MW3 fans furious that burst weapons have been 'left to rot'

MW3 fans furious that burst weapons have been 'left to rot'
Images via Activision

Written by 

Alex Garton

Published 

17th Apr 2024 12:45

There's no denying that the Modern Warfare 3 meta is being dominated by the HRM-9, SVA 545, RAM-9 and the classic Striker 9 at the moment. 

While all of them are powerful, not a single one falls into the burst category, and looking down the tier list, you'll be hard-pressed to find a burst weapon that's not near the bottom.

Back in the day, picks like the FAMAS in MW2 (2009) were fan favourites. They insta-killed enemies with a single pull of the trigger.

As a result, MW3 fans are frustrated that burst weapons in the franchise's modern era have been "left to rot" and aren't getting any love from the developers.

MW3 players hate that burst guns are "outclassed" by every other weapon

Taking to the ModernWarfareIII subreddit, user kris9512 decided to voice their frustration over the fact that burst weapons have been "left to rot" and are not receiving any significant changes from Sledgehammer Games.

In their opinion, nearly all burst guns are in a "pitiful" state and "no matter how you build" them out, they  perform like "complete trash." Others in the thread agree, making it clear they want the devs to resurrect the OG FAMAS from MW2 (2009) with buffs to the DG 56.

"I’ve always played burst, and always feel at a disadvantage now," said one user, with another claiming, "Every iteration of the M16 after Cold War has been complete trash, massive disappointment when accuracy should still win gunfights."

One of the biggest strengths of these burst weapons is their accuracy and potency from afar, but without the damage output, they're no match for the fully-auto options.

Why are burst weapons so hard to balance in MW3?

DG 56 Burst weapon
Click to enlarge

So, why are burst weapons as a whole in the mud and showing no signs of making a recovery? Well, it comes down to balancing and how hard it is to stop picks like the M16 and DG 56 from becoming OP if you give them a guaranteed one-shot burst.

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As a result, it's clear the developers don't want to risk making them too strong, so they've been abandoned for most of MW3's era.

"It’s because how do you balance them? If they one burst people say they’re OP, if they don’t you are now at the mercy of the delay until the next burst - usually making it to slow to beat anything in TTK."

Maybe Sledgehammer will bring a burst gun back into the fold at some point, but for now, it seems like the SVA 545 is the weapon getting all the love.

Alex Garton
About the author
Alex Garton
Alex is a Senior Writer at GGRecon. With a BA (Hons) in English, he has previously written for Dexerto & Gfinity. Specialising in Call of Duty & Apex Legends, he loves (attempting) to improve his aim in competitive shooters and will always make time for a single-player RPG.
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