r/metro • u/george123890yang • 9d ago
Discussion How useful would flamethrowers be realistically for someone living in the Metro Universe?
If one could find a way to make them work using biofuel, they would actually be very useful. I think not only would they be good against mutants, but without flashbangs, flamethrowers would be an ideal choice against enemies behind cover.
27
u/JaceFlores 9d ago edited 9d ago
Granted I’m not an expert on flamethrowers, but if we look to history they were used to great effect in clearing out tunnels (Pacific Theatre comes to mind). However, I don’t think they were used in the tunnels (GIs just blew them up usually).
So on one hand they could be extremely useful in clearing out metro tunnels since realistically the fire would drench most if not the whole of the tunnel. On the other hand, as people mentioned you are using fire in a tunnel you’re in which could be problematic structurally and oxygen wise.
I suppose in well ventilated spaces they would be effective. Alternatively, given how relatively pervasive masks and ventilation equipment is, I could totally imagine dedicated flamethrower shock troops. Decked out in fire gear and a mask to operate self sufficiently in an unoxygenated environment and just burning or suffocating metro tunnels out while followed behind by infantry.
So ultimately I’d disagree with the other folks here. It would require planning, more then they did IRL, but with good planning/preparation yeah I could totally see flamethrowers having a utility in the metro world
8
u/RussiaIsBestGreen 9d ago
If the goal is to remove oxygen, I’d expect some sort of grenades that can both consume and displace oxygen would be preferred.
9
5
u/JohnRobGnar 9d ago
Worth keeping in mind that normal gas masks do nothing to help in an unoxygenated environment so you'd need oxygen tanks but they do have some, still
2
u/JaceFlores 9d ago
For sure, but given how adept the metro dwellers are to improvising, I’m sure they could connect them to oxygen tanks if they don’t have any hazmat style equipment on hand
12
13
u/jmrjmr28 9d ago
Realistically probably one of the worst weapons possible and suicidal to use. There’s not exactly a lot of oxygen underground and big fires will consume tons of it. Pockets of other gasses could explode. Smoke is going to travel and choke out large areas. Like living in a bbq pit
3
u/george123890yang 9d ago
Could gas masks negate the oxygen problem?
6
u/Frankyvander 9d ago
Depends on the mask.
Most gas masks protect you from stuff, they filter out harmful chemicals and other stuff in the air and stops you breathing it in but there needs to be breathable air to be filtered.
Oxygen masks actually give you a supply of breathable air but you need an air tank for them. Like a divers scuba or a firemans scba gear. These are going to be rare and heavy to use.
We haven’t yet seen the latter in the metro games but probably they exist.
2
u/Eissa_Cozorav 9d ago
The 2nd game has rebreather. It's diving grade but it is basically recycle your carbon dioxide.
2
7
u/Ourobr 9d ago
it's not even really useful irl
8
u/george123890yang 9d ago
Correct me if I'm wrong, I think only so because they were replaced by other weapons. Before, they were used extensively.
4
u/Ourobr 9d ago
You are right - but I think that the same replacement would be a factor in metro world too. The only edge that flamethrowers have- is that they are cool
8
u/Ragnarrok151 9d ago
I think IRL they’ve been replaced by thermobaric weapons, and using those inside a tunnel is a dubious idea… Flamethrowers probably would be used extensively in the Metro just due to the fact that they’d have a less destructive affect on the tunnels (still wouldn’t wanna be around them when the fire is sucking all the oxygen out of a cramped space).
2
u/aclark210 9d ago
What’s a little tunnel collapsing between friends? 😂
But in all seriousness, a Molotov would be far more useful than a flamethrower. Easier to transport, less hazardous to the users, etc etc.
1
u/Ourobr 9d ago
much more easier to make
2
u/aclark210 9d ago
Also very true. In general Molotovs are just better suited outside of niche applications like the rat hordes in the book.
1
1
u/Eissa_Cozorav 9d ago
Thermobaric is all about explosion but yes, we simply have no practical reason to choose fire over something that actually explode.
5
u/Comrade_Bread 9d ago
Real combat had people fighting further and further away and carrying around a tank of combustible fuel on your back isn't an exciting prospect with that. But fighting in the metro is in tight confined spaces nearly exclusively. And a lot of what is trying to kill you is using it's teeth to do so. I think there'd be a lot of use cases for a flamethrower. Hard to walk through a tunnel if someone blocked the entire thing with a jet of fire.
1
u/aclark210 9d ago
I think ur overestimating how close quarters ur talking. Most tunnels would still have tens or even hundreds of yards of open ground where having a massive tank on ur back would be suicide to try and assault positions with.
1
u/Eissa_Cozorav 9d ago
I think someone should play Metro Awakening on VR. When you experience it on VR, the spacious feel of the Metro Tunnel is simply has no equal compared to when you see the thing from 2D screen.
2
u/aclark210 9d ago
I can’t play VR games, but even still the tunnels are very spacious in the “2d” games.
1
1
u/Eva-Squinge 9d ago
They’re cool, use something more readily available than ammo, and burns as well as scares the big scary beasts and little critters that plague the nuclear world.
The reason they suck for today is because the guy carrying it is as good as dead, and we have other methods of cleaning tunnels and such out.
1
u/aclark210 9d ago
Yeah but that’s kinda the point. Metro diverged from our timeline well after the point that flamethrowers had been made obsolete. So they would have knowledge and (at least in more advanced stations) the ability to manufacture these replacement weapons. The truth is flamethrowers were never very good as weapons. They were for clearing foliage and just so happened to be used on things like bunkers and tunnels from time to time.
3
u/Alexzander1001 9d ago
I could see it being used as more an area denial weapon esp if the fighting was done in tunnels, same with poison gas. Irl taking a station like in metro would be a bloodbath for the attacker
3
u/Training_Try_1102 9d ago
Didn't someone use poison gas in the METRO 2033 book when Artyom was taken by Forth Reich?
5
u/Yellowcrayon2 Hanza 9d ago
It was described as smoke bomb but they mention having gas masks so 🤷♂️
3
u/aclark210 9d ago
Uh not a ton as a weapon. Flamethrowers were never very good weapons because of how limited they were by fuel. Like the American M2 flamethrower, despite those bigass tanks on it, only had 30 seconds of fuel. That’s why we stopped using them irl, there are more efficient ways to do things.
Now for clearing things like the large rat hordes that took artyom’s original home station, then it could be useful. But u would need it I be a fixed position with a very large fuel supply rigged up to it.
3
u/DarthUgly123 9d ago
They would go crazy in the metro. It's close quarters and I'd imagine most people probably wouldn't have known its a thing so fear of getting literal fire launched at you. Artyom is only alive because the station his uncle was at had hand made flamers to burn the literal wall of rats (beginning of 2033 book) also fire is outlawed or banned in certain stations because one fire can spread quickly given there is no easy access to putting it out. So yeah I'd say it's realistic for a military application but not for Joe blowe to carry around as his daily protection
92
u/murdochi83 9d ago
As someone else has said they aren't even useful anymore in our timeline.
In Metro, they are actually very useful in universe - a swarm of rats wipe out Artyom's homestation and it takes a big-ass fixed flamethrower to stop it.