PC Gamer - UK (2021-12)

T

hereisnobetterbliss
inanFPSthanthe
perfecthipfirekill.
Sometimes,wehipfire
becauseit’sfasteror
because it’s accurate,and
sometimes wejustwanttobestour
foes with a bitofstyle.There’san
implied flex tothehipfirethatI
absolutely love–asifyou’resucha
good shot thatyoudon’tneedto
plant your feetonwaist-highcover
and look downascopetopop
headshots. Whatapowermove!

The FPS wasfoundedonhipfire.
Some of the bestshootersevermade
are fun, in part,becauseofthehipfire.
And yet, the last 20 yearsof
videogames hasseenthis
empowering abilitynerfedintothe
ground. Mostmoderngamesfavour
the ADS (aim-down-sights)mechanic
as a requirementtobeaccurate.
There’s lots offuntobehadwiththat
kind of gameaswell,butthe‘right
mouse aim/leftmouseshoot’
standard slowedshootersdownand
relegated hipfiretoaninaccurate
secondary fire.Thankfully,thehipfire
is back on theriseinrecentyears
with excellentFPSthrowbacksand
modern takesthatmarrythetwo
aiming stylestogether.
Hipfire hasbeenonmymindalot
lately as I playthroughBack 4 Blood,
Turtle Rock Studios’spiritual
successor to Left 4 Dead.Nownine
years removedfromLeft 4 Dead 2 ,I
still consider itsomeofthepurest
FPS fun you canhavewithfriends
due in no smallparttoitshipfire-
heavy gunplay.
I was afraidBack 4 Bloodwould
lose some of thismagicwhenI
learned it’d featuremodernFPS
mechanics likesprintingandADS.
Now 15 hoursintothegame,Ithink
my predictionwastrue,buthipfireis
far from deadinBack 4 Blood.
On the contrary,hipfireisa
reliable strategyatmid-to-closerange
that becomesevenmorepowerfulif
you spec intothatdirectionusingthe

game’scard-basedupgradesystem.

Oneoftheplayablecharacters,for

examplegainsanaccuracybuffevery

timehescoresaheadshot,andthere

areseveralcardsthatdisableADSin

favourofincreasedhipfireaccuracy.

I’vegrowntolovethesystemfor

encouragingawidevarietyof

playstylesinawayLeft 4 Dead’s

simplicitycan’tsupport.

NEWCLASS

Nogamebetterembodiesthe

throwback,hipfire-heavyFPSthan

id’smodernDoomseries.BothDoom

2016 andDoomEternalarethe

anti-CallofDuty,demandingthat

playersstayonthemoveconstantly

tostayalive.

Thereiszerofrictionbetween

Doomguyandhisabilitytoshoot–

thatmeansnoADSoptiononmost

gunsandnoreloading.Bydefault,

Doomguyisperfectlyaccuratewhile

movingatfullspeedandit’s

sensationaltoplay.Thegame’s

combatwouldsimplyfallapartifit

wereanyslower,soit’snowonder

thatrecentshooterslikeNecromunda:

HiredGunhavetriedtocapturethe

samehipfire-heavyaction.

Asgoodasitis,Doomisstill

somewhatofananomaly.The

majorityofshootersouttherethat

haveahipfireworthadamnalsolet

youADSinonewayoranother.An

interestingnewerexampleisHalo

Infinite.Infinite’sgunsare100%

accuratefromthehip,butsimilarto

Halo 5 ,everygunalsohasanADS

optionthat’sdeactivatedifyou’re

shotwhileusingit.Afterplayingboth

multiplayerbetasheldsofar,I’m

likingthecompromise.

Thenthere’sValorant,a

competitiveFPSthatfeelslikegolf

withguns–stop,plantyourfeet,aim,

andthenshoot.Hipfirekillsin

Valorantcanfeeldivinewhenyou’ve

perfectlyaccountedforyourgun’s

recoilpatternornailedalife-

affirmingheadshot.Hipfireisthe

defaultshootingmodeformost

firefights,butmostgunsalsohavean

ADSoptionthataltershowitshoots.

Sometimes,gamesoptforhipfire

forthesakeofsimplicity.Ilove

Overwatchforitsdeeprosterof

playstylesthatmostlyreserve

right-clickforcoolabilitiesinsteadof

ADS.OrDeathloop,astealthy

first-personshooterthatnotonly

encourageshipfiringitsguns,butlets

youdualwieldone-handedweapons

atthecostofADS.

Afteryearsofstudioschasinga

singleCallofDuty-shapedtrend,it

feelslikethereisnosingleblueprint

forshootersanymore.Gamescan

favourthehiporthescopeandstill

findanaudienceforboth.It’sjust

moreevidencethatwe’relivingina

goldenageofshooters.

HIPFIREHASBEENONMY

MINDA LOTLATELYASI PLAY

THROUGHBACK4 BLOOD

ZOOM IN

ThemilitaryshootersthatpopularizedADS

DELTAFORCE

1998

WhiletheDelta

Forcedoesn’thave

whatwe’dcallADSin

2021,it doeshavean

on-screenscope.

OPERATION

FLASHPOINT:

CWC 2001

Oneoftheearliest

shooterswitha

genuineironsight

viewforitsguns.

DELTAFORCE:

BLACKHAWK

DOWN 2003

A militaryshooter

thatcaptureda

multiplayer

audience.

VIETCONG 2003

ReleasedafterBlack

HawkDown,

Vietcongdemanded

playerstouseits

ADSviewinorderto

beaccurate.

CALLOFDUTY

2003

2003 wasa bigyear

forshooters.Callof

DutybroketheADS

shooteroutofthe

tacticalrealm.

CALLOFDUTY

4:MODERN

WARFARE 2007

ModernWarfare’s

popularitysetthe

toneofFPSesforthe

proceedingyears.

EXTRA LIFE

NOW PLAYING I UPDATE I MOD SPOTLIGHT I HOW TO I DIARY I WHY I LOVE (^) I REINSTALL I M U S T P L A Y
RIGHT: (^) Worry not,
hipfire is still king in
Halo Infinite.