The Call of Duty series has had some truly memorable weapons over the years, some for good reasons and some for bad. Here, we choose the 10 most overpowered CoD weapons of all time.
Any long time Call of Duty fan will know that the series has had more than its fair share of insanely strong weapons. While strong weapons are unanimously favored, these 10 transcended the term ‘strong’ and morphed into overpowered.
These are weapons that can easily be classed as broken because of how strong they became. They may have been fun to use, but they were undoubtedly infuriating to die to. Needless to say that this list is subjective, so you might disagree. We’ll count down from 10 to 1 and then finish with some honorable mentions for guns that were crazy, but couldn’t quite break the top 10.
10. Bal-27 – Advanced Warfare
The Bal itself was seriously powerful in Advanced Warfare, but one variant, in particular, stands out from the rest – the Obsidian Steed.
Minimal recoil, a high fire rate, and top tier damage meant this AR dominated all forms of Advanced Warfare. Weapon balancing was not one of the stronger aspects of Sledgehammer’s first CoD title.
9. Famas – Black Ops
Black Ops’ Famas ditched the Modern Warfare 2 burst fire mechanism in favor of a fully automatic weapon. The result was a seriously strong AR, in a game full of viable ARs. Clean iron sights and high damage saw this gun outperform every other weapon in the inaugural Black Ops game.
8. 725 – Modern Warfare
Anyone who played 2019’s Modern Warfare in its first few months will know of the 725 shotgun. Its one-hit capabilities were, quite simply, ridiculous. Even without the Slug Rounds, this gun could one hit an enemy from hip-fire at SMG range. If you haven’t been sniped across Shoothouse with the 725, consider yourself lucky that it’s now at a much more reasonable level.
7. Marshal 16 – Black Ops III
The Marshal 16 was added as a DLC pocket shotgun, late into Black Ops III’s life cycle. It was supposed to a reworked version of the Black Ops II Executioner, that many will remember as completely useless.
Unfortunately, Treyarch went too far the other way, and made the Marshal 16 far too strong. A one-hit kill at ludicrous ranges, it quickly became the strongest shotgun in the game in spite of its classification as a secondary. What made it even worse, was the ability to run the weapon Dual Wield. We all had a promising streak ruined by these.
6. Vector CRB – Ghosts
Any avid player of Ghosts will remember the buff and nerfs given to the Vector CRB. Infinity Ward struggled to balance it, and it grew to be one of the best weapons in the game for the majority of its life cycle. It was brought back in 2019’s Modern Warfare as the Fennec which, thankfully, is significantly weaker.
5. 205 Brecci – Black Ops III
Players are still frustrated with Treyarch over the lack of a Brecci nerf at any point in Black Ops III. The semi-automatic shotgun was a consistent two-hit kill, regardless of hip-firing or ADS. It also caused an unholy amount of flinch for any player on the receiving end, meaning accurate return fire was nigh on impossible.
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4. M16A4 – Modern Warfare (2007)
An overpowered burst fire weapon is pretty rare in any CoD game. The original M16A4, however, is the exception. Brought back in Modern Warfare Remastered, the three-round burst weapon was incredibly powerful.
Zero recoil and incredible range make this one of the most powerful assault rifles in CoD history. Moreover, it never received a nerf in Modern Warfare and long dominated the game, as well as the 2016 Remaster.
3. MP40 – World at War
Another gun from an older CoD title, World at War’s MP40 stood out as the game’s strongest weapon by a significant margin.
Its larger magazine, paired with strong damage and iron sights, meant you couldn’t go a game in this WW2 shooter without being destroyed by the infamous german SMG. It has returned in a host of other games, thankfully never as strong as its WaW version.
2. Grenade Launchers – Modern Warfare 2
In our number two spot, we’ve gone for Grenade Launchers from Modern Warfare 2. It’s fairly vague, but anyone who played the 2009 title will know exactly what we’re talking about. ‘Noob tubes’ pretty much guaranteed a kill off spawn for the user, requiring next to no accuracy or talent. Pair this with One Man Army Pro and it’s no mystery why they were so common – and frustrating.
1. Akimbo Model 1887s – Modern Warfare 2
Our number one slot goes to the Akimbo Model 1887s from Modern Warfare 2. What else could have claimed the gold medal? MW2’s lack of balancing is one thing that made it a crazy title. The Model 1887s however, took it too far.
If one wasn’t bad enough, they could be run akimbo and basically guaranteed a one-hit kill. Even if they didn’t manage it, their rapid reload and ridiculous range was near unstoppable. Thankfully, they received a major nerf some way into MW2, but they remain the most ridiculous, overpowered weapon in CoD history.
Honorable Mentions
We’re rounding off our list with some honorable mentions. These are weapons that were certainly overpowered, but didn’t quite make the cut into the top 10. There’s a couple from Infinite Warfare, as well as a few more from Modern Warfare 2.
- Proteus – Infinite Warfare
- OSA – Infinite Warfare
- Vesper – Black Ops III
- Maddox RFB – Black Ops 4
- UMP45 – Modern Warfare 2
- ACR – Modern Warfare 2
- SPAS-12 – Modern Warfare 2
- MP7 – Modern Warfare 3
Which weapon did we miss? What’s the most overpowered weapon in CoD history in your opinion? Be sure to tweet us @DexertoIntel to let us know!
