general spraying on masses of weaker enemies that a weapon like this would be suited for.
*** ''Project Brutality'' has both the Mancubus Flame Cannon and the SecondaryFire of the Heavy Plasma Rifle. The Mancubus Flame Cannon can shoot both flame shots that travel just like how a Mancubus does as well as function as a flamethrower. It also can act as a acid launcher to serve as area denial/trap to lead in foes at the cost of much less range. The Heavy Plasma Rifle's SecondaryFire shoots a short-range burst of plasma that Doomguy spreads by swinging the gun from side to side, useful to clear space in front of you as well as dealing great damage up close.

* ''VideoGame/{{Terraria}}'' averts this. The flamethrower has a very good range, deals a lot of damage (though a single flame doesn't hurt that much, it fires a lot of them per unit of ammo), sets enemies ablaze for even more damage, and its ammo is ridiculously easy to find and hoard.
** 1.2.2 introduces an even more potent flamethrower in the form of the Elf Melter from the Christmas themed Frost Moon event.

** ''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.

* The Flamethrower subsystem for MEC Troopers in the ''VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown'' expansion Enemy Within is a pretty effective weapon: It deals 6 damage (upgradable to 9 to every organic target in its cone of fire – about as good as a light plasma rifle, but much more reliable –, makes the enemy panic if it survives (and better yet, unlike regular panic, units panicked by a Flamethrower never shoot back, and always run), thus making them lose a turn (even Ethereals, who are otherwise extremely dangerous and hard to neutralize without killing), though its range is pretty short. As a Tier 1 tactical subsystem for a MEC suit, it's even an extra that doesn't take inventory space. It has only one drawback: it competes against the [[RocketPunch Kinetic Strike Module]] as a Tier 1 subsystem, which deals more damage to a target on an adjacent square (12, or 18 that can be delivered twice with the Foundry upgrade) and provides three BoringButPractical tiles of extra mobility. [[MutuallyExclusivePowerups You can only have one subsystem for each tier on a given MEC suit]].
* The flamethrower is easily the player's best friend in ''VideoGame/AlienIsolation''; it's not terribly practical against hostile human survivors and trying to use it on a Working Joe is an incredibly bad idea (since it takes several minutes for them to die from the flame, in which time they're very likely to strangle you), but after you've spent six to eight hours hiding from a bulletproof monster that will kill you in ten seconds flat if it so much as ''hears you breathing'', having a weapon that can make it retreat with just a few quick bursts is a welcome bit of empowerment. It works so well that after using it enough, the Xenomorph will outright hesitate and keep its distance for a moment if you point the flamethrower at it. Its lit muzzle also doubles as a handy flashlight that, while not quite as bright as the real thing, also doesn't consume batteries and won't alert enemies to your presence.
* In a few more modern ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' games, flamethrowers and other flame based weaponry have the ability to lower the weapon power of enemy units - for instance, [[Anime/MobileFighterGGundam Dragon Gundam's Flamethrower]] in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsJudgment'', and [[Anime/{{Voltron}} Golion's Flamethrower]] and [[Anime/GaoGaiGar three of Hyoryu's attacks (and one of Choryujin's)]] in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsW''. In ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsNeo'' and ''OE'', there's a new type of status effect these and other heat based weapons can inflict called Fire, which causes extra damage (and at high levels has a very high activation rate)

* Zigzagged in ''VideoGame/{{Factorio}}''. The flamethrower is one of the few weapons capable of a OneHitPolyKill, making it capable of taking on ZergRush attacks by the BigCreepyCrawlies. However, its damage scales poorly as the bugs [[GaiasLament evolve and enlarge in response to your pollution]], and it has a tendency to harm the user if they fire it while walking forward. Players have found the flamethrower [[MundaneUtility very useful for burning down forests]] in the way of their expanding factories; you can even use it to burn down forests from the comfort of your coal-powered car!

