Papa don't preach, I've fallen for the One Bad Gun in Marathon. I don't care what people say about the V22 Volt Thrower SMG – namely that the battery-powered SMG sucks – because I'm in love. I'm in love with its homing bullets and the way its stocky stapler-esque frame is deceptively light, allowing me to draw it with the slickness of a magician with a back-pocket Saturday night special.
I'm in the minority. Within a week of Marathon's launch, I learned the Volt Thrower has a reputation for low damage and lower projectile speeds. Both of these things are true, leading to doubt in our relationship. Was it to blame for my string of bad runs? Since then, I've broadened my horizons – leaning on the Bully SMG, using more assault rifles, and even trying my hand at sniping with the Longshot – but after mixed success (I'll give you this: the Longshot rules), I'm putting my faith back in the One Bad Gun.
No gods, no meta
Marathon review: "My favorite multiplayer shooter in years"
While the Volt Thrower is outclassed by most Marathon weapons in isolation, Bungie's shooter is all about context. I near-exclusively play Assassin, whose kit works well with the Volt Thrower. The SMG locks onto targets even if I can't see them, which means I can push through smoke clouds – activating the Assassin's passive invisibility – and accurately spray into an enemy, forcing them to fire blindly in return, step into the smoke, or run.
Assassin's stealthy playstyle also means I can usually get the drop on other players, giving me a second or two to unload with the Volt Thrower's quickest rate-of-fire before it starts to overheat. Sure, harder-hitting guns like the Bully or WSTR shotgun would do more damage in a shorter window – but when you don't know if a Runner is going to turn and fight, activate an ability, or just run, the Volt Thrower's lock-on projectiles minimize a lot of room for user error.
The Volt Thrower has broader quirks. For starters, it's essentially the Needler from Halo. You can land consistent headshot damage by angling your shots slightly above your target, so that the projectiles angle towards their head, and with clever aiming you can even hose down players who are hidden in cover. I recently took down a player (with much better gear) who got the drop on me at Perimeter, all because their shoulder poked out from the rock they were healing behind.
Still, the Volt Thrower's drawbacks are real. I used the SMG on my first Cryo Chamber run and its DPS simply wasn't good enough to trade fire with the zone's UESC hordes, who could floor me before I made a dent. Likewise, for every cheesy spray-and-pray I've taken Runners down with, I've lost an encounter where the Volt Thrower hasn't stacked up against more up-front damage sources like the Longshot and WSTR. But hey – isn't that what grenades are for?
These weaknesses mean the Volt Thrower is, loathe as I am to admit it, situational. But the beauty of Marathon is that every gun is situational. The Longshot can one-tap Runners from a mile away, but good luck turning corners in Hauler with it. The Bully's low magazine capacity makes it less reliable against stronger shields, while the WSTR (post-nerfs) will either decimate a Runner or propel its pellets to distant solar systems with no in-between.
You don't choose who you fall in love with. Fate has dealt me an infatuation with a fictional SMG, but I'm sure everyone has their One Bad Gun. If you know yours, I'd love to read about it in the comments – I'm desperate to know if anyone has made the rail gun work. Just don't get me started on the knife, o killer of gods, smoke-screened stabber of backs, the side-piece to my battery-powered romance. There's room in my heart for two.
