Ranking the 13 Most Broken Starting Weapons in Call of Duty History

A couple of weeks ago I went through Call of Duty history and covered the 13 starting guns that held players back, the ones you were honestly better off throwing at the enemy. This time I flipped it around and dug through the games again to find the opposite: the moments when a Call of Duty title handed you a totally elite gun right out of the gate, so good that you never even felt the need to grind for anything else. Here are the 13 most broken starting weapons in the franchise, counted down from 13 to 1.

13. The KN44 in Black Ops 3

The KN44 was renamed before the full release after going by a different name in the beta, something that happened at least once a year in Call of Duty back in the day for whatever reason (the Lee Enfield in COD World War II was called the Commonwealth in its beta too). Renaming aside, this thing had one of the most consistent gun profiles you could ask for.

The fire rate was average and the recoil was a little bouncy, but the damage was amazing. It always killed in three to four shots no matter what range you were at, and it felt smooth. That consistency let you use it however you wanted, aggressive or long range or a mix of both, and it was handed to you the moment you turned the game on. Everybody was using it even back when it was in an alpha state at Treyarch.

12. The XM4 in Black Ops Cold War

After Modern Warfare 2019 spammed the M4 at everyone for an entire year, people were eager for some variety in Black Ops Cold War. They didn't get it. The M4 was once again one of the best guns in the game, and this time it was a default unlock with no grind required at all, unlike Modern Warfare 2019 where you at least had to unlock it a little.

The recoil was a little bouncy, but the fire rate and damage more than made up for it. The sheer number of available attachments meant it could be fine tuned to basically any playstyle. It was one of the only guns you saw online for the first few weeks of Cold War's life cycle, and since everyone had it, there was no reason not to spam it. You were validated.

11. The XM4 in Black Ops 6

It was the exact same problem all over again when the XM4 came back in Black Ops 6, and in my opinion it was even better this time around because Treyarch buffed the base weapon between Cold War and BO6. The XM4 ended up being basically the only gun online for almost a year after the game came out. You could load into matches where it was quite literally the only gun in the kill feed because there was no reason to use anything else.

The base stats alone were strong, but once you loaded up attachments and perks it outclassed everything. Treyarch eventually nerfed it and buffed a bunch of weaker weapons to give it some competition, which I appreciate. It has been a while since I loaded up Black Ops 6 myself and I probably won't anytime soon, but to my understanding it is still a top tier weapon.

10. The MP7 in Black Ops 2

I would call this one of the more underrated starting weapons in Call of Duty history, but it is worth mentioning. The Black Ops 2 MP7 was heavily nerfed compared to the ridiculous Modern Warfare 3 version, but it was still extremely strong and very consistent, which is why so many people kept using it even after unlocking other SMGs.

The iron sights were clean, the fire rate excellent, the ammo capacity really good, and the reload animations quick. Damage was average, but it was consistent and reliable so you always knew what you were getting. It obviously wasn't as good as the completely broken Modern Warfare 3 version and got overshadowed because of it, but the Black Ops 2 MP7 deserves to be called one of the best starting guns in Call of Duty history and a high tier weapon overall.

9. The Remington 870 in Black Ops 2

This one looks like a standard pump action buckshot weapon, but a few things about the Remington made it special. The fire rate was really high for a pump action gun, so getting follow up shots was easy, though you often wouldn't even need one because the one shot kill range was deceptively long, especially with a long barrel attached.

Out of all the starting weapons in the game, this thing is a top tier pump shotgun in Call of Duty history, and they gave it to you right out of the gate.

8. The NV4 in Infinite Warfare

I hate putting this gun on the list, but it's genuinely one of my favorite guns to hate on. It was supposed to be a futuristic M4 variant and was even called the M4 in the game files, but in practice I think it was more of a parasite that sucked all the potential fun out of that game. I think it ruined Infinite Warfare, and I'm impressed Infinity Ward was able to program a parasite like this. It was lame, and I don't really know what it is about M4 type weapons in Call of Duty over the last decade, but I just don't like them.

