Heavy Machine Gun

The Heavy Machine Gun is a new mounted weapon in Left 4 Dead 2. It replaces the Minigun from Left 4 Dead. The bullets that it fires are extremely powerful, doing as much as to blow Common Infected apart. It appears to be as accurate or even more so than the Minigun, with a slower rate of fire. It has unlimited ammunition like the Minigun. Compared to the Minigun, it does not require a warm up, but has a very long cool down (around a minute).

Tactics

 * Firing short bursts (rather than holding the trigger down) gives a steady rate of fire and will delay, if not prevent, overheating. Short bursts on demand are possible because there is no windup time unlike the Minigun found in Left 4 Dead.
 * The Heavy Machine Gun uses the crosshair of whatever weapon (melee, gun, or items) the operator was using previously. In gameplay, this seamless transition makes aiming the Heavy Machine Gun easy and instinctive. The weapon's crosshair expands and contracts infinitely and automatically thus coping perfectly with targets at all ranges.
 * AI Tanks are programmed to attack the player operating the Heavy Machine Gun. This feature can be used to advantage in two ways. Firstly, AI Tanks can be drawn into a "killing zone" whereby they are coned by concentrated interlocking fire from the gun and team mates. Secondly, AI Tanks can be drawn off threatened team mates by a player using the Heavy Machine Gun.
 * The Heavy Machine Gun is in a favorable position in the finale of The Sacrifice. It is placed on the bridge, allowing the gunner to cover the entire intersection plus the generator area, possibly allowing a Survivor to live long enough to restart the generator. The gun's location is also out of reach for most Infected, allowing the gunner to focus on shooting.
 * In The Port, the Heavy Machine Gun manned by Louis, is the most helpful when trying to achieve KITE LIKE A MAN.
 * In The Plantation, the gun is on a balcony overlooking a hedged garden. However very few (if any) Common Infected attack from that direction and from angles covered by the gun.  Players choosing to defend from this position can try to improve their chances by throwing Bile bombs down into the area covered by the gun and hope that the Tanks will spawn in the same area.
 * In The Bridge, the gun appears once the Survivors have accessed the bridge and the end-of-finale phase has begun. The only other instance in which it may prove useful is during a Survival game.

Locations

 * The Plantation - Located at the center of the top floor overlooking the garden at the rear of the plantation house.
 * The Bridge - Just before the drop-off to the helipad, the Heavy Machine Gun is located on a truck directly opposite the drop down.
 * The Port - Used by Louis on the bridge during the finale. It can only be used by glitching or modding.
 * Port Finale - Located on the bridge during the finale. It is usable in both Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2.