What I Think of the Weapons in "Metal Wolf Chaos"

[OpenRoadRacer | Flame of Liberty]

Okay, so, I've only gotten Handguns to Research Level 8 so far(though everything else is at Level 7), and I haven't finished a full playthrough to unlock some of the sillier weapons; but I just want to talk about the weapons in this game broadly, and why I personally feel like some of the weapon classes are just useless.

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So, right off the top, Handguns: they're GARBAGE. Slow rate of fire, poor effective range, and either mediocre damage and decent capacity for the S&W M29s or the Desert Eagle; or fairly high but unimpressive damage and GARBAGE capacity for the M45s. Literally a class to be gotten rid of ASAP.

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Shotguns don't fare much better, especially due to following the typical trend that shotguns must always have insane amounts of scatter such that they're practically melee weapons. If you're facing infantry hordes at extremely short range, they might have a purpose; except that...

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Machine Guns absolutely steal the show. The MP7 and the M134 are competitive with the M4A1 and the SG552 respectively; but the MG200 just completely bulldozes any sense of balance. MGs might not have great range; but they reach further than Handguns and Shotguns, it seems, making the M134 and especially the MG200 better for close range than any shotgun.

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Which leads me to Assault Rifles and the fact that, plainly, they get overshadowed by Machine Guns as soon as you get the MG200. The M4A1 and the SG552 are alright, but the M18E8 sucks and the ENRF-CB is just a minor upgrade over the SIG, in contrast to the total gamechanger the MG200 is.

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Bazookas are generally pretty good, with relatively long effective range and high impact damage; great for cracking open tanks and most buildings. Only issue is when "the defense is strong against live ammunition", which cuts the damage of Bazooka hits by about 75% or more. This wouldn't be as bad to deal with if we had a proper energy-based Bazooka equivalent, but we don't. I'll get to that later.

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Grenade Launchers would at first seem to suffer from the issues of both Shotguns(seemingly short effective range) and Bazookas(damage output heavily nerfed if target resists live ammo); but in my experience, grenade launchers do pretty well for smashing up scenery and killing infantry formations. I actually kinda like GLs in this game.

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Missile Launchers are also pretty alright. I recently got my hands on the MIM204/LR, the enhanced range version of the Patriot Missile Launcher, and that thing is a BEAST. But in general, the missile launchers are pretty alright, as long as you know which versions to go for.

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And then we get to the classes of two-hand weapons, starting with the Sniper Cannons: plainly, this game does NOT give you the luxury of having time to line up perfect shots from a safe distance. The fact that sniper cannons completely immobilize you when drawn makes them more of a liability than they're worth.

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Railguns just don't work for me. Remember when I said that we don't have an effective energy weapon-equivalent to Bazookas? Well, this is why. First, they take up both hands, so you can't fire a Machine Gun to knock down enemy missiles while you line up your shot. Then, you have to deal with a charge-up mechanic where you hold down the trigger for what seems like an eternity to build up the shot to anything beyond merely tickling the enemy. In a fast-paced game like this, Railguns are more likely to get you killed than do anything useful.

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MultiMissile Launchers seem like the least finicky of the two-hand weapon types at first glance, and I guess they are. But they're ultimately more style than substance, with wide lock-on zones that target everything near where you're aiming, and the individual missiles do next to nothing against hard targets like tanks and buildings unless you can get them to focus on a single target. The amount of kickback from firing also makes it hard to stay where you need to be for optimal results.

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And lastly, Flamethrowers: Oh boy, they went with the stereotypical "Hollywood" flamethrower that spits out a broad cone of gaseous fuel that has less range than the average video game shotgun. At that kind of range, you'd actually be better off with an energy-based shotgun, anyway, seeing as wouldn't be waiting for the slow-moving flames to actually get to your target.

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I don't want to sound like I'm hating the game here; it's damned fun if you can get over the difficulty curve. It's just that the game's weapon balance is, well, lacking.

Or maybe I'm wrong, and someone here will tell me why. I'm sure I misrepresented something somewhere in there, and besides, I'm just looking to see what other people think of the weapons in this game.

What do the rest of you think?

[RoRo™]

I'm like a month late on responding, but here we go...

I got this game on PS4, and I'm very close to completing it. I just need to S-rank five more stages and then I'll get the Platinum trophy. But otherwise, I have all the weapon classes maxed out as well as all the special unlockable weapons (meaning I've done speedruns, limited ammo runs, limited damage runs, etc.).

Handguns - I definitely found them to be garbage. That said, two of the special unlockable weapons are pretty neat. I really like the RAYG and the WRE-RH, though unlocking the latter can be exceptionally difficult, and by the time you get it, you're probably extremely close to completion.

Shotguns - I hear good things about the SG-RH, but it doesn't really do it for me. Shotguns as a whole are fairly useless, in my opinion. You may as well use machine guns for getting up close and personal.

