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Unreal The subject of this article appeared in Unreal Tournament. The subject of this article appeared in Unreal Mission Pack: Return to Na Pali. The subject of this article appeared in Unreal Championship. The subject of this article appeared in Unreal Tournament 2003. The subject of this article appeared in Unreal Tournament 2004. The subject of this article appeared in Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict. The subject of this article appeared in Unreal Tournament 3. The subject of this article appeared in Unreal Tournament 4.

The Flak Cannon is a weapon in the Unreal series. It is present in all Unreal games with the exception of Unreal II: The Awakening.

Overview[]

In general, the primary fire launches flak shell shards, and the secondary fire launches a flak shell bomb. The primary differences between the Flak Cannon's incarnations are the damage it causes, the number of times the flak shards bounce, and the distance the flak bomb flies.

Across all the games, several key components of the Flak Cannon remain the same. Mainly, all Flak Cannons have a "bumblebee yellow" coloration, slight wear, and the fact of the flak shell always visible.

Unreal and Return to Na Pali[]

"The somewhat cumbersome Flak Cannon uses jagged shards of metal for ammunition. Don’t let its lack of pyrotechnic flash fool you: a little shrapnel can dish out a hell of a lot of damage.

Primary Fire: Extremely fast spray of shrapnel, which ricochet off walls, ceilings and floors.
Secondary Fire: Large shrapnel-filled shell explodes on impact, spraying shrapnel in all directions."
Unreal manual

In Unreal, it was the replacement for the Quadshot. It had one metal extension connecting the weapon together.

Unreal Tournament[]

"Primary Fire: Fires chunks of hot jagged shrapnel.
Secondary Fire: Lobs a shrapnel grenade that explodes on impact.

This portable enemy blender can deliver instant death at any range. While the rate of fire is slow, the Flak Cannon’s destructive power is formidable. The primary fire discharges a concentrated explosion containing several pounds of jagged metal shrapnel. At point-blank range, the result is usually lethal. The secondary fire launches a shrapnel grenade that explodes on impact. Few opponents survive a direct hit from a Flak Cannon grenade."
UT manual

Classification
Heavy Shrapnel
Primary Fire
White hot chunks of scrap metal spray out in a wide spread. (8 shrapnels shoot out per shot, each does 24 damage)
Secondary Fire
A flak grenade is launched out of the gun with a high arc, which will inflict 105 damage on impact in its center with an explosion and spawning 5 flak shrapnels.
Tactics
The Flak Cannon is useful for close combat situations as well as bouncing around corners.

In Unreal Tournament, this weapon acts (and has always acted) as a close-combat weapon. Visually, 2 connectors are used, along with a lighter shade of yellow.

The Flak Cannon is one easy weapon to shred your enemies at close quarters. The primary fire launches linear shrapnels that can deplete any armor and kill the target with a single, or a maximum of 2 hits. The secondary fire hurls a chunk of molten metal at mid-range, which provides splash damage enough to kill one or two players. The secondary fire can also be useful to shoot enemies sitting behind cover. With an ammo capacity of 50, this weapon is handy in a Deathmatch, but need not to be, as in Assault matches.

Unreal Championship and Unreal Tournament 2003/2004[]

"Trident Defensive Technologies Series 7 Flechette Cannon has been taken to the next step in evolution with the production of the "Mk3 Negotiator." The ionized flechettes are capable of delivering second- and third-degree burns to organic tissue and cauterizing the wound instantly. Payload delivery is achieved via one of two methods: ionized flechettes launched in a spread pattern directly from the barrel; or via fragmentation grenades that explode on impact, radiating flechettes in all directions."
Weapon description

Primary Fire
White hot chunks of scrap metal are sprayed forth, shotgun style. The chunks glow as they do in UT, but they also create a trail of yellow behind all the chunks, making it easier to see. The damage they do goes down over their flight time, but a point-blank shot is extremely deadly. This fire mode fires 9 shards that do 13 damage each.
Secondary Fire
A grenade full of shrapnel is lobbed at the enemy, spraying shrapnel in all directions upon detonating. If you're lucky some of the shards it sprays upon detonation will hit your enemies, causing further damage. This means that sometimes you can kill someone with 100 health with a single flak shell even though the shell itself is only supposed to do 90 damage max.

