So, I decided to do an analysis on the weapons for the fun of it... it's been quite enlightening..
Often the generic weaponry are the weakest of it's type. Worst pistol is the generic 'pistol', worst shotgun is 'shotgun', etc. Exception is with rocket stuff and the heavy machine guns, but with those, even the basic ones are branded.
I don't know what crits do, but I assume they're great for instakills or something
Not sure about recovery either, but looks like it's the number of turns it takes between one burst and the next.. just weird that some weapons have really slow recovery times. I'm guessing that "Heavy" weapons have an initiative penalty and slow down the movement of the trooper using them.
Pistols:
The
generic pistol is horrible, hands down probably the worst weapon in the game. Poor damage, worst crits (half of all the other pistols), slow, inaccurate.
Revolver has nearly as bad damage, but makes up for it with knockdown and being always loaded at the start of the round. You get the knockdown power of the shotgun, at twice the range of a shotgun.
Desert eagle is misleading, it's the most accurate gun.. nice damage too, but too slow. Only pistol with Armor Piercing, but armor is too rare.
Beretta is awesome - fastest weapon in the game aside from knife and FAMAS.
Half the recovery of generic pistol. Good range and damage too, same aim as pistol.
Dual pistols is also pretty damn good. Surprisingly, there's few penalties, only that aim is 80 (but when you have 2 shots, who cares). More than double the ammo of standard pistol, same recovery, range, damage.
Shotguns:
Standard shotgun sucks. 50% more recovery time than most weapons. Still, zone damage, and some of the highest damage in the game if you can get close enough without dying. The worst bit is having only 1 ammo per reload... other shotguns either have more ammo per reload, or auto-reload.
Semi-auto shotgun is IMO the best shotgun in the game.
Half the recovery time of a standard shotgun, with all of the stats. It's got a whopping 4 shells on a full reload, plus slightly higher damage.
Double barrel shotgun... well, think of it like dual pistols. 2 shots at a time, all the same stats, and a wee bit higher range. The dual shots will take longer to reload and you'll run out faster, though.
Pump action is similar to semi-auto, but instead of having a big clip, it's auto reloading, with a bit slower recovery (but still faster recovery than a pistol).
Scattergun does a bit more damage, over a wider area, and has a faster recovery than standard shotgun. Drawback is that the criticals are lower than specialized shotguns, but still higher than most shotguns.
Assault rifles:
Again,
generic is the worst of the set. Half the crits as the other assault rifles. Small clip (3 bursts), range is between a pistol and shotgun.
M16 is a minor upgrade on generic assault rifle, with a bigger clip, and 20% faster recovery.
AK47 is IMO, twice as good as standard assault rifle, which is not saying much. Better range, 4 bullets per burst instead of 3, clip is also bigger to match.
FAMAS is IMO, the best weapon in the game. Damage per bullet matches a desert eagle. Range is a bit shorter than usual, but still beats shotgun.
More accurate than a generic assault rifle.
Half the recovery.
Thompson is probably what the AK47 should've been. Twice the average damage as the assault rifle AND armor piercing. 80 recovery, faster than standard.
UMP has 4 times more critical than standard assault rifle, and is the most accurate assault rifle.
Rocket stuff
M1 Bazooka, the basic, is actually a fairly balanced one. It's the most accurate rocket thing and has the fastest recovery, which is what matters with these things. Recovery is identical to generic pistol and assault rifle. It's an awesome 'secondary' weapon you could use to soften the enemy before running in. I don't think damage on rocket launchers matters, since most of them seem to kill on impact anyway. Drawback is that a standard bazooka has only 3 ammo AT MAXIMUM, not that you'd need to fire much more.
Rocket launcher has 1 higher max ammo than M1, 20% less aim, 20% slower recovery, but the good part is that it's the only bazooka that doesn't count as a heavy weapon. Which is a worthless point since you'll be firing them without moving anyway. The worst rocket weapon.
M25 Bazooka does a bit less damage, less accurate, slower than M1. But has 3x more ammo capacity before reloading, probably the best choice if you want a dedicated bazooka guy.
Infernal Tube is one shot, one reserve, horrible recovery time. Nearly double the damage of a M1 (not that it matters). I think double the area too, from what I've seen (which does matter). If you could slap a laser sight and initiative boosters on this one, it'll wipe out the enemy in the first round.
Machine guns (gatlings, minigun, whatever you want to name the set):
Comanche Auto is the 'basic' one. It's actually one of the better ones too... has the best recovery time among the MGs, and one of the highest accuracy. Capacity allows for 3 bursts, the high recovery time on this one will actually run through it fast, though. Range is comparable to an assault rifle, though the heavy trait will make it harder to use. It's got one of the highest damage output of all the weapons, a prime choice for a spy.
Heavy Machine Gun's advantage is that it starts off fully loaded... no more running out of bullets after a single burst! It bursts 8 bullets, more than any other weapon, but has the slowest recovery time as well. Poor accuracy too.
Gatling Gun does the most damage of all the MGs, least accuracy, poor recovery, but range is the same as a pistol.
Minigun does the least damage (similar to a pistol per bullet), but makes up for it by being the most accurate and having a great recovery time.
Snipers:
As usual,
generic sniper sucks. 1 freaking bullet (2 in reserve if they don't forget their bullets). Poor damage output, but not as bad as pistol. But the low ammo is a problem, as well as it not working at close range. All snipers have very high criticals, though, and a good chance of hitting the favored spot. So aim for the head, heart or lung. I wouldn't recommend getting the standard sniper rifle at all, though.
MOS-TECK has the highest damage of any sniper rifle... actually nearing the damage level of a shotgun. The capacity is very good too, 3 bullets per clip, 6 in reserve. It's powerful enough that you don't even need any criticals to kill with it, just regular bullets will kill, and you don't have to reload all the time too.
Lizaro Jungle is an overall beefed up version of the generic rifle. Slightly less aim, but double the ammo capacity, and a bit more damage. MOS-TECK beats it in every way, though.
Sparrowhawk is THE ultimate sniping weapon.
Double the aim of generic sniper, a whopping
x50 critical (3x higher than generic sniper). Same recovery time, stores 4 ammo in reserve. I've got two of them, and I highly vouch for them. It does less damage, but who cares when most of your shots are criticals?
CK-Magellan is like a super pistol that shoots across the map. It's got a very fast recovery, faster than most pistols and assault rifles! And 6 bullets per clip! Range is 2-max, instead of 3-max like most snipers/bazookas, meaning that it functions well at close range too. Damage is slightly higher than standard pistol.
Knife?
Knife sucks. Fastest weapon, but if you're going to get that close, better get a shotgun/machine gun, or invest in melee skills that actually cripple the enemy.