MP7

The Submachine Gun is a compact, fully automatic firearm manufactured on Earth for the needs of Combine Overwatch and Civil Protection. The weapon itself resembles the Heckler & Koch MP7 PDW in appearance, but is larger in size, among several other differences. The SMG is the most common automatic weapon in Half-Life 2 and its episodes. It possesses little stopping power and has poor accuracy, but its high rate of fire and the large 45-round magazine it houses help make up for this.

The SMG, along with the Pulse Rifle, forms the bulk of the Combine's small arms and is often carried by Overwatch Soldiers and Civil Protection officers. The SMG is also widely used by members of the Resistance, who have captured large numbers of them.

In Half-Life 2, the player acquires their first SMG in the chapter Route Kanal from a Civil Protection officer who rappels down into the storm drain system to intercept the player.

Overview
The SMG's overall appearance and shape resembles that of the real world MP7, but it has some significant differences. It is larger and has two barrels, one of which launches grenades. An internal grenade launcher in such a small weapon is an odd feature, as fitting a launcher into such a small weapon as this would be very difficult in real life, and the munition would have to be be very small, which would make it weaker and less effective. On the other hand, it could simply be filled with some highly compressed explosive material, but such materials tend to be very unstable. Where the grenades enter the weapon is also of question as it is never seen being reloaded after firing a grenade. This implies that the weapon might carry three grenades at one time which compiles the size issue.

The SMG's magazine -- located in the grip -- holds 45 rounds of 4.6x30mm cartridges, and a very small unusable holographic sight is mounted on what appears to be an accessory rail on top of the weapon. The SMG has two fire modes. Primary fire is fully automatic, with a high rate of fire, but poor accuracy. Secondary fire launches a grenade, which explodes on impact and follows a distinct arc towards its target. The player can carry up to three of these grenades at a time.

Tactics
Although not very powerful at range, the SMG is ideal for close quarters combat with multiple foes due to its high rate of fire and large magazine capacity. The player should be sure to watch the ammo count, however, because fully automatic fire depletes ammunition quickly. Ammunition is plentiful in most places, and large stocks of ammo (in infinite supply crates) are often found in Resistance and Combine strongholds alike, but in other, more isolated spots, it may be harder to come by, in Ravenholm for example.

The secondary fire grenades are excellent for hitting targets that are behind cover or large groups of targets, but they aren't very effective against heavily armored or fast moving targets, such as Striders or Gunships. Also, use the grenades sparingly, as they are fairly rare.

Trivia

 * When the player reloads the weapon, the magazine never leaves the grip housing. The player's hand just slaps the bottom of the gun. This can be seen when looking straight up. This is merely a design oversight.


 * The Buggy has a small box on the back that contains infinite ammunition for the SMG.


 * In early versions of Half-Life 2, there were two submachine guns in the game; the SMG1, which was based on the H&K MP5K, and the SMG2, which was based on the H&K MP7 (and was somewhat more closely based on the real gun than the final SMG is). The SMG1 had a 30 round magazine, a lower rate of fire and better accuracy, while the SMG2 had a larger magazine, a higher rate of fire, and poorer accuracy. At some point before the E3 2003 presentation, the MP5K based SMG1 was dropped in favour of the final SMG.


 * The SMG's grenade launcher function was originally intended to be a feature of the OICW, but when the OICW was axed in favour of the AR2 Pulse Rifle, the grenade launcher feature was 'transplanted' onto the SMG, presumably for balance purposes and to make the SMG more useful.


 * Of note is that the SMG in Episode One uses the Beta SMG's base textures, but the other textures (such as the normal map) are based on the one in the final.

List of appearances

 * ''Half-Life 2
 * Half-Life 2: Deathmatch
 * Half-Life 2: Lost Coast
 * Half-Life 2: Episode One
 * Half-Life 2: Episode Two