Akimbo

For the attachment in Call of Duty: Black Ops with the same function, see Dual Wield.

The Akimbo attachment icon in Modern Warfare 2's Multiplayer.

Akimbo is an attachment in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, though also appearing in various forms in several other games. Akimbo allows players to wield two of the same weapon at once, otherwise known as dual-wielding. The term "akimbo" comes from a human body position, but is commonly used in popular culture as a synonym for dual-wielding.

The attachment was originally slated to be a Tier 2 perk, but was changed to an un-lockable attachment in the final release of the game.

Call of Duty 2: Big Red One

Players selecting a submachine gun (such as the MP40 or the Thompson) for use in Multiplayer will receive dual-wield sidearms after one promotion, with quicker reloading (for all weapons) after the second promotion.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

Akimbo is only seen once in Call of Duty 4, in the single player mission "Crew Expendable". If the player kills all enemies in the first cargo hold and then run ahead of the teammates, an enemy will run out with Akimbo Desert Eagles. Only one of the two Desert Eagles can be picked up. Although, sometimes, the enemy will only run out with one Desert Eagle and an M9.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

File:AkimboTMPRDS.png

The Akimbo TMPs with Red Dot Sights as seen in "No Russian"

The Akimbo attachment is available to all Handguns, Machine Pistols, Submachine Guns, the Ranger, and the Model 1887. It is unlocked on submachine guns by getting 30 kills with Rapid Fire; for secondaries including handguns and machine pistols, it is unlocked via Marksman challenges. Players are unable to aim down the sight while using Akimbo, although they can still use the knife. As ADS is disabled, any kind of optic cannot be used when using Bling as a perk, nor can they add the Tactical Knife to handguns.

When selected, the two weapons can be fired independently with the aim button acting as the trigger for the left weapon on console versions, while the weapons correspond to the mouse buttons on the PC. Both guns count as a single weapon, so when switching to primary weapons and/or secondary weapons, both weapons are holstered. Each gun has its own ammo counter and can be reloaded independently (if the magazine in one of the two guns is full when reloading, the player can continue to shoot the gun with the full magazine while reloading the other one), allowing the player to stagger their reload time, which can be useful if one weapon is running low on ammo. Using two weapons doubles the supply of stored ammo, making Scavenger somewhat unnecessary.

Akimbo will also affect the weapons' hip-fire accuracy to varying degrees, depending on the class of weapon. On submachine guns, the hip-fire accuracy will be roughly twice as bad as normal, but on handguns and the M93 Raffica will not affect the hip-fire accuracy at all. Akimbo G18s will actually increase the hip-fire accuracy while moving, but decrease it while stationary. Using Steady Aim will reduce the hip-fire penalty. Akimbo also creates the unfortunate effect of having a slower draw time, which may be especially important for sniper classes that are ambushed from their hiding position.

Due to being able to fire both weapons simultaneously, certain weapons are frighteningly powerful when used Akimbo. The Desert Eagle and .44 Magnum can both kill a player by simply pulling the fire button for both guns, essentially performing a one-hit kill without Stopping Power. This is capable on the M9 and USP .45, but both guns either need to be close range or with Stopping Power to do this. Akimbo P90s will, between them, have 100 rounds of ammunition, comparable to a machine-gun.

The most notable use of Akimbo was with the Model 1887 prior to patches 1.07 and 1.08. Already powerful at medium ranges, a player using Akimbo Model 1887s could kill a target at impressive ranges with minimal downtime between shots. The Model 1887s have since been patched to have reduced range in Akimbo.

Compatible Weapons

MP5K (Multiplayer only)
UMP45 (Multiplayer only)
Vector (Multiplayer only)
P90 (Multiplayer only)
Mini-Uzi
USP .45
.44 Magnum (Multiplayer only)
M9
Desert Eagle
Ranger
Model 1887 (Multiplayer only)
PP2000 (Multiplayer only)
G18
M93 Raffica (Multiplayer only)
TMP

Weapon differences

On the USP.45, the standard slash animation is replaced with a sped up version of the stab.
The range with the Model 1887 is greatly reduced and reload time is decreased.
Recoil is reduced on the Desert Eagle and the G18.
Tighter hipfire spread on the M93 Raffica.

Trivia

The FAL and the Thumper actually have coding to use them with Akimbo, meaning that it was possibly going to be equip-able on other types of weapon as well.
If a player melees while using Akimbo, it will show them knife with two left arms. This is easily observed in the Game Winning KillCam.
There are Akimbo TMPs that can be found with Red Dot Sights in "No Russian", "The Enemy of My Enemy" and "Just Like Old Times", and the Special Ops mission "Snatch and Grab" although the Red Dot Sights obviously serve no purpose.
The only known Akimbo weapons that are in Single-Player and Special Ops are the M9, TMP, Desert Eagle, Ice Picks, Ranger, G18 and Mini-Uzi.
Akimbo shortens the reload time for a few guns, most notably the P90, most handguns, and Model 1887.
By killing 10 enemies in a row on Single-Player or "Special Ops" with Akimbo weapons the user will unlock the "Look Ma Two Hands!" achievement/trophy.
The akimbo attachment icon shows 2 UMP.45's.
In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Reflex Edition, the enemy with the Desert Eagles wields an M9 in place of the other Desert Eagle.
In the campaign, when about to breach using Akimbo weapons, a minor special animation will occur (tested only with Akimbo TMPs and M9s).
If the player finds a weapon with Bling that has Akimbo as one attachment, the pickup icon shows two weapons, notifying the player that one attachment must be Akimbo.
In Multiplayer, a gun with an Akimbo attachment will only appear to be one gun when on the ground; it will also only appear as a gun when not in use and on a player's back.
When using Akimbo, one weapon is held higher than the other.

Gallery

frame|400px|Gameplay with various Akimbo weapons