* ''VideoGame/PAYDAY2'' has two; The Flamethrower [=MK.1=] introduced in the [[DownloadableContent Butcher's BBQ Pack]]. The second; The MA-17 Flamethrower (blatantly modelled on the Boring Company's "Not a Flamethrower"), has higher base concealment while providing the same damage, as well as being a secondary weapon. While they doesn't set enemies on fire immedietely, they do damage over time, and it acts more like a short-ranged beam of destruction, in that whoever it hits will have all of their health sucked away in short order. Their range aren't too shabby either, being comparable to that of [[VideoGame/TeamFortress2 the Pyro's flamethrower]]. The only Special Unit that can stand up to the flames is the Bulldozer, and even then if they're hit by the flames, it'll immobilize them. The only downside to all this power is that it chews through ammo like nobody's business and takes an eternity to reload and is incredibly impractical on dodge builds.


* On higher difficulties, the flamethrower loses its damage potential as enemies just simply have to much health. However, it still can be a useful utility as Cloakers and Tasers can't use their abilities on you while they're on fire, and enemies too busy trying to put out the flame won't be shooting you. When you're only shooting enough to catch enemies in afterburn, reloading becomes less of an issue.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Heretic}}'', using a Tome of Power turns the Phoenix Rod, which normally shoots fireballs akin to a rocket launcher, into a flame thrower. While it does have a limited range, it absolutely tears through any enemy that isn't a Maulotaur or the final boss, and is a go to weapon for dealing with hordes of foes.

* In ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyWorldAtWar'' the flamethrower has poor range, but is an instant kill and only {{overheat|ing}}s rather than having an ammo limit. The thing that sucks about it is the flames seem to move inexplicably slow towards their target allowing the enemy to shoot you a few dozen times before they burn to death.
** In the multiplayer, its effectiveness is similar to a shotgun, killing enemies quickly but not instantly with a slightly better range (once hit by the flamethrower, players are immune to damage from it for 0.2 seconds, allowing a short burst of flame that manages to hit an enemy player entirely to definitely die). The flames take time to reach their target, but it does allow you to back into cover while attacking an enemy. However, it is a perk that is not unlocked until the highest level in the game, so most players will never use it for very long before prestiging, and in return for it being a perk rather than part of your normal two-weapon limit, your character model is one with a large tank on their back, leaving subtlety an issue.
** The ExpansionPack to the original game, ''United Offensive'', features a startlingly useless German flamethrower that barely shows up in the campaign, has next to no ammunition on pickup, no sights, and is a waste of time to pick up. The way it's implemented makes it seem more like the developers forgot to [[DummiedOut dummy it out]] completely.

* In the "Sir Hammerlock's Big Game Hunt" DLC for ''VideoGame/Borderlands2'', you gain access to Fan Boats, which have elemental secondary weapons - electrical, fire, and corrosive. The electrical weapon fires electrified "mines" that shock nearby enemies, the corrosive weapon fires acid grenades, and the fire weapon...mildly annoys anyone you were about to run over anyway. All of them have pretty mediocre damage, but the fire weapon's problem is that its range is so terrible you might as well use your Fan Boat as a makeshift battering ram.

** ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil7Biohazard'' continues the series trend with the Burner. It has a fairly short range, and while it's good against bug-type enemies, which are only found in one section of the game, it's nearly worthless against the Molded, which make up the vast majority of the game's enemies. It's at least a step in the right direction as it's also effective against [[BossInMookClothing Marguerite Baker]], and is also reloadable.

* ''VideoGame/DeepRockGalactic:'' Sure, the Driller's CRSPR Flamethrower may have a notably short range, but when most combat is done in cramped caves against giant carnivorous insects most of the disadvantages aren't in play. And the advantages? High damage, especially so if you take it to the [[SlippySlideyIceWorld Glacial Strata]], setting the terrain on fire for even more damage, good amunition, going right through physical armor and a huge slew of upgrades that improve both direct damage and the walls of fire you leave, avert ConvectionSchmonvection to set those merely close on fire, and can even cause chain-reaction explosions among the bugs killed. Few things will turn a mass of furious Glyphids into a pile of guts like it.

