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Exclusive: the weapons of iPhone shooter Eliminate

In-depth look at the game's arsenal

Exclusive: the weapons of iPhone shooter Eliminate
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| Eliminate Pro

A shooter is only as good as its guns, and Eliminate is definitely packing heat. Much of the reason we enjoyed our exclusive hands on time with the game was due to the firearms.

From classic weapon variations like the plasma cannon and rocket launcher to experimental guns such as the anti-matter thrower, there's a nice mix suited to a range of tactical shooting tastes.

In total, six are planned for the game's release, only two of which can be carried into a match. You're free to change your load out before a match. It's also possible to upgrade specific attributes on each gun as you level up. Naturally, upgrades can improve the rate of fire, accuracy, range, and other aspects specific to your weapons.

For more information on Eliminate and how the weapons come into play, make sure to check out our exclusive hands on preview.

Rocket Launcher Eliminate (iPhone)The favoured standby of suicide griefers, the rocket launcher is well-balanced with the other weapons in the game's arsenal. Aiming is dependent wholly on your input - no target assistance - which prevents the rocket launcher from handing over easy kills. Additionally, slow reload time means a moment of vulnerability following every shot.

During the matches in which we equipped the rocket launcher, we noticed slight splash damage on enemies caught within the vicinity of an impact. Realistically, however, getting a kill requires nailing an opponent head-on.

That can be pretty tricky given the speed at which competitors move about, not to mention the effectiveness jumping has in evading rocket fire.

Eliminate (iPhone)Gravity Hook

As we described in an early preview of the game formerly known as LiveFire, the gravity hook is less a weapon than helpful combat item. Firing off this gravity-imbued grappling hook does exact a small amount of damage, but it's meant for special acrobatic manoeuvres.

Firing the gravity hook at any enemy, for instance, pulls you to that player. This gives you the opportunity to level a melee attack or point blank shot with your secondary firearm.

Obviously, this requires a bit of skill to pull off. The action moves at a speedy clip, so getting a lock on an opponent can be tough. As such, the gravity hook looks to be best equipped by advanced fraggers.

Plasma Cannon Eliminate (iPhone)Arsenal MegaCorp's answer to the shotgun. The plasma cannon is one of three core firearms in Eliminate, guaranteeing that any seasoned shooter has access to the basic rifle, shotgun, and rocket launcher trifecta. The only difference here is the plasma round that's fired instead of a shell used in a traditional shotgun.

During our hands on with the game, we found the shotgun to be powerful, though inaccurate. The plasma cannon definitely benefits from close-range use. Shots fired at longer distance either miss the intended target or do little damage.

Therein lies the risk with using the plasma cannon: getting a good shot at an opponent means getting fairly close to him and making yourself an easy target.

Eliminate (iPhone)Anti-matter Thrower

Perhaps the most unusual of the game's arsenal, the anti-matter cannon fires globules of purple anti-matter that severely damage opponents. Better yet, the spherical rounds can bounce off walls and create impromptu barriers. A few well-placed shots near a tight corridor can result in ricocheting anti-matter balls that prevent competitors from passing through unscathed.

This makes the anti-matter cannon a great weapon when competing against evasive players as you can cordon them off to specific parts of the map. Of course, it's not all rosy: the drawback comes from your inability to get through any makeshift anti-matter trap as well.

Auto-Rifle Eliminate (iPhone)The standard combat firearm ideal for mid-range combat. This is always good a default weapon since you're able to lob shots easily and with a fair degree of success thanks to the auto-rifle's high rate of fire.

We equipped this as one of our two weapons for each match simply because of its reliability. It sprays a good deal of bullets in a short period of time, which makes it ideal for honing in on fast-moving foes. Limited firepower counters its ease of use - it takes quite a number of bullets to eliminate an opponent.

Eliminate (iPhone)Vaporizer

Packing a red-hot thermal laser, the vaporizer fries opponents rather than fragging them. It's a powerful laser weapon, though because it doesn't deploy bullets dealing damage requires a charging time that makes you temporarily vulnerable. A second is needed to charge up the laser before it actually fires from the gun.

While the charging time makes it more challenging to use in combat than the auto-rifle or plasma cannon, the vaporizer isn't nearly as demanding as the rocket launcher. Since the laser comes out in a stream, you can fire and then quickly adjust to hit your target.

Tracy Erickson
Tracy Erickson
Manning our editorial outpost in America, Tracy comes with years of expertise at mashing a keyboard. When he's not out painting the town red, he jets across the home of the brave, covering press events under the Pocket Gamer banner.