The Gatling Gun: Say Hello To My Oversized Friend
For the last month or two, I've been running toward the airdrops for a chance at simply holding the beast before getting punched in the back of the head by one of Hulk's inbred cousins. After much hardship, I finally managed to secure a permanent Gatling Gun for myself. I've shredded many a man and mutant in the few days I've had it, and I'm here to share my critique and review of the biggest gun yet.
So, how does the Gatling feel? Take a monster truck and cross it with a railgun. Then throw a rhino into the mix. Give the rhino steroids and get Chuck Norris to ride it. Give Chuck some crystal meth, then give him the trigger to the monster truck railgun. Imagine that, all packed into a (kind of) easy to carry package, and you're getting close to the Gatling.
By now you're probably wondering how it breaks down numbers-wise. The most impressive feature of this gun is probably its rate of fire. The Gatling fires 15 rounds a second. To put it in perspective, that's the RoF of the Uzi. However, unlike the Uzi, the Gatling fires bullets, not marshmallows. The Gatling does around 25-30 damage a shot, on par with the majority of assault rifles. This means that any human soaking up your lead hailstorm will be dead in under a third of a second.
This is all well and good, so long as the gun actually hits what you're aiming at. While you might think "It's a minigun, how could it possibly be accurate", you'd be wrong. For the first few shots, the spray pattern is very tight. Also, while firing single shots, it's as accurate as an M60 or RPK. Essentially, you're free to machine gun snipe à la Blindrob.
Ayrton155 thought the Gatling wasn't accurate at long range.
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Here is an example of the Gatling's spray pattern:
Gatling Gun Spray (10 rounds)
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As you can see, the spray is quite tight for the first six or so shots. Extended firing produces a pattern like this:
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While more spread out, the pattern is still fairly tight (this was fired from the same distance as the first picture).
The Gatling's 150 round magazine means you can hold down the trigger for a total of 10 seconds before reloading. Fear not, for the Gatling's reload time is disproportionately quick. Naturally it's not a good idea to reload out in the open, but the Gatling's reload time is somewhere in the realm of two seconds, making it very easy to duck behind a box, reload, and blow your enemy away. In addition to reloading very quickly, the Gatling's draw animation is very fast. Running with a knife or a pistol isn't much of an issue as you can have the Gatling out and ready in no time.
The Gatling is essentially an Uzi with a 150 round magazine that fires rifle rounds at pinpoint accuracy. Naturally, this would be completely overpowered without some downsides. The first, and most difficult to compensate for, is the gun's long spin-up time. It takes about a full second for the gun to spin up to speed to begin firing. Also, while firing and spinning up, you move at a crawl and are unable to jump. The Gatling requires careful planning and positioning to make sure you have time to start firing. However, once you do, your target should be dead in less than a second assuming you can put your crosshairs somewhere in the general vicinity of the target. Playing effectively with the Gatling involves patience, planning, and a little luck. If you run into the enemy headlong and hold down left click hoping to get kills, you'll be disappointed. You will get shot in the face and have a Gatling pointed your way when you respawn, which brings me to the next con.
This gun is a gigantic homing noob beacon. Your team will flock to you and throw their guns at you. Enemy noobs will shoot at you. The simplest method for dealing with them is to kill them. If they kill you, you're not cool enough to own a gun like the Gatling. However, even the best of us die to the odd nade or random headshot across the map from a SCAR L spray. When that happens, a noob will pick up your gun. If you're the sort of person who gets upset at this, the Gatling may not be the gun for you.
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]DON'T TOUCH SASHA. When the Gatling hits the ground, everyone in sight will make a grab for it. Do what any self-respecting Gatling owner would do: kill them.
Now that you've got the hang of this beast of a gun, what are its practical applications? There are many interesting, delightful activities to be had with this gun. You could, say, sit right outside the enemy spawn on Ship or Fortress and make sure none of them leave. You could spam every piece of wood you see and see how many times you get accused of chamming (did I mention that the Gatling is great at boxing people?). You could effectively defend the point in an escape match.
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]Sometimes you just don't rush. Now is one of those times.
You could top the scoreboards in MM without even trying. You could just plain look awesome in every game you enter. If you're going to use the Gatling, there are a few things to remember.
First, spin your gun up BEFORE you get into a firefight. If you click your trigger button once, it spins up the gun over the period of about a second. Before rounding a corner you know the enemy is behind, spin up your gun. You'll take a hit on movement speed, but that's ok since no gun currently in the game can outspray you. With a bit of practice, you can learn to click the button at one second intervals and keep the gun spun up as long as you want without firing. It takes a bit of finesse, but you'll find you kill much more effectively.
Second, you are not god. The Gatling is incredibly powerful, but it is not an aimbot. It is not an HP hack. It is not an explosive laser shark. It is a gun. Every game I play with it I see noobs rush to grab it, run headlong into five enemies and die, and proceed to complain of how the Gatling sucks. Yes, it sucks if you play like an idiot, but that's how every gun works.
Third, fire in controlled bursts or single shots. As with any gun, you still need to have control. The Gatling can land about six shots in a tight group before the recoil becomes unmanageable. This is more than enough to kill someone, so use it wisely. When firing single shots, the Gatling is incredibly accurate as well. You can get headshots at long ranges as easily as you can with an M60, or any rifle. Of course, if you find yourself flanking with a clear shot at half the enemy team, by all means open up. The Gatling excels at doing massive damage to large targets. You'll usually be able to take out most of them before they can react.
If you hadn't figured it out by now, I'm a big fan of the Gatling. It's an incredibly unique, fun gun to use, and it's well worth every penny I spent on it. Its feel and playstyle are unlike any other gun in the game, and is a welcome break from the hordes of snipers and rifles with relatively minor differences in stats. However, despite my love for this gun, I must recognize its place. The Gatling is, for now, strictly a pub/noob-stomping gun. The spin up time, coupled with the incredibly slow movement while firing, makes you an easy target for experienced players using more conventional weapons. The average reaction time is .2 seconds. This gives a huge window to kill a player with a Gatling. That said, a creative team could probably find some practical applications for it in a competitive environment due to its incredible suppressive fire capabilities. Only time will tell.
I rate this gun 8/10 for its sheer fun factor. If you're looking for an entirely new play experience, this is the gun to get. If you're willing to have a little patience in exchange for massive firepower, you've come to the right place. If you're a hardcore competitive player you may be put off by the unconventionality and unique play style of this gun. If you're like me and want a break from the AKs, M4s, and SCARs that flood the vast majority of games, this may be the gun for you. If you've got some spare ZP lying around, go for it. It's a freaking Gatling Gun.
by [MOD]D34d3y3
