M404 Heavy Rifle

The M404 Heavy Rifle is a weapon in Deus Ex: Human Revolution. The weapon first appears towards the end of the missions in Hengsha, in the hands of Belltower Associates PMC troops.

Background
The M404 Heavy Rifle is a 5.56mm multi-barrel heavy machine gun with high rate of fire, employing Gatling-style rotating barrels, manufactured by Mustang Arms.

Characteristics
A powerful support weapon, the M404 Heavy Rifle fulfils the role of light machine gun in the game, providing more power, greater ammunition capacity and a greater rate of fire than the other automatic weapons, the FR-27 and TMP-18. The weapon uses special 5.56x45mm rounds, and utilises a "Flüssig Kühl- Effekt" (liquid cooling effect) to increase barrel cooling. In spite of this, the weapon can still overheat, at which point it becomes inert until the barrels can cool down. The weapon has a short spin-up time before firing.

The M404 can accept the Laser Sight mod, and a special mod which increases cooling and so delays overheating. By default the weapon is extremely inaccurate, and benefits immeasurably from the Recoil Reduction and Aim Stabilizer Augmentations; with these plus a Laser Sight, it becomes a pinpoint-accurate support weapon. The M404 has no iron sights and without a Laser Sight the player can only aim with a very broad crosshair.

The M404's ammunition is the largest in the game at 3x2 slots, though each instance of an ammunition box holds up to 200 rounds; this large ammunition means that a potential user should invest in inventory upgrades. The M404 features a high capacity helical magazine underneath the barrel cluster holding a default 100 rounds, with mods increasing this by 25 rounds each. The default reload is time-consuming, meaning the M404 also benefits greatly from Reload Speed mods.

Enemies with M404s are fairly uncommon; it is typically the weapon of "heavy" soldiers who also have increased armour. It is a dangerous weapon in enemy hands, though the spin-up time can be exploited to quickly attack an enemy who isn't prepared. Soldiers with heavy rifles will typically fire in prolonged bursts while slowly walking towards their target, with long pauses between bursts; it is generally a wise idea to wait for a burst to end before counter-attacking rather than trying to attack during it.

Combat Statistics

 * Damage / Round: 4 (upgradable to 7)
 * Rate of Fire: 7 (upgradable to 10)
 * Magazine: 100 rounds (upgradeable to 200, 25-round increments)

Upgrades

 * Laser Sight
 * Cooler (eliminates overheating)
 * Standard upgrades

Behind the scenes

 * It was probably originally inspired by the "chainsaw grip" M134 minigun made famous by Terminator 2: Judgment Day, with the three-barrel layout coming from the GAU-19.
 * The M404 has changed drastically since the first concept art. At first it was produced by Kaiga Limited and was a "chainsaw grip" minigun, with the final version being a more conventionally laid out weapon with a stock and pistol grip, as well as a partial shroud around the barrels. The reason for this change is unclear, but is likely to have something to do with weapon-holding animations; it is hard to imagine a way for the original design to be blind-fired, for example.
 * The game refers to the M404 as a "battle rifle." This is typically a term used for selective-fire weapons resembling assault rifles but using a full-sized rifle round rather than an intermediate round. The M404 is actually a support weapon using an intermediate round, making it a light machine gun.