Tyrranis
Veteran
After viewing more than a couple of top 10 countdowns on gaming sites all over the Internet, I thought I'd start making my own one here.
I decided to start off with something rather easy, or so I thought. As it turns out, it's harder than it seems. Multiple times I've second-guessed myself over what should and should not be here.
I started with the GameTrailers top 10 game weaponry, and built from there. I agree with what they said about how weapons earn their place on lists like this by being either really destructive, really ingenious or really fun, but I also believe that an iconic weapon also deserves recognition. Thus, I will be rating each weapon on these criteria, and giving a score out of 5.
Note that I have only included weapons that I have experience with. That means no Halo weapons, no Halflife 2 gravity gun and no Metroid weapons. Although, I have played a few emulators of the 'ancient' consoles, so you can expect to see weapons from some of the old-school games here.
Anyhoo, onto the list.
10: The shotgun (Doom series)
Originality: 1/5
Brutality: 2.5/5
Entertainment: 3/5
Icon: 2/5
When you think Doom, three weapons instantly come to mind. The chainsaw, the BFG and the shotgun. The shotgun earns its place on the list by being the first (or one of the first) shotgun in a game. Now, it seems they all have them. Also, nothing beats blowing the decomposing limbs from a zombie with a buckshot at point blank.
9: The gattling gun (Wolfenstein 3D)
Originality: 1/5
Brutality: 4/5
Entertainment: 2.5/5
Icon: 4.5/5
Another of the 'old-school' weapons, the Wolfenstein 3D gattling gun has helped many a valiant warrior get through the demanding levels of the old classic. It chews through ammo rather quickly, but it churns through enemies just as fast. It single handedly started the legacy of ammo-eating rapid fire guns, that has enveloped pretty much every FPS on the current market.
8: The crowbar (Halflife series)
Originality: 2/5
Brutality: 3/5
Entertainment: 3.5/5
Icon: 5/5
The 'poster boy' weapon of the Halflife series, the crowbar may not have been the best weapon in most situations, but when it was called for, it delivered. Swinging the crowbar meant that whatever was right in front of you would be in pieces before too long. Earns bonus points for its capabilities outside of the fighting.
7: The spread gun (Contra series)
Originality: 3/5
Brutality: 3.5/5
Entertainment: 2.5/5
Icon: 5/5
Another old-skool choice this time, the spread gun has saved the life (or lives) of many a Contra player over the years. With countless sequels and revisions, the spread gun has probably seen the least alterations. Then again, can you blame them for not messing with it? With the gun's capability to hit targets in a rather diverse cone in the direction the player is facing, it's an easy choice to leave as is. And we are thankful for that.
6: The railgun (Red Faction series)
Originality: 2/5
Brutality: 4.5/5
Entertainment: 3.5/5
Icon: 2/5
Alright, so maybe Red Faction didn't invent the railgun, but it certainly did utilize it well. For one, the developers noted that, if the bullets are to do that much damage with a single shot, that they must be moving fast enough to pierce some walls. And thus, they made it so. Then, in order to help the player utilize this newfound ability, they gave it an infrared scope so that you could see through the wall in order to locate enemies to shoot. Then, to balance it in multiplayer, they added a long reload time and a clip size of one. And thus, the universe was changed for the better.
5: The uplink (Timesplitters: Future Perfect)
Originality: 4/5
Brutality: 3.5/5
Entertainment: 3/5
Icon: 1/5
The gravity gun from Halflife 2 may not have made it onto this list, but the uplink has. The uplink works in (I think) similar ways as the gravity gun, that being you hold fire to pull the object towards you, and let go to fire. With the humorful and satirical nature of Timesplitters, this is made even more enjoyable. Any object, once picked up, will kill an enemy if you head-shot them, which makes it really funny when you kill a zombie with a different zombie's head. What's more, they even added some minigames which see how well you can use your flinging powers. Now that's awesome.
4: The chainsaw (Doom series)
Originality: 3.5/5
Brutality: 5/5
Entertainment: 4:5
Icon: 3.5/5
Come on, you can't seriously tell me you weren't expecting this on the list. Starting the trend of chainsaws in games (which has resulted partly in Gears of War, with the guns with chainsaws attached), the Doom chainsaw provided players with the best no-ammo-needed killing of the up close and personal kind that has ever been seen in a video game. It used to be scary enough walking through the corridors of Doom in co-op, but with this baby now you even had to look out for your team mate who might have gotten bored and may or may not be stalking you with the intent of sawing your kneecaps off. Fortunately, you can hear the chainsaw revving as they approach, so you can start running, Benny Hill style. Impromptu British comedy in a zombie killing fest? Sign me up!