Machine Guns - The best of the best. If you're not using machine guns, you're gimping yourself. Like you said, OP, the MG200 just breaks the game. And it only gets more broken with the GG-RH and the special G-BOW weapon. Twin MG200/ENs will also tear through stuff like tissue paper.

Assault Rifles - These actually start off pretty great. The problem is that they stagnate, and eventually they're completely outdone by machine guns. That said, however, the SG552/SB comes in handy during the Las Vegas mission. It's good for stunning the boss and keeping him in place as you unload with a machine gun.

Bazookas - Bazookas are badass, honestly. Easily my second favorite weapon type. The TWBZ-RH fires four rockets in a row. It may take a while to reload, but dual-wielding those suckers and firing them back and forth can wreck just about any opposition. The special MLS weapon is also pretty cool, though unfortunately you can't manufacture any. You only get one, and that's it.

Grenade Launchers - I haven't really played around with these enough to form an opinion on them yet, so I can't really say.

Missile Launchers - I prefer bazookas, to be honest, but missile launchers can be good in certain situations. I found them handy for hitting those bomber planes in Miami, for example. But I just find their fire rate to be too slow for my taste. Bazookas all the way.

Sniper Cannons - Oh dear god. Do not underestimate these. Lol. Max out this category and get your hands on the SC-RH, and watch as most bosses become like twenty times easier. It does a whopping 16000 damage per shot. And if you're put off by the reload time, here's a little tip: back out of the scope and then aim again, which will completely skip the reloading time. The battleship in Miami literally goes down in three shots (gaining you an achievement). Sniper cannons in general are much more useful when you have levels memorized and you're able to plan ahead.

Railguns - I haven't used these much. They're a lot more situational, I found, and they're generally not very good in heavy combat. That said, the RG-RH has been extremely useful in some situations. A few fully-charged shots takes the final boss down in no time, and I've found it useful in Las Vegas for the first three phases. It also took down the boss in New York in just one fully charged shot. Lol.

Multimissile Launchers - Like grenade launchers, I haven't really played around with them enough. But from what little I've used of them, they were pretty meh. It's a hassle to get them to do anything all that effective. But again, I gotta play around with them more.

Flamethrowers - Useless, from what I've played around with. They drain energy too quickly to do anything effective. Except for the special ELEPH gun. It's surprisingly powerful and can be fired for a long time. Enemies will fear the bubbles. But that said, if you like the ELEPH, just stick to machine guns, which serve the exact same purpose but better. Lmao.

All-in-all, I agree the weapon balance is pretty ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. But man, this game's definitely great. Aside from the limited ammo run (uuuuugh), I've loved every moment of this game. As an American, I'm kind of insulted we didn't get this game back in 2004! Lmao.

[ZT Xperimentor]

I need to go back and finish this game actually, though one note I want to rebuttal from memory was the railguns. Yeah I agree they had a long charge time and negligible splash damage; but the later models could destroy most structures in one shot at fairly long range, and annihilate most armored enemies with a direct hit except for other mechs, but unlike the sniper cannons you're still mobile. If the mission wasn't some level the area type, I'd still keep it charging while exploring but use it as an opener, nuking the strongest mook then switching to something else to clear out the remaining group.

[Fraggoth]

Originally posted by ZT Xperimentor:

I need to go back and finish this game actually, though one note I want to rebuttal from memory was the railguns. Yeah I agree they had a long charge time and negligible splash damage; but the later models could destroy most structures in one shot at fairly long range, and annihilate most armored enemies with a direct hit except for other mechs, but unlike the sniper cannons you're still mobile. If the mission wasn't some level the area type, I'd still keep it charging while exploring but use it as an opener, nuking the strongest mook then switching to something else to clear out the remaining group.

Yeah, if you're willing to be patient they can put in serious work. A great example is with the Las Vegas fight with Richard - if you hit his first phase (the Slot Machine room) with a fully charged xx-RH (whatever the prefix is, I don't remember offhand) Railgun shot, which shoots out something like 5 big honkin' death projectiles in a stream, you can sometimes skip one or more of his later phases, including his equivalent to your Burst Mode phase where he hemorrhages projectiles and death at you when he hits low health.

I think the SC-RH sniper is still probably more practical in most situations, despite the mobility limitations, but if you're able to keep yourself charging and alive for the... 20-odd seconds it takes to get it to full, you can delete most anything you aim the something-RH railgun at. Part of the difficulty in justifying it is due to there being so few targets that necessitate it, I guess; outside of the New York boss(es) and Vegas Richard it's kinda hard to find a situation where you can safely charge for the amount of time required for the payoff to kick in AND still be in range to actually hit what you're aiming for (so Olajiwon is probably out) AND that fully charged volley won't be horrendously wasteful overkill (like using it on an M1 Abrams or Powered Armor mook). For all those other situations, the SC-RH winds up being the more practical choice, sadly.

