The PPSh-41 is a submachine gun featured in all World War II-based Call of Duty games with a Soviet campaign, as well as in Call of Duty: Black Ops.
Call of Duty and United Offensive
- "The PPSh submachine gun holds 71 rounds of Soviet pistol ammo and has a very high rate of fire. It's ineffective at long range and fires a relatively weak round, but its rate of fire makes for effective suppression and close-range combat."
- — Call of Duty manual description.
Campaign
The PPSh-41 is a submachine gun featured in the Soviet campaign. It has a very high magazine capacity, decent power, and only medium recoil. It takes just two bullets to kill one enemy in singleplayer, but its fairly high rate of fire when fired automatically makes it more effective against grouped targets, rather than individual ones. Ammunition is relatively scarce in the early levels of the Soviet campaign, when MP40s are more readily available. In United Offensive, it is much less effective, as it takes four shots to kill one enemy, twice as many as before, but otherwise identical and still a versatile weapon for close quarters and moderately long distances.
The gun has a semi-automatic fire mode, however as it doesn't affect hipfire accuracy and simply impedes players in CQC, this mode should best be avoided.
Multiplayer
The PPSh-41 is used by the Soviets during multiplayer. Because they do not have a "support gun" capable of sustained medium-ranged fire, the PPSh-41's 71 round drum is used to give them an advantage in close range combat. In the first game, where there is no damage dropoff, the gun can be used competently at medium close ranges, killing in 2-4 shots. In UO, however, where the spread has been increased and damage falloff is present, it takes 3-7 hits to kill. The recoil is the second greatest of the submachine guns, only to the MP-40, consisting of a slight upward pull and random horizontal shaking.
Call of Duty: Finest Hour
- "The PPSh submachine gun holds 71 rounds of Soviet pistol ammo and has a very high rate of fire. It's ineffective at long range and fires a relatively weak round, but its rate of fire makes for effective suppression and close-range combat."
- — Manual description
In Call of Duty: Finest Hour the PPSh is an effective weapon with a high recoil and low damage. It is difficult to see while using this weapon because of the muzzle flash, but its huge magazine capacity and high rate of fire make up for this deficiency. Controlling fire is a good tactic, since ammo will be quickly eaten up if fired automatically. It can first be used in the level "The Flag Must Fall."
Call of Duty 2
Campaign
In the campaign, the PPSh-41 is a common Soviet weapon. It can still do massive damage at close range, but its higher recoil makes it less effective at maximum range than the first game. Ammunition is more readily available from the start than its predecessor, as most soldiers use this weapon; However, the player can no longer swap between automatic and semi-automatic firing modes from this game onwards (the same goes to all other machine-guns and automatic rifles), this can be largely negated if the fire button is lightly tapped to fire in a "pseudo-semi-automatic" mode. Though many rounds can be carried in reserve, the PPSh-41 eats up ammo very quickly, and ammunition is not always easily obtained, as the only way to get it is for a PPSh-41-wielding friendly to die, or obtain from the wooden boxes in few occasions.
Multiplayer
In multiplayer, this weapon is usually only effective from close to moderately long ranges. It retains the high recoil from the campaign, but is now capable of killing 3-5 hits at any range. The recoil pattern is more predictable in this installment, a slight upward push rather than random shaking, making it easier to control. It has a high magazine capacity, and provided that every bullet hits, and no bullet is wasted, one user can kill 14 enemies at range, or 23 in close quarters with one magazine.
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Campaign
The PPSh-41 makes a brief appearance in the mission "All Ghillied Up". When the player gets to the church, they can see a WW2 Memorial statue of 2 men holding the PPSh-41.
Multiplayer
In the multiplayer map Bloc, the giant statue of a World War II-era Soviet soldier is holding a golden PPSh-41. In Domination, the B flag is found coming directly out of the barrel.
Call of Duty: World at War
Campaign
The PPSh-41 appears in the Soviet Campaign of Call of Duty: World at War. In the earlier levels, very few can be found, although the player can pick up ammo from fallen comrades. Later on in the campaign it becomes much more common, as Soviet soldiers start using the PPSh-41 instead of the Mosin-Nagant, ammo is much easier to find. This makes the PPSh-41 a very useful weapon during the later stages of the campaign. Because the PPSh-41 has such low recoil, it has good accuracy when hip firing, in close quarters this can be the difference between life and death as ADS takes precious time that could be used to fire up to 7 bullets at an enemy. This is Reznov's weapon of choice in World at War. The PPSh-41 can only be found with a round drum.
