Shockwave

Shockwave
Information
Manufacturer	Carrington Institute
Type	Heavy Weapon Sniper Rifle
Secondary Mode	X-Ray
Damage (per Hit)	High
Accuracy	Very High
Ideal Range	Long
Rate of Fire	Slow
Ammo Type	Plasma blasts
Magazine Capacity	30
Maximum Ammo	30

The Shockwave is a classified experimental energy weapon found in Perfect Dark Zero, manufactured by the Carrington Institute. It sees sparse use among Daniel Carrington's most elite soldiers.

In-Game Description

“	A classified experimental weapon, the Shockwave's stream of highly-charged particles can blast adversaries clean off their feet. A built-in scope complements the secondary function which allows foes to be seen through walls. Prone to overheating.	”

Description

The Shockwave is an energy sniper rifle with a non-replenishable ammo source, capable of shooting through doors and up to 3 enemies, should they stay in line. If fired too many times in succession, it will overheat and be forced to cool down. Unlike the Jackal, the Shockwave is not bolt-action, instead being semi-automatic.

The Shockwave is equipped with a secondary function that enables X-ray vision, allowing the user to see all humans in the game world.

Advantages

The Shockwave has the capability of eliminating enemies in one shot, especially with headshots or shots at the torso, even while not dealing as much damage as the Jackal. Being extremely accurate, the Shockwave is extremely likely to not miss a slow-moving target.

The Shockwave also has the added advantage of shooting through objects such as doors and wooden crates as well as multiple enemies. In addition, its X-ray secondary function allows players to see all humans in X-ray vision, even ones from very far away, allowing players to see enemies in front and plan how to attack them efficiently.

Due to not being bolt-action, the Shockwave has a higher effective rate of fire than the Jackal.

Disadvantages

Firing the Shockwave too many times in a row disables it from use as it needs to cool down for a maximum of 5 seconds after overheating, although the cooldown period can be shortened at any time after firing by activating the reload command, and the gauge displaying the overheating of the weapon will also cool down automatically when the weapon is not fired or put away. The Shockwave cannot be used while it is cooling down, and recovering from a full heat meter leaves the player completely vulnerable to gunfire. For this reason, it is best to fire the Shockwave either once or twice in a row and then take cover to cool down the gun or swap to a pistol. The Shockwave's ability to penetrate doors and enemies diminishes with each object penetrated, though the actual kill power of the shot fired remains unchanged. For example, shooting through a door will kill only 2 enemies at once, as opposed to 3.

As a heavy weapon, the Shockwave causes its user to have room for only one small-sized weapon due to taking up 3 weapon slots and also slows down movement speed when equipped. As it uses a non-replenishable ammo source, the only way to get more shots is to find another Shockwave rifle. When using the X-Ray secondary function, there will be no distinct differences between enemies and friendly NPCs, so care must be taken to not shoot an ally by accident, heavily injuring or even killing them as a result.

The Shockwave is extremely rare throughout the course of Perfect Dark Zero's campaign, appearing only in the penultimate mission. In any case, every shot from the Shockwave counts, so try not to waste too much shots.

Appearances

Perfect Dark Zero

• Bridge Assault - Dropped by a dead Carrington Institute elite soldier at the ground level of the ruins, close to the Institute Squad at the beginning of the level. One is also used by another Carrington Institute elite soldier during the bridge assault.

Gallery

The stats of the Shockwave as seen on the loading screen.

The weapon description of the Shockwave as seen on the loading screen.

Trivia

• Mai Hem carries a Shockwave in her official artwork, though she is never seen using one in any of her mission appearances.
• The Shockwave, being an energy sniper rifle with a limited ammo source and the ability to overheat, is comparable to the Type-50 Beam Rifle and the later Type-27 Beam Rifle from the Halo series, although it notably has double to triple the ammunition of these weapons and also a much longer cooldown time by comparison.
  • Furthermore, the Shockwave bears some resemblance to the SRS99C-S2 AM sniper rifle from Halo: Combat Evolved and the SRS99D-S2 AM sniper rifle from Halo 3, although the Shockwave's resemblance to the latter is likely a coincidence as Halo 3 would not be released until September 25, 2007, almost two years after Perfect Dark Zero was released for the Xbox 360.
  • Coincidentally, the Jackal sniper rifle in Perfect Dark Zero is also a reference to the infamous Kig-Yar/Jackal Snipers from the Halo series, who also commonly use either one of the two Beam Rifles, both of which the Shockwave, as previously mentioned, alludes to.

---