Ferguson, in Video Games and Creativity, 2015 Video Games as Creative Expression

For instance, a player performing the role of a healer would use a weapon primarily with attributes that support the playerвЂ™s healing and defensive capabilities that confers both the emotions of capacity and security. In multiplayer games, a balanced weapon enables the player to fulfill his/her role within group play. More importantly, a customizable weapon enables the player to continually improve his/her weapon to keep up with tougher challenges, which contributes to the playerвЂ™s satisfaction. In single-player games, a balanced weapon consists of a combination of attributes which function together to enable the player to create various strategies during gameplay in order to overcome challenges. In evaluating the balance of a weapon in gameplay, the player decides what attributes to focus on when crafting the weapon based on his or her goal in the game. Although it reduces the quality of gameplay, players still use it as they feel more capable and secure due to its high damage which enables players to dominate maps in Counter-Strike ( Valve Corporation, 1999).

The use of such weapons thus reduces the quality of gameplay, and also reduces the element of choice in gameplay, as most players would then use this weapon over other weapons or strategies in gameplay. It is a long-range sniper rifle that can be used by the player to kill another player in one shot. An example of an unbalanced weapon is the AWP sniper rifle in Counter-Strike ( Valve Corporation, 1999). A balanced weapon in video games is thus a weapon that neither confers an unfair advantage to the player by means of high impact (e.g., high weapon damage) nor causes the player to suffer a severe disadvantage in the gameplay due to its low impact (low weapon damage). In gameplay, the notion of balance вЂњis the sense that your circumstances or your chosen means of playing the game are roughly equivalent to everyone elseвЂ™s, in terms of giving you a fair shot at winningвЂќ ( Newheiser, 2009). Weimin Toh, in Emotions, Technology, and Digital Games, 2016 Reaction: Composition-Balance

Call of duty counter strike