3: The redeemer (Unreal Tournament series)
Originality: 3.5/5
Brutality: 5/5
Entertainment: 3.5/5
Icon: 4/5
Every frag-fest game has its superweapons, and the redeemer from Unreal Tournament is the superweapon of choice for many. Although holding very limited amounts of ammo, the redeemer is capable of clearing moderately sized areas of enemies with one explosive missile. With the option of having it either fast and straight, or slow and directed, the strategy behind exactly where and when to deploy the redeemer makes this weapon one of the best. What's more, enemies who survive the initial blast may in fact end up blown off the level and into a pit of infinite falling and doom. Although kills like this were not counted in UT99, they are in UT2004. Even if you're the unlucky sod to get one of these quasi-nuclear missiles in the face, you'll still find yourself amused by the 'Eat This!' label on the side. It's a win-win scenario.
2: The BFG-9000 (Doom series)
Originality: 4.5/5
Brutality: 5/5
Entertainment: 3/5
Icon: 4.5/5
I dare anyone who has played Doom to have a list of awesome game weaponry to NOT include the BFG. Want to know why? Because it can't be done. Seriously, the gun is just that awesome. Not only that, but you'll find that it'll be one of the top on the list each and every time. Sure it takes 60 or so cells each time you fire, and that it's pretty rare, but the devastation this thing causes is more than worthy of being included on any list. The weapon of choice for any Doom player, the Big Freaking* Gun is pure, adulterated devastation at it's greenest.
*I purposely called it this to avoid the wrath of the forum moderators. The real word starts with 'F' and rhymes with 'luck'.
1: The SBC cannon (Serious Sam series)
Originality: 4/5
Brutality: 5/5
Entertainment: 4.5/5
Icon: 5/5
For those of you who have not played a Serious Sam game in their lives, I pity you. For, you have never experienced the awesomeness of the SBC cannon. Firing cannonballs that are roughly as big as Sam is, the SBC cannon is more than capable of cutting through the masses of enemies that come at you in Serious Sam.
For those of you who have never experienced the cannon in action, it's essentially fires big balls. (Can't... restrain... testicles joke... much... longer!) These balls roll over small enemies as if they weren't there, and thus makes them not there. If it hits a wall, it just bounces off and keeps rolling. If it stops for any reason, be it if it hits a larger enemy or runs out of momentum, it explodes. What's more, they can be prematurely exploded by firing another cannonball into them.
It's one-of-a-kind, it's deveastating, it's giant iron balls of squishing and exploding awesomeness. It's my pick for Top Game Weapon.
Any comments on my pickings? Reply to them here!
I decided to start off with something rather easy, or so I thought. As it turns out, it's harder than it seems. Multiple times I've second-guessed myself over what should and should not be here.
I started with the GameTrailers top 10 game weaponry, and built from there. I agree with what they said about how weapons earn their place on lists like this by being either really destructive, really ingenious or really fun, but I also believe that an iconic weapon also deserves recognition. Thus, I will be rating each weapon on these criteria, and giving a score out of 5.
Note that I have only included weapons that I have experience with. That means no Halo weapons, no Halflife 2 gravity gun and no Metroid weapons. Although, I have played a few emulators of the 'ancient' consoles, so you can expect to see weapons from some of the old-school games here.
Anyhoo, onto the list.
10: The shotgun (Doom series)
Originality: 1/5
Brutality: 2.5/5
Entertainment: 3/5
Icon: 2/5
When you think Doom, three weapons instantly come to mind. The chainsaw, the BFG and the shotgun. The shotgun earns its place on the list by being the first (or one of the first) shotgun in a game. Now, it seems they all have them. Also, nothing beats blowing the decomposing limbs from a zombie with a buckshot at point blank.
9: The gattling gun (Wolfenstein 3D)
Originality: 1/5
Brutality: 4/5
Entertainment: 2.5/5
Icon: 4.5/5
Another of the 'old-school' weapons, the Wolfenstein 3D gattling gun has helped many a valiant warrior get through the demanding levels of the old classic. It chews through ammo rather quickly, but it churns through enemies just as fast. It single handedly started the legacy of ammo-eating rapid fire guns, that has enveloped pretty much every FPS on the current market.
8: The crowbar (Halflife series)
Originality: 2/5
Brutality: 3/5
Entertainment: 3.5/5
Icon: 5/5
The 'poster boy' weapon of the Halflife series, the crowbar may not have been the best weapon in most situations, but when it was called for, it delivered. Swinging the crowbar meant that whatever was right in front of you would be in pieces before too long. Earns bonus points for its capabilities outside of the fighting.
7: The spread gun (Contra series)
Originality: 3/5
Brutality: 3.5/5
Entertainment: 2.5/5
Icon: 5/5
Another old-skool choice this time, the spread gun has saved the life (or lives) of many a Contra player over the years. With countless sequels and revisions, the spread gun has probably seen the least alterations. Then again, can you blame them for not messing with it? With the gun's capability to hit targets in a rather diverse cone in the direction the player is facing, it's an easy choice to leave as is. And we are thankful for that.