[[folder:Lame]]
[[AC:Action Games]]

[[AC:Action Adventure]]

[[AC:Beat 'em Up]]

[[AC:First-Person Shooters]]

* ''[[VideoGame/FirstEncounterAssaultRecon FEAR 2]]'''s flamethrower fires silly slow-moving pods of fire rather than a stream. You get exactly three pickups for it in one level, its ammo capacity is pathetic, it's inaccurate combined with having splash damage, hard to use, takes forever to burn even the weakest {{mook}}s to death (granted, it usually only takes one shot to accomplish this), and stronger enemies have an alarming tendency to ignore the flames or be totally immune to being set on fire. It's the one weapon that doesn't even show up in the ''Reborn'' DLC, which otherwise goes out of its way to let several weapons that the base game treated as one-level gimmicks have a chance to shine.

* ''VideoGame/{{Killzone}} 2'':

* Played mostly straight in ''VideoGame/{{Resistance}}: Fall of Man'': the flamethrower might be ridiculously deadly, but ammo is excessively thin on the ground, the range is short, and in multiplayer it barely scratches humans. Oh, and you have to have already beaten the game once before it appears. On the plus side, its secondary fire mode creates a cloud of flammable gas, allowing you to make choke points and small rooms into burning death traps for large numbers of chimera if you have enough time and at the expense of nearly all the ammo.

* In the first ''VideoGame/SoldierOfFortune'' the flamethrower requires some sustained fire before enemies catch alight and are disabled, however, as there's almost no spread and ammo is rare using a direct damage weapon is far more efficient outside of the sadism value (the secondary is pretty powerful, but you may as well take a grenade launcher).

[[AC:MMORPG]]

[[AC:Platform Games]]

** The Dragon Pot in ''VideoGame/WarioLandSuperMarioLand3'' places a mechanical dragon on Wario's head that fires a stream of short-ranged fire that has an awkward delay when starting up and dying. It also destroys enemies without rewarding coins, where coins are a very important mechanic that affects your score and ending.

[[AC:Racing Games]]

[[AC:Real Time Strategy]]

[[AC:[=RPGs=]]]

** The flamethrower is also popular with Vanguards, whose combat style is based heavily around Biotic Charge. If you're going to be looking up your opponent's nose ''anyway''...

[[AC:Shoot 'em Up]]

* ''VideoGame/RType Final'''s "Principalities" and "Dominions" fighters utilize flamethrowers as both their primary weapons and WaveMotionGun; they're not particularly good ships, being outclassed by others in every conceivable department. They generally reach across the screen, and function in space, but not underwater. Erm...

[[AC:Simulation Games]]

* Even with the presence of flamers in ''VideoGame/MechWarrior 2, 3, 4'', and their respective {{Expansion Pack}}s, none of them ever approached a threat level any higher than that of 'gimmick' (particularly in 3, where OverHeating an enemy with a ludicrous number of flamers would result in them GoingCritical, followed by a ''mushroom cloud''). The lack of conventional infantry in all of the aforementioned games, as well as the [[PainfullySlowProjectile often-slow speed at which fire traveled]] relative to autocannon fire or lasers, made flamers more of an easily ignored footnote than an actual weapon. Only 2 Mechs in all of the ''VideoGame/MechWarrior'' series ever mounted flamers by default: the ''Flashman'' of ''VideoGame/MechWarrior 2 Mercenaries'' and the ''Puma'' of ''VideoGame/MechWarrior 3'', both of which had ''much'' better weapons available to them, mostly BeamSpam and the ability to [[BoomHeadshot blow off a Mech's head in one shot]], respectively.

