Top 10 Lists: The Top 10 Greatest Weapons Of All Time

Most modern video games are about your player character overcoming an obstacle, which usually means tons of enemies. In order to do this, the game gives you weapons with which to defeat these enemies. While most game have at least one of these weapons that is extremely satisfying, some just rise above the rest in sheer useability, power, or just plain awesomeness and have gone down in gaming history for just that: being awesome. Here are the ten greatest weapons in the history of video gaming. NOTE: There is a difference between weapons and power ups. For example, this means that, say, Kirby's copy abilities or Smash Balls are out. Keep this in mind.

Fallout 3 had quite a few very cool one-of-a-kind weapons to be found. These weapons were usually special versions of generic Fallout 3 weapons. Some looked exactly the same, just with a few damage or accuracy modifications, while some, like Lincoln's Repeater, looked different (it even used a different type of ammo), but still retained the overall feel of that weapon. Neither held true for the coveted Alien Blaster. Found at the site of a crashed alien spacecraft, the Alien Blaster was probably the most powerful weapon in the game, except for maybe the less practical Experimental MIRV. Thanks to a damage rating of 100, this weapon is basically a one hit kill for regular human targets. Also, when you're lucky enough to get a critical hit, the enemy will disintegrate! However, the ammo is very limited and the weapon degrades very quickly, so it's best reserved for tough firefights and close range headshots. Still, this tiny extraterrestrial instrument of death is so devestating that it's hard to leave it off the list, even with its flaws.

An assault rifle with a chainsaw bayonet mounted on the bottom. If you need time for that to sink in, stop reading for a few minutes and then continue when you feel ready. Ok, anyways, this weapon is insanely powerful. Not only can you fire regular rounds at the faces of enemies in typical fully automatic rifle fashion, but if an enemy get too close for comfort (read: behind your nice, cozy wall that you've attached yourself to) you can rev up your chainsaw and slice through them for a brutal instant kill. It's low on the list because in multiplayer it carries a reputation for being 'cheap' and, more importantly, because the signature melee attack leaves your nice meaty back wide open for a precious few seconds, but few weapons are as satisfying as the first time you revved up the Lancer.

Halo was an amazing game on so many levels. The combat was very large in scale for its time, it seemlessly combined third person vehicle driving and first person shooting, it actually perfected the FPS formula on consoles, there was great co-op, and most of all: it had a large variety of very cool weapons to fire in the face of unsuspecting enemies. Who knew that one of the most powerful would be a tiny pistol? Thanks to the scope mounted on it and the very nice damage rating, the M6 earns its place on this list of greatest weapons of all time for being the most powerful and useable pistol of all time. Sadly, in Halo 2 it became next to useless without a weapon in your other hand, thanks to the removal of the scope. Though later installments in the series introduced the awesome and intimidating energy sword, the equally awesome and even more intimidating gravity hammer, and a variety of other cool weapons, none of them could top your old buddy from the original game: The M6.

The Worms series is known for its combination of cute worms, brilliant strategic gameplay, and a weapons list featuring a nice mix of caricatures of real world firearms and completely wacky and zany weapons that make Halo look like Call of Duty. The lethal banana bombs fall into the latter category. One of the most deadly weapons in the series, not only does this killer bunch of fruit deal heavy damage when it first explodes, but it breaks off into several bananas that produce equally deadly explosions. A more powerful and funny version of the cluster bomb, it could easily level a large group of enemy worms and create large holes in the terrain (or, if lobbed carelessly, devestate your own team!). For this reason, it is easily the coolest weapon in the Worms series, beating out the famous Holy Hand Grenade and many others, and it earns its place at number 7.

You're walking through a dimly lit room, carrying a large metal object of unknown origin. Suddenly, you hear groans of... pain? Or hunger? You can barely see them, but just enough to make them out. There are more of your fallen comrades who are trying to brutally murder you! And what are these...? Demons?! No! Acting on instinct, you pull the trigger on the large metal object. A blinding flash of light erupts from it, illuminating the terrifying sight. Suddenly, the engulfs the demons and your undead colleagues. Right before your eyes, your enemies explode into bloody chunks. This is the sight that passed through many a gamers' eyes when they played the seminal shooter Doom in 1993. The 'large metal object' was the BFG, the name of which is a hilariously disguised acronym. It was easily the most mindblowing weapon in the game. When fired, it created a huge orb of energy that flew forward and completely obliterated all enemies in your vacinity. Despite the slow rate of fire, it was incredible and destructive. However, despite the amazingly devastating power of the weapon, there are even more devastating firearms to come.

When it came out in 1999, the unreasonably awesome Unreal Tournament was the anti-Quake. Whereas Quake ran at an extremely fast, almost disorienting pace where you lived for about 30 seconds, fragged some people, died, and respawned, UT was quite a bit slower, especially for a game focused on adrenaline filled deathmatch (though unlike Quake it wasn't all about deathmatch; assault mode, anyone?). However, due to the slower pace, you could focus more on the action and the ridiculousness of it all, and this gave the game an over the top feel about it that Quake lacked. This ridiculousness and slow pace transferred well into the weapons. There was the insane Eightball Launcher (you could load up to 8 rockets or 6 grenades; sadly this was nerfed in later installments), the wonderful sniper rifle, and who could forget the original but useless Bio Gun? But though all of UT's weapons were quite original, one towered over them all: The Redeemer. This weapon still strikes terror into the hearts of gamers everywhere today. A rocket launcher that launched NUKES, when a player on your team (or even better, YOU) obtained the Redeemer, you jumped for joy... and cried tears of abject terror when the other team got one. The aftermath of this wonderful thing was incredible to watch in 1999... and still carries the same impact today. Primary fire launched the slow moving messenger of death in a straight line, while secondary fire launched it and allowed you to control it! That's right, controlling a nuclear missile. How cool is that? There are a few downsides to the weapon, as it moves quite slowly and you are liable to be killed if you use the secondary fire in enemy territory, but in the end, it's easily worth its spot on the list.

Though it may not cause massive explosions or have the ability to disintegrate enemies, the Red Koopa Shell changed the face of racing games forever. Before Super Mario Kart, it was a simple race to the finish. However, thanks to the various items the game introduced, it turned that simple race to the finish into a cutthroat, fist-fight-causing party game, especially in Battle Mode. The Red Koopa Shell was the most versatile, dangerous, and glee-inducing of these items. Basically, this weapon was a projectile that sailed along the track at lightning speed and homed in on the enemy in front of or behind you you. Once it struck them, they were stunned momentarily and lost their currently loaded power ups, allowing you to pass them. When you received one of these deadly homing missiles little missiles from an item block, in a four-player race, the guy in front of you was going down. If you received THREE of these, the guy in first suddenly didn't matter; if you timed your shots right right, you were going to be there soon. The only downside? A well placed banana peel or a perfectly aimed Green Koopa Shell thrown at the precise moment could destroy it. The tradition of the Red Koopa Shell being a kick-butt weapon has continued throughout the Mario Kart series, all the way up to MKWii. The fact that it has been awesome throughout the 17 years since it first debuted alone earns it its place on the list, and it's more than can be said for a lot of weapons. (*cough*M6*cough*)

Rocket jumping, anyone? Quake redefined the First Person Shooter (or, as it was known then, