The best guns in Call of Duty: Black Ops

If you want to get a good kill death ratio and prestige as quickly as you can in Call of Duty: Black Ops, you don’t want to be wasting time and messing around with the wrong guns. So here’s the list of the best guns in Call of Duty: Black Ops that we use and recommend – obviously there’s room for personal preference and we’re hoping you’ll share your own opinions in the comments:

The best shotguns in Black Ops:

We should probably have used the title ‘the best shotgun’ as really it’s all about the SPAS, generally with a silencer fitted. It packs the punch of a shotgun, means you can run around close quarters without instantly getting targetted by the enemy as soon as you fire a shot, and also has a reasonable reload time when compared to the other shotguns.

Of course, all the shotguns have the challenge of requiring you up close and personal, but that isn’t a problem on a lot of Black Ops maps – either use the SPAS for close quarter maps such as Nuketown, or find a sensible area to stakeout, such as the main buildings on Summit and Discovery. Just don’t go running around in the open too much.

The best SMGs in Black Ops:

You start off with the MP5, which really isn’t a bad gun, quite often paired with a fast reload courtesy of either the Slight of Hand perk, or Dual Mags. But much like the shotguns, you need to be getting up close, so it’s worth investing in the AK47u to give you some distance.

The AK doesn’t pack quite as much of a punch, but has far better accuracy and less kick. You may find that a silencer reduces the power too much, but that’s generally our preferred load-out. If you’re running with the Warlord perk, the front grip can help your accuracy a fair bit. Works well with a ‘run and gun’ approach with Lightweight and possibly Marathon, or a Ghost-based load out.

One person we play with does recommend the PM63, but then he’s quite odd.

The best LMGs in Black Ops

Again, a category that really should be singular, as it comes down to the LMG which kind of isn’t – the Stoner 63. Alongside the coolest gun name, which comes from its creator, Eugene Stoner, the final LMG to unlock really isn’t an LMG, but a hybrid of LMG and Assault Rifle. Not surprising, considering Eugene was responsible for designing a lot of what became the M16 and Commando rifles.

It’s fast firing with a bigger magazine, but almost feels like an augmented version of the AUG from Modern Warfare 2 in that it doesn’t suffer quite as much from the kickback and innaccuracy of the other LMGs in Black Ops and feels more like an Assault Rifle to carry. We generally don’t use the LMGs much, but when we do, it’s always the Stoner.

The best Sniper Rifles in Black Ops:

Do we really have to do this? We generally don’t bother with sniper rifles, and that doesn’t mean we want quick-scoping back, thankyou very much. Black Ops map design really means that you have to be damn good to be able to get more than a couple of kills with a sniper rifle before someone nails you, as there are few effective sniper spots. But if we really have to pick, then it’s be the L96 and the PSG1 for the higher stats and less likelihood of having to hit someone twice before they finally collapse.

Part of the reason for avoiding sniper rifles in particular is that lag and connection problems are a lot more noticeable and a lot more of a problem when you only have one shot to make contact…

The best Assault Rifles in Black Ops:

Here we go with what is sure to be the most touchy subject of the whole list, but we’re pretty sure about our choices given that we’ve all put in 10 days plus and are hovering at various ranks between 7 and 15, as are the other players we’ve spoken to. Basically there are 3 main assault rifle choices depending on your preference, with the G11 interesting, but unlocked so late on that it’s really not worth bothering with as you’ll already have racked up a lot of kills and be close to bonus XP with the other guns. Although that said, if you’re a closet sniper, the G11 is worth considering. We’ve also closed over the AK47, as although it’s a good gun, again it’s a late acquisition and not noticeably better enough to justify switching by that stage. And so we give you the three best Assault Rifles in Black Ops:

1. The Famas: The most popular gun in the game when stats for Black Ops were released, and it’s not hard to see why. A good rate of fire, a reasonable punch, and effective at short to mid distance, you’re able to use it for both the normal assault type of mixed play, and also ‘run and gun’ style as you can bring it up pretty quickly to fire from the hip or get behind the sights. Add a silencer and Ghost to vanish pretty effectively, or try it loud with the Hardened perk and Dual Mags, or add a sight if you really prefer a longer distance, although for most maps you can do pretty well even without a Red Dot or Reflex sight. We tend to base all our load outs around Famas variants, with one quiet load-out, one loud, and one  with more distance, until we’ve maxed out the available XP.

The weakest part of the Famas is that the tendency to spray bullets everywhere leads to ammo shortages unless you’re running with the Scavenger perk. Luckily there are always dead players donating their guns, and a lot of them will also be Famas-equipped, meaning a good supply of alternate weapons as long as you don’t mind using scopes people have customised with ridiculous huge pink sight icons.

2. The Galil: Splits opinions more than the Famas, but it packs a bigger punch and a greater distance over the speed of fire. Some people find it a little innaccurate due to the kickback, but it’s possible to compensate for that pretty well, and we tend to switch to it anytime we’ve maxed the Famas stats. No good for running and gunning, but handy for camping and for letting the enemy come to you, and a good Galil player tends to be one that’s a little more cautious and thoughtful about what they’re doing.

3. The M16: It’s the starting gun, but none the worse for that. If you want to go for accuracy above all else, it’s the weapon of choice with the 3-shot burst and a reasonable decent punch and calibre. Tends to work very well as a sniper substitute and for staking out particular spots, especially with a silencer fitted. Plus, you’ll be familiar with it as a starting gun and already have some kills with it, meaning that you’ll be further along the bonus path by the time other guns open up.

So what guns do we buy every prestige?

So to get the right guns with the minimum outlay, we generally go with:

From the start: M16 or MP5 load outs.

Unlock and buy the AK47u, and convert 2 run and gun load-outs.

Unlock and buy the Famas, and convert all load-outs to it.

Unlock and buy the Galil and convert Assault load-outs to it.

And once we’ve unlocked all the cash for our Killstreaks and equipment, we’d then buy all Shotguns and all LMGS to have the Spas and Stoner 63 available for some final fun before prestiging yet again.

The best secondary weapons and pistols in Black Ops:

We’ve lumped all these together. Generally the pistols are much the same, with the Makarov at least offering the upgraded iron sights for a bargain price. Some players due seem to enjoy dual-wielding the Magnum, but that’s met with mixed success at best, so the option we go for is the CZ75 with the full automatic conversion. That offers the closest to a second SMG or Assault Rifle assuming we haven’t already picked one up from a handy corpse.

The Ballistic Knife and Tomahawk are definitely fun, and can definitely rack up some decent kills, particularly if you learn the rebounds and fancy showing off on video, but you do run the risk of losing your weapon, so it’s better to start with them for kills and then switch to your main gun, rather than the traditional way of using a sidearm only when your rifle or SMG is out of ammo (Or you’re caught reloading).

When it comes to launches, the M72 and Strela are perfect for taking down enemy air support, so we stick with those. Mainly because we pour scorn on players using the RPG and Grenade Launchers!