6: The railgun (Red Faction series)
Originality: 2/5
Brutality: 4.5/5
Entertainment: 3.5/5
Icon: 2/5
Alright, so maybe Red Faction didn't invent the railgun, but it certainly did utilize it well. For one, the developers noted that, if the bullets are to do that much damage with a single shot, that they must be moving fast enough to pierce some walls. And thus, they made it so. Then, in order to help the player utilize this newfound ability, they gave it an infrared scope so that you could see through the wall in order to locate enemies to shoot. Then, to balance it in multiplayer, they added a long reload time and a clip size of one. And thus, the universe was changed for the better.
5: The uplink (Timesplitters: Future Perfect)
Originality: 4/5
Brutality: 3.5/5
Entertainment: 3/5
Icon: 1/5
The gravity gun from Halflife 2 may not have made it onto this list, but the uplink has. The uplink works in (I think) similar ways as the gravity gun, that being you hold fire to pull the object towards you, and let go to fire. With the humorful and satirical nature of Timesplitters, this is made even more enjoyable. Any object, once picked up, will kill an enemy if you head-shot them, which makes it really funny when you kill a zombie with a different zombie's head. What's more, they even added some minigames which see how well you can use your flinging powers. Now that's awesome.
4: The chainsaw (Doom series)
Originality: 3.5/5
Brutality: 5/5
Entertainment: 4:5
Icon: 3.5/5
Come on, you can't seriously tell me you weren't expecting this on the list. Starting the trend of chainsaws in games (which has resulted partly in Gears of War, with the guns with chainsaws attached), the Doom chainsaw provided players with the best no-ammo-needed killing of the up close and personal kind that has ever been seen in a video game. It used to be scary enough walking through the corridors of Doom in co-op, but with this baby now you even had to look out for your team mate who might have gotten bored and may or may not be stalking you with the intent of sawing your kneecaps off. Fortunately, you can hear the chainsaw revving as they approach, so you can start running, Benny Hill style. Impromptu British comedy in a zombie killing fest? Sign me up!
3: The redeemer (Unreal Tournament series)
Originality: 3.5/5
Brutality: 5/5
Entertainment: 3.5/5
Icon: 4/5
Every frag-fest game has its superweapons, and the redeemer from Unreal Tournament is the superweapon of choice for many. Although holding very limited amounts of ammo, the redeemer is capable of clearing moderately sized areas of enemies with one explosive missile. With the option of having it either fast and straight, or slow and directed, the strategy behind exactly where and when to deploy the redeemer makes this weapon one of the best. What's more, enemies who survive the initial blast may in fact end up blown off the level and into a pit of infinite falling and doom. Although kills like this were not counted in UT99, they are in UT2004. Even if you're the unlucky sod to get one of these quasi-nuclear missiles in the face, you'll still find yourself amused by the 'Eat This!' label on the side. It's a win-win scenario.
2: The BFG-9000 (Doom series)
Originality: 4.5/5
Brutality: 5/5
Entertainment: 3/5
Icon: 4.5/5
I dare anyone who has played Doom to have a list of awesome game weaponry to NOT include the BFG. Want to know why? Because it can't be done. Seriously, the gun is just that awesome. Not only that, but you'll find that it'll be one of the top on the list each and every time. Sure it takes 60 or so cells each time you fire, and that it's pretty rare, but the devastation this thing causes is more than worthy of being included on any list. The weapon of choice for any Doom player, the Big Freaking* Gun is pure, adulterated devastation at it's greenest.
*I purposely called it this to avoid the wrath of the forum moderators. The real word starts with 'F' and rhymes with 'luck'.
1: The SBC cannon (Serious Sam series)
Originality: 4/5
Brutality: 5/5
Entertainment: 4.5/5
Icon: 5/5
For those of you who have not played a Serious Sam game in their lives, I pity you. For, you have never experienced the awesomeness of the SBC cannon. Firing cannonballs that are roughly as big as Sam is, the SBC cannon is more than capable of cutting through the masses of enemies that come at you in Serious Sam.
For those of you who have never experienced the cannon in action, it's essentially fires big balls. (Can't... restrain... testicles joke... much... longer!) These balls roll over small enemies as if they weren't there, and thus makes them not there. If it hits a wall, it just bounces off and keeps rolling. If it stops for any reason, be it if it hits a larger enemy or runs out of momentum, it explodes. What's more, they can be prematurely exploded by firing another cannonball into them.
It's one-of-a-kind, it's deveastating, it's giant iron balls of squishing and exploding awesomeness. It's my pick for Top Game Weapon.
Any comments on my pickings? Reply to them here!