Multiplayer
The PPSh-41 is unlocked at Level 53. This weapon has the highest rate of fire out of all the weapons in Call of Duty: World at War by a considerable margin (only the MG42 or FG42 come close; they fire about as fast as it with Double Tap). However, the PPSh-41 has extremely low damage, being the only gun that can take 5 direct hits to kill in core modes. It is also the only gun incapable of getting a one shot kill in close range in Hardcore, unless Stopping Power is used or it is a headshot, although the fire rate makes this a very minimal worry. The PPSh-41 features a muzzle brake system which makes prolonged firing less accurate because of expelled gas obscuring one's vision.
The PPSh-41 has equal viewkick values in all four directions, meaning that its recoil will usually be extremely low. The Aperture Sight raises the reticule away from the gun, which helps to prevent gas from obscuring the user's vision. The Bandolier perk is frequently used because the rate of fire will exhaust ammunition quickly, even with the Round Drum attachment, and because the PPSh-41 only starts with two magazines, unlike other SMGs which start with three.
When using the Round Drum, it is often useful to avoid completely using an entire mag, as this greatly increases the reload time. This can, however, be remedied by Reload Cancelling right after the mag is fully inserted. A common tactic with this gun is to combine the Round Drum with Bandolier, Stopping Power/Double Tap and Steady Aim and then firing from the hip, as it will then be even more devastating at close range. However, Double Tap is not often useful as the rate of fire on the PPSh-41 is already extremely high. Stopping Power is slightly more useful, but generally only causes a gun to kill in one less bullet. Due to the high rate of fire, one can fire off the extra shot without much hindrance time wise or accidentally fire it at a target after the target has been killed. Other secondary perks like Sleight of Hand or Juggernaut may be more useful in core modes since the difference of one bullet that Stopping Power makes is not a significant advantage given the extremely high rate of fire, making the difference in times to kill with or without Stopping Power very small compared to the difference with other weapons.
Weapon Attachments
Gallery
- For Attachment images, see PPSh-41/Attachments.
Zombies
The PPSh-41 is first available in Verrückt and appears in all later maps. It is the only SMG which cannot be bought off the wall and is also the only SMG that appears with its drum mag in Zombies. It is quite effective against Zombies and Hellhounds alike, even at higher levels. Because of its very high rate of fire and mediocre damage per round, it is the perfect weapon for scoring lots of points. The only problem is the high ammo consumption; the PPSh-41 can run dry after only a single round if not used wisely. It is not advised to use this weapon with Double Tap Root Beer, as the gun already has the highest rate of fire in the game. This will burn up the ammo quickly, so the player may find himself or herself with no ammo for it in the middle of a round.
If upgraded via the Pack-a-Punch Machine in Der Riese the gun is entitled "The Reaper" and has a magazine size of 115 which seems to rival that of a machine gun, a reference to Element 115. It also has an increase in rate of fire, from 1250 RPM to 1578 RPM. If this is combined with Double Tap Root Beer, it shoots extremely fast, at 1972.5 RPM. It has a vast increase in damage, doing more damage than the MG42 and M1919 Browning even if both are upgraded. But it still burns through ammo very quickly, unless the player has a back-up weapon they can use it is not suggested to keep on the later levels. It also features a decrease of recoil.
PPSh-41 vs. The Reaper
| PPSh-41 | The Reaper | |
|---|---|---|
|
| |
| Damage | 100-60 | 150-80 |
| Fire mode | Automatic | Automatic |
| Rate of fire | 1250 | 1578 |
| Magazine size | 71 | 115 |
| Max ammo | 355+71 | 700+115 |
| Reload | 2.1, 2.8 empty | 2.1, 2.8 empty |
| Mobility | High | High |
| Extras | 2x the ammo, huge magazine, much higher rate of fire, more damage |
Call of Duty: World at War (DS)
The PPSh-41 appears in Call of Duty: World at War (Nintendo DS) as one of the five SMG's available in game. The DS version has a much lower rate of fire and higher damage compared to the PPSh-41 on the console versions. It has high recoil, slightly more than the Thompson.
The high capacity of the mag allows this weapon to be used in a LMG fashion style of play, just without the inconvenience of being slowed down.
Campaign
In singleplayer, the PPSh-41 is a starting weapon in all missions in the Soviet Campaign, with the exception of vehicle levels. It has a large ammunition capacity (71 rounds, like the console versions), low rate of fire, and high damage per bullet. Overall it is an excellent weapon with only one flaw, its high recoil, which can be fixed by burst firing or using it like a semi-auto gun, since it is capable of killing an enemy in 2-3 shots at any range, or simply pointing the stylus downwards, to counter the recoil.
