MP40

The MP 40 (MaschinenPistole 40) is a German sub-machine gun featured in all WWII installments of the Call of Duty series.

Call of Duty and United Offensive
The MP40 is a submachine gun used by the Germans; it is equiped with a standard 32 round magazine. While it has a low rate of fire for close quarters, this makes it easier to control while burst-firing. Like the Thompson, it can be used at close or medium range, making it a pretty versatile weapon. It's arguably the best SMG in the game; combining decent power with a controllable rate of fire, minimal recoil, and good accuracy. However its ironsights are a bit intrusional.

In view of the fact that ammo for Thompson or PPSh-41 submachine guns is not too readily available in enemy territory, it is frequently advantageous to swap those for an MP40 off a fallen foe fairly soon, because nearly all enemies you mow down from then on will top up your ammo supply.

Call of Duty: Finest Hour
The MP40 is a stable submachine gun found on all fronts. It is the first automatic weapon encountered by the player in the level "Not One Step Back". It does decent damage and has controllable recoil, compared to some other submachcine guns. On the last level of the game, Wehrmacht troops carry often up to 1,000 rounds or more with them. Anywhere elsewhere in the game each soldier has 96 at the most except for the first mission, where one can be found with 319 rounds in it. The most a player can hold at once is 32 rounds in the magazine and 160 rounds of reserve ammunition, but with a glitch you can have up to 38,000 rounds, if not more.

Call of Duty 2
The Call of Duty 2 MP40 has been slightly changed. While its damage and rate of fire are the same, its recoil has been significantly increased, though this isn't technically correct, the MP40 is one of the most stable automatic weapons of all time; it has hardly any recoil. This game makes it much harder to control, but burst firing a target that isn't in close quarters is essential if you want to hit him. Otherwise, it's the same MP40 that was in Call of Duty. The recoil, when compared to the Thompson, is a steady recoil, while the Thompson is a steady rise.

Call of Duty 3
The MP40 is very similar to the other games, and is one the most common weapons available, as a large amount of German soldiers carry the MP40. It does have a shocking recoil, but soon back to position after the recoil. It is not as powerful as the Thompson, as people sometimes comparing them both, MP40 is a good option for someone who is out of ammo.

Singleplayer
The MP40 is commonly used by the German soldiers in Call of Duty: World at War, during the Russian campaign. It is common to switch to the MP40 in campaign since the Russian PPSh-41 eats up ammunition extremely fast, and many allies have to be killed to obtain a usable amount of ammo, though this is not the case in "Heart of the Reich", as the majority of allies will be wielding the PPSh-41 during the main assault on the four Flak 88s, making ammo much more readily available in this part. In any case, ammo for the MP40 is widely available in campaign. It is a reliable sidearm to the Mosin-Nagant Rifle, due to the stated reason that ammunition is easily found, and that it also is powerful in close quarters.

Multiplayer
The MP40 is unlocked at level 10, and statistically the most powerful SMG in the game, in terms of damage per round. Stopping Power and Steady Aim make the MP40 incredibly powerful in close quarters, as it is very accurate while hipfiring. The low fire-rate is somewhat balanced by the large-capacity magazine and high power. These traits make the MP40 one of the most popular weapons in multiplayer. The lower rate of fire sometimes allows users to manage their ammo supply efficiently. The widespread use of the MP40 make ammunition a non-issue, so Bandolier is the only perk that shouldn't really be used with the weapon.

The weapon is looked down upon by many players because it is generally considered to be "overpowered", however a lot of players take advantage of the high power of the MP40, and use tier 2 perks that are less common. However, Juggernaut with the MP40 is a common sight and is frowned upon, because when Juggernaut is used, the user becomes incredibly powerful in close quarters - the MP40 is able to kill in two hits at close range without Stopping Power, and the user will take less damage from enemy weapons. This combination, the MP40 plus Juggernaut is common mainly as the perk and weapon are available in the early levels.

The weapon performs well in short-to-medium range combat, as the recoil makes firing at range difficult - however, users can easily burst-fire at range. It is also one of the few weapons that is commonly used with all its attachments - most are generally used with just one. The Dual Magazines attachment is most commonly used as it allows close to ten seconds of fire, and coupled with Steady Aim, many players just "spray and pray" instead of aiming down the sights to neutralize targets. Double Tap is sometimes used to combat the low fire rate - but in doing so increase the recoil. This is less effective at range as Stopping Power kills faster with the MP40 at longer ranges, and using less rounds. Double Tap is greater in effectiveness at close range.

The MP40 with a Silencer, Bomb Squad, Camouflage, and Dead Silence is a very powerful stealth class, and is less looked down upon than an MP40 with Juggernaut. This is most common in Search and Destroy, as stealth is less of an issue in other game modes.