[[AC:Strategy Games]]

[[AC:Survival Horror]]

[[AC:Third-Person Shooters]]

[[AC:Turn-Based Tactics]]

[[AC:Wide Open Sandbox]]

** In ''VideoGame/Fallout4'' the Flamer is one of the absolute worst weapons in the game- heavy, exceptionally short-ranged (and upgrading its damage actually ''reduces'' its range), and prone to glitching so that it fails to register as having fired even though the firing animation plays. To make matters worse, there's the Plasma-thrower mode for plasma weapons, which turns them into plasma-based flamethrowers, only they deal about five times as much damage as the Flamer and have a much greater range. Plus, due to a glitch, the Plasma-thrower is classified as either a pistol or rifle class weapon (depending on whether it's got a pistol or rifle grip), and thus benefits from their damage-boosting perks (which have better secondary bonuses than the weapon perk it's supposed to use).

[[AC:Unsorted]]

* The flamethrower in ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime'' is by far the most useless beam combo (all of them but the Super Missile are situational at best, but the Flamethrower just plain sucks). It has a short range, is difficult to aim (as it only emits a narrow stream of flame), uses a huge amount of ammo, and you could just be using the charged Plasma Beam which is far more effective.
** And ''Prime's'' control scheme is partly to blame for its uselessness, since you couldn't aim and move at the same time. ''Trilogy'' fixes this, putting the flamethrower on equal terms with its beam combo brethren (situational but effective).
** The Flamethrower, though, is one of two weapons that is unaffected by the Beam Shields that the Elite and Omega Pirates use (the only other weapon that works are normal Missiles). Because of this, the Flamethrower is ''frighteningly'' effective at destroying the Omega Pirate's Phazon armor plates.

* The ''Franchise/RatchetAndClank'' series [[ZigZaggingTrope goes all over the place]] with this.
** The [[VideoGame/RatchetAndClank2002 first R&C]] has your standard Hollywood flamethrower (the Pyrocitor) that has a very short range. It is good at cleaning up large swarms of small enemies in the beginning, but becomes useless in later levels.
** [[VideoGame/RatchetAndClankGoingCommando R&C 2]] introduces the Lava Gun, that ironically acts more like a ''real'' flamethrower (a gun that shoots burning liquid), has a decent range and does good damage. Unfortunately, the devs made the bizarre decision to make it transform to a drastically different meteor shooting machine gun after enough use. Luckily, they bring the gun back in [[VideoGame/RatchetAndClankUpYourArsenal R&C 3]] without that transformation: it now transforms into a Liquid Nitrogen gun. Go figure.
*** The upgraded Lava Gun is practically useless for fighting crowds but when given a [[CameraLockOn Lock-On]] mod, it becomes extremely effective against single targets. Like the final boss, for example.
** In ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClankSizeMatters'', the flamethrower is completely useless. It has a three-foot range, and is pitifully weak.
** It is, however, ''beautifully'' averted in ''[[VideoGame/RatchetAndClankFutureToolsOfDestruction Tools of Destruction]]''; though it has the physics of an ordinary video game flamethrower, the Pyro Blaster has high damage, a decent range (which you can upgrade), the ammo consumption is quite reasonable, and it evolves into a double-barreled helix flamethrower.
* In ''Franchise/StarWars: VideoGame/ShadowsOfTheEmpire'', Dash Rendar's blaster could somehow switch from a blaster to a flamethrower by using the pickups found almost everywhere. As expected, the range is weak, but since most of the on-foot missions involve close spaces and your long range enemies are usually [[ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy Stormtroopers]], it becomes quite effective in short puffs.
** Due to the way the damage calculations worked, a single puff of flame dealt the same damage as a continuous stream. meaning even the AT-ST and the Gladiator Droid could be easily defeated by just standing behind them, emitting a puff, and waiting for the enemy health indicator to fade before doing it again. Once the Gladiator Droid goes to its alternate forms, though...
* Thumper's signature weapon in ''VideoGame/TwistedMetal 2'' is a flamethrower, and the strongest special in the game. Even the final boss takes huge amounts of damage from it... if you want to get into melee range of a giant ice cream monster truck that takes off 2/3 of your health just by running you over. Better keep a lot of energy handy for freeze missiles.
** It got worse in ''VideoGame/TwistedMetal 3'' and ''4'' where the developers decided to give the weapon to a very fast, but very fragile character, because this is exactly the kind of vehicle you want to carry a short ranged damage over time weapon, right? The flamer was dumped for ''Black'', although there is a boss that uses a turret-mounted one at close range. Then for ''Head-On'' we're back to the Thumper incarnation.