The Flak Cannon in UT2003 is very similar to the one of |UT2004. The only difference is that it generally fires faster and has a slightly bigger arc of the alternate fire. It also has more ammo so it wouldn't be out of ammo too soon, keeping in mind the increase of the speed.

In UT2004, there's hardly a difference between it and the Flak Cannon in UT99 other than a visual change. It had visible circuitry, a TC-036B decal on the front, and 3 connectors on the weapon. Also, the 'weapon equip" animation was simplified to just a pull-out, with the Flak Shell seemingly always there.

Even though not much is known about the Flak Cannon of Unreal Championship, it is supposed to be very similar to the Unreal Tournament 2003 version. Only the appearance differs; it looks like something between Unreal Tournament's Flak Cannon (the 1st person view) and the Unreal Tournament 2003 and Unreal Tournament 2004 model (the 3rd person view) as its back, where the remaining ammo amount was displayed in UT, is left from Unreal Tournament, and the overall looks are updated to be similar to Unreal Tournament 2003 model.

Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict[]

"The Flak Cannon was first employed against humans during the suppression of the Green's World Rebellion. Alt-fire lobs a deadly explosive shell. Primary fire detonates the shell in the barrel to fire a spread of hot metal fragments."
Weapon description

Primary Fire
Fires shards of flak from a pre-exploded shell. The fragments can bounce off of walls and move slowly, so they are easily reflected. They also glow so they are highly visible.
Secondary Fire
A grenade full of shrapnel is lobbed at the enemy, spraying shrapnel in all directions upon detonating. If you're lucky some of the shards it sprays upon detonation will hit your enemies, causing further damage. Difficult to reflect because of it's heavy trajectory.

Unreal Tournament 3[]

"Trident Defensive Technologies continues to tweak and refine the flak cannon with their newly released Mk4 "Peacekeeper." In spite of its new name, the flak cannon remains banned from most military conflicts for high incidences of maiming and collateral damage. Still, the flak cannon is the weapon of choice for unconventional warfare in urban terrain. The primary mode detonates the flak shell in the barrel, launching shrapnel forward in a deadly shotgun pattern but often deafening the operator. The cannon also lobs an explosive flak shell that detonates on contact, sending shrapnel in a dangerously wide and unpredictable radius."
Weapon description

Primary Fire
White hot chunks of scrap metal are sprayed forth, shotgun style. The chunks glow as they do in UT, but they also create a trail of yellow-red behind all the chunks, making it easier to see.
Secondary Fire
A grenade full of shrapnel is lobbed at the enemy, spraying shrapnel in all directions upon detonating. If you're lucky some of the shards it sprays upon detonation will hit your enemies, causing further damage.

The Flak Cannon returns, and it's just as devastating as ever. It has been upgraded to make it more powerful. It had received the biggest overhaul of the Flak Cannon's visual look, replacing the front component with 4 sub-pieces that expand slightly upon equipping the Flak Cannon, the Flak shell shrinking greatly, and a less rifle-related look on the weapon compared to the previous editions.

Unreal Tournament 4[]

"The primary fire mode of the Flak Cannon fires metal shards. The secondary fire mode launches an explosive shell at an arc."
Weapon description

Primary fire
Shoots a quick burst of shrapnel that ricochets off of surfaces. Extremely deadly up close and in tight environments, less effective at longer ranges. Beware of backsplash!
Alternate fire
Lobs an entire shell in a medium range arc. Harder to predict but extremely deadly in direct aspect. If the shell explodes at the environment it causes a shrapnel splash explosion.
Tips - Shrapnel jumping
Shooting a shell into the ground while close by will propel you upwards. This comes at a large cost to health, so it should be used wisely.

The Flak Cannon makes a return in UT4, with an appearance reminiscent to the UT00-era Flak Cannon.

