What game comes closest to the FEELING of shooting a gun?

Hey everyone, first time post from a lurker. Anyway, let me say straight up that I don't mean anything sinister by asking this question. It's just that I live in Australia (and funnily enough our land down under has gotten some interesting coverage in recent podcasts lol), so getting my hands on a gun isn't so straight forward. I don't think I'd be the right person for the military (psychologically and physically frail), but I have great respect for soldiers in the military. And what's more I think joining the military just because I want to know what's it like to shoot a gun would be a bad idea. I guess at heart I'm the sort of person who would love to go down to the range with mates and fire off lots of rounds from handguns and rifles. Not even as a self defense type thing, just shooting in a safe environment seems like a lot of fun. So I'm looking for an armchair of getting a sense of what shooting my be like via a game (if such a thing is possible), and I was hoping that anyone with real shooting experience could weigh in on the matter.

My reason for putting 'feeling' in capitals for the title (sorry if the capitals comes off as obnoxious) is that I respect that no game can ever authentically capture what it is like to shoot a gun due to things like; not feeling the weight of the gun or the recoil, nearly all shooting games lack operational details or actual firing techniques, audio design in shooters are usually based around a cinematic style, games are not photo-realistic yet etc. I especially respect that no game can ever capture the danger, tactics, training, intensity and consequences of war. I guess what I'm wondering then is even if in terms or detail and realism no game can even come close, what game comes closest to the feeling of firing a real gun?

Generally I am more of a singleplayer person, but I have played a bit of Arma 2, Arma 3, Red Orchestra Ostfront 41-45, Red Orchestra 2 and Insurgency online. I've never checked out VBS2, but given that it's a training tool sticking to Arma is probably more practical, nor did I get around to playing Arma 2 with the ACE mod (mostly because I've heard it's more to enhance the multiplayer than the singleplayer). I've only played a bit of Project Reality recently, but there were no active Australian servers so I only had a short and laggy experience on an asian server. Just for singleplayer I've played a lot of SWAT 4 with the Sheriff's mod and Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield with the 2.0 mod. Also before playing the the later Arma games I played Operation Flashpoint and Arma 1 only in singleplayer. And recently I've starting playing Receiver with a community mod that adds more guns and has a few other tweaks. Just as a guess it seems like out the ones I've played already that most of them would be better at different things, like Arma for the ballistics, variety of weapons (a bit less so in Arma 3 I guess) and shooting stances, or Receiver for the unparalleled operational details. Anyway, thanks for the help.

Alien 3: The Gun

ARMA 2 & 3 and the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games are a few that come to mind from someone has a lot of experience with shooting in real life. They at least give somewhat proper physics to the bullet and its trajectory.

Honestly though, I've never played a game that gave me the same feeling as real life shooting. It's so much more different then any game could provide.

BF3 and 4 feel pretty good in terms of sounds and the general "feel" of your weapons, but I can't really think of anything that comes real close to the real deal. Save up and swing on by the states. Pretty much anyone in the south (and many in the north) would love to take you on your first range trip. Outside of that, hopefully some others will have other suggestions for you.

Not sure where in Aus you are but with a bit of searching you should be able to find a somewhat nearby range that'll let you fire pistols and rifles, though anything automatic is out of the question.

I haven't used many guns but it seems to me if you want your games to feel authentic you really need to turn your speakers up as high as they go, then turn them up some more. At least with low caliber weapons the sheer magnitude of the sound struck me as the thing that games really couldn't capture. I can only imagine how ball shatteringly deafening an active warzone would be.

Metro 2033 feels really accurate for a game that isn't super simmy, also this might sound weird but Mirror's Edge, every gun you get feels powerful, from the lowliest pistol to the 50 cal machine guns

in my experience this would be your best bet, flawed as it may be

I always thought Red Orchestra 2 did things very well. As well as a video game can, I suppose.

I once had a .308 caliber AR-10 rifle negligently discharged in a smallish room I was in with only one open window. My ears rang for three days. The guy who did that never made that mistake again, I promise.

As someone who has shot a lot of guns and has done a fair amount of tactical training I can tell you that no game you are going to play is going to even be close to firing a real gun.

