Since the days of Spacewar!, there has been no shortage of epic video-game weapons with which to play. From close-quarter blades to long-range missiles, there’s been something for everyone, and even the most eccentric thirsts have been quenched by games such as Dead Rising and Saints Row. While a well-crafted story can provoke stronge emotion, sometimes you just need a satisfying gun to blast through waves of enemies. Truly great weapons, however, change the way you interact with the game, encouraging you to discover new experiences, and keeping you coming back for one last go.
Whether for their backstory, destructive power, or unmistakable appearance, some firearms transcended the screen to become pop culture legends. It’s every developer’s dream, to create a fictional weapon that will live forever, but fashioning something so unique or splendid is easier said than done. So, be it the BFG9000’s earth-shattering power or The Bane’s annoying sound, here is a list of weapons that will surely remind you of fun times.
Before we start, let me lay out some of my own ground rules. First, I only included weapons that are player controllable, meaning no galaxy-altering devices like The Halo Array from Halo 3 and The Crucible from Mass Effect 3. Second, I tried to avoid weapons that annihilate everything in their path with too much ease, like The Hammer of Dawn from Gears of War or the Nuke from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. With that out the way, let’s pull the trigger.
Hidden Blade (Assassin’s Creed)
Literally handy to have on you, the Hidden Blade is a retractable stabbing weapon that lies discretely on the wrist, ready to punch a ventilation hole in the target’s flesh at a moment’s notice, making it ideal for stealthy assassinations. It perfectly embodies the game’s core philosophy of calculated precision strikes.
Unlike the rest of the weapons on this list, the Hidden Blade came with a pricy requirement. To be able to use it in its original form, you had to sacrifice your ring finger to allow the blade to extend. Just one example of why video-game weapons are best kept as fun-but-fictional solutions. While its capabilities evolved with each new game, the blade’s core identity remained unchanged, making it one of the gaming world’s most recognisable weapons and a permanent fixture for many a Cosplayer.
The Bane (Borderlands 2)
The Bane is a parody of high-tech smart weapons capable of speech, screaming and complaining all the time. Stat-wise, it’s one of the most powerful SMGs in Borderlands 2, capable of dealing impressive amounts of damage.
However, in practice, this gun comes with two major drawbacks: a massive reduction in movement speed and a constant high-pitched screaming whenever you shoot (video below). Funnily enough, even if you reduce the VFX volume in the game settings, The Bane won’t stop yelling at you. While most players only try this weapon for a couple of minutes before throwing it on the scrap heap, the experience leaves a lasting impression.
Energy Leash (Bulletstorm)
The Energy Leash is a whip-like energy rope that can pull enemies towards you while applying a slow-motion/time-dilation effect. It effectively stuns enemies, allowing you to chain larger combos and rack up more style points.
It’s like combining the Grapple Beam from Metroid Prime 3 and the Stasis Module from Dead Space. The game simply wouldn’t be as fun without the Energy Leash, and it’s ironic that Bulletstorm’s most useful weapon doesn’t actually use bullets. Go figure.
AC-130 (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2)
The AC-130 is a player-controlled gunship, capable of providing an overwhelming amount of close air support across large combat areas. Available to control on some of the franchise’s story missions and multiplayer (via killstreak), the AC-130 can wipe out an entire army in seconds. While it offers three guns to swap between, I always took a shine to the 105mm Howitzer for its huge blast radius.
Just be careful not to have any teammates running around when you fire it, as you can rack up so many friendly kills you’ll be kicked from the server in no time. The AC-130 is an amazing weapon, unless you’re on the receiving end.
Ray Gun (Call of Duty Zombies)
The Ray Gun is a wonder weapon available exclusively in Call of Duty’s Zombies mode, capable of inflicting enough damage to vaporise the undead. Its energy blast provides a sense of immense strength and control, especially during chaotic moments when you find yourself surrounded by flesh-eating monsters.
It stands out from the game’s realistic firearms through both its sci-fi appearance and toy sound effects. Due to its highly destructive power, the Ray Gun became a staple of the Call of Duty series, making it the one thing you always hoped would pop out of a Mystery Box.
Plasma Cutter (Dead Space)
Originally used to cut through rocks during mining operations, this compact tool quickly found a new reason to exist after you became trapped aboard an abandoned mining ship. With its ability to cut easily through most surfaces using its ionised plasma bolts, the Plasma Cutter quickly became the only effective solution to survive the terrifying enemies encountered in Dead Space, which require nothing short of complete dismemberment to stay dead.
For a tool designed to mine minerals, the Plasma Cutter is one hell of a meat slicer. It even let you choose the way you like the cut, horizontal or vertical, depending on your desires. The Plasma Cutter is the companion that gave you the courage to continue advancing through the dark halls of the U.S.G Ishimura.
Gjallarhorn (Destiny)
The Gjallarhorn is a rocket launcher in Destiny, excelling in DPS (damage per second). It remained the meta weapon during the first two years of Destiny 1, showing even the toughest of end-game enemies who is the real boss. But that’s not the only reason this weapon is famous. At release, the Gjallarhorn was available to purchase for a short duration using in-game Strange Coins, but this early in the game’s life, many players ignored its future potential and didn’t grind to buy it. After its removal from Xur’s store (a seller with weekly rotating items), there was no quest or deterministic path to obtain it. The only option left was to try your luck with Engrams (loot boxes) or endgame RNG rewards.
Due to its potency, it was highly sought after in end-game content such as Raids, where you were required to have it to be allowed to join many teams. Those who missed it earlier never saw it again and were left sidelined. This created a lot of frustration among players, to the extent that Bungie eventually readdressed Gjallarhorn through a quest, and order was restored in the gaming world.