7. The PPSH41 in Call of Duty World War II

During the hype campaign for that game, Sledgehammer gave a bunch of interviews about how much historical research they had done, and then delivered some of the least historically accurate guns ever, at least until Vanguard came along and made things even more cursed. I'm still annoyed at how inaccurate this version of the PPSH was, especially since it was a starting gun.

The fire rate was moderate, the damage good, and the range great. The recoil was entirely vertical, which made it really easy to stay on target at mid and long range. There's a reason it was the competitive weapon of choice throughout the entire COD World War II life cycle, even if it was nothing like the real life PPSH.

6. The Lewis gun in Call of Duty World War II

I think this is one of the most obnoxious guns in the game, a starting light machine gun that basically put the game on easy mode. It was a little on the heavy side and the fire rate was a little below average, but it didn't matter because it had no recoil and the damage profile was, in my words, stupid. It almost always killed with three bullets regardless of how far away the target was.

This was another gun that wasn't historically accurate, since the ammo disc on top of the real weapon looks nothing like the COD World War II version. I've already gone on that rant once about the game's lack of authenticity so I won't again, but even setting that aside, this would be one of the best guns in the game regardless of being handed to you as a starting weapon.

5. The VMP in Black Ops 3

When you booted up Black Ops 3, you had a choice between two SMGs, the Kuda or the VMP. Both were pretty insane, but the VMP was certainly the better of the two, which is why it was the competitive SMG of choice for basically the entire life cycle of the game. If you were willing to put time into mastering the recoil, it was a true jack of all trades.

The fire rate and iron sights are honestly some of the best in Call of Duty history, and the damage was actually pretty moderate despite how fast the bullets came out, making the time to kill nutty even at mid and long range if you could stay on target. The VMP's reputation was later ruined by remakes in other games, but the original Black Ops 3 version was a skill based fan favorite and absolutely one of the best starting guns in history.

4. The STG44 in Vanguard

The Vanguard version of the STG44 was ridiculous, and Sledgehammer had a genuinely difficult time nerfing it properly. Every time they patched out one busted gunsmith build, the community would find a new one a couple of days later. Ten attachments per gun feels like a bit much, and the STG perfectly showed why, since there's no way to properly balance every possible combination when there are that many.

The base stats were already good on their own before you even added attachments, meaning they handed you a weapon of mass destruction the moment you turned the game on. When Vanguard launched, the Call of Duty community was not in the mood to forgive that.

3. The ICR7 in Black Ops 4

I'm still not entirely sure why this gun is called the ICR7 when the ICR1 appeared in Black Ops 3, a game that takes place after Black Ops 4 in the timeline. I don't think Treyarch was really thinking about the lore with this one, though that doesn't mean the game itself was bad.

The ICR7 was widely seen as the best assault rifle in the game at launch because it was so accurate while maintaining a very competitive time to kill at every range. Treyarch eventually nerfed it because it was doing way too much for too little effort. You just held your reticle over the enemy, held the trigger for a second, and they were gone, no compensating for recoil, no worrying about fancy movement.

2. The BAL 27 in Advanced Warfare

Low recoil, perfect iron sight, solid fire rate, and a ridiculous three to four shot kill range, plus every variant available in supply drops already buffed on top of already great base stats. There's a reason people joked it was Call of Duty. Sledgehammer nerfed the recoil once or twice, but that was insignificant, and they never touched the damage or the range.

My own theory, and I'll admit I might be a conspiracy theorist here, is that they left the base stats alone because nerfing them would have screwed up the stats on all the supply drop variants they wanted people to chase. I don't know a single other reason a gun this obviously overpowered would stay completely untouched for the entirety of Advanced Warfare.

1. The M16 in COD4

The nod for number one has to go to the M16 from COD4. It fired at the equivalent of over 900 rounds per minute as a burst rifle, needed only two shots to kill, had zero recoil, and was hit scan, meaning you didn't have to lead your shots at all. Put the reticle on the enemy, even all the way across the map, pull the trigger once, and they were done.

Infinity Ward gave you this gun the moment you turned the game on, and it came with a default class already kitted out with Stopping Power and a noob tube, so you didn't even have to build your own class to dominate immediately. The 2007 M16 was one of the most dominant weapons in Call of Duty history and absolutely had to top this list.

Which of these guns did you spam the hardest back in the day?