That being said, some of the gun shots in BF4 sound pretty realistic compared to the real thing - but obviously you are missing out on the pure volume and the shockwave (for lack of a better term) of shooting a gun, especially if we are talking indoors. Shooting a handgun without hearing protection just once is enough to cause some serious hearing damage - especially in closed-in areas like a hallway, small room or a car. Obviously doing the same with a shotgun or a rifle (especially one with a shorter barrel) is enough to literally deafen you permanently. Ever been close to an explosion, or something like a jet taking off and breaking the sound barrier? It's kind of like that.

As far as the weight, feel and recoil that really depends on the specific gun in question. If we are talking about something small like a .22, there really isn't that much more recoil than a gas or electric powered BB or Airsoft gun. Now if we are talking about centerfire rounds (say, 9mm or 5.56mm for example), the recoil and be much more. It's hard to really explain what it's like without being able to show you or have you experienced it first hand. I guess the closest thing I can think of would be a really high-powered paintball or bb gun. That would be the only thing I can think of that might get close.

Just doing a quick google search I found this which looks like a range that allows you to rent and shoot some guns http://www.australianshootingacademy.com.au/index.php I'd say someplace like that is your best shot (no pun intened)

Coming from America and having access to ranges this whole thing kind of seems insane to me. $200 to go and shoot a box of ammo through a pistol over there?! I guess for you guys going to the range like this is kind of a special thing but here that's just a normal thing, hell I'm going to the range this Saturday... I wish you lived somewhere close to me so we could meet up and go shoot some stuff. lol

Oh OUCH! Not fun. Not fun at all. You learn that lesson pretty quick. Shooting a gun without hearing protection is kind of like the first time you touch the hot stove as a kid - IT ONLY HAPPENS ONCE.
All of these TV shows and movies with people shooting guns like it's nothing, just a little pop-pop like a firecracker or a cap gun... Nope. No way in hell. Try that in real life and you'll be in the ER with blown out ear drums.

On what level of Haptic Feedback are we going to need for TRUE realism?

You can't really make a comparison on the basis of "feeling" unless you're using a silly-ass light gun--consider the Rambo arcade game that Sega released a few years ago, for example. Duck Hunt for the NES would also suffice. Truthfully, however, there is no comparison for shooting a real-life 12 gauge.

By the same token, playing a racing simulation could never remotely "feel" like actual driving (unless perhaps you have the full setup à la Giant Bomb's own Drew Scanlon).

None of them of course. Well at least not the ones you can play. The US military has complex training simulators made from adapted weapons and force feedback systems that are close. Clicking a controller, mouse, or light gun button isn't even close. You can be the supreme overlord or ARMA and Battlefield 4 and miss every static target and cry like a little girl the moment you have a jam if you ever touched a real weapon.

Yeah that Receiver game is the closest I've seen. It's pretty realistic, but I'm sure it doesn't capture the feeling. Like other people said, it's so loud, heavy, and powerful, that it's impossible for some speakers and rumble to properly simulate it. But hey, you aren't missing out on too much. After the first time I thought it was pretty boring.

I'll take "Things a school shooter asks" for 300$, Alex.

The only real answer.

I'm not sure what the laws are like in Australia, although I think you folks passed some pretty strict gun laws in the past. Anyway, do they have gun ranges where you could fire an automatic or semiautomatic weapon? I think that WOULD be the most useful thing for you. The cost might be a bit steep for a minutes, but my guess is you would get a real experience.

Where I live in Massachusetts, USA we have a firearms training school. You can take a $100 class to get your gun permit. And they offer a wide array tactical situation of classes pistols, carbines, shotguns and even low light equipment for between $100 and $200. These are taught by police officers, the same ones that train our police and SWAT units. So these are not just some safety and then shooting off the weapons for fun; you learn gun safety, technique, tactics, and A LOT of law.

I think it a good system because you learn tons of safety before touching a carbine on a range. But they also teach you very proper police/military stance, aiming and handling of the weapon.

@chaosut27:

You are already my favourite fellow Australian Giantbomber for your display picture.

As to your question, I don't really know. I remember the guns in Alan Wake as having a really satisfying kick and bang to them, but I guess that's not really what you're looking for, is it?

It's like asking what game simulates driving a car or kicking a football the best. The M/KB/controller input methods don't allow for an kind of accurate representation of the real thing. It can feel good, but even the best feeling gun in a game won't feel anything like a real life gun. I personally think the guns in Syndicate felt the most satisfying to shoot.

