User blog:The M1sta PoPo/The Near Death of the LMG

Let me start by saying that I am an LMG type of guy.I love the fact that if I start to miss, I can keep firing for almost a full minute if not more. If I see an M60E4 in campaign, I'm gonna pick it up, because the guns in campaign all do around the same damage, or enough to not make a difference, and I can spray down enemies for more than thrice as long than if I had an M4. Sadly, this is not the case in multiplayer, where the only redeeming quality is the 100 round magazines, which doesn't even happen in some games. This, among many other things inspired me to write this blog, entitled "The Near death of the LMG."

In Modern Warfare, the LMGs were arguably at their best. While the M60E4 was nothing special, the M249 pumped out fair damage with lots of rounds per minute, and the RPD killed in a very quick amount of time. The LMGs, as I can remember, did not move as if you were dragging around a sack of bricks, but instead you move only slightly less fast than if you were carrying a Skorpion.

In World At War, the LMGs were split up into LMGs and HMGs or a Heavy Machine Gun, a distinction that confuses me. Apparently, and LMG is something like the FG42, an assault rifle of sorts, yet one that can use a Bipod. HMGs were ones like the MG42, or something that in campaign you would find in a hidden place, or as a mounted weapon. These weapons were definitely a step down from MW, but were still at least useable. The FG42 was deadly with a Telescopic Sight, and the M1919 Browning with Double Tap was a force to be reckoned with when using the bipod. However, the developers at Treyarch decided that the L/HMGs should be useless in CQC, which would be fine if the only decent sidearm had some reserve ammo or if the Knife worked properly, but instead Treyarch decided that, in the end, the MP40 should conquer all. I at least give Treyarch a round of applause for putting more than three or four of them in the game, though.

MW2 was, to me, the real start of the LMGs' decent into mediocrity. Some of the guns, although lasers, needed almost five successive shots to kill people at long range (compensating for lag), and others, although extremely powerful had such obnoxious recoil that in three successive shots you would almost be aiming at the sky. Others were plagued by glitches and all around mediocrity. The RPD and the AUG HBAR were the only guns in my opinion that could stand up to the TAR-21 and the UMP, but I have trouble calling the HBAR an LMG, because of the 42-round clip. Other than that, it is statistically identical to the aforementioned RPD. However, considering all of the above, the mediocrity of the LMG pales in comparison to Black Ops.

I feel like Treyarch decided that LMGs fired packing peanuts instead of bullets. Honestly, that's how I feel, because all of the LMGs in Black Ops suck. Most of them did not have half of the capacity that LMGs normally had, and the one that did fired .02 rounds per second. These guns were almost unusable under almost any circumstances, aside from the Stoner, which had decent TTK and somewhat usable sights. The other ones had terrible iron sights and terrible ROFs or damage. And then there's "Big Ammo" Really Treyarch? Really? However, I feel like the put by far the worst LMGs into zombies. If they wanted to replicate the high ROF for zombie slaying that the MG42 had, put in the Stoner. If you wanted a high-damage moderate ROF LMG, put in the M60. Why they used the two crappiest LMGs they could find I had no idea, but they were much less useful than in WAW Zombies. The LMG's were almost the opposite of the AK-74u. The AK74u was classified as a submachine gun, but was really an assault rifle with SMG movement speed and ADS. The LMGs were classifieds as LMGs, but were worse than assault rifles on almost every front, and had LMG movement speed and ADS. This was by far the worst COD for LMGs.

MW3 marks a triumphant return for LMGs, and while they are not as good as in MW, they come in at a close second. The fact that going prone allows near zero recoil helps out a lot, because the LMGs, again, have some nasty recoil.However, the LMGs, thanks to the attachment Proficiency, can have an optic and grip (or even grip and kick) and still use SOH and Quickdraw. This makes LMGs a deadly assault rifle type gun with slower movement speed. Also, unlike in the past, using a suppressor does not lower the base damage stat, allowing for LMGs to be stealthy for the first time. The L86, while almost the opposite from MW2, can be extremely deadly with it's fast fire rate and low recoil if using Kick and Grip. The PKP Pecheneg and the MK46 are best used with Rapid Fire and Grip for fast fire rates and moderate recoil. The MG36 and M60E4 should be used with Red Dot Sight and Grip in my opinion, but if the iron sights are usable to you then Rapid Fire or Kick are good choices.

Keep in mind that this blog is strictly an opinion, but is backed up by evidence over years of playing COD. Very rarely do I see people using the LMG, but when I do they are using the starting LMG class. I feel like the LMG is a dying breed of awesome that will hopefully come back and once again be awesome, and I am hoping that the LMGs of MW3 are a sign of things to come.

Peace The M1sta PoPo 21:01, January 15, 2012 (UTC)