Shotgun

The Shotgun is a close quarters combat weapon featured in Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction and Mercenaries 2: World in Flames.

Overview
Carried by Russian Mafia Officers or found in the Russian Supply Drop, shotguns are unparalleled in sheer power when in close-quarters firefights. While its range is limited, it should not be underestimated, and should be carried on missions where close range is the main focus of combat. It is mainly carried by Mafia officers, known as Mafia Capos, who can be found at the Mafia HQ and other areas with high Mafia numbers. The Six of Clubs also uses this weapon.

Real Life
The shotgun is based on the Remington 870 shotgun.

Trivia

 * This is Josef Yurinov's weapon of choice when you fight with him after the arms deal betrayal and before he becomes the new head of the Mafia operation.
 * This gun lacks a player firing sound in the PlayStation 2 version of the game, though the ones used by the AI will still make a sound effect when shooting.
 * The pre-rendered image of the shotgun differs significantly from the in-game model, which has an air-soft-like box magazine and an overall different shape.

Overview
The Shotgun is an uncommon weapon, it is often used by the Pirates and rarely seen in the hands of black caped VZA troops and almost never seen in the hands of PLAV troops. It can be first seen and obtained during the Villa takeover. It can be obtained through the CQB kit sold by the Universal Petroleum Shop and Pirate Supply Drop from the Pirates' Shop.

This weapon is a pump action shotgun, holding seven rounds, but it is extremely limited in terms of lethality. Individual pellets deal negligible damage but a full blast of them at very close range can kill any infantry unit. The Shotgun is most effective at extreme close range, it only begins becoming reliable at under ten meters. One of its many drawbacks is its slow rate of fire. Even if a skilled use of the shot intervals can be very effective, it seriously loses effectiveness against more numerous and stronger soldiers as the game progresses. Using any other weapon is more advisable because almost everything else has a higher magazine capacity, rate of fire, range, accuracy and damage output.

Using the Shotgun in a vehicle centered strategy is a viable option because it is effective at defending a vehicle from enemies trying to commandeer it. The Shotgun is easier to use with Jen because she can move faster (but has less health) or Mattias because he has faster health regeneration (but slower movement).

When the player is within Shotgun range and he is hit by a shot, the player will often have already lost a sizeable portion of health. Also, NPCs accuracy is significantly better at close range and bullets have less travel time (less opportunity to 'dodge' incoming fire) giving the NPCs a significant advantage at that range. Another major flaw with the shotgun is the lack of consistency in the pellet spread, making the damage output very variable.

Real Life
The shotgun is actually a semi-automatic M4 Super 90 produced by the Italian shotgun manufacturer, Benelli. It is used by the United States Armed Forces.

Overview
The Shotgun also appears in Mercenaries 2 Mobile, but unlike in the other titles, it is one of the most common weapons in the game, since it can be found in every mission. It is used mainly by the VZ and PLAV. In this game it is considered a primary weapon, meaning that if picked up it goes in the first weapon slot, it has unlimited bullets in the reserve, and it will shoot automatically when there are enemies nearby, unless the player is crouched behind sandbag piles. This weapon can shoot 1 bullet at a time and recharges automatically after every shot, although it takes more time than other weapons to do this. The Shotgun can deal very high damage, being able to kill enemies in one hit, but it can be used only at close range, because unlike the Assault Rifle, it doesn't shoot from the distance.

Real Life
The shotgun in this game seems to be based on the Remington 870 shotgun like the one in Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction.