Real-World Background: With the PR of China continually expanding in size and world influence, its military must match this growth. Building off the idea of a GPMG, the Chinese sought to not only create a user friendly firearm, but also a user friendly round. According to claims by its creators, the new 5.8x42 cartridge is the future for Chinese intermediate chambering. Though small in caliber, ballistic tests with heavier, milled slugs show a much better performance over similar sized rounds (5.56 NATO and 5.45 M74). Though much of the information surrounding this round is guarded like any good secret, it seems that this bullet is what makes the Type 88 so versatile.

Notes for Usage: Just as venerable, the Type 88 is a little less suited for longer ranges. Medium damage, lower accuracy, and medium rate of fire. The iron sights are pretty crude and don't make precision fire all that easy. The clip is very large, holding 200 rounds for a gun that won't eat that up too quickly. The recoil can be a problem with the first few shots, but once steady fire is established, full auto is no problem.

Optics: Because this gun isn't as easy to control out at range as the PKM, most people will employ it in closer environments. Therefore, the iron sights will do just fine in most engagements. RDS will work fine with the weapon, however ACOG suffers a little because of the increased recoil of the Type 88 over other LMGs.

Prime Environment: Low Cover (Example: Base 3 on Port Valdez)