If there’s one game studio you expect to get their guns right, it’s id Software. The original developer of Doom, Quake, and Wolfenstein has had decades to perfect its craft.
Now, ahead of the release of the upcoming Rage 2, which id is working on alongside Just Cause developer Avalanche Studios, studio director Tim Willits confirms that the same attention to detail that made their early games so successful is still being applied to id guns.
In an interview with PCGN, Willits revealed an important secret that helped create the most satisfying guns possible. Focusing on FPS staples the shotgun (“if there’s one sound effect that you have to make sure is perfect, it’s your shotgun”) and machine gun, Willits says that the team “always create a sound effect bigger than the weapon that you have in your hand.”
It’s no surprise that id’s games make it onto our list of the best FPS games.
Offering an example, Willits says that the Settler Assault Rifle from Rage, which was based on the real-life AK-47, actually had a sound effect more similar to a .50 calibre machine gun. “You just mirror that together and that weapon that may feel wimpy feels amazing because you have a sound effect for the next weapon above it,” he says.
Willits also gave an idea of the immense detail that the team went into during the development of Rage 2, stating that “sometimes I dive in and talk about individual frames. Not so long ago, we went through every single frame of every single weapon motion,” cutting and moving frames to create the perfect firing experience.
You can watch a Rage 2 gameplay trailer, exhibiting a bunch of those perfectly-crafted guns in action alongside several excellent abilities, below:
The Rage 2 release date is set for spring 2019, although we don’t have anything more concrete than that at this point. Overall, though, it looks like it’s been a good E3 for FPS fans, with Doom Eternal and Wolfenstein games also revealed during Bethesda’s E3 conference. That means 2019 should be a good year for killing Nazis and/or demons.