“Easily recognizable for its unique bullpup design, the P90 is a great weapon to shoot on the move due to its high-capacity magazine and low recoil.”
―Official description
The P90 or ES C90, as it was previously known, is a submachine gun featured in the Counter-Strike series.
Overview
The FN P90 is a Belgian bullpup personal defense weapon (PDW) that is fed by a unique horizontal magazine that holds 50 rounds of 5.7×28mm. It has good accuracy, stable handling and low recoil even with continuous fire. Although its damage is relatively low, it is compensated with its generous 50 rounds and it has an excellent rate of fire, making it suitable for engaging multiple targets at close ranges.
The bullet spread has been decreased in Global Offensive, but it is heavier and inflicts lower damage to armored opponents than in older games, despite the P90's original intention to pierce through body armor.
The P90 is very popular among players who have insufficient funds to buy superior weapons. Its high magazine size allows this SMG to be used for spraying bullets. It is also the main weapon for bots who have the weapon preference of wielding submachine guns.
The P90 is not available for the Terrorists in Assassination maps.
In earlier games, when used with the Five-SeveN, any shots fired consumes the ammo of both guns, as they use the same cartridge. In-game, they share a pool of 100 rounds as a result. In Global Offensive, all types of ammo sharing had been removed, though the P90 originally incorrectly had ammo sharing, but has since been rectified in an update.
Properties
| CS 1.6 and CS:CZ | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Hitbox | Primary Attack | ||
| Unarmored | Armored | ||
| Head | 80 | 60 | |
| Chest & Arm | 20 | 15 | |
| Abdomen & Pelvis | 25 | 18 | |
| Leg | 15 | 15 | |
| CS:S | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Hitbox | Primary Attack | ||
| Unarmored | Armored | ||
| Head | 103 | 77 | |
| Chest & Arm | 25 | 19 | |
| Abdomen & Pelvis | 32 | 24 | |
| Leg | 19 | 19 | |
| CS:GO | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Hitbox | Primary Attack | ||
| Unarmored | Armored | ||
| Head | 103 | 71 | |
| Chest & Arm | 25 | 17 | |
| Abdomen & Pelvis | 32 | 22 | |
| Leg | 19 | 19 | |
The P90 is a fairly light weapon. In all games prior to CS:GO while wielded, the player's movement speed is 245 units per second, meaning they suffer 2% speed reduction. In CS:GO, the player's movement speed is 230 units per second, making 8% speed reduction. The P90 is one of the many weapons able to shoot underwater.
Advantages
- Large magazine size compared to other SMGs (50 rounds)
- Very high rate of fire
- Lightweight
- Low recoil
- The best SMG against armored players, especially in Source
Disadvantages
- Inaccurate at long ranges
- Large spread in full-auto, especially in Global Offensive
- Low damage, especially against armored targets
- Long reload time
- Small amount of ammo in reserve
- The most expensive SMG in game
- Fairly low kill award for an SMG ($300)
- Unlike other SMGs, headshots cannot kill the enemies instantly, even without helmet (in CS 1.6 and CS:CZ)
- Average movement speed in Global Offensive
Tactics
- By spraying bullets, this weapon is very ideal in scoring multiple headshots at medium or close ranges, due to its fast rate of fire and armor-piercing ammunition.
- If you do plan to spray bullets at a group of enemies, a smoke grenade should help you to reach close proximity while flashbangs can help distract your foes.
- If spraying bullets, aim at the line at the top of the reticle. Bullets will usually go around the reticle, making it easy to obtain headshots. This is useful for countering the weapon with high rate of fire at close range.
- Due to the large magazine size, you can spray bullets with this weapon on a large group of enemies and probably get a kill or two, but don't stay in one point for too long. Continuously spraying bullets will also cause inaccuracy and the enemy team may decide to group up and take you out.
- If you're having issues in fighting enemies at close proximity, the importance of throwing a flashbang may increase. If assailants are blinded, rush at them if possible and spray bullets since burst-firing may not be effective.
- Spray bullets and aim for the head while strafing if the enemy is at close quarters. The most important factor to consider is getting sufficiently close to the enemy. Use a flashbang or attack the enemy's blindspot(s).
- Avoid spraying bullets if your teammates are in front of you. The bullet spread may lead to friendly fire even when he is crouching. Instead, fire in bursts or find another location to fire.
- As with the PP-Bizon, the P90 is a good choice for taking down enemies with low magazine weaponry. However, unlike the Bizon, the P90 has the advantage of having a high rate of fire compared to other SMGs.
