I had a little downtime today...taking a break from all the hustle and bustle often associated with vacationing (although I am delinquent on mowing the yard). Funny how that works, no? Take time off work to relax and find that sometimes it ends up being busier. Anyway, I've been re-reading some of the video game related news that I just kind of glossed over the past few weeks, when something relatively minor and inconsequential caught my eye. It's funny (at least I think so...a little bit anyway) how I'm not really one to follow (or blog about) the big stories - the controversies; the breaking news; the big announcements; the major industry events...you get the point. I figure the experts are far better at covering those items, so I often just notice little things. Irrelevant things. But I can notice the heck out of some little things.

It was while reading the July 2012 issue of Game Informer and turning the page to this two page spread that shows Lara Croft wielding a long bow with these big bold letters that read "And Into The Fire". Well, the story is actually six pages in length and of the 10 or 11 pictures illustrating the next Tomb Raider story, nearly half of them include a bow and arrow. I'm not a huge Tomb Raider fan but I do like the direction the series is taking the character by making her more realistic and respectable instead of just showing off her curves in a skin tight wetsuit or short shorts that have to make rock climbing at least a tad more challenging. So this little detail was the bow and arrow, but not just because it was in Tomb Raider.

It made me think of another game that has recently received lots of press coverage.

I'm not sure when Crysis 3 was originally announced. Was it at E3 or maybe sometime before (or after)? Regardless of when it was announced, the footage and coverage seemed to center around the fact that your character will be equipped with a bow and arrow. Well, maybe "center" is a bit of a stretch, but it certainly didn't go unnoticed. Even Game Informer's own Matt Bertz published a story on this feature in his article, Crysis 3: Bringing A Bow To A Gunfight.

And if that wasn't enough to convince you, I could mention some of the artwork we've seen for Assassin's Creed III, although honestly its setting seems far more natural to include the bow and arrow than Crysis 3 does.

"Not as clumsy or random as a blaster. An elegant weapon for a more civilized age." -Ben Kenobi

I have to wonder if the bow and arrow is going to be the weapon that all the games feature now until something else comes along. Maybe it's me, but it seems like most shooters all seem to gravitate towards one another and share similar content and/or ideas. In the early days of shooters I always wanted to see submarines or submarine bases included in the games. Now it seems like nearly every shooter includes this setting (this is something I have blogged about a time or two - I definitely recall blogging about all the dam maps). I remember many of my fellow gamers, myself included, wanted arctic maps...and now, it seems like the frozen tundra isn't as rare as it used to be. It wasn't all that long ago, verticality was the big buzz word - maps that stretched the vertical level from what we were used to having experienced in previous generations of shooters. Now, the cityscape and skyscraper setting seems to be the hot spot developers are focusing on. Of course it's not limited to maps and setting. Early in the development of Future Soldier, the game boasted of unmanned drones, both ground and aerial versions. How many games have we seen that featured drones these days? Looks like Black Ops II might feature them too.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing, especially if you are a fan of whatever is being duplicated. A few years back, I recall blogging about something simple, yet featured in far more games than I would've liked to have seen it - the crossbow. Yes, I posted a whole blog about games featuring the cumbersome and inefficient crossbow and how I wasn't really a fan of this weapon.

When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Whip Out a Crossbow

But the bow and arrow, now that is a weapon I actually enjoy using in video games, so I look forward to its implementation in Crysis 3, Assassin's Creed III and maybe even in Tomb Raider. I think my love of the bow and arrow was inspired by a few movies - certainly the way Legolas wields his in Lord of the Rings, but even more recently with Hawkeye and the way he was portrayed in the blockbuster hit - The Avengers.

I thought I would share some of my personal favorite video games to feature the primitive yet effective bow and arrow (don't worry, I'll keep it to five). Feel free to share your own favorites, or tell me whether you feel the same way about it as I do the crossbow.

1. Team Fortress 2 - Well, this one shouldn't be a surprise. I don't play the Sniper class a lot (because I suck at it) but when I do, I often equip him with the Huntsman. The Huntsman is nothing more than a bow and arrow. But, oh...a powerful weapon it can be. (Huntsman)

"Now, hold on," you keep saying. "Aren't bows and arrows primitive and harmless?"

Why don't you ask the dinosaurs? Except you can't, because the cavemen bow and arrowed them to death.