The primary fire sprays forth white hot chunks of scrap metal, shotgun style. The secondary fire lobs a grenade full of shrapnel at an opponent, spraying shrapnel in all directions upon detonating. The shards it sprays upon detonation may hit your enemies, causing further damage.

Tips and tricks[]

  • For more power, do not fire the flak fragments at the walls to reflect into enemies, as it makes them weaker and less accurate. Also don't fire from long range, as the pellets get less accurate over time. Just rush up to the enemy, face forwards, and shoot them to death for best results. If you HAVE to kill them from long range you can use the alt fire anyway, remember that in UT3-4 the "grenade" one-shots people without a shield in a direct hit.
  • One-on-one Flak Brawls are a 50/50 chance. Make sure you keep your shots counted and ensure much damage.
  • Be careful of the enemies switching to Flak Cannons, as it would make your enemy secure kills much faster at close range.

Unreal[]

Unreal Championship[]

"The flak cannon is the deadliest close-range weapon. Its one-hit kill makes it hard to beat in close quarters, and the secondary fire is just as deadly at medium range.
It’s of little use at long range, however, and must be used with care in tight spaces. Flak can ricochet back at you.

The primary fire is like a shotgun blast. It spreads out in the shape of a cone. At near ranges, it turns opponents into pulp. Hold your fire until you see the whites of their eyes for one-shot kills.

The secondary fire lobs a flak grenade that explodes with a tight blast radius. Hitting an enemy dead-on usually results in a one-shot kill. When the enemy is too far away to wipe out with the primary fire, switch to the secondary blast. Don’t aim at the feet, though. A direct hit is far more effective.

Rocket launchers are most useful in tight maps and in areas that are well traveled. The flak cannon is exceptionally useful in tight quarters, where it gives you a great chance of surprising an enemy up close. You can also do damage to groups by firing off the flak cannon in the midst of a battle.
The Flak Cannon is inefficient in multilevel warfare. It’s difficult to hit foes above you, and the secondary fire’s splash damage isn’t strong enough to do much damage when fired from above.
Know your distances, which tell you which attack to use. Aim for the upper torso and don’t be afraid to wait until you get a good, close shot. Your enemy goes down with a single blast."
Unreal Championship Prima's Official Strategy Guide


Trivia[]

  • With the absence of the Ripper from UT2003 and UT2004, the Flak Cannon's primary firing mode was given an extra boost in its reflective physical properties.
  • According to information in Unreal Championship 2, the Flak Cannon was first employed against humans during the suppression of the Green's World Rebellion in 2267.
  • In Unreal and Return to Na Pali, due to a bug, enemies such as Skaarj will not dodge the flak shells fired by the Flak Cannon. This makes the Flak Cannon's alt-fire highly effective against certain types of enemies. This is due to bAltWarnTarget being set to false in the weapon's code, a bug that was introduced in a patch on an unknown date.
  • According to Jack Porter, the game's AI was punishing on lower difficulty levels when holding the gun, so Steven Polge came with the idea of them firing few Flak pieces.[1]

References in other games[]

Main article: References to the Unreal series in other games
  • Gunfire Reborn: The Porcupine has an alternate fire that makes it play similarly to the Flak Cannon.
  • Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast: The Flechette Weapon is basically the Flak Cannon in all but name.
  • Nexuiz/Xonotic: The Mortar's primary fire shots projectiles which can be summed up as Flak Shells.
  • Nightmare Reaper: The Scrap Cannon fires fragments on its primary fire, and a shell on its secondary fire, making it a straight reference to the weapon.
  • Nuclear Throne: The Flak Cannon works almost exactly like their Unreal counterpart, being a shotgun weapon that fires a sphere of multi-hit death.
  • Russian Overkill: The Hotrod's secondary and tertiary fire shoot a spray of flak and a shrapnel bomb, respectively, just like the Flak Cannon.
  • SYNTHETIK: The flak cannon functions identically to its Unreal counterpart.
  • Warframe:
    • The Drakgoon shrapnel cannon is extremely similar to the Flak Cannon.
    • A later update added the Zarr, which is even closer to the original Flak Cannon.
    • In collaboration with Epic Games, an Unreal Tournament skin pack was released for a limited time through the platform, adding the "Drakgoon Flak Cannon Skin", which altered the Drakgoon's appearance to that of the UT4 Flak Cannon model.

