New Weapons in Update 0.4 Spearhead

It feels like Gray Zone Warfare came out just the other day, and it’s hard to believe the game is nearing its second anniversary.

The open-world shooter started out with a pretty modest selection of weapons, but no update expanded it as dramatically as patch 0.4, codename Spearhead.

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I got to spend just over a week bumbling about the island of Lamang to put the seven-and-a-half new weapons through their paces. No animals were hurt in the making of this list, but I cannot say the same about the new, redesigned NPCs. It was self-defence, I swear!

7

Norinco M-201C

Not Your Daddy’s Tokarev

Sidearms serve two purposes in Gray Zone Warfare: equipping random bums in the starter towns, and saving you when your rifle magazine runs dry while an enemy is staring you in the eye.

With that said, even in this sideshow category, the Norinco M-201C is a little underwhelming. This Chinese modernization of the Soviet TT-33 design has a wider, more ergonomic grip, redesigned safety, and uses 9x19mm rounds instead of 7.62x25mm Tokarev.

You don’t have many ways to accessorize the gun, and the 8-round, single-stack magazine is decidedly lacking in capacity compared to most other pistols in the game. It’s a beautiful gun to own, so long as you don’t need to use it.

6

Laugo Arms Alien

A Sports Car on a Dirt Road

If the M-201C is an old Honda that barely makes it up a hill, the Alien is a Ferrari. There is one thing that unites them both, however: they are not fit for survival in the jungles of Lamang.

The Alien is a designer pistol with exquisite ergonomics and futuristic aesthetics. You will typically find it fitted with reflex sights, and the gun is so accurate it feels like cheating (by pistol standards, anyway).

Unfortunately, all that snazziness does not fix two key issues with the Alien. The 10-round magazine again falls well short of the Beretta and Glock offerings in the game, but most importantly, this is ridiculously expensive. If you want a pistol with few rounds and decent accuracy, just take the old .45 with you. That saves you some dollars, and you get to shout ‘two world wars’ at people while reloading.

5

Remington Model 788

Baby’s First Sniper Rifle

In keeping with the civilian market trend, the Remington Model 788 is a perfectly fine bolt-action rifle whose biggest sin is not being the Model 700.

If you like using the Model 700, you’ll have a perfectly fine time with the 788, except that the .222 cartridge’s ballistics are a lot closer to the 5.56x45mm NATO you’re familiar with from your AR-15 of choice. The rails take most ring mounts, so you can fit your scope of choice.

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Using FMJ ammunition, the Model 788 has acceptable armor penetration, and it boasts great accuracy up to medium ranges. However, you are still getting all the drawbacks of bolt-action rifles with none of the advantages that come with 7.62x54mmR on the Mosin-Nagant or 7.62x51mm NATO with the Model 700.

4

Springfield M14/M1A

Goodbye, My Sweetheart, Hello Lamang

Some people take a while to get over a breakup, and I assume that’s what happened when the US Army had to dump the M1 Garand. The Springfield M14 is essentially a Garand on steroids, typically fitted with a 20-round box magazine instead of the iconic clip ejector, with select-fire capability, and chambered in the then-new 7.62x51mm NATO cartridge.

Despite being introduced around the same time as the AKM and the vz. 58 (more on that later), the M14 has a distinctively old-school feel to it, with a long barrel, a grip stock instead of a pistol grip, and being much heavier than its contemporaries.

Much like in real life, the good old M14 remains a useful weapon in Gray Zone Warfare. The rifle is accurate at long ranges, 7.62x51mm reliably puts down any enemies in the game, and you have tons of customization options to turn this veteran into a modern weapon.

My favorite setup is using the short barrel with the EBR chassis, and either an ACOG or a variable zoom optic on the rail. Unless you like trying to shoot down helicopters when aiming at infantry, there are no functional differences between the M14 and the M1A in the game, so you may as well treat the fire selector as decorative.

3

Colt M16A1

The Black Rifle

It’s drip or drown in the jungle, and it’s hard to look any more fly than with the M16A1, triangular handguard, and all that jazz.

The M16A1 has all the great features of your average AR-15: it’s reliable, accurate, boasts a fast rate of fire, and looks sick to boot. Customization remains fairly workable, albeit less so than on the M4A1 or the new KS-1.

While the stock fit uses the carry handle sights, you can also directly fit an ACOG scope to it, or add a small rail adaptor for red dots and holo sights. Other accessories can be mounted either with a small barrel-mounted adaptor or by swapping out the handguard for the 12-inch RAS one commonly seen on the M16A4.

Given the AR-15’s popularity, you can also ‘borrow’ ammunition from different NPC factions by putting the original owner to sleep.

2

Sa vz. 58

The Moravian Buzzsaw

Did you know that, despite being outwardly similar, the 30-round AKM magazine is not compatible with the vz. 58? I found that out the hard way after enthusiastically loading AK mags into my rig while taking this Czechoslovak masterpiece for a spin.

At a surface level, the vz. 58 is functionally similar to the AKM. They weigh about the same, use the ever-reliable and widely available 7.62x39mm round, and are decently accurate up to medium range. Sure, the vz. 58 has some minor quality of life improvements like holding the bolt open after firing the last shot, but that’s not enough to sell it.

What sets the vz. 58 apart from its Soviet competitor is the close-quarters performance. On top of being shorter, firing the vz. 58 on full auto is like brandishing a submachine gun: fast rate of fire, while remaining incredibly controllable. Just make sure you don’t get too carried away, as it’s deceptively easy to run dry with the safety on the ‘FUN’ setting.

1

Knight’s Armament Company KS-1

Special Boomstick Service

For all the talk from the developers about moving away from the 5.56x45mm meta, it is hard to argue that the KS-1 is the cream of the crop in Gray Zone Warfare.

Formally known as the L403A1 in the British military, this is a Gucci AR-15 made for special forces operators, offering carbine dimensions without sacrificing ballistic performance when coupled with the compact, high-efficiency suppressor.

The KS-1 boasts extremely soft recoil and is fairly light even when fully kitted out with optics. The DDM4 has been firmly dethroned as the premier rifle in the game, so long as you can afford the upgrade.

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Systems

Released

April 30, 2024

ESRB

m

Developer(s)

Madfinger Games

Publisher(s)

Madfinger Games

Engine

Unreal Engine 5

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