- Huntsman publicity blurb

I love when the whole opposing team is rushing a particular area or trying to hold a certain point on the map. I will quickly switch to the Sniper class armed with a Huntsman and just fire indiscreetly into the group for headshot after headshot. My fondest memory that I have recounted far too many times is of a Scout who snagged our flag and was headed back to his base. As he bounded back across the battlements about to disappear into the safety of his base, I fired an arrow at him, pinning him to the wall and causing him to drop the flag. It only prolonged our defeat, but that warm feeling you get when you know you've just crushed the delight out of the person who is carrying the flag to victory was worth the loss.

2. Minecraft - This one might be a bit of a surprise...it was for me, but yes there are bows and arrows in Minecraft. It's odd too, because when I play Minecraft I actually try and stay away from the bad guys and not fight unless I am cornered. Well, the skeletons are equipped with bows and arrows and they are ridiculously brutal with them. They will lay waste to you in no time if you don't take cover or flee the area. You can craft your own bow and arrow which is great for ranged attacks, or you can be creative and devise something even better. With seven cobblestones, a red stone and a bow you can create a dispenser, which is sort of like a vending machine. Whatever you load into it, well when you activate the dispenser it shoots it out. Armed with this knowledge, I stacked two dispensers on top of each other, filled them with arrows, wired it to a repeater and a button, and aimed it at the front door to my residence. So now, whenever the bad guys stack up at my front door, like they tend to do, I can click the button which opens the door and then stand back and watch these two dispensers (which are really nothing more than a glorified bow and arrow) fire off four arrows in rapid succession. Press the button and four more arrows fly. I've already op-tested and killed me two zombies with it (and myself once). Pretty clever, if I do say so myself (killing the zombies, not myself).

3. Soul Calibur - I don't know if there is a character that has used the bow and arrow more than Link. I don't want to say he's used the bow in every game he's ever been in, but certainly he has used it in a majority of them. And perhaps my favorite game was Soul Caliber II for the Game Cube. Soul Caliber II remains one of my all-time favorite fighting games and I used to love playing Link in this game even though I wasn't very good with him (much more of a Kilik fan). My tactic, regardless of how cheesy it was, would be to spam arrows and then try and sneak in for a grab and throw that would almost always result in a ring out. I never remembered just how many bows Link has used until researching this blog. There has been more than one or two, that's for sure.

4. God Of War 2 - I'm in the middle of playing God of War 2 (on again, off again) and was pleased when I acquired Typhon's Bane. The God of War wiki describes it as, "A magical bow-like weapon, Typhon's Bane allows Kratos to fire gusts of wind instead of arrows. It can be leveled up as well, increasing its power and to gain new abilities."

I think I like this weapon so much because when I was a kid I used to watch this cartoon every Saturday called Dungeons and Dragons. Hard to believe they ever allowed that on T.V. huh? Well, they did. And my favorite character (wasn't it everybody's?) was the Ranger, who was equipped with this magical bow that could do all sorts of amazing feats with the arrows it shot.

5. Gears of War - Some could argue the torque bow has more in common with a crossbow than a traditional bow and arrow, but it's called a torque bow, not a torque crossbow, so I'm going to include it. Besides, using it seems more like a bow and arrow than a crossbow. The bow part is up and down, not left to right. Some people didn't like the weapon, but I did. Firing that bolt and sticking a player was always a rewarding feeling. The Gears of War wiki states, "The Torque Bow fires an Imulsion-fueled, explosive-tipped, armor-piercing projectile that resembles a large arrow (or rather, a crossbow bolt). The projectile has a timed fuse which is designed to explode a half-second after penetrating a target, blasting it apart from the inside - almost invariably causing critical injury for the unfortunate target (if not instantaneous death). The weapon's name comes from its unique tandem launch system."

Honorable Mention - Skyrim

There are plenty of games out there that use the bow and arrow...games like Turok, Red Dead Revolver, and another of my favorites - Gauntlet...but none are as impressive as Skryim. Now, I don't play Skyrim, but I've certainly watched others play it enough to know that if I did, I would be using the bow and arrow...a lot. I dunno, maybe it's nostalgia and I'm hoping to have one of those moments like from the Hobbit where you shoot an arrow at a dragon that hits its unarmored spot resulting in the mystical beast's death. Sure, it would probably never happen, but it is worth contemplating. Even if that never happens, seeing videos of trick shots from the game makes it worth including.

Well, I should end this here before I remember another game that features the primitive yet powerful bow and arrow. Besides, I think I hear somebody at the door. Maybe it's a zombie or skeleton.

Who is it?