Multiplayer
In multiplayer, the PPSh-41 is one of the most common weapons on multiplayer for the Allied faction. Just like in single player, the PPSh-41 has a high damage per bullet, a manageable rate of fire, and a large 71 round drum mag. But the recoil is just as high as in single player, so it is recommended to burst fire or use it like it was semi-automatic at medium to long ranges. However, since the recoil only pushes the gun upwards, the recoil can be countered by aiming downwards when going full auto. It's also true that if aiming at the enemy at the stomach firing 2 shots will pull the gun upwards making the third shot land on the head which will most likely result in a kill.
Call of Duty: Black Ops
The PPSh-41 appears in the mission "Project Nova" as the PPSH, being used by Reznov, Dimitri Petrenko and other Soviet soldiers. The gun still uses animations recycled from Call of Duty: World at War and retains the same characteristics, but its graphics are slightly improved upon. The reload animation produces slightly increased screen shake, but this shouldn't be anything to worry about. "Project Nova" is the only time the PPSH is seen in all of Black Ops.
Unlike in other games, the PPSH has a 35-round box magazine, similar to the version first unlocked in World at War multiplayer. Due to the fact most of the Russian soldiers use the PPSH, ammo is incredibly common and easy to find.
Call of Duty: Black Ops (DS)
The PPSh-41 appears in the DS version of Black Ops as one of the SMG's featured in game. It has many similarities with the World at War counterpart, like the 71 round magazine with 284 spare rounds, the general appearance and (good) ironsights, but opposed to the precedent version sports a very high rate of fire, and low recoil. The PPSh-41s muzzle flash obstructs the sights even though it can be seen through, and it has low damage. Note: while the silencer removes muzzle flash, part of the foresight is removed as well, to prevent obstruction. this however doesn't prevent accuracy, and makes the ironsights even a little more clear.
Zombies
In Zombies game mode, the PPSh-41 can be obtained from the Mystery Box (950 points per use) or off the wall in the third room of any map for 5000 points. It has low recoil, a high rate of fire, low damage, and a high capacity, which can make it a blessing in CQB, especially since most of the maps are CQB based. Despite these stats, its high rate of fire can burn through ammo incredibly quickly, which can leave the player defenseless in later rounds. The only remedy to this is to buy ammo off the wall, which makes this weapon another good choice to use, as none of the other SMGs have the ability to do this.
Attachments
Trivia
Call of Duty & United Offensive
- Although in Call of Duty: United Offensive it is only seen with a drum mag, when the main menu is loaded with the Soviet Theme, a PPSh-41 with a standard mag is shown.
Call of Duty: Finest Hour
- This version of the PPSh-41 seems to be poorly constructed, with a noticeable misalignment of the metal joint between the stock and the receiver. This may be a subtle reference to the desperate wartime production state of Russia in 1941.
Call of Duty: World at War
- If Pack-a-Punched, the number of rounds in a mag for the PPSH-41 is changed from 71 to 115, referencing Element 115 (Ununpentium).
- It has the highest fire rate of all weapons in the entire Call of Duty series when Pack-a-Punched with Double Tap. Skorpion EVO with the Rapid Fire attachment in Black Ops II comes close, though.
- Unlike the console version in Nacht der Untoten, the PPSh-41 is available in the Mystery Box in Call of Duty: ZOMBIES.
- In third person mode, the PPSh-41 will have always a drum mag. This is better seen when a PPSh-41 is dropped on the ground (The right part of the drum mag will be put into the ground).
- It's Nikolai Belinski's weapon of choice.
Call of Duty: Black Ops
- Using the PPSh-41, it is possible to gib (mutilate) enemies in the mission "Project Nova".
- This is the first game where the PPSh-41 does not have a drum mag in the campaign.
- The sound files used for the PPSh-41 are exactly the same as the files used for the PM63.
- In Project Nova, the PPSh-41 does not expel gas out of the muzzle brake. It does on the Wii though.
- NPCs in Project Nova hold the PPSh-41 as if it had a pistol grip.
Call of Duty: Black Ops (DS)
- The DS version is the only game in the Call of Duty series to include a silencer on the PPSh-41.
- The silenced version of the PPSh-41 has a different front sight: in fact, to install the silencer the normal sight must be removed, and is replaced by a different one placed directly on the suppressor.
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TFO