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What's the best game with shooting where you don't get a gun for ages? The Best Games Ever Podcast episode 98

What's the point in having guns if they won't let us shoot people? Eh?

Image credit: Techland, VG247

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Whatever your attitude to guns in real life (for the record, they’re awful and civilians shouldn’t have them), it’s hard not to become a sort of virtual gun nut when you’re a gaming enthusiast because, inevitably, our primary interaction with game worlds is shooting bullets into them. Even games which emphatically are not shooters often feature guns as a tool or special attack. And sometimes – not hugely often, but more regularly than you might think – we get games which have fully developed shooting mechanics and a range of guns that you don't even get to use until many hours in. Perhaps making you wait until the final act before it grants you the right to bear arms (note: nothing to do with bears, see previous episode).

There’s always a very good narratively justified reason for this. Perhaps the game is set somewhere where firearms are naturally scarce, like The Past, or Shropshire. Perhaps the developers are making a clever point about the instant, maximum violence that automatic weapons afford vs the nuanced, patient art of having to stab or punch people instead. Whatever the reason, this week our esteemed panel of professional game enjoyers are tasked with deciding which is the best of these rare treats.

If you want to know what they came up with, there are handy ways to watch or listen to the show below. What a coincidence!

Watch the video version of The Best Games Ever Show here:

Check out the video version of The Best Games Ever podcast. You should watch it, that way you get to see the look of betrayal on the losers faces as Jim proclaims a shock winner.Watch on YouTube

Listen to the audio version of The Best Games Ever Show here:

This is the audio. You should listen to it, that way you'll be spared the pathetic looks of betrayal being bandied about by grown ups who are far too invested in winning a stupid game show format.

Stay tuned for a new episode of The Best Games Ever Show every Friday. Subscribe right here on VG247, or wherever you get your podcasts:

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  • Special thanks to David Bulmer for performing "Jim's Theme".

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