Wonder Weapons vs. Buildable Weapons

[Doppelgänger]

I've been an avid fan of the zombies franchise ever since I unlocked that little Easter Egg at the end of World at War. A small 4 room survival mode against? Zombies! For me when I first found the mystery box and purchased it was a thrill. When I got the Ray Gun however... That was an even greater feeling of excitement. Through out the World at War maps there was no a variety of Wonder Weapons at all. Then Der Reise came. Where webers introduced to the Wunderwaffe.

Black Ops came around and with that, more zombies. This was were we began to be introduced to a new wonder weapon for each new map. From the Thundergun to the Winter's Howl to the Shrink Ray. Each new weapon brought fun and new survival tactics to the game.

Then along came Black Ops 2... Where buildables came around. The first buildables wonder weapon was the Jet Gun. Instead of being a wieldable weapon, it took up an equipment slot. It was, in my opinion, the worst wonder weapon in the entirety of zombies (Yes. Even better than the Winter's Howl). The Silquifier came next, which I actually did like, but unfortunately it wasn't pack-a-punchable.imagine the possibilities if it could have been! But then, with the next two map packs we were given two new wonder weapons which weren't buildables. They were found in the mystery box (the Blundegat even had its own little Easter Egg). But then there were the staffs in Origins. Which were buildable and I think a ridiculous implementation to the game (Reloading a staff? Seriously?)

My question to you guys is, do you want to see buildable weapons in the next game? Do you guys even like buildables? I'd love to hear what everyone else thinks because I personally hate them in general. They were a factor that made me really dislike Black Ops 2 zombies.

[Rissole25]

I prefer normal Wonder Weapons, just for the fact they look cooler than scrap parts. The Origins staves work because they're actually staff parts, whereas a manikin foot or those things are not. I would honestly be up for a buildable Sliquifier and Jet Gun return if they were actual weapon parts to find and not scrap parts assembled. I guess a comparison would be Iron Man's very first suit compared to the normal design.

In turn, as actual weapons, they could/would have PaP forms!

[CycloneChilli]

The trouble with box wonder weapons is that they are totally random. In a 4 player game, it is hard for one particular player to get the weapon. The box could give the weapon to a less skilled player who would keep it but wouldn't use it efficiently.

Buildables are annoying though. I hate the fact that one person can run off with a part and trade it for another part or lose it. It is annoying looking for a lost part, not being able to find it and therefore not being able to build the weapon.

It is also annoying when one player builds the weapon and another player holds onto a part, then they swoop in, place it and steal the weapon.

To be honest I prefer buildable weapons because they are less random to get. I support them if the buildable system is like Mob of the Dead, where there is a HUD. I also want them to be pack a punch able unlike in black ops 2.

[Tattoo247]

Being the blunder/acidgat is both an obtainable and buildable weapon, I'll exclude it from my answer.

 

 

It's still an easy answer though, it would be box weapons. Just for the simple fact that it's more fair to a team who all wants the weapon, it's all by pure luck, not by who can gather a part, or hold onto a part out of spite. This doesn't happen to me, almost ever, but it's always something that has been in the back of my mind since they released the info on buildable weapons, the only reason I play strictly friends only is because of the massive troll abilities.

 

Not even comparing power, box weapons still outweigh buildables in my opinion for reliability (I've had the jet gun parts literally disappear from the map numerous times), accessibility (as stated, holding onto weapon parts is dirty pool) and finally, they just look better, and that has little to nothing to do with surviving the match, but admit it, as much as you probably think the Shangri La wunder weapon isn't all that powerful, it's damn nice to look at

Edited July 6, 2014 by Tattoo247

[Electric Jesus]

I understand their thought process putting the Jet gun in the game. The hassle of dealing with building it and cooling it down balance the fact that it has an effectively infinite number of potential kills. However even using it to kill required time and patience. This made the weapon overall not fun to build or use. They decided to tone down both of the sources of bother by eliminating the need to build it and making the cooldown better, and this brought us the paralyzer, which was frankly very overpowered. It was fun to use though which goes a long way.

The main reason that hitting the box wins out over collecting Jet Gun parts is because if you already know all of the part locations, it feels a lot more like a boring series of chores than a treasure hunt. The staves on origins got it just right. The parts aren't necessarily random, but require skill to acquire. It makes it feel a lot more like you earn the weapon when you kill a panzer to get it, rather than by spending 10 minutes waiting for a bus. Also the upgrading procedure was good too, especially when you neex to get kills at the end to charge it up.

The sliquifier was a good balanced weapon, but too easy to build. I think that spreading part locations over a great distance is just increasing the amount of TIME it takes to achieve something rather than the difficulty. I wish they would have made it difficult in an innovative way.

The Acid Gat is the perfect middle ground between a buildable weapon and a box weapon: a buildable upgrade to a box weapon. This was great because the fact that you get the gun itself more easily outweighs the hassle of builing the kit. Plus it adds a load of versatility to what was already a great weapon alone. The Vitriolic withering wasn't spectacular in terms of practicality, but it sure was fun to have that and a Sweeper at the same time and just go ham.

Ultimately I think buildables should be restricted to either buildable upgrades like the Acid kit, or buildable weapons where you have to fight for the parts instead of just search. Memorizing the location of parts makes it either too boring or too easy. This problem can apply to buildable upgrades, but just the ability to build an upgrade separate from PaP makes it a fun concept on its own.

[MegaAfroMan]

In general I prefer Mystery Box wonder weapons when playing multiplayer, because that random element makes it 'fair' to some extent whensomeone finally gets the weapon.

I've had too many people guarding the build table or holding on to a part on Die Rise or the skulls on Alcatraz, or even on Origins (but origins is special and I'll get to that in a minute).

it's annoying, and often game breaking because it shows they aren't willing to cooperate, and often those are the kind of people who will rage quit when things go wrong.

even playing with friends, we can't always agree on who should get the buildable wonder gun, so although there may not be rage quitting and griefing, it's still tense trying to work out who gets the gun.

In solo although it's quicker (on average, even in TranZit) to build a wonder weapon than to spin it from the box, as EJ touched on, it's boring, and it's a chore. The TranZit parts, and Alcatraz skulls (I count it technically) require an obscene amount of running all over the place.

Die Rise is just too easy, with them all in one area, next to the power, the bank, and 3 perks (or Pack a Punch).

However the Box being random is a pain in solo games if you're unlucky. It can give the gun to people that really shouldn't have it (buildables don't really fix that either) and it can be unnecessarily expensive.

I think Origins was almost perfect in how it operated.

The wonder weapons were buildable and challenge based.

Plus, there were four of them.

Having four wonder weapons, presents choices in solo (granted not very hard ones...) and the ability for everyone to have a wonder weapon in Co-op which is amazing.

the buildable nature makes it relatively fair to whoever gets it, since there are four, everyone gets the staff they build. If you don't know how to build a staff, you either have to learn or hope for charity.

the upgrading is perfect, maybe slightly tedious in matches with quick intentions, but perfect. People who don't know how to upgrade, or can't survive long enough in the crazy place are prevented from getting that ultimate staff without help.

Plus, I'm a sucker for objectives. I only wish that the elemental fists were much earlier in the EE or a seperate step outside of it, like getting the air strikes. Then I'd do that every game too, just for the sake of completing objectives.

I think if maps follow a similar format to Origins, in regard to weaponry and objectives, it would be great.

However that being said, I do hope an option is given or maps are made which are similar to the old format with the one hit kills all box gun, for quick games where your only objective is: kill.

[creepertrent]

I prefer wonder weapons. Easer to get... Simple as that