Player3Podcast

By: Dizzy Cooper

 

Who doesn’t want to see a real life Energy Sword? Or possibly a MK2 Lancer? Maybe you’re weird and want to see a real-life Dubstep Gun. In these bi-weekly articles, I will address some of our favorite and most iconic video game weaponry through the realities of our present day. We will dive into the accessibility of using/creating the technology needed, the functionality of how the weapon could be utilized, and finally, effectiveness to address how it would be used in an actual battlefield. All aspects of these articles will be filtered through our world, separate from a video game world where anything imaginable is possible.

 

Case 1

Halo: Gravity Hammer

 

As the spiritual successor of Halo 2’s Fist of Rukt, the Jiralhanae Type-2 Energy Weapon Gravity Hammer is one of the most recognizable weapons used in the Halo series. If you were one of the players involved in the 1.3 billion Halo: Reach Matchmaking games, you probably have taken a Grav Hammer to the face a few times. With the capability to discharge a pulse at 4.5 meters (14.9 feet) this weapon is a formidable foe against assaulting enemies, as well as effectively dismantling vehicles in just a few hits. The Gravity Hammer was a great addition to the Halo arsenal. Being one of the major weapons that players fight over, whomever wields it, has the potential to wreck the K/D spread of the opposing side. In much like the nature of the Brutes, using the Grav Hammer is barbaric and brutal. It has always intrigued me the three of the top original weapons from the Halo series (Gravity Hammer, Energy Sword, and Plasma grenade) all of which are Covenant in creation.

Now for the exploration.

Would this video game weapon be a useful piece within a military arsenal or would the reality of the Gravity Hammer have counter-intuitive functions that would deem it a waste of research? Through testing the three previously determined gauges of category, we shall soon weight the options and decided if the weapon should be funded or abandoned.

 

Accessibility: This category we will talk about what equipment would be required to create the weapon, to be filtered through our present technology.  

Firstly, we would need to fund the gravity drive engine used to harness the kinetic energy, specifically in a manner to discharge the shock field. Due to the energy depletion, it is suggested that the Hammer has a storage of the kinetic energy, such as a battery cell. The impact alone of this heavy headed Hammer would emit a grand amount of impact force, but not to the intensity of a kinetic pulse shockwave, such as a bullet impact. I would hope if man were to create this gravity drive and kinetic pulse battery, we would find a more efficient way of utilizing the power rather than manufacturing the Grav Hammer. 

Secondly, in regards to the advancements of weaponry, using a swing based melee item is counterproductive in todays warfare. We have dawned the era of cross continental combat, as well as a military that mainly uses projectiles, with a melee weapon as emergency backup. The reason why the Gravity Hammer works in the Halo universe is the advancement of their body armor. The energy shield is able to withstand many shot from a projectile weapon whether up close of far away. The world today does not have this type of protection, running headlong into a battlefield is an outdated style of warfare. 

 

Functionality: This category we will talk about how the weapon would work in our reality, after it had or had not been created.

Due to the extreme size and corresponding weight, no person would naturally be able to wield it. Some may be able to bench press the Hammer, but to actively move within a battlefield clutching the weapon, with the entire head weight being held by one hand/forearm, instant fatigue would deem the usage of the Hammer absolutely infeasible. Through pictures and statistics we know that Master Chief is 7’2 in his armor and the Hammer appears to be taller than him and most Brutes. According to halo.wikia, the Gravity Hammer is 101 inches long (8.4 feet) and is also comprised of mostly metal, so the ability to hold this by even the strongest of men would be a stretch for reality.

In 2012 Shala Munroe or Demand Media, calculated the the average height and weight of an Army Ranger. In her study, she found that the average height of a Ranger was 69 inches (5.7 feet), and most commonly armed with a loaded M4 carbine at 7.5 lbs, anyone strong enough would be picked off quicker than he would be in range to use the Hammer.

 

Effectiveness: This category we will talk about how well the weapon would be utilized or how the weapon should be used, even contrary to it’s original purpose.

The usage of of the Gravity Hammer would almost be purely defensive. Having a person wielding this item as their main weapon in an assault would make them a huge target. The advised usage would be against vehicles. In this scenario attacking vehicles are driving towards a military stronghold. With this situation, the Gravity Hammer would not have to be constantly held, rather used when required, hopefully positioned at any possible vehicle entrance. With the power of the kinetic pulse, flipping and destroying the insurgents would be a successful manner of dispatching before any other means of engagement. 

Also within a combat situation, the possibility of launching foot soldiers backwards would arise. Yet as we see in the video game, swinging at an opponent who is outside of the direct impact point barely injures them. Using the Hammer in this way would be to stave off the imminent and would quickly become tiring.

 

Verdict

Do Not Fund

 

For the Gravity Hammer to work, so many things would have to be created. The armor, shields, engines, and Spartans would have to exist for the usage of such a weapon to make sense and to be meaningful. War has evolved in such a way where melee weapons are secondary and launching a drone from several hundred miles away to bomb a town is all the rage. If the government wanted to throw money at the Gravity Hammer, I would rather they use the money to research the Mjolnir Armor, because rather than giving a soldier a shiny new weapon to kill with, maybe invest in him some armor than he can survive in.