By the example of the new hero Seer in Apex Legends, a nasty trend in PvP shooters is currently revealing itself: Legal “cheats” like wallhacks, which are sold as skills. However, MeinMMO author and shooter fan Jürgen Horn believes: That’s still like cheating and nobody needs that!
What kind of “cheats” are we talking about? The topic that is currently bothering me is skills and items in competitive shooters that give players advantages in the game similar to hacks and cheats. Features that are applicable like so-called wallhacks are particularly common here.
Wallhacks are cheats that allow cheating players to see opponents through walls or reveal them on the minimap. Basically, anything that gives one an advantage in the game by revealing and clarifying opponents without much effort, thus determining their exact position.
Everyone hates wallhacks, but if a hero can do it, it’s ok?
In which games is this a problem? Unlike clearly illegal hacks that let you look through walls, many shooters now offer items or skills that implement such advantages as part of the game mechanics. Here are a few current examples:
- In Apex Legends, the heroes Bloodhound and the new character Seer can see opponents through walls with skills and even mark them for the entire team.
- In Valorant, there are several heroes who reveal opponents through walls or otherwise expose them.
- CoD has various reconnaissance drones that reveal opponents on the map, plus a perk that shows opponents through walls if you have hit them at least once.
- In Overwatch, Widowmaker and Hanzo can detect enemies through walls.
It is clear: Wallhack skills are a trend that few shooters can escape.
Why is this actually a problem? Now one could of course say: “Well, these are skills and items that you first have to find, or you can only use them limitedly and can’t just cheat like with a real hack.”
Yes, of course, compared to “real” hacks, these “skill hacks” are certainly less harmful, but they are still sensitive intrusions into the gameplay of a shooter. What distinguishes a good player from a noob is, among other things, a sixth sense for the environment and the instinct to venture into unknown territory and assert themselves against campers and unexpected enemy encounters.
However, if everything can be done with a simple mouse click, it takes much of the appeal away from a game, and anyone who has worked hard to acquire such skills will be countered by every noob who simply uses them as an automatic skill.
This overall makes games more boring and blunt, as no one needs elaborate tactics to outmaneuver the opponent. After all, you have your “legal wallhack”.
Such skills are particularly disgusting in games where you can also shoot through walls. Valorant with its notorious “wall bangs” is a prime example of this, as is CoD Warzone, where a certain combo takes out opponents behind walls.
What can be done about it? Honestly, I would prefer if such wallhacks and other cheat-like skills and items did not exist in competitive shooters at all. If they must exist, then such skills should either be very short-acting or have very long cooldowns.
This has recently happened in Apex Legends, as the new hero Seer actually only had such detection and wallhack skills, and many fans were upset. Since the latest patch in mid-August, the cooldowns of his skills have been increased across the board, and the abilities are less effective. Nevertheless, a pure “wallhack hero” should not have been introduced into the game in the first place.
Fortunately, the developers at Apex seem to have realized this somehow and communicated it on Twitter. Let’s hope they have learned their lesson and that there will soon be a change of heart in other games.
What is your opinion on the subject? Do you think such “hacks” have a right to exist, or do you agree with me and say: “That should go away, that’s clear cheating!”?
Also controversial are “cheater monitors” that give you crosshairs where there shouldn’t be any.