* In ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2.'' The Pyro has a much better flamethrower than its classic counterpart (its incredibly short range is also justified: it blasts propane and not gasoline). It has afterburn damage, a DamageOverTime that can finish off your enemies even if they escape the Pyro's range. However, it provides a way to rebound projectiles, put out burning teammates, and push enemies off cliffs or into corners with its compressed air blast secondary fire. Plus, you can [[ArrowsOnFire light arrows]] for your friendly neighborhood sniper if he's using a bow. The Backburner has a more expensive compression blast in exchange for instant Critical Hits when attacking enemies from behind. Or, by equipping the Degreaser, some of the direct and afterburn damage can be traded for super-fast weapon switching. The weapon switching is handy for using the [[AnAxeToGrind Axtinguisher]], which deals guaranteed [[CriticalHit Crits]] to any burning enemy. All three flamethrowers are the core weapon of the Pyro class.

* In ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar 2'', flamers for Imperial Guardsmen and Tactical Marines do less damage and have a shorter range than the baseline weapons they replace, but they hit in an area of effect and do a ''even more'' damage against units within cover or buildings, giving them a clear niche against opponents who you feel may be using larger squads. The burnas for the Slugga Boyz are the only weapon upgrade available to them, and are an obvious good choice with their area of effect attack, increased ranged damage over the pitiful pistols the Slugga Boyz normally use, and count as power weapons to do more damage against heavier infantry.

* ''[[VideoGame/{{Boktai}} Lunar Knights]]'' has the Dragoon, Ernest's trademark Solar Gun, fulfill this role. When fighting Stoker, it spreads out in front of him a ways and ignores MercyInvincibility, but isn't that damaging and is by far the easiest attack to interrupt. Then again, what did you expect? Stoker's a vampire. On the other hand, when Aaron gets his hands on it, it proves more valuable; its range increases along with its rank, it's a damaging weapon in its own right, and it goes through enemies up to its limit, allowing you to damage more than one. If you pair it with lock-on and dash about (an advanced technique where you double-tap the cross pad to spurt a short distance), you can reliably barbecue every Vorn in the vicinity with minimal harm to yourself. [[PlayingWithFire Ursula]] [[KillItWithFire would be proud]].

* The mine chapter in ''VideoGame/Waxworks1992'' features a chemical sprayer. Later on, you can fill its tank with gasoline to create an impromptu flamethrower. It can kill any enemy in one hit, while the rest of your weapons have only a microscopic hit chance and deal crap damage. [[OhCrap Just don't run out of fuel...]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Contra}}: Shattered Soldier'' has a flamethrower among its weapons. Its normal shot lacks range and spread, but has the high rate of fire, since it's a constant stream of fire, making it possible for skilled players to chew up everything up to bosses in half the time it would take with other guns. Its charged shot is a ball of fire that not only has the highest damage per shot, but also pierces, making it possible to hit several targets in a row. The flamethrower is is good enough to be your main weapon, as a highly precise, controllable weapon, while leaving the Machine Gun and Spread Gun for situational use.

** The Nod flamethrowers in ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerTiberiumWars'' both resemble real world flamethrowers in action and are ''insanely awesome'' against most targets; the flame tank is considered the go-to vehicle for most NOD players, and its infantry equivalent also has its uses (being near immune to anti vehicle weapons helps). In addition to nearly instant killing infantry units, they also burn down structures in mere seconds. Flame tanks can even be cloaked with the right support power, hidden until they suddenly pop up in the middle of the enemy base, reducing it to ashes with unparalleled speed. Then there's the expansion, which added the Black Hand sub-faction, which specializes in flame weapons. They lack access to the stealth trick, but their flame weapons can instead be upgraded to do even more damage, to a point they become dangerous against even armored targets, and can take down a structure in the time it takes to blink. They also get Nod's standard top-tier [[HumongousMecha walker]] with the otherwise impractical flamethrower upgrade right out of the box, in addition to the increased damage upgrade. Then there's the flamethrower upgrade for their even bigger walker...

