Shack Ten: Gaming's Most Unique Weapons

It's that time again for another Shack Ten, our bi-weekly breakdown of the ten most somethings in video games. This week, we throw some much-deserved praise at the unique qualities of fictitious weaponry. As always, we forced the Shacknews staff to share a bed with a cat with a full bladder until they could agree on a single list of gaming's most unique weaponry. We had a little help with suggestions from the Chatty, so check out their suggestions for these and many more unique weapons.

10. D.Va's Mech (Overwatch)

"Nerf this!" is one of the more terrifying things you can hear during a match in Overwatch. It sends players running, scurrying away from Dva's flashing mech as it hunkers down and bursts into a deadly shockwave. But to be the one who deployed it, who caused the mass chaos to ensue? To see a resulting wave of red text announcing the eliminations you've scored? Priceless. 

9. Hammer of Dawn (Gears of War)

While there are plenty of unique weapons out there, not many feel as good as the Hammer of Dawn. Introduced in the Gears of War series, this weapon is pretty simple. First, you aim the guiding laser at an enemy. Then, a massive laser strike shoots down from orbit and obliterates them, causing massive gibs and chunks of gore to go flying all around you. It’s a satisfying feeling that very few weapons can match. Of course, there’s nothing subtle about a massive laser dropping in from space, though, is there?

8. Wildlife (Far Cry)

As much fun as it can be to get up close and personal in combat encounters, there's a wonderful amount of satisfaction that can be taken from sitting back and watching chaos erupt before your eyes. This is the power of the animals in the Far Cry series, who can be freed or summoned into enemy outposts and camps and wreak havoc without costing you a single bullet. Headshots are wonderful, but generating orchestrated chaos is an amazing experience unto itself. 

7. Cerebral Bore (Turok 2)

Doom's arsenal proved both a blessing and a curse for every FPS that followed. As unique as the BFG 9000, rocket launcher, and plasma rifle were for its time, the shotgun, pistol, and SMG gave many developers an excuse to lean on tried-and-true weaponry rather than try their hand at creating innovative death dealers.

Enter the Cerebral Bore, a simple concept but oh-so-satisfying execution. What's better than a gun that drills through skulls and scrambles brains like eggs? A projectile-based gun that drills through skulls and scrambles brains like eggs.

"The sound of the weapon is what makes it. Half buzz saw, half dentist's drill." -ConfusedUs

6. Needler (Halo)

Sometimes the best weapons aren't created wholesale, but by tweaking one element of an archetype. Halo's Needler is a piece of alien technology that appears to function identically to a manmade SMG. Until you fire it and embed a cluster of needles in your opponent's back and listen for the tiny pops signaling their detonation.

Best of all, the Needler's a two-for-one deal. Firing off a few rounds lets you chip away at enemies. If enough needles make contact, however, they combine into a single bomb that deals massive damage. There are fewer sights more satisfying than unleashing a blaze of pink dots into an opponent, watching them flee around a corner, and then, seconds later, seeing their name appear on your screen as you receive a +1 to your frag counter.

"Lots of games do the 'fast shooting weak nail gun' type weapon, but most of them don't look like pink glowing shards or blow up once you rapidly fill someone with them. It also has that delightful whistling sound when you swing it at people." -VictoriousSecret

5. Spy's Knife (Team Fortress 2)

Lots of video game weapons have big flashy effects, but the Spy's Knife stands alone as having a unique effect matched perfectly with its class. The Spy specializes in sneaking around enemies, blending in, and then popping his disguise at the perfect moment. The knife is incredibly powerful, but only at short range and particularly from the back. Taking out an enemy exposes you, making for a high-risk, high-reward level of strategy in a game known for its tense moments. Plus we've all lived the dream at least once of taking out five guys who were lined up like suckers. Ain't nobody here but us engineers! 

"Flanking and backstabbing 4 people or so is one of the most satisfying things you can do in any game." -Wolfslice

4. Gravity Gun (Half-Life 2)

The Half-Life series is known for a lot of things--groundbreaking storytelling, its famously silent protagonist, the inability to count to three--but no weapon stands above the rest quite like the Gravity Gun. The Gravity Gun turned the world itself into your ammunition and your enemies into ragdolls, using the tools of the Source engine to make a playground-like environment with your weaponry. Best of all was when it was upgraded to the Super Gravity Gun near the end-game, granting a sense of empowerment that many games can't match.

"How many other games let you throw your enemies around?" -GrimmyD

3. Fat Man (Fallout Series)

The Fat Man is often lauded as one of the most ridiculous weapons in the Fallout series. This is a pretty big statement, as many of the weapons that the Vault Dwellers come across are pieced together from old junk the builder’s had lying around. Built off the premise of a rocket launcher, this special heavy weapon shoots mini nukes instead of missiles. The outcome? A hilariously epic explosion of nuclear proportions. You haven’t lived a day in the wasteland if you’ve never wiped out a colony of bandits with a Fat Man, am I right?

"Launches football-sized miniature nukes over short range from a pneumatic chute. It's barely safe to use. If you don't launch it upwards a bit, you'll probably nuke yourself." -ConfusedUs

2. Dubstep Gun (Saints Row 4)

Dubstep may be an acquired musical taste, but all you need to enjoy this weapon from Saints Row IV is a good sense of humor. It sends out hlong-range pulses of energy to the beat of a dubstep tune, determine by which skin you've outfitted the gun with. Once you fire, there's a buildup for the bass to drop. When it does, everyhing around you, including vehicles, shake and shimmy to the beat. Not only is it effective, but it looks hilarious. And isn't that why we use some of these weapons, after all?

1. BFG-9000 (Doom)

We all know what it stands for. There's no mistaking its silhouette, its name, or its purpose: for killing everything in sight. For the sake of political correctness we'll refer to it as the Big Freakin' Gun straight out of one of the most significant and popular FPS series of all time: Doom. This huge hunk of metal is the most powerful firearm in the game, capable of destroying nearly any monster that crosses its path. As it fires round after round of green plasma, enemies quake in fear and players find sadistic grins etching themselves into their cheeks. It's so important that even Quake II and Quake III Arena needed a reason to include it in both respective games. The name alone makes it one of those aspects of gaming you just can't wipe from your mind. Accept it, or it'll probably blow your head off.

Shack Staff

Shack Staff stories are a collective effort with multiple staff members contributing. Many of our lists often involve entires from several editors, and our weekly Shack Chat is something we all contribute to as a group.