BAR

The BAR is an American support weapon featured in all World War II installments of Call of Duty.

Singleplayer
The BAR is an American automatic rifle. It is generally hard to find, but is very powerful, capable of killing with one bullet at any range, and has a relatively high magazine capacity of twenty. It has fairly high recoil, but its already somewhat low rate of fire allows for very easy tap-firing. As it is already fairly hard to find, ammunition can get to be very scarce throughout the campaign.

Multiplayer
The BAR is issued to the Americans in multiplayer is fairly powerful, capable of killing an enemy with one shot to the head or two to the chest, or two to the head and three to the chest at maximum range in UO. Its primary flaw is its small magazine which is not as large as the comparable StG-44, and therefore may force its user to reload a bit more often.

Call of Duty: Finest Hour
The BAR has the same sights as the M1 Garand, and will down an enemy in 2-5 shots, depending on range. It is available in all of the American missions except for Come Out Fighting, and ammunition is plentiful. When Lt. Walker begins with one in Road to Remagen it is inaccurate since an officer would not go into combat with a BAR, as they would attract enemy fire.

Singleplayer
The BAR is still a fairly rare weapon, but is still quite powerful. An enemy can be killed with just one bullet at close range, or with a headshot at any range, but requires two shots to kill at maximum distance with anything but a headshot. Its magazine size is still small, and ammunition is still scarce.

Multiplayer
In multiplayer, it is issued to the American team. It is not as powerful as the earlier version, taking two rounds to the chest to kill, or one shot to the head. Its recoil can throw a user's aim off, so tap or burst firing is a useful tactic. It can take on bolt-action users at long-range with tap-firing, and even submachine gun users at close range by going full-auto, although its magazine size is fairly small, meaning it may need to be reloaded fairly soon after beginning a firefight.

Call of Duty 2: Big Red One
In Call of Duty 2: Big Red One, the BAR is a support weapon given to the player at the beginning of later missions. It is generally powerful and can kill in 3 body shots or a single head shot.

Call of Duty 3
The BAR is almost exactly the same as in the previous games, particularly Call of Duty: Finest Hour, but it has a peep sight similar to the M1918A1 early model. It has a good rate of fire and good accuracy in some case also support by high penetration power. It was the second to last seen weapon ( The first being the MG34.) in Call of Duty 3, only seen in the Chapter 2 "The Island " and the final chapter "Chambois". Single shots provide extremely accurate and saves a lot of ammo. Typically, three hits are needed to kill, but with proper aim, a single round to the head will also kill an enemy.

Call of Duty: Roads to Victory
In Call of Duty: Roads to Victory, the BAR appears in but one level of the American campaign; Nijmegen.

Singleplayer
The BAR appears throughout the Pacific Campaign. Like in Call of Duty 3, it's a powerful and versatile weapon, but ammo is scarce as few of the Marines use it in levels other than "Hard Landing" or "Breaking Point".

Multiplayer
The BAR is unlocked at level 4, and is the second weapon unlocked in Call of Duty: World at War. It hits hard with high random recoil and high power, but has a low fire rate and a small 20 round magazine. Even with a slow rate of fire, a magazine runs out fast considering it only has 20 rounds. On standard the BAR will kill in 3 hits and with Stopping Power it can kill in 2 hits at close-mid range, although it may take one or two more shots to kill depending on whether the target has Juggernaut and/or Second Chance. It can also be fitted with a bipod that, when mounted, completely eliminates recoil. Double Tap can be used to help boost the low rate of fire, but at the expense of the already high recoil being increased further.

Although labeled as a Machine Gun, the BAR should be treated as what it is: an Automatic Rifle. Considering the BAR has the most recoil of any weapon, the general strategy is either to burst fire or quickly single-shot despite also having the most view kick recovery. Fully-automatic fire usually ends up being inaccurate and is better off at close-mid range (whenever accuracy is less of an issue). The BAR is the only Machine Gun to have the movement speed multiplier of a rifle while aiming down the sights, and therefore engaging in close-mid range is more tolerable than with other machine guns.

The BAR, even with the ability to one hit kill, is ill-advised in Hardcore game modes due to the very low rate of fire and huge recoil. It is always outclassed by most other weapons, including single shot rifles in rare circumstances.

Nazi Zombies
In Nacht Der Untoten and Shi No Numa the BAR appears on the wall and costs 1800 points. In Verruckt, it costs 1800 points[in a room there is a BAR\w bipod that cost 2500 points. However it has slightly less recoil]; in Der Riese it is only available randomly from the Mystery Box for 950 points. On Verruckt it comes with an unusable bipod. This is odd, considering the fact this weapon has a small ammo capacity, and low rate of fire. Medium damage, low rate of fire, and small magazine stop this weapon from being effective against Zombies past round ten.

When upgraded using the Pack-a-Punch machine, it becomes the "Widow Maker". When upgraded, it has a higher rate of fire and damage, and even with the upgrade, ammunition supplies can become problematic in later rounds, which makes some players skip upgrading the BAR altogether in favor of other automatics.

Tank Dempsey seems to favor this weapon, as he might say: "The BAR! My Favorite!"

Call of Duty: World at War (Nintendo DS)
The BAR appears in the Nintendo DS version of World at War as the only portable machine gun available for use. Unlike the console versions, the BAR has a higher rate of fire, slightly less bullet damage, different irons sights, and more recoil. The iron sights are not as precise; it is often considered obstructive.

Singleplayer
In single player, the BAR is first used in "Into the Darkness" as a starting weapon, then is featured in "Castle Approach" and "Storm the Walls" as a starting weapon as well. Its modest rate of fire and damage make it a good weapon, though it is recommended to burst fire at long range. If there is an ammo shortage, one should swap it out for a Type 100, as ammunition for it can't be found anywhere other than ammunition boxes.

Multiplayer
In multiplayer, the BAR is available for use once again, though exclusive to the USMC faction. Given its qualities, it is better using it for close ranges. Due to its small magazine, just 20 rounds, it is best not to spray n' pray with it, and use the iron sights for more precise, accurate shots. Just like all other automatic weapons featured in game, it only has upwards recoil, so aiming downwards while firing will effectively counter the recoil.

Call of Duty: World At War: Final Fronts
In Final Fronts it is exactly like the one in Call of Duty 2.

Trivia

 * In Call of Duty:World at War, the 3rd person model of the BAR has no ejection port or bipod.
 * According to the strategy guide for Call of Duty: World at War (DS), the BAR is considered to be an Assault Rifle, instead of a LMG.
 * The BAR has the lowest rate of fire of any automatic weapon in Call of Duty: World at War.
 * In Call of Duty: World at War, even though the BAR has a bipod attached in singleplayer, it cannot be deployed.
 * In Call of Duty 2, the BAR also has an un-deployed bipod, but it's purely cosmetic as there are no attachments.

Video
400pxGameplay with the BAR in Call of Duty: World at War.