* In ''VideoGame/DukeNukemII'' the flame thrower proves to be more effective than the rocket launcher, which is advertised as the best weapon. Not only does it deal a fair amount of damage, but if pointed at the ground it jumps you up in the air, making it very useful.

* While ''VideoGame/{{Killzone}} 2'' had rather effective flamethrowers that were nevertheless considered useless because the two-weapon inventory system made arming yourself with anything situational a very bad idea, ''Killzone 3'' had a ''three''-weapon inventory system with the third slot made specifically for weapons like this which makes having a flamethrower a good idea whenever you can actually get it. You can ever only find the flamethrower in trench and jungle areas where you'll find them to be very effective, and you won't need to find chokepoints to try to funnel enemies into for maximum efficiency anymore.

** ''Videogame/{{Star Wars Battlefront II|2017}}'': The First Order's Flametrooper is lame if you don't know how to use him properly, but flame if put into his element. Offensively, he is easily the worst Enforcer-type unit, simply because its main weapon has an extremely short range and does low gradual damage. Not helping matters is that the unit lacks the mobility to necessary to get close enough to its target without getting shot up repeatedly and it has no stagger or flinching effect so they can keep attacking you without interrupt after being set on fire. Put him near a chokepoint, and he becomes an insurmountable wall: his Overload gives him infinite ammo for a decent 15 seconds at max level, and his short range is countered by a WIDE zone of attack: if he catches a a clump of enemies in an enclosed space, every one of those enemies is probably dead. Not to mention the ArtificialStupidity of the enemies in co-op multiplayer makes him a great asset, as he is practically built to counter the computer's ZergRush tactics.

* The ''[[VideoGame/{{X}} X-Universe's]]'' Plasma Burst Generator is essentially a flamethrower InSpace. It shreds fighters and can still put a hurting on capital ships. On enemy ships it can be a BossInMookClothing. This is mainly a result of the way AreaOfEffect weapons work: each blast has multiple hitboxes, and [[SplashDamageAbuse ships take additional damage based on how many of the weapon's hitboxes line up with their own]].

* ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'': In the ''Arival'' DLC, the Project Pyro enemies were the original inspiration for the Geth Pyros in ''Mass Effect 3''. Their attack does instant knockback to Shepard and drains the players shields completely in less than a second.
* ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'':
** Several multiplayer classes (mostly Vorcha, but also the Geth Soldier) have the new ability "Flamer", a flamethrower that's tied to a power instead of a heavy weapon (and therefore has cooldown instead of ammo). Although short-range, Flamer is absolutely ''devastating'' against armored opponents; when properly upgraded for damage over duration and range, it can kill a [[SmashMook Brute]] in a few seconds, and destroys Ravagers and their spawn even quicker. Although it loses some of its usefulness against Cerberus and geth forces (owing to their preference for shields over armor), it can be activated and then left to run until its duration runs out. This will kill almost anything short of the boss-type monsters in short order.
** Enemy Geth Pyros are nasty as hell, too. Because they have a constant stream of damage, they bypass Shield Gate. Combined with the fact that they have very high damage outputs, they'll put anything short of a raging krogan Vanguard down in short order if they get too close.

* Averted in ''{{VideoGame/Abuse}}'', where the flamethrower is possibly the most powerful weapon in the game, capable of clearing half a screen of baddies with a single shot. The only downside is the incredibly sparse ammo; you aren't likely to find more than 10 shots through the normal course of the game.

