Because reloading a weapon in a first or third-person shooter game is often such a quick and common occurrence, most developers don't dedicate too much time or effort trying to make these animations stand out, often focusing more on the gunplay itself, which needs to feel responsive and snappy. The truth is though, considering how frequently a player is going to be loading a new magazine into their weapon, they're going to notice very quickly whether these animations stand out from what they're used to, or if it's just the same sequence that's already been seen hundreds of times before.

Related

6 Open-World Games With The Best Gunplay, Ranked

The developers of these open-world titles dedicated a lot of time to making the guns feel as satisfying and realistic to use as possible.

Small details like this go a very long way in making a game much more immersive and engaging, and thankfully, many developers have started to pay more attention to these small but important reload animations over the years to make them look, sound, and feel much more believable, or sometimes, simply more flashy and stylish. With that being said, when it comes to doing something different and unique with reloading a gun, these games listed below do it better than anyone else.

6 Resident Evil 4

Leon Proves That He Knows His Way Around A Gun Through His Flashy Reload Animations

Although a lot of Leon's reload animations in Resident Evil 4 are pretty standard and nothing too out of the ordinary, there are a few select guns where Capcom, for whatever reason, made their reload animations as badass and satisfying to watch as possible. One such example is the Red 9 handgun, which is acquired during the village portion of the game. After jamming a new line of bullets into the gun, Leon will then give the weapon a casual flip to get rid of the old rounds, adding a bit of his own personal flare to the animation.

Another example is reloading the bolt action rifle, which not only looks shockingly realistic but also sounds incredible thanks to the fantastic audio design for each of the weapons. Considering Leon's action-hero persona that he has going on in this game, it seems believable that he would be pretty casual and carefree when using his weapons of choice, and it's resulted in some downright iconic reload animations as a result.

5 Bulletstorm

It's Only Fitting That The Over The Top Arsenal Of Weapons Would Include Exaggerated Reload Animations

Because of how fast-paced and chaoticBulletstorm's core gameplay is intended to be, it means the developers People Can Fly needed to make sure every moment was fun, snappy, and engaging, and this included the reload animations. Each of the many devastating weapons in Bulletstorm has its own distinct reloads which are often very over the top and fun to watch.

Related

6 RPGs That Have A Gunslinger Class

A rare class that only rears its head in a few select RPG titles, the gunslinger is one of the more unique RPG classes. Here's which games have it.

Whether it's Grayson jamming a giant cannonball into the Bouncer, or casually flipping over the barrels of the Boneduster to load it back up for another round, the exaggerated animations perfectly suit the absurd nature of the game and its tone. Considering that Grayson is a grizzled warrior who now assumes the role of leading a black ops team of highly skilled soldiers, it makes sense that he would know his way around a gun, and he most certainly puts this on full display when pumping a few extra bullets into the many weapons that he finds throughout his chaotic journey.

4 Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon

The Stylish Reload Sequences Keep Players Engaged In The Action At All Times

After the enormous success of Far Cry 3, Ubisoft made the decision to create an extra expansion that was drastically different from the base game in regard to its visuals, style, and overall tone. Blood Dragon was inspired by the retro wave of the 1980s, and as a result, it features some absolutely bizarre weapons that are a ton of fun not only to fire but also to reload, thanks to how downright ridiculous the reload animations are.

Although the standard three-shot Beretta handgun has a pretty simple reload, this isn't the case for the other guns, such as the Galleria shotgun for example where Rex literally tosses shells into the weapon without a care in the world. Another example of just how stylish these small sequences can be is with the Kobracon assault rifle where Rex will quickly spin around the magazine on his mechanical arm before plugging it into the gun, something that definitely isn't practical in the middle of a firefight, but that still looks absolutely amazing in practice.

3 Apex Legends

Reloading Not Only Feels Fast And Fluid, But It Also Sounds Amazing Thanks To The Audio Design

When playing a match of Apex Legends, players won't need to worry about waiting around for their gun to be fully loaded before it's ready to start blasting again. Every reload in the game feels extremely fast and responsive, which is in stark contrast to a lot of shooter games where the character can take their sweet time loading a new magazine. In Apex Legends though, reloads feel extremely fluid and responsive, getting players back into the fight as quickly as possible.

Related

Apex Legends: 6 Best Skirmisher Legends, Ranked

In Apex Legends, players can't go wrong with the following skirmishers.

The sound design of these animations is also absolutely exceptional, perfectly portraying how heavy and bulky a lot of the cartridges or magazines can be as the Legend fits them into the gun itself. While Apex Legendstakes a fairly realistic approach to its weapons and their animations, because the game still has a very apparent sci-fi influence, it also allows the developers to get a little creative at times, especially with some of the more out-there guns, like the L-Star and the Charge Rifle. Although the guns in Apex Legends already look and sound vastly different from one another, their unique reload animations also help to set them apart, making them all feel very unique to use.

2 Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2023)

The Amount Of Care And Effort Put Into Every Aspect Of MW3's Weapons Is Astonishing

When the Modern Warfare 2019 reboot was released, it became clear that the developers were making a big effort to return to Call of Duty's more grounded roots in an attempt to steer away from the arcade-like experience provided by previous entries. While that game, and Modern Warfare 2 (2022), both had a large selection of incredibly realistic and unique weapons for players to equip for their class, Modern Warfare 3 (2023) took this a step further by throwing even more guns into the mix, which all have some of the most realistic and stylish reload animations in the industry.

The regular reload animations not only look amazing thanks to how visually stunning the game looks, but the stellar audio design also does a great job at pointing out every satisfying crack, click, and bolt that goes into reloading a specific weapon. Besides the regular animations though, players are also able to showcase their weapon mid-game which will cause their character to insert a new magazine in the most flashy way possible, such as throwing the magazine up in the air or spinning it around first; perfect for making a statement for that game-winning kill cam.

1 Borderlands 3

A Staggering Number Of Weird, Wacky, And Wonderful Reload Animations To Admire

While the Borderlands games do feature a large cast of lovable characters, along with having their own unique storylines, they've always been primarily based around the guns, which come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. After nailing the sound and feel of the weapons in the first two games, Gearbox let their imagination run wild with the reload animations in Borderlands 3, conjuring up some hilarious, flashy, and very eye-catching animations that only this series could manage to pull off.

For example, there are some revolvers that are reloaded by throwing up multiple bullets into the air and letting them drop into the chamber, but there are also some that the character will simply whack, or pour a little extra fuel into them to get them back up and running. There are even a few weapons where their reload animation is literally throwing them at an enemy before they explode, which just goes to show how above and beyond Gearbox went with their ideas when it came to designing every aspect of their weapons for this game.

More

Most Iconic Video Game Weapons

Certain weapons have transcended their virtual boundaries in video games to become iconic symbols of gaming history.