Awards[]

  • 2old2play named it as the eighth best FPS weapon:
"The first great multiplayer FPS game on the PC also introduced one of the best weapons ever to shred your friends with. Visceral gibing never had it so good when catching people in close quarters and destroying every one who was hit by it. More fun then any of the other weapons in the game for up close action, just remember to wash up before eating."
2old2play[2]
  • Altered Gamer mentioned it as the best Shotgun-type weapon of all time:
"Whatever you play, there they are. You always get to shoot them: pump-action or automatic, sawed-off or combat, with shells of everyting from lead to alien plamsa. Nothing has stopped game developers from putting the shotgun (or at least an odd extra-terrestrial contraption with a low rate of fire, short range, and high damage) in EVERY FPS GAME I’ve ever seen. But which of them is the best, you ask?

Why the one that tosses frag grenades as a secondary fire option – with drumroll, welcome the Flak Cannon from the
Unreal Tournament series! This one in particular is from the 2004 version. While it is not technically a shotgun, it looks like a shotgun, feels like a shotgun and does what a really unreal shotgun must do – like shooting the slugs around corners or tossing the giant grenade of destruction upon your enemies. And it is deadlier than anything else, when up close and personal. My “Flak Monkey” bretheren will surely understand me."
Altered Gamer[3]
  • Bit-Gamer mentioned it as the best weapon in gaming:
"There are so many reasons why I think Unreal Tournament's Flak Cannon is the best virtual weapon ever designed. Let's start with the name. Flak is the stuff that brings down aeroplanes, and Unreal Tournament gives you a cannon that fires flak from your hip. Not just a gun, a whole damn cannon. That's cool. I want to try that.

Then there's the visual design. Like Dead Space's plasma cutter, the Flak Cannon is not officially a weapon, but an industrial tool. It reflects this in its bulky aesthetic, the way its painted construction-site yellow, the way servos whirr and click as it loads a shell into place. When fired, flak is visible and glows molten hot. Not only does this look awesome, it provides clear feedback on where your flak hits.

Lastly, you've got its fire modes. The Flak Cannon's primary fire unleashes a wall of shrapnel that'll slice any nearby enemy into bacon. Flak also bounces off walls, meaning you can kill enemies via ricochet, and even fire the cannon around corners, bouncing flak off the wall like a weaponised snooker player. Meanwhile, the secondary fire launches an entire shell filled with shrapnel that bursts on contact, scattering flak in a wide circle. The shell also fires in a long arc, making it ideal for longer range kills, or even firing over obstacles.

These features make the Flak Cannon one of the most versatile weapons in gaming. In many ways it's the antithesis to Quake's Railgun. Whereas the Railgun demands perfection, the Flak Cannon rewards experimentation, of taking a punt and seeing what happens. It's more fun than a bucketful of puppies and my choice for the best virtual weapon ever designed."
Bit-Gamer[4]
  • The Chaos YouTube channel named it the 16th. most ridiculous weapon in FPS history.
Top_20_Most_RIDICULOUS_Guns_in_FPS_HISTORY

Top 20 Most RIDICULOUS Guns in FPS HISTORY

  • The weapon was named the eighth most iconic weapon by Gaming Top Tens:
"Respect for the Flak Cannon for being the only shotgun-style weapon that made it onto this list. Red hot scattershot blown in random constellations of flak likely divines’ death for any victim unfortunate enough to meet it face to face. The unpredictable nature of the flak pattern leads to a tense millisecond of uncertainty before the shot connects, and this feeling is further bolstered by the lethal “bounce” of the flak shot. This bounce trait is perfect for the 90-degree hallway turns ever present in the Unreal Tournament arenas, and killing a retreating opponent with a flak ricochet is a testament to the discipline of triggernometry.