In Hardcore, the MP40 with Stopping Power is a one shot kill at any range, unless the enemy is using Juggernaut or Second Chance, or the target is hit through a surface. Without Stopping Power, only a headshot at long range will kill in one shot.

It is interesting to note that the Dual Magazines attachment (Marksman III) for the MP40 makes the weapon look quite odd. There are two small protrusions on either side of the MP40's magazine well. This is a result of some modifications to this gun that occurred during WWII, which was meant to compensate the PPSh's drum magazine. This modification was known as the MP40 II, but was not widely used, as it caused the gun to become off-balance, and was fairly pointless once the Soviets began to use regular box magazines with the PPSh-41 to avoid problems with the drum. It is not recommended to have Dual Magazines as the large ammunition capacity, low rate of fire, and high damage allow for the use of a different attachment, unless you are using Double Tap, or in the case of some players, hip-firing the gun and spraying it. The penetration capabilities of the MP40 are problems to some users as this means that the target has to be more visible, whilst with the Thompson, the penetration is higher, and rivals the weak penetration of the MP40.

Nazi Zombies
The MP40 appears in all Nazi Zombie levels, being available off the wall in all other maps but Nacht Der Untoten, and from the Mystery Box in every map. It is comparable to the Thompson, but with higher damage and a larger magazine at the cost of a lower ROF. Like the Thompson, it is a powerful weapon in the early to mid rounds. In the later rounds, players will frequently run out of ammo. However, its recoil is significantly reduced compared to the campaign or multiplayer version.

When you put it in the Pack-a-Punch Machine in the Nazi Zombies map Der Riese its name becomes "The Afterburner", and its ammunition capacity is doubled. Even after the upgrade, players will often run out of ammo in the middle of the round, leaving them vulnerable.

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Call of Duty: World at War (DS)
The MP-40 appears in the Nintendo DS version of Call of Duty: World at War as one of the five sub machineguns in game. Just like the console versions, it has the lowest rate of fire of all automatic weapons, but that is where the similarities end. First of all, the MP-40 has the lowest damage output of all weapons in game, as opposed to one of the highest. Secondly, it has the lowest recoil of all weapons, having nearly none. Lastly, the rate of fire is so low that even a mediocre player could fire a semiautomatic weapon faster than it. Despite the seemingly bad qualities, it accelerates at long range combat, where accuracy triumphs power.

In single player, the MP-40 is the most commonly found weapon in the British and Russian campaigns. It is wielded by every German soldier, until the level Missed Delivery, where enemies with STG-44s can be found. Unlike its multiplayer variant, it is a decent weapon to use, killing it three shots at any range, though its use is limited to long ranges. As mentioned before, the MP-40 best used at long range, but can be effective in close quarters in one on one engagements. Due to the less advanced game engine, the player is given enough time to aim for the enemy's head and kill them before they, themselves, are killed.

In multiplayer, the MP-40 is best treated as a long range weapon, as its low power and low rate of fire make it terrible in close encounters, unless one is attacking an unsuspecting enemy or is aiming for the head. Due to these factors, it is seen much less than the console versions; one using this weapon is usually viewed to have a considerable degree of skill, as opposed to being looked down upon for using an overpowered weapon.

Trivia

 * While the weapon's power is normally the same, the SMG's sound and rate of fire varies. The biggest differences is between Call of Duty 2's MP40, which fires slowly and louder than other submachine guns, and World at War's MP40, which fires rather quickly and quietly.
 * In Call of Duty 2, there is a distinct fingerprint on the curve below the iron sights.
 * The Reload animation is quicker in Call of Duty 3.
 * In Call of Duty: World at War, the MP40 has a similar reloading animation to its Call of Duty 2 variant. Other weapons that have this are the M1A1 Carbine, the STG-44, the Thompson, and the M1911 Colt .45.
 * In Nazi Zombies, when Richtofen acquires this weapon, he may say, "Everyone's favorite," referencing the popularity of the MP40 both in Singleplayer and multiplayer.
 * In Nazi Zombies, the MP40 has greatly reduced recoil compared to other game modes, having virtually none.
 * In Call of Duty: World at War, when using an MP40 with an aperture sight and bandolier, you start with 32 less rounds than you would without using aperture sights.
 * In Call of Duty: World at War DS, its reload time is quicker than the empty reload time for the MP-40 on the consoles.
 * In the DS version of World at War, the MP-40 shares the same audio files for the reloading sound of the Browning Automatic Rifle.
 * In Call of Duty: World at War, when you pick up the MP40 from the ground in singleplayer or Nazi Zombies, the player cocks the charging handle back into the safe position, while in Multiplayer, the player just picks the gun up.

Video
Gameplay footage of the MP-40 from Call of Duty: World at War Beta.

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