BFG 9000 (Doom)
The abbreviation for this piece of equipment says it all. Standing for Big Fucking Gun, iD Software’s massive energy weapon is the ultimate destruction tool in every Doom game, vaporising demons since 1993.
Representing one of the most iconic weapons in the FPS genre, the BFG 9000 showed Doom’s demons that there are stronger pain levels than what even hell can offer. The BFG’s role is to clear rooms of enemies with a big, devastating blast of green plasma, which basically melts everything in sight. This makes it a perfect “get out of jail, free” card for when you find yourself in a tough situation.
Fat Man (Fallout)
The Fat Man from the Fallout series is a mass destruction weapon designed to level entire areas while vaporising anyone in the vicinity, including you if you happen to be within the explosion radius. This portable nuclear weapon perfectly embodies Fallout‘s retro-futuristic aesthetic, adding more destruction to an already dead world.
Typically saved for the most challenging enemies, like the Super Mutants or Deathclaws, Fat Man was only unleashed when absolutely necessary as its ammunition is quite rare. Whenever the time came to fire it, you absolutely appreciated its miniature mushroom cloud, complete with radiation fallout.
Side note: If you want to test the resilience of your PC, I recommend installing the automatic fire mode (video below), which allows you to shoot dozens of Mini Nukes per second. System crash guaranteed.
Blades of Chaos (God of War)
Representing the physical manifestations of Kratos’ tortured past, the Blades of Chaos are a constant reminder of his violent history. Forged in the depths of Hades by the God of War, Ares, as a reminder of Kratos’ servitude, they ended up playing a pivotal role in his rise to power. The blades are directly tied to Kratos’ darkest moment when he killed his own wife and daughter unknowingly during a village massacre conducted under the order of Ares.
The Blades of Chaos take the form of twin blades attached to chains that have been permanently fused into Kratos’ flesh. They played a pivotal role in helping Kratos reach the gods, which set in motion the events that led him to become the God of War. Offering fast-paced action with sweeping attacks that hit multiple enemies at once, the Blades of Chaos are as memorable as the character wielding them.
Energy Sword (Halo)
This elegant weapon of the Covenant Elites is both beautiful and terrifying. Its glowing plasma blades are so sharp they pierce even the most resistant shields and armour, resulting in one-hit kills against most opponents. While most sci-fi games focus on futuristic guns and long-range lasers, Halo‘s Energy Sword added a dose of close-combat action, filling opponents with fear as they try to keep a safe distance.
In multiplayer modes, the Energy Sword offered a high-risk, high-reward gameplay that encouraged players to find creative ways to leverage map verticality, active camouflage, and grappling, to reach their target. On top of its combat effectiveness, the Energy Sword also holds sentimental value for franchise fans, as it’s associated with the Arbiter. Its distinctive attack sound is just the cherry on the cake.
Blue Shell (Mario Kart)
While Mario Kart isn’t the type of game you would typically associate with weapons, its colourful and funny-looking attack items should not be underestimated. The Blue Shell, also called the Spiny Shell, is undoubtedly the strongest and most feared due to its ability to seek out and neutralise the player holding first place, knocking over any unfortunate racers in its path.
Like taxes, the Blue Shell is unavoidable, well, unless you abandon 1st place willingly before impact. It gives real meaning to the race is not over until you cross the line.
Cat suppressor (Postal 2)
Yes, technically, this isn’t a weapon, but rather an attachment. Still, it’s so hilarious that I couldn’t pass it over. The Cat suppressor is a weapon modification in Postal 2 where the player attaches a live cat to the barrel of a firearm to act as a makeshift silencer.
It’s a parody of improvised weapon mods, perfectly fitting the game’s controversial and provocative nature. Given cats are said to have nine lives, the CatsSuppressor can only silence nine shots. While not intended to be realistic or overpowered, this fury little piece of firepower is simply part of Postal 2’s satirical take on violence in video games and American culture.
Shark-O-Matic (Saints Row: The Third)
The Saints Row series is full of over-the-top weapons that make no sense at all, and the Shark-O-Matic, introduced with the Shark Attack Pack DLC of Saints Row: The Third, is the most memorable. When fired, this shotgun-like weapon covers its targets in fish guts and blood, attracting a shark that emerges from the ground to swallow its helpless target.
Yep, the shark spawns out of nowhere, be it dirt or pavement; the laws of physics simply don’t apply to this killing monster. The Shark-O-Matic is a tool of chaos that redefines what it means to be armed to the teeth.
Banana Bomb (Worms)
The Worms series is known for its humorous approach to tactical warfare, and the Banana Bomb exemplifies this perfectly. In Worms, this unassuming piece of fruit tastes like dynamite and can cause extreme landscape destruction while dealing heavy amounts of damage to any worm in its radius. Upon detonation, the Banana Bomb splits into multiple smaller banana-shaped explosives, which explode too, wreaking havoc across the battlefield.
Beyond its chaotic physics, which often result in unexpected comedic outcomes, the Banana Bomb changes the outcome of the battle in a way you may not assume, given its simply, fruity exterior. Signifying its destructive power, in most Worms games and game modes, the Banana Bomb can’t be part of your default arsenal.
Closing Thoughts
I’ve had a lot of fun remembering action-packed moments with the aforementioned weapons, but it hasn’t been smooth sailing choosing just 15. Some on the Club386 team are dismayed not to see a certain crowbar make the list, but I’d argue that while iconic, Mr Freeman’s starting weapon was hardly one of the best. Similarly, Ken’s Hadouken was mentioned more than once during our internal debates, but that’s an attack rather than a weapon, at least in my book.
Shoot me down with a BFG if you disagree, but I hope my list has rekindled some fond memories. If there’s a weapon you’re adamant I’ve missed, feel free to let us know in the comments sections on Club386 social media.