The alternative option for this gun is explosively delightful. Each connection with a Flak rocket celebrated with gory confetti burst from your enemy’s chestpiece. Dangerous at midrange for your assailant, but dangerous for all at short range. Send it anyway."
Gaming Top Tens[5]
  • The Gmanlives YouTube channel named it the eighth best Shotgun-type weapon of all time.
7_of_the_Best_FPS_Shotguns_-_Gggmanlives

7 of the Best FPS Shotguns - Gggmanlives

  • LevelSkip mentioned it as the ninth best FPS weapons of all time.
"Lots of shooters have grenade launchers and there are more shotguns in gaming then you can shake a boomstick at but very few games have managed to combine these two iconic weapons in the way that Epic Games did with their Unreal Tournament series.

The flak cannon has been the shotgun equivalent in the Unreal Tournament since the series first saw life in 1999. While the primary fire sent red hot shrapnel bouncing around the arena with its ability to ricochet rounds off walls was a blast it was only half the fun of gibbing people online with the flak cannon.

Secondary fire introduced opponents to a whole new world of hurt with a shrapnel grenade that exploded on impact with anything or anyone releasing its own set of bouncing shards of death. The flak cannon was not the easiest weapon to wield because much like other games of the time your weapons could inflict as much pain on you as it could your target.

There have been slight changes to the flak cannon over the years but the weapon has been present in every
Unreal Tournament game to date (as much as I would love a UT4 I doubt it will see the light of day). Because of it's bouncing ammo, ability to kill yourself, and longevity, the Flak Cannon earns the number nine spot on my list."
LevelSkip[6]
  • PCGamer named it one of the most satisfying weapons in FPS in their list.
The_Most_Satisfying_Weapons_in_FPS_History

The Most Satisfying Weapons in FPS History

Preview Notes[]

Unreal Tournament 2003[]

"The flak cannon has always been regarded as a "spam" weapon. To reduce this effect, the new flak fires in a more compact pattern, and deflects off of objects only once. After taking a few blasts from this gun, I can assure you it still gets the job done, but requires a little more skill to utilize it effectively. In addition, the secondary trigger still launches those smiley faced little explosive balls of death."
Unreal Playground[7]
"The weapons have been retuned to be less "spammy" in terms of causing lots of area-effect damage. The flak gun has a lot fewer flak bits bouncing around randomly, and it's now possible to shoot a flak canister in midair to make it explode prematurely."
GameSpot[8]


Gallery[]

External links and references[]

  1. Conley, Stacey (January 16, 2013). "The Longevity of Unreal Tournament, Part 4". Epic Games. Archived from the original on July 28, 2016. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
  2. "Top 10 FPS Weapons". 2old2play (August 30, 2006). Retrieved December 19, 2021.
  3. "Best Frags: What Are the Best FPS Weapons Ever?". Altered Gamer (November 27, 2009). Retrieved December 19, 2021.
  4. Lane, Rick (August 21, 2020). "The 10 Best Weapons in Gaming". Bit-Gamer. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
  5. Wood, George (July 17, 2020). "Top 10 Most Iconic Guns in FPS Games". Gaming Top Tens. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
  6. "Top 10 FPS Weapons of All Time". Retrieved December 19, 2021.
  7. StealthDP (May 26, 2002). "E3 Report". Unreal Playground. Archived from the original on October 11, 2002. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
  8. Parker, Sam (May 22, 2002). "E3 2002: Unreal Tournament 2003 impressions". GameSpot. Archived from the original on December 9, 2002. Retrieved July 10, 2020.

See also[]

Unreal weapons
Return to Na Pali weapons: 
Unreal v227 weapons: 
Unreal Tournament weapons
Chaos: UT weapons: 
Unreal Championship weapons
Unreal Tournament 2003 weapons
Unreal Tournament 2004 weapons
Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict weapons
Unreal Tournament 3 weapons
Unreal Tournament 4 weapons
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