XM8 LMG

The XM8 LMG is a variant of the XM8 baseline carbine; it has a heavy 20 inch (508 mm) barrel for sustained fire and increased accuracy, integrated folding bipod, built-in 4X Reflex Sight, and a 100 round magazine. This variant of the baseline carbine is meant to be used as a light machine gun rather than an ordinary assault rifle such as its long barrel (LB) XM8 counterpart or the M16 assault rifle.

Battlefield: Bad Company
In Battlefield: Bad Companys singleplayer, the XM8 LMG' can be found on the missions Crash and Grab and Ghost Town as a collectible. It is also used by Legionnaire Mercenaries during Ghost Town.

In multiplayer, the XM8 LMG is issued to the Support class as an unlockable. It has a 150 round drum magazine and 300 rounds in reserve. It has a good rate of fire and power, but is very inaccurate. The crosshairs grow large as soon as it is fired from the hip. It can kill in around 10 shots. When playing in close-quarters with the support kit, this weapon is probably a better choice than other LMGs due to being magazine fed, allowing for a faster reload, and its decent damage, high rate of fire, and its low accuracy won't make much difference at close ranges.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2
Only available in multiplayer, the XM8 LMG is the 5th light machine gun issued to the Medic kit, requiring 34000 points to unlock. Its design differs from the XM8 Prototype, as outside of desert maps, it has a black finish instead of a grey-black scheme the XM8 has. It has relatively high accuracy and a high rate of fire.

Like the MG36, it has a 100 round Beta-C magazine. This makes the reload time shorter when compared to other weapons of its class, although for gameplay balancing purposes, the player takes their time while reloading, dragging it out for longer than necessary.

Its performance in close quarters is good despite its large crosshairs as its high rate of fire and large magazine can spare a few shots to miss. At longer ranges, burst firing is recommended as it has a lot of recoil and deviates easily.

Its main advantage over other LMGs is its quick reload, but since the MG36 has the same reload speed and a built in Red Dot Sight, players tend to stop using this gun when they unlock the MG36. Players who may find the Red Dot Sight obsolete might prefer the XM8 LMG over the MG36, as the XM8 does offer peripheral vision, and boasts relatively simple and clear iron sights.

Battlefield Play4Free
The XM8AR is featured in Battlefield Play4Free. While not as powerful as purpose built LMGs, the XM8AR is accurate and comes with a quick change C-mag drum magazine.

Videos
Video:XM8 LMG|Gameplay with the XM8 LMG in Battlefield: Bad Company 2 at Laguna Alta in Conquest mode

Trivia

 * It is interesting to note that in the menu description's image of the XM8 LMG shows it has a tan coloured scheme, but in-game it has a dark grey colour scheme except on desert maps.