The two main mid and long range weapons in Halo 4 are the Designated Marksman Rifle and the Battle Rifle.
One of these weapons was obviously favored by 343 industries in making the game. We ran a series of tests on each weapon to determine which was better.
The old favorite the Battle Rifle was first introduced in Halo 2. The BR quickly became a favorite of Halo players across the world. The gun provided effective firepower at short, medium and long range when in the hands of a skilled user. This single gun arguably propelled the Halo franchise to heights never seen by another game.
The BR made its return in Halo 3 and was equally popular. Major League Gaming had the gun as the default weapon in all of their tournaments. This made the BR the most important video game gun for the competitive gamer ever.
The DMR first came out in Halo Reach. The gun was not widely accepted by Halo players who still favored the BR to a large degree. The BR was taken out of Halo and replaced by the DMR in Halo Reach.
The newest game Halo 4 offers both the DMR and the BR in online gaming. This means you can now choose which gun you prefer.
This article is here to help you make that choice and draw some comparisons. Let us start with the old favorite the Battle Rifle.
The BR fires a three round burst and takes five head shots to kill. The effect is also the same if you fire four head shots and one shot to the body. The gun has a upward bullet spread and therefore it is best to aim slightly below the head to ensure all three rounds are on target. This also ensures that at least one round will strike the head. The BR takes 1.8 seconds to fire five shots and this is it's optimal kill time. The battle rifle still has a great feel to it and is very effective at medium range.
The DMR fires a single bullet with each trigger pull and takes five shots to the head to kill. The same can also be said of firing four shots to the body and one to the head. There is almost no bullet spread even when fired at maximum speed. This means this gun is very accurate. The DMR is king at long range. For novice users the best method is firing body shots first and firing at the head for the kill shot. The gun fires five shots in 1.68 seconds and this is the quicker of the two in kill time.
In conclusion The DMR is a little harder to aim but is clearly the superior gun in firepower. For those who prefer the BR the gun is still great. The BR in the hands of a skilled user at medium range is still the most lethal gun due to ease of aiming. The DMR however is likely to become the new gold standard for Halo players.