Playing Time Crisis at an arcade would give you a better feeling of shooting a gun than any PC/console game would.

Thinking back on all my years playing shooters and my time with hunting rifles I'd say Deer Hunter 3 Gold was the closest I've experienced. Before you go hunting you have to pick your gear; rifle, scope, binoculars/range finder, deer calls, ammo, etc. You only have so many inventory slots so choose wisely. Then go to a firing range to adjust your sights so that the arc on your shot is accurate for the distance that you expect to be firing at deer from. This part is the most like real firearms handling that every other game just skips because it's the chore/maintenance part. They don't have you clean your gun or field strip it or anything like that, but testing your gear is an important part of this game.

I really liked this game thinking back on it, and I don't know how hunting games have progressed in the 12 or so years since. I just can't ever justify spending that much on a new hunting game.

Time Crisis?

Tom Cruises?

If there's anything good about RAGE, it's those damn guns. I don't know what a real gun feels like, but I do know that RAGE's guns felt and sounded like the real thing.

They packed a punch and sounded so gooood.

Revolution X

Music is the weapon.

Duck Hunt

Wait a second...

I thought RAGE's guns sounded too high-pitched and laser gun-y.

On topic, no. I'm no gun expert but I have fired weapons before and the answer is a solid "no", because the click of a mouse or the pull of the right trigger on a 360 controller just cannot replicate an understanding of the power in your hand. Yes, it is fun to go to a range, and shoot at a target and see how well you can do, but you also get an appreciation for exactly what firing a gun feels like and a respect for the power in your hand (at least hopefully - not getting the latter should be worrying). The sheer noise, for one thing, is completely unexpected. So is the recoil. And the time you have to take to steady your arms and focus on shooting.

This also seems like kind of a disturbing topic, @chaosut27.

EDIT: Though, one game worth mentioning is The Last of Us. Again, it doesn't really come close. However, the lack of ammo in that game, the loudness of the guns, and the time you have to take to make your aim good probably comes closer than anything else I've played. It's not close, just closer. And aiming with an analog stick puts a bit of a hamper on any feeling of accuracy (cue getting quoted by somebody who has never played a PC shooter).

...why are you asking?

Felt and sounded like what it seemed to be the real thing? Yeah..

I can't comment on how realistic it was, but I think the most satisfying gun-firing was in MW2. Good gun "feel" is a delicate combination of how far you push the trigger in before you fire, the sound effect, the strength and length of the rumble, the on screen animation of both the gun firing and the bullet hitting the enemy, etc. MW2 got all of those right. The SCAR especially. That thing thumped in an orgasmically satisfying way. I don't think any game has done it that well since.

pushing a button will never ever FEEL like squeezing a trigger.

i just wanna know, you know? just wanna know how it... know how it feels, yeah?

Definitely Mega Man. Dat pellet feel.

This. The only correct answer is a good-condition cabinet of Time Crisis or Time Crisis 2. Has to be in good condition, though.

2nd for Mega Man.

Bloick. Bloick-bloick-bloick.

In Delta Force 2, when you aim your gun straight up and shoot, when you wait around for 30 seconds or so the bullets will drop back down and kill you, so, you know, 10/10 for realism right there.

Doom's pretty spot-on. Duck Hunt is decent.

This thread made me think of a rifftrax short riff.

Anyway, technically no game properly "feels" right. A lot have attempted some form or another of handling a gun. Most common is the kick which a lot of games these days try to simulate. Reciever or whatever it was called was an interesting attempt at proper gun physics and handling, and some more "sim" games (like the Arma games) attempt to be more adept at it.

The thing is there is more at play when shooting a gun that games cannot wholly program. Some attempt to simulate how breathing affects trajectory, sure, but it really never is totally accurate.

So, I don't think any games really gets that feeling right but a lot of games make the attempt. Some less successfully than others and most only simulate portions.

Haven't played many shooters, but i'll say BF4.

Rainbow Six Vegas

Ghost Recon Future Soldier

Red orchestra comes close i guess, but really nothing can compare to shooting a gun

Sorry but there is none, not really. It's kinda the equivalent of standing at the edge of a cliff in a game and then doing it in real life. There is a visceral feeling to certain things as a human like "fight or flight" or seeing a dead body where our instincts kick in and we react how we react. That may one day be replicated but we are not there yet not sure I'd want it to.

