So this has been nagging at my head for the last few days. In most games I can remember that have molotov cocktails or some equivalent, they are never satisfying to use and completely useless. If I want to flush someone out of cover, a grenade will do that much better, with a more satisfying boom. Unless something is a massive damage sponge where every little bit of damage helps, a molotov just seems inefficient compared to a few headshots or shotgun blasts. I can see how they are better suited for denying areas or blocking off hallways, but the blast radius is usually too small and the burn time too short for that to be effective. Left 4 Dead is the only game I can think of where molotovs were actually useful, insta-killing rushing hordes and whittling down Tanks.

Am I crazy? Have I just been playing the wrong games? I haven't played The Last of Us or the Far Crys, where some quick googling suggested that molotovs were fun in those. I may just be fixating on the molotovs in Rockstar's games, where I might as well be throwing pebbles.

Can't speak for every game, but molotov cocktails in The Last of Us were *extremely* satisfying, especially when you could lure a bunch of clickers/runners together with a tossed bottle or brick and then set them aflame.

They're awesome. I liked them in Max Payne games, they were fun in Freedom Fighters, and I think they are excellent in Far Cry, because the fire behavior in those games makes them extra fun to use. If you can cook grenades it's good, but I love hitting a guy with a flaming bottle to instantly have an area of effect. Plus fire. Always a satisfying weapon for me.

I do, but when I use them, I use all of them.

I used them a lot in The Last of Us multiplayer and they're really great in Revelations 2. Basically zombie games.

Oh and Lisa: the painful rpg. But that's a very different thing.

I used them all the time in Dying Light. They're fun!

I don't really bother with them in open world games but in most other games they are great for area denial or killing multiple enemies at once.

I love em.

Far Cry is great for molitovs because I'm there to watch the world burn.

Oh and when I'm expressing displeasure in the government. They are effective for that.

Last of Us probably has the best molotov cocktail in games.

Yeah molotovs in The Last of Us was my go-to crowd control weapon when dealing with either humans or clickers. Clickers were easier to handle with molotovs because they usually charge at you so if they are bunched up together, they can be taken out with one throw.

It's also my favourite weapon to use in Dying Light as well, especially early on when you fight armoured humans. Instead of having to fight them one by one with melee and dodging their throwing knives, I can just throw a molotov at the three of them then collect the airdrop supplies rather quickly.

For a second, I thought you were asking if anybody used them for real. As for games; they were great in Freedom Fighters.

People use molotovs in CS:GO all the time in both competitive and casual play. If you had watched the IEM tournament you would have seen it in use.

I read the whole post thinking that. I was getting really worried.

My answer is that I keep forgetting about my grenades in any game that isn't Halo, where I pretty much throw them all willy-nilly.

EDIT: Also, yes, CS:GO, especially in tight hallways. Want to block the other team from using a hallway that they rushed through last round? Toss a molotov down there!

Thinking about it some more, I realized that I only get itches of pyromania (I'm not a psycho, I swear!) from the smell of ashes and gasoline, which obviously doesn't translate to video games. So when Oculus adds Smell-O-Vision™ to their headsets, I may just change my tune.

Then again, the prospect of smelling burning flesh doesn't sound that great.

In Dying Light molotovs were super useful.

Oh god, imagine sewer levels this way.

That level of POSTAL with the marching band and nothing but Molotovs was pretty fun.

Molotovs were really useful in Max Payne 1 because that game was hard as balls in some areas, and if you could find a good choke point you could alert a bunch of dudes, then throw a Molotov and instantly take out the whole group.

Not quite as mandatory for survival in later Max Payne games, but still handy.

They work good in CS:GO. They don't do a ton of damage; they are more for blocking an enemies path, or stopping the enemy from defusing a bomb for a little bit.

last of us
dying light.
far cry series
cs go
worms series

freedom fighters
just to name a few

a good example of it being both satisfying and fun is dying light. where i was on a bridge at night on top of a van. all you did was throw a firecracker to draw attention and then molotov them. and see your xp rise extremely fast, not only was it a good way to farm some experience, money, materials but also fun because i was trying to unlock a van that apparently had a gun in it. and this was at a very early point in the game. so trying to dodge those special night zombies while burning up regular zombies in an attempt to unluck that van was fun for me.

In Left 4 Dead molotov cocktail is super important to easily defeat tanks

They are absolutely fantastic in The Last of Us for sure. My fav weapon in that entire game.

I also remember enjoying them in Resident Evil 0 for the GC.

It was a pleasure to burn.

@grillbar: Great list, I agree with the games I've played. Worms, The Last of Us, Far Cry, Dying Light. All fun uses and different mechanics for molotovs. It's just so satisfying.

They never throw right, a grenade throws like a baseball in games, but molotovs always have a weird arch to them, that's why I don't like them.

I like setting things on fire so I use them a lot, regardless of game.

I guess it depends on the game, but I love them. Crazy useful for crowd control, like you mentioned, and really satisfying when you catch a large group of enemies in a single throw.

I remember them just looking super awesome in Max Payne 2, when you used some console commands to slow down the time 200% more and moved the camera manually to get the perfect view of them smashing against some poor bastard.