Plasma Rifle

Plasma Rifle
Information
Manufacturer	dataDyne
Model	FAMAS G2
Type	Heavy Weapon
Primary Mode	Semi-Automatic
Secondary Mode	Cloak
Tertiary Mode	N/A
Damage (per Hit)	High
Accuracy	High
Ideal Range	High
Rate of Fire	120 RPM
Ammo Type	Plasma Energy
Magazine Capacity	5
Maximum Ammo	200

“	Fires explosive bolts of super-heated plasma. Secondary function diverts energy to cloak the firer. A self-recharging power core provides limitless ammunition, but the charge is quickly exhausted.	”

The Plasma Rifle, also referred to as simply Plasma, is a heavy weapon found in Perfect Dark Zero.

Description

Based on a FAMAS G2, the Plasma Rifle is a semi-automatic experimental energy weapon made by dataDyne. The Plasma Rifle fires heated plasma balls that move slowly but can be fatal, especially to unarmored targets due to the splash damage they deal. As the gun runs on a self-recharging power source, the gun's ammo naturally reverts back to full when not in use and recharges faster when the user is not in motion.

The Plasma Rifle's secondary fire harkens back to Perfect Dark's RC-P120, cloaking the user in a similar manner to the active camo in the Halo series. What's worth noting is that cloaking gradually drains the battery, even more so when the user is moving. In the missions, though, the battery's life is cut shorter and may even fully drain within five seconds. The cloak temporarily disengages when the user either shoots the gun or performs a melee attack. Water-flooded areas disable the cloaking function entirely.

The Plasma Rifle can also be mounted on a turret. When mounted, it has the ability to zoom in on targets and will never need to recharge ammo, though the secondary function will be disabled when the Plasma Rifle is used in this fashion.

Advantages

The Plasma Rifle does not come without its numerous advantages. Its heated plasma blasts are sure to heavily damage human targets and permanently reduce their health. Since these plasma balls are explosives, they deal splash damage and can destroy vehicles quickly, usually within two hits or more.

The cloak function of this weapon allows the player to attack or move past enemies unseen. In some cases, this gun can actually be used as a temporary substitute for stealth weapons like the P9P.

Disadvantages

As a heavy weapon, when equipped, the Plasma Rifle slows the player's movement greatly.

The Plasma Rifle's plasma blasts move somewhat slowly, meaning the gun is not particularly useful against moving targets unless the user can either fire shots in a direction that somehow strike a moving target or the targets are not moving to the left or right. In this case, the RCP-90 and SuperDragon are better choices for use against moving targets.

Another problem of using this gun is the increased possibility of friendly fire. Misusing the gun, especially with its slow-moving plasma blasts, can result in the death or serious injury of either the player or a teammate.

When the cloak function is toggled on, the battery drains quickly, especially when the user is in motion. In the missions, the battery life is cut much shorter, even more so with each successive usage of the cloak function up to the point where the battery drains from 200 to 0 in less than 5 seconds, especially on higher difficulties. Even then, enemies, especially in the Combat Arena, can still see cloaked Plasma Rifle users.

Usage

The Plasma Rifle is an experimental superweapon made for used by dataDyne and has exclusively seen use by Mai Hem's "Phantom" guards and dataDyne's female security teams on the bridge to Zhang Li's arena in Africa.

While not actually using the weapon, in the climax mission of Perfect Dark Zero, Zhang Li can conjure plasma balls identical in appearance, sound, and power to the ones emitted by the Plasma Rifle.

Mission Appearances

Perfect Dark Zero

• Temple Surveillance - At the end of the mission, Mai Hem orders her "Phantoms" to kill Joanna Dark due to her being discovered as the pilot of the CamSpy. Take out the Phantoms to steal their weapons.
• Bridge Assault - dataDyne's infinitely-respawning female guards carry this weapon at the end of the mission as a last resort to kill Joanna and stop her from completing the mission. To complete the mission, just get to the coliseum and avoid these guards. A few Plasma Rifle guards are also hidden in a cave on the left of the Temple grounds, accessible by using a Demo Kit on a doorway covered in rubble.

The Plasma Rifle mounted on a turret on Bridge Assault.

Trivia

• The Plasma Rifle has the longest first pickup animation of all weapons in Perfect Dark Zero.
• Ironically, the Plasma Rifle is part of the Carrington Institute weapon set in the Combat Arena, despite being a dataDyne-made weapon.
  • Its Carrington Institute counterpart is the Shockwave.

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