- Although this submachine gun is often used for "spray and pray" purposes, due to the high spread and fast rate of fire, it is possible to burst-fire while wielding the P90. This tactic is often implemented when targets are located at medium ranges and if the user is aiming around the chest or neck.
- At medium range, crouch, aim for the leg, and start firing continuously. This may lead to a headshot. Also, do not use full-auto beyond close range; you will have a hard time hitting your target due to its high spread.
- 3 to 5 round bursts (by clicking/pressing the attack key for 1~2 seconds) should maintain your accuracy. Burst firing twice on your target should kill at mid-range without the need to score a headshot. You need to fire at least 2 bursts to kill someone in Source.
- At long range, crouch and fire 1-3 round bursts. Retreat if the enemy is using long range weaponry, or simply avoid spots that you will be potentially sniped.
- Reloading the P90 takes a while. Switch to a sidearm if you are out of ammunition or reach a safe spot to reload.
- In Global Offensive, the damage per bullet has decreased against armored players compared to Counter-Strike and Counter-Strike: Source. Moreover, the P90 is less effective at longer ranges.
- If you do want to use it however, treat it as a PDW and focus on close range combat. Its rate of fire can be used to overpower sidearms or weapons with lower rate of fire.
- Also in Global Offensive, it is possible to use this weapon to "strafe" an enemy in a doorway, by firing the weapon across the doorway, enter the cover on the other side, reload, and repeat. Scoring kills is possible in this manner, but normally this results in ~50 damage dealt.
Appearances
In Tour of Duty, the ES C90 kill challenge appears in:
| Map | Difficulty | Challenge |
|---|---|---|
 Fastline |
Normal | Kill 3 enemies |
| Hard / Expert | Kill 5 enemies |
The following bots use the ES C90 as their main weapon:
The ES C90 is an "easter egg" weapon in the Deleted Scenes, appearing in few missions and in hard-to-find locations. It can be found in the following levels:
- Downed Pilot: After blowing up a generator, a hole in a grate will be opened, granting access to a water-filled crawlspace, at the end of which is the weapon and a magazine's worth of ammo for it. No additional ammo for it appears in the mission, and it is lost when the player is captured.
- Hankagai: Right after jumping over a fence with the assistance of a dumpster and before witnessing the gang leader shove aside a civilian, there will be a large crack in the wall. Damaging the crack to make a hole in the wall grants access to a crate-filled storage unit, in which is the weapon.
- Rise Hard: Right after infiltrating the building, the player will find an office with a fire extinguisher on the wall. Shooting it will blow a hole in the wall, granting access to a small room with the weapon. The weapon is lost when the player is captured near the end of the level.
Achievements
- Weapon
|
ES C90 Expert Kill 1,000 enemy players with the ES C90. |
- Weapon Specialist
|
P90 Expert Kill 500 enemies with the P90. |
Trivia
- The P90 has an unusable red dot sight, which is featured in every Counter-Strike game until it was replaced by an unusable iron sight in Global Offensive.
- A Counter-Terrorist operative can still be seen wielding a P90 with a red dot sight in a menu screen background in CS:GO.
- In early Counter-Strike games, when the P90 is fired, casings may be seen ejected out sideways. In real life, the P90 drops the casings from the bottom of the weapon instead of ejecting out like many other weapons.
- The Counter-Strike model has an opaque magazine, while the models of the weapon in all later installments feature translucent magazines which display the bullets inside. However, the translucent plastic magazine will always appears to be full, no matter how many rounds are actually in the magazine. This may have been implemented to reduce memory, similar to the UMP-45, Krieg 552, Krieg 550 Commando, AUG, and M249.
- In Counter-Strike: Source and older games, the ammunition was incorrectly listed as .338 Lapua Magnum (8.6x70mm); the chambering of the AWP, instead of 5.7x28mm. The error is purely visual and does not carry into gameplay. This error has since been fixed in an update.
- Before it was fixed in Counter-Strike: Source, players in third person will wield the P90 the same way as the UMP-45, which appears as if the player is pulling the trigger with the left hand.
- Before being dethroned by the Negev machine gun in Global Offensive, the P90 had the highest rate of fire out of any weapon in the Counter-Strike series at 900 RPM.
- Before the CS:GO sound update, the P90, Galil AR, SG 553, and AUG shared the same "cocking" or "cycling" sound.
External links
- FN P90 at Wikipedia.
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