Weapons

It's-a me, a-Mario!

Yes, that's right, you have joined the famed baddy-killing plumber's guild. Toss aside that worn out old crowbar and feast your eyes on this holy wrench of alien-slaying! OK, so it's just a wrench, but it does a damn good job in close combat, if a bit slower than the crowbar or the combat knife.

Doubly Deadly

You remember how everyone tells you never to look directly into a laser? Like those laser pointers or the lasers you might use in physics class for demonstration purposes? Well, Gearbox was kind enough to bring that kind of deadly blinding laser power into the game. Oh baby, will those mighty Xen aliens fear you now, especially once they realize that the laser actually has a .357 Desert Eagle attached to it. Yeah, ok, I was pulling your leg with the laser being a weapon. It really isn't a true weapon, but once you see the kind of mind-boggling accuracy you can achieve with the .357, you'll appreciate it a lot more.

Main screen

Dark, tight space and a corner ahead...hmmm

The Desert Eagle, in its standard mode has the laser disabled and its accuracy stinks. I was at the boot camp firing range barely hitting the wall behind the targets, nevermind the targets themselves; that is, until I finally listened to my instructor and turned on the laser with the alternate fire. Oh boy, what a difference. The Desert Eagle is by far my favorite weapon in the game. It has insane stopping power and fires at a half-decent rate too. Head crabs? One blow. Hound-eyes? Same. Too bad you never carry more than 43 rounds of .357 ammo (7 in the gun, 36 spare.) I think I could finish the game if I had only this gun and enough ammo for it.

A Mere 600 Yards Away...

Sniper rifles are a way of life. Ask CalBear - first thing I did in Rogue Spear when we played was find the .50 cal Barrett 82A1, load it up and take it even on close combat missions. If it came down to close fighting, I'd just pull out my .50 cal pistol :) The sniper rifle offered in OpFor is the real-life Marine issue M-40A1, 7.56mm. While not quite as insanely powerful as the Barrett, it is still a blast to use. There's just something about being able to load up a savegame and shoot critters with impunity from a safe distance, after all that trouble and pain they cause you up close.

Do your thing, boy

But he wouldn't listen!

Ah well, onto the gun. The zoom is pretty decent, if static. You can't modify the zoom level at all like you could in Rogue Spear, TRIBES or Unreal Tournament style. Be careful with your shots, since you don't get too much ammo to play with, and reloading takes a long time. Even between loaded shots there's a good second and a half. Once you've spent your rounds, the game zooms you out and makes you watch this agonizing reload sequence as your enemies bear down on you. That's just not the kind of situation you want to be in.

Everybody's favorite meddler

Fine, maybe he's useful - let him out