ARX-160

The **ARX-160** is an assault rifle in BlastGen. It first appears in BlastGen II via Classic Mode and makes a full appearance in BlastGen: Zero Ops.

## BlastGen II

The ARX-160 is only available in Classic Mode and is known as the **Tactical Rifle**. It costs $1800 and is somewhat cheaper than other rifles which usually cost $2000 or higher. It comes with a 30 round magazine, fires at 750 RPM, and has lower recoil compared to other rifles. Its iron sights also sport more zoom than other weapons, having 1.5x zoom as opposed to no zoom at all, which is a unique advantage and allows it to be used outside of its effective range more easily. It, however, has the second worst damage profile of all rifles, dealing 32 damage per shot, or a 4 shot kill (2 shot kill if aiming for the head). This is a horrendous damage output and most other rifles can kill in 2-3 shots. As such, it is largely passed over for more powerful weapons, but is good for players who want a cheap and accurate rifle.

## BlastGen: Zero Ops

### Campaign

The ARX-160 is frequently in the hands of Delta Force, alongside the more common M4A1 and M16A4. It can only be picked up from fallen allies, though since friendly soldiers frequently carry this weapon, ammo shortage should not be a problem. Unlike the Multiplayer version, the Campaign version is fully automatic, has a 30 round magazine, and shares ammo with all assault rifles except the FAL.

### Multiplayer

The ARX-160 is the fourth assault rifle unlocked but it can be used early via the Grenadier loadout, to which it comes with a M203 and a Holographic sight. Again, the damage profile of the ARX-160 is rather low, dealing a puny 25 damage, taking 4 shots to kill. Though, since the ARX-160 fires in 4 round bursts, if every bullet in the burst connects, it will be a one burst kill, with headshots reducing amount of bullets needed to kill by 2. Damage begins to drop off at around 40 meters, dealing 15 damage instead, needing 7 shots or around two and a half bursts to kill, with damage fully dropping off at 60 meters. This range is slightly lower than the M16A4, the other burst fire rifle on offer, but is average overall. It also boasts the fastest fire rate of any assault rifle, firing at 1000 RPM within the burst with the last bullet being fired at 900 RPM, with a burst delay of 1.2 seconds, giving it the edge in close range fights and allowing it to kill extremely fast. However, this is counteracted with bad hipfire accuracy and heavy recoil when firing rapidly, forcing the player to fire in controlled bursts for maximum accuracy. It has a default magazine capacity of 32 rounds for a total of 8 bursts before reloading, which is average overall. Reloading is rather quick and handling is also average, yet it has a slightly slower ADS speed of 1.4 seconds.

The ARX-160 has the standard assortment of assault rifle attachments. The optics are generally useless since the iron sights are fairly clean, though using the ACOG and Thermal sights is up to the player's preference, as they both bolster the ARX-160's mid range effectiveness. The Fore Grip is an important attachment to consider, as it reduces the amount of recoil significantly, allowing the ARX-160 to be much more controllable. The Laser Sight is another good attachment, as it increases the hipfire accuracy and tightens the hipfire spread to that of a normal assault rifle's, making it far more accurate when firing from the hip. Both the M203 and M26 are generally unfavorable because the ARX-160 simply doesn't need these attachments, and since Explosive Vision reduces the amount of explosive damage taken until death, players will find it difficult to get M203 kills against enemies playing as Dyno, it makes the M203 worthless. Extended Mags inceases the magazine size to 48 rounds, or 12 bursts total. If ammo consumption is a problem, they can use Extended Mags, though it isn't always necessary. The Bayonet is an odd attachment with interesting benefits, as it increases the speed of a melee attack and allows players to perform a unique charge melee attack known as a Bayonet Charge while sprinting. This makes getting melee kills much faster, though one must be mindful that they can be killed while performing the Bayonet Charge. Overall, the ARX-160 is a rather powerful weapon, but has way too many weaknesses to be used practically, with most players preferring to use the M16A4, which is more accurate and deals more damage. Nevertheless, the use of this weapon is uncommon.