User blog comment:So-Pro Warrior/Season 1-Battle 10: 3rd Person Free For All/@comment-5795750-20130601100231

BG1's "Over your Shoulder" Edges:

Close Range: In terms of firepower, Sean's Mauser beats out all the other pistols. However, Drake's Beretta is lighter, has a larger magazine and more modern than the others so it might as well be less likely to fail. Therefore it's a tie between the Mauser and the Beretta for first. The Colt gets in second and the Schofield is last.

EDGE: Tie between Sean and Nathan

Medium Range: Cole's, Nathan's and Sean's shotguns all seem similar but Nathan's is more modern. That said however, those 3 are tied for 2nd place with Vito's and John's tied for first - Vito's shotgun carries more rounds and has a higher range but his and John's weigh the same and John's shotgun packs some serious punch behind it plus it is easier to use.

EDGE: Tie between John and Vito

Long Range: Tied for last are John's Krag and Sean's Kar98k since they are similar in terms of firepower and action (bolt-action) - great for accuracy but when it's an all-out brawl, having a gun that doesn't fire quickly is a no-no. Coming in just closely is the M1 Garand since it is more powerful but it is semi-automatic plus it isn't easy to reload (let alone you can't reload it at all in the middle of a battle). Tied for first then are Nathan's modern M4 and Cole's powerful and useful BAR since the former is lighter and packs a punch but the latter brings in serious damage from a greater range

EDGE: Tie between Cole and Nathan

Special: First out are the 2 Thompsons since they don't have good range and while Vito's got a good magazine size, his Thompson was more of a scare-tactic rather than an actual killing weapon for all situations. Next out is Nathan's Uzi since, as an SMG, is far more powerful, has a longer range and is more portable. So now its between the Henry and StG but since the StG is more modern than the Henry, and fires faster for more precise and deadlier kills, its obvious that it gets the edge here

EDGE: Sean

X-Factors:

Training: Let's compare - John is an outlaw-turned-vigilante, Cole is a marine-turned-cop, Vito is a Mafia gangster, Sean is a WWII spy and saboteur and Nathan is a very capable treasure hunter. Well after some reading, last place is Nathan as I am not so sure where he gets his training from but I assume he is just born a natural treasure hunter. Next is John since he is an outlaw and might have received some degree of training, hence his marksmanship. Tied for first are Cole, Sean and Vito since all of them have served in WWII and thus have gone through rigorous training (especially Sean since he was a spy/saboteur as well as have undergone some formal training out of the war (save for Sean who before the war was a race car mechanic)

EDGE: Tie between Vito, Cole and Sean

Combat Experience: Last place are John, Vito and Cole since they have only dealt with criminals within their own local towns. Second is Sean who has at least had a lot of run-ins with the Nazis all around France even if his sole purpose was to hunt down only one. First is Nathan since he is a treasure hunter and thus spanned the entire world braving many dangers and dangerous foes where-ever he happens to be.

EDGE: Nathan

Intelligence: I dunno here but I guess its a tie between Sean, Cole and Nathan since Nathan has to be intelligent if he were to know how, where and when to nab his treasure as well as get out safely; Sean is a spy and saboteur which would require a lot more quick and precise thinking; and Cole must be very intelligent to have risen through the ranks of the LAPD to become a Detective.

EDGE: Tie between Sean, Cole and Nathan

H2H: OK... I have no clue what to do about this but I guess its a tie between Nathan and Sean since they would require a lot of H2H combat in their line of work. The others I am not sure about but since it is said Cole has an uncanny ability to be stealthy, I guess that oughta account for something.

EDGE: Tie between Sean and Nathan

Operational Experience: Behind the scenes action for the 5 of them... I doubt Nathan will be having a lot of time to rest and recuperate since there will always be something for him to be after. I dunno about the rest so...

EDGE: N/A

Psychological Health: Dead last is Cole since he is haunted by the memories of his decisions during the course of WWII especially that cave burning. 2nd is Vito - he has probably some distress after his time in the war but otherwise he is fine; Tied for first are John, Nathan and Sean - those three seem to have healthy minds (even if Nathan has delusions of grandeur) and despite all they have been through, they are very much determined to see their goals through.

EDGE: Tie between John, Nathan and Sean

Physicality: All these men seem to be in tip-top condition and have survived almost fatal injuries but first out are the ones that were shot and tying for first are the ones who have been beaten but not shot.

EDGE: Tie between Sean and Nathan

Calm under Fire: Being former soldiers, Vito, Cole and Sean will have no trouble staying calm under fire because they have been trained or trained themselves to stay absolutely still but I guess when this goes hand-in-hand with psychological health, that's Cole out of the running. Since Vito has had to live with gun violence everyday though in his service within the Mafia, then it surprisingly might be him that will stay the most calm.

EDGE: Vito

Accuracy: This is where John might regain some top ground since he has Deadeye which makes him very accurate with his shooting - his weapons might wane out in terms of their outdated-ness but the skill John possesses with firing them compensates for it

EDGE: John

Overall Winner: Hooooo boy, you have made this difficult. All of them are superb fighters in their own right and the games they come from are great but I see it like this:

5th Place - Vito Scaletta since he mainly is just a Mafia gangster despite the experience with the US Military (but Cole has that too) and his weapons aren't as sophisticated or as high-powered as that of the majority of the other contenders.

4th Place - John Marston - sure he has outdated weapons but his Deadeye accuracy makes up for it; why he doesn't go far is because in the end he is just another criminal/outlaw who has faced opponents that don't come as difficult to fight against compared to the others.

3rd Place - Cole Phelps since he has high-powered weapons and some experience dealing with armed and dangerous criminals as well as IJA soldiers; what ups his chances of winning is his uncanny ability to be stealthy; what downs it though is his inability to think too clearly, he is intelligent but his poor decision making during WWII might play up

Between 2nd and 1st, I can't decide between Sean and Nathan - both are incredibly physical, have faced tricky opponents (Sean with the Waffen SS and Vichy French, and Nathan with mercenaries and other devious treasure hunters). In the end I will have to give 2nd to Sean Devlin and 1st to Nathan Drake since he has all the qualities to win this battle - superior weaponry and superior fighting skills.