In all the games I've played (one exception being Half-Life, but that's different) I really don't like using crossbows and avoid doing so at all costs. I don't really know why that is, but to me they don't seem to fit the setting of games like Elder Scrolls or Gothic. I love using regular bows, however. Maybe crossbows feel too modern for me? I don't really know anything about medieval weapons or when they were invented.
What about you? How do you feel about crossbows in these types of games or do you have a similar weird thing you just don't like and refuse to do in video games?
Yeah, it's not a conceptually big leap to go from bows to "why don't we put in a stick to keep the bow drawn rather than doing it ourselves?". Crossbows can be more complex than that, but fundamentally that's the concept.
Crossbows were very common for most of the middle ages. If you're okay with bows in medieval games, you should be okay with crossbows. They were used heavily around the same time. Personally I really enjoy crossbow in Mount and Blade Warband, a medieval warfare sim. But that's because I usually go Rhodok.
I never use crossbows either, but mostly because they're usually slow and frustrating to play with. I'm sure I've used a good crossbow before, but I can't think of any. Especially since Link's crossbow training is one of few Zelda games I've missed
hmm yeah i don’t generally use crossbows either. i feel in a lot of games they’re strong but then their cooldown or reload time is super slow and takes you out of the action to load up another shot. at that time i’ve probably switched to another weapon.
mount and blade comes to mind. ill use a crossbow as i approach people on horseback but once i’m in the thick of battle its swapped out for some lance or another long pointy boi. even then id only be using the crossbow if i didn’t have a bow available to me.
edit: except in i think age of empires 2. those chinese cho ko no ku ??? units are bomb as hell
My mind also raced to Age of Empires 2. I love crossbows and arbalester, especially the Britons. Just a big ball of units sending a clear message across the map: stay away!
According to Wikipedia, the first crossbows were used in the 7th century BC. By the medieval period that these games are based on, crossbows would definitely be well-known weapons.
They were funny in Battle Field 3. Players would get really mad because it was humiliating to get taken out by an underpowered secondary weapon.
Also, it had unlockable additional bolts: sniping bolt, explosive bolt and a scan bolt, making it possible use the skills otherwise reserved for other kits/classes, which could be handy even if they were less powerful.
The only game I recall playing where crossbows were a weapon class of their own, and not just another type of gun, is Witcher 3.
I completed the game, and the two large DLCs, and the crossbows were completely pointless. Magic, swords, and even fists were used regularly, but the crossbows just gathered dust. I unlocked and levelled up pretty much everything in that game, and still, the crossbows were pointless.
Never played it, but my biggest problem is with medieval fantasy type games, as I said in the post, I was fine using a crossbow in Half-Life. That said, I will not care if a crossbow is more powerful, I'll use a regular bow instead if available