@chaosut27: Not to drag things up from the past, but if you want to get about as close as you can get, ArmA 2 with Ace and JSRS is probably as close as you can get. Surprisingly, VBS is actually probably worse over-all because it's all about function over form there. Also, it's nearly impossible to get your hands on any version of VBS without being a service member of some sort. You can get JCOVE, which is basically the "lite" version of the British VBS, but it's pretty lacking in features and content.

ArmA 2 with ACE and JSRS will get you pretty close though. You'll have to zero weapons manually (sniping for example requires either knowledge of range settings or for you to literally look at a range card to find the proper settings for the range you're engaging at), weapons will handle relatively realistically; ballistics will be about as accurate as you'll find in a video game, including wind simulation and obviously bullet drop, etc.

You're right that ACE is mostly for multiplayer, but all of it's features are totally accessible alone. Heck, if you really want to you can just plop yourself down some targets in a mountain range, place a magic box (basically a crate with everything in it, which is a hell of a lot), pick a weapon, and go to town on those targets.

JSRS is how you get the sounds extra awesome. JSRS will do things like process sound effects based on distance, even giving weapons a pretty drastic effect when firing indoors (firing a weapon in an inclosed space sounds really, really different from firing one in an open field, for example.)

Nothing is really all that close, honestly, but that is certainly as close as you'll get. Weapons can jam, ballistics make long range shots very challenging, and unless you carry a range finder, you have to know how to judge distance manually, either just plain eyeballin' it or using tricks like knowing what each mil equates to at common ranges on a sniper scope or binocs. Hell, you can even overheat the barrels on machineguns from prolonged firing, which will cause the weapon to jam repeatedly unless you replace the barrel, which there is actually a mechanic for.

It's too bad it doesn't get quite as in-depth as it does with artillery though. Seriously, try and operate the ACE mortars. It's pretty intense, and about as accurate a virtual representation of the process as you'll find. It's crazy. But still, ACE does firearms pretty damn well.

If you want a group to play ArmA 2/3 with (or plenty of other games too!) you should hit me up on steam: http://steamcommunity.com/id/ajarmahead

We'd be happy to show you some of the cool shit in ArmA running ACE, and maybe some other mods like ACRE as well.

The plastic, metallic click-ang! sound of the NES Zapper. No other gun has provided such tactile, realistic feedback of what it's like to wield a toy pistol capable of shooting ducks out of the sky. And yet is completely incapable of shooting asshole dogs.

I'm a career soldier (artillery) and of what I've played its Battlefield 4 in terms of audio/percussion.

In terms of ballistics, I "played" the Canadian-ized licensed version of VBS2 back in 2009 and it was pretty good. More realistic than Battlefield for sure, but the sounds/graphics were piss poor even back then.

I imagine ArmA keeps that similar quality, but I haven't played past the first one as those games kinda bore me.

Weird no one is mentioning the smell, or the dust...game can look and sound close to the real thing, but the smell and the gritty powder that is in the air is what I separate the most.

Many people, myself included have never shot a gun. We're really just guessing what a gun would feel like. Of course if you've shot a gun, your experience will definitely count for more.

@tescovee: Agreed. I've only shot a shotgun and some .22s but the smell of being around gunfire is something else (especially black powder).

I don't think any game really gets close to it at all, its such a physical thing that they can't. Sure they can model the physics, but not give you the feeling.

I would actually narrow it down to a specific scene in CoD: Modern Warfare.., and it's the sniper-shot at the hotel in the mission "One shot, one kill".

Coming from Sweden we used to have a mandatory draft, meaning most men (and some women) have spent at least 7,5 months in the military. The only thing I truly enjoyed about my time there was shooting at the range, it was a lot of fun. Unfortunately I have to agree with a lot of the other posters here: No game even comes close. There are so many factors you don't get from games. The feel of the trigger and the recoil. The way you hear the mechanism inside the rifle as clearly as the actual gunshot (at least outside while wearing hearing protection). There is a lot more to think about too, to make your shot land. Just pointing and clicking will never be even nearly the same thing, regardless how good the sound is or how well the physics is modelled. Anyway... it was a lot of fun and I recommend trying to find a place nearby where you can actually try it for yourself.

This was the gun I used the most in the army (Swedish AK4, based on the German G3):