Desert Eagle

The Desert Eagle is a handgun in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. In both games, it is one of the most powerful pistols available.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
The Desert Eagle appears in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare as one of the four side arms available in game, being the most powerful one. The only singleplayer level the Desert Eagle is available in is "Crew Expendable". The Desert Eagle can only be obtained during the campaign if the player runs ahead of the other S.A.S. members in the first cargo hold of Crew Expendable, at which point an Ultranationalist leaps out of a storage container armed with the Desert Eagle. It is also seen being given to Khaled Al-Asad by Imran Zakhaev to execute President Al-Fulani in The Coup, and is again seen being wielded by Imran Zakhaev during Game Over.

In multiplayer, the Desert Eagle retains its position as a very powerful pistol; it can kill in two hits at close range. Although the other pistols can do the same, the Desert Eagle is unique in that it does not require Stopping Power to achieve two-hit kills, making it a popular sidearm for players using Perks other than Stopping Power. The Desert Eagle has the highest hip-fire accuracy of any weapon in the game. Unlike other pistols, it cannot be fitted with a silencer. The Desert Eagle is unlocked at Level 43 (Brigadier General), and a golden version is unlocked at Level 55 (commander), making it the only golden weapon that does not require the completion of any expert challenges to acquire.

The Desert Eagle is popular because of its sheer power. However, some people choose to avoid it as it has a low magazine capacity of just 7 rounds (and a backup of 21). It is also one of the loudest weapons in the game, and has high visual recoil.

Singleplayer
The Desert Eagle is now more common in the campaign than it was in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, appearing as the first sidearm you use in the game in "S.S.D.D." and sometimes in the hands of militia. It is also found in the makeshift hospital in "Of Their Own Accord" right next to Cpl. Keating's computer, and in one of the rooms with the resting soldiers on a small table next to one of the beds. Akimbo Desert Eagles can also be found twice in the level, "Takedown", and it can be found in the armory in "Loose Ends". It also appears in "Just Like Old Times", in the control room just before Shepherd blows it up. Its rate of fire seems to have been slowed down compared to the rate of fire in the previous game.

Multiplayer
The Desert Eagle is unlocked at level 62. In multiplayer it appears alongside another powerful handgun, the .44 Magnum. Since the .44 Magnum is unlocked before the Desert Eagle, has more minimum damage and has less recoil, it is much more popular. The .44 Magnum does however have a six round capacity as opposed to the Desert Eagle's seven rounds.

The Desert Eagle is somewhat similar to the one in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. One benefit is that it now accepts attachments. However, its recoil has been increased considerably, both by increasing the kick (and making it arc to the right) and reducing the speed at which it re-centers. The gun now sports a titanium carbon nitride finish, as opposed to the polished chrome finish it had in the previous game. The Desert Eagle is seen with tactical rails on both the top of the gun and the underside of the barrel, and it also has a tactical laser mounted underneath. However, this is all purely aesthetic, as the Desert Eagle cannot equip any attachments on the rails and players cannot utilize the laser. Another new feature is the addition of a white three-dot-sight setup, of which the front sight is slightly off-center, although this does not affect accuracy. It is interesting to note that while using the Tactical Knife attachment, the Desert Eagle's sights become centered.

The Desert Eagle goes fairly unused online due to its high unlock level and high recoil. However, players that take the time to unlock the Akimbo attachment are rewarded with a powerful and easier to use close quarters weapon.

In Hardcore, despite the Desert Eagle's ability to kill in one shot at any range, it is usually passed over for other secondaries with the same ability, such as the M93 Raffica.

The Desert Eagle with a Tactical Knife can be an extremely dangerous weapon in the hands of an experienced user. If the player can learn to control the recoil, medium to even long range combat is a matter of correct timing; the close range combat is covered by the Tactical Knife. A good idea is to combine Commando and Stopping Power to increase effectiveness.

Weapon Attachments

 * FMJ - Unlocked after 10 kills.
 * Akimbo - Unlocked after 50 kills.
 * Tactical Knife - Unlocked after 100 kills.

Trivia

 * On Infinity Ward's website, the Desert Eagle was voted the favorite handgun in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.
 * Throughout the Modern Warfare series, the Desert Eagle's firing sound is often used during cinematic moments when a different handgun is actually fired, due to its louder and more dramatic report.
 * The files for Modern Warfare 2 contain all the data for the Gold Desert Eagle, though it is normally inaccessible in game. Its implementation is almost entirely complete, and it can be used normally in game with a hack such as a Class Editor. (Obviously this only works in local multiplayer, as the online master server will detect the anomalous item.) This near-complete implementation suggests it was going to be a last-level reward like it was in Call of Duty 4, but it was displaced by the AK-47 fairly late in development.
 * Contrary to popular belief, SSgt. Griggs does not use a Desert Eagle while saving Soap in Game Over, but a nickel-plated M1911 .45.
 * A commonly used term for the Desert Eagle is "Deagle".
 * The Desert Eagle and .44 Magnum are the only two pistols in Modern Warfare 2 that have only three attachments (FMJ, Akimbo, Tactical Knife). The other attachments that are used with the USP.45 and M9 are silencer and extended mags.
 * In the Multiplayer of Modern Warfare 2 the Desert Eagle's sights are off. They don't shoot accurately in the direction the player is aiming at.

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