The Best Shotguns in VR (and what makes them feel great) – Inside XR Design

By
Ben Lang
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BONELAB — FAB Shotgun

Now moving on to the FAB shotgun in Bonelab. The model of this thing is just beautiful. It’s fairly short but also has a really long pump grip which gives it a totally unique look.

This shotgun all around is pretty solid, but I think it has the best shell loading sound effect of any that I’ve heard. Again, it’s not a highly realistic noise, but it really effectively communicates the fantasy of sliding a shell into the gun.

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Unmute for sound

The pump sound is pretty solid too (but I think I still prefer the pump of the Sunshine Shorty).

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Unmute for sound

This shotgun also has the best muzzle flash I’ve seen. It has these extra trails that project out from the muzzle which gives it some extra depth.

What’s more, Bonelab has a slow motion mode that you can use at any time. And if there’s one thing that feels cooler than using a pump action shotgun in VR, it’s using a pump action shotgun in VR in slow motion. The sound effects and the muzzle flash really play well to the slow motion feature and hammer down on that action-movie feeling.

Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners, Ch. 2 — One-handed Reloads

Speaking of action movies, I want to give a quick shout-out to the shotgun in Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners. It’s completely impractical but this is the only shotgun among those that we talked about which you can cock with one hand… a move straight out of any number of action movies.

And again, this is all about delivering a fantasy to players, so why not?

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Ben Lang
Ben is the world's most senior professional analyst solely dedicated to the XR industry, having founded Road to VR in 2011—a year before the Oculus Kickstarter sparked a resurgence that led to the modern XR landscape. He has authored more than 3,000 articles chronicling the evolution of the XR industry over more than a decade. With that unique perspective, Ben has been consistently recognized as one of the most influential voices in XR, giving keynotes and joining panel and podcast discussions at key industry events. He is a self-described "journalist and analyst, not evangelist."
  • XRC

    Thoroughly enjoying the double barrelled shotgun of "Into the Radius 2".

    It's very satisfying to remove shells from their box, load two into the chambers and place six on the sidesaddle. Close proximity interactions are working great with lighthouse tracking and Index controllers.

    Very effective during combat and easy to reload off the side saddle whilst under pressure; firing feels meaty with good haptics.

    Yesterday I was awarded a large box of shells after completing a mission, and immediately sent off into the forest to take out some pesky mimics

    • XRC

      A small update I figured out you can fill the left side pouch with shotgun shells so once your sidesaddle is deleted you can quickly load shells from the pouch and refill the sidesaddle during pauses in combat. As long as you only put shells in the pouch you'll only be pulling shell each time

  • Octogod

    Adore these. Thank you for making this series!

  • Amazing article, I love this series!

  • NL_VR

    i like shotguns, the only problem is pumping shotguns, the pumping move isnt compatible with my gunstock. i can use it if i think about it but its not optimal

  • Arno van Wingerde

    Excellent story and I understand the feeling! In this case though, being a lousy shooter and still fumbling with loading it as the first zombies goes in for the kill, I wish there would be settings for dumbed down versions as well were you have infinite ammunition and fewer or slower zombies, so I at least stand a bit of a chance getting beyond the first 10% or so of the game. Then, when I make it to the end I can try again, but with a simplified loading procedure and then again with the realistic method that is in the game now.