Edit: Bah, didn't see the previous post year. "RISE FROM YOUR GRAVE!" - just like Altered Beast!

[sng-ign]

Originally posted by Fraggoth:

... a fully charged xx-RH (whatever the prefix is, I don't remember offhand) Railgun shot

Edit: Bah, didn't see the previous post year. "RISE FROM YOUR GRAVE!" - just like Altered Beast!

RG. This game isn't rocket science.

I was bored after being perma'ed from Warframe and decided that retro/old-games are the way to go.

[sng-ign]

Originally posted by openroadracer #FORUKRAINE:

What I Think of the Weapons

What do the rest of you think?

HANDGUNS — LOL. The alien RAYG is like a narrowly focused shotgun (same range, crap spread, 700 damage per shot).

SHOTGUNS — Fun on FEVER! mode, but otherwise crap. Note that only the SG1 and ↑ will have multiple rounds chambered to fire. All other shotguns will require a reloading action (to simulate the pump action of most shotguns).

MACHINEGUNS — Just like the Special Machinegun category in KOEI's old Naval Ops series of games, max out this tech-tree and invest in the MG-200/EN (energy for hard targets) and MG-200-ST (live ammo version). Have 8 of both sets if you can afford to. Pairing machineguns will let you shred any enemy in range, including most bosses (exceptions abound).

ASSAULT RIFLES — The Kenosha Kid (slayer of pedophiles and felons) likes them, but I don't. The GameFAQs guy relies on the SG-552/SB (stun rifle) to stun-lock smaller bosses like Richard 'I'm Not Mike Pence' Hawk, but instead of a weak assault rifle (most of them top off at 310 damage per shot), I go with a second machinegun (G-BOW tops at 800 damage per shot; even the crappy MG-200/EN does 580 damage per shot).

BAZOOKAS — The M72A3/BU functions like a cheap grenade launcher (indeed, Murphagator uses them a lot in his 2014 Metal Wolf Chaos speedrun), but I'd keep developing the tech-tree to max to use the TW-RH (fires four rockets at once, immense kick-back, so watch your footing over water). I've only needed to use Bazookas against the Grand Canyon "boss" and the Space Station mecha-frogger. For everything else, there are machineguns in fire-linked pairs.

GRENADE LAUNCHERS — The GL-RH has the largest explosion radius and that comes in handy for unlocking some weapons (chain-combos, Rush combos, etc.). Everything else is Earth Defence Force 2017 level of garbage that isn't the Genocide Cannon.

MISSILE LAUNCHERS — Some models have S-ranked range (like the sniper cannons) but the draw distance of the game doesn't let you really use them well. That said, if you have issues with hitting missile-boat helicopters, you can try any of the missile launchers with S-rank ranges in tandem to kill them, or one of the SAM specialized missiles for a vertical targeting bracket (but that one lacks an S-rank range).

(2 SLOTS) SNIPER RIFLES / CANNONS — You may not need to manufacture any sniper rifle or sniper cannon until the SC-RH (the sniper weapon that does 16,000 damage per shot). You need any M24 (preferably a free one) to help destroy the hostage cages in the Beverly Hills level since that's one of the few weapons that can reach those cages on building rooftops. The SC-RH (maybe 2 of them, max) will be what you're using for the Low Ammunition Usage performance record on most stages.

(2 SLOTS) RAILGUNS — Capt. Most Panties' Metal Wolf Chaos XD Money Farming Guide on Steam tells you all you need to know about this category of weapon. The RG-RH (just one) was all I needed to manufacture to start the cash rolling (but I read ahead to plan ahead). The DRG railgun (unlocked by a low damage performance record) charges faster but does less damage.

(2 SLOTS) MULTI-MISSILES — Useless, except for the first one you get (for free). Once you unlock the machineguns and make enough, you will probably only use this weapon in FEVER! mode since ammunition is a problem.

(2 SLOTS) FLAMETHROWERS — It would've been better for you to invest in LEMONPARTY porn than this tech-tree. You may want to mess around with them on FEVER! mode.

MOBILE ARMOR STOMP — The mech stomp (jump and pound) is probably the best way to kill infantry, and environmental obstacles. If trees and signs are in your face (the camera), a jump & stomp may clear the area around your Mobile Armor to let you see better. The diagonal ∞ quick dash will also destroy some boxes and signs, but is generally weaker than your mech stomp.

It's a long shot, but an oldf4g gamer like me can imagine having a FROMSOFTware Armored Core or Mobile Armor in some future EDF game (maybe the 5th class, or the Air Raider's super weapon, IDK, LOL).

KEK ← this one
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