I won't deny that scoring intentional headshots is fun, but how many Athen-tier players are out there making use of the mechanic? Most players don't attempt headshots at all – for the huge majority of players, headshots exist overwhelmingly as TF2-esque random crits where occasionally a PPFLD alpha happens to line up with a head and instantly kill someone.
Even in the cases where people are actively trying for headshots, I don’t think it adds much depth to the game because it mostly functions as a “win more” mechanic that enables good players to style on the less good. Think about the stereotype headshot targets: either a player who overheated and shut down, or an assault mech player with overly predictable movement and a bad habit of staring directly at people for long periods. Good players don’t generally do that, and while it is possible to intentionally headshot good players who aren’t making obvious mistakes, it’s so difficult that it’s not worth it. Competitive matches, an environment where skills are most strongly equalized and the drive to play optimally is most extreme, demonstrate this very clearly – they don’t even try for headshots because against a peer opponent it’s not an effective strategy for winning. Anthen isn’t practicing headshots to get better at the game and win more matches, they’re practicing headshots because hitting headshots in and of themselves is fun.
And they are fun, but that needs to be weighed against the harm they cause. I remember how clever I felt shutting people down with flamers in my Fafnir so I could headshot them to get my Guillotine achievement. I vividly recall desperately lining up deseprate hail-mary headshots on brawler assaults who had caught me out of position, and how sweet it was to punish them for greeding for the kill and staring me down. But I also remember my first ever match, where I walked 5 minutes to the front in a slow-*** trial Anni only to be oneshot before I could play any of the game. I remember how bored I was after I spent eight minutes loading in, selecting a map, and walking to the front, only to accidentally oneshot someone and then get to do basically nothing else that match. And I've been in some infuriating situations where I
lost a fight because I accidentally landed the shot that should have finished off a cherry-red CT on their stupid, full health noggin. On the whole, my opinion is that their existence is probably a net negative - I'd certainly on a personal level trade away the excitement of the intentional headshots I've delivered to prevent the frustration and boredom their accidental counterparts (both giving and receiving) caused.
Edited by Samara 6J, 22 June 2025 - 02:26 PM.