* The Flamethrower subsystem for MEC Troopers in the ''VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown'' expansion Enemy Within is a pretty effective weapon: It deals 6 damage (upgradable to 9 to every organic target in its cone of fire – about as good as a light plasma rifle, but much more reliable –, makes the enemy panic if it survives (and better yet, unlike regular panic, units panicked by a Flamethrower never shoot back, and always run), thus making them lose a turn (even Ethereals, who are otherwise extremely dangerous and hard to neutralize without killing), though its range is pretty short. As a Tier 1 tactical subsystem for a MEC suit, it's even an extra that doesn't take inventory space. It has only one drawback: it competes against the [[RocketPunch Kinetic Strike Module]] as a Tier 1 subsystem, which deals more damage to a target on an adjacent square (12, or 18 that can be delivered twice with the Foundry upgrade) and provides a BoringButPractical 3 tiles of extra mobility. [[MutuallyExclusivePowerups You can only have one subsystem for each tier on a given MEC suit]].

[[folder:TabletopGames]]

[[folder:RealLife]]

** It is, however, ''beautifully'' averted in ''[[VideoGame/RatchetAndClankFutureToolsOfDestruction Tools of Destruction]]''; though it has the physics of an ordinary video game flamethrower, the Pyro Blaster has high damage, a decent range (which you can upgrade), the ammo consumption is quite reasonable, and it evolves into a [[UpToEleven double-barreled helix flamethrower.]]

* While the Ignis flamethrower in ''VideoGame/{{Warframe}}'' used to be a straight example of this trope, subsequent updates have turned it into a respectable weapon. A large ammo capacity, high fire rate and considerable area of effect make it ideal for taking out hordes. While it still falls short against heavier enemies, clearing out the weaker mooks is often a matter of sweeping the reticle across the room once, then sweeping back for the occasional survivor. There's also an enhanced version called the [[UpToEleven Ignis Wraith.]]

* ''VideoGame/PAYDAY2'' introduced a flamethrower as part of its [[KillItWithFire Butcher's BBQ Pack]] DownloadableContent. While it doesn't set enemies on fire to do damage over time, it acts more like a short-ranged beam of destruction, in that whoever it hits will have all of their health sucked away in short order. Its range isn't too shabby either, being comparable to that of [[VideoGame/TeamFortress2 the Pyro's flamethrower]]. The only Special Unit that can stand up to it is the Bulldozer, and even then if they're hit by the flames, it'll immobilize them. The only downside to all this power is that it chews through ammo like nobody's business and takes an eternity to reload and is incredibly impractical on dodge builds.

* Definitely the case in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas'' and ''[[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoViceCity Vice City]]'': the tendency for enemies to run directly at you when you light them on fire (leaving you completely helpless and vulnerable), the ridiculously short range meaning you could have killed the enemies with anything else in the game by that point, and that, since its technically classed as a BFG, you can't run and gun with it makes it all but useless.

** The aforementioned Croc Tanks (aka "[[FanNickname Napalm NASCAR]]") can be a real terror for Axis players, since it's fast enough to ''flank'' and can fire on the move. "

* ''VideoGame/PAYDAY2'' introduced a flamethrower as part of its [[KillItWithFire Butcher's BBQ Pack]] DownloadableContent. While it doesn't set enemies on fire to do damage over time, it acts more like a short-ranged beam of destruction, in that whoever it hits will have all of their health sucked away in short order. Its range isn't too shabby either, being comparable to that of [[VideoGame/TeamFortress2 the Pyro's flamethrower]]. The only Special Unit that can stand up to it is the Bulldozer, and even then if they're hit by the flames, it'll immobilize them. The only downside to all this power is that it chews through ammo like nobody's business and takes an eternity to reload.

* The flamethrower in ''VideoGame/ThePunisher'' both averts and plays this straight. On the one hand, it's very useful for killing the nameless mooks that you have to fight, especially in stages with small corridors. Enemies take a while to die while burning but they run around screaming in pain and can set any other mooks on fire that they bump into. However, it's next to useless in boss battles. You can spray a boss with fire for 20 seconds straight and they just sort of run in place with their health meter only slowly dropping down. In real life, a person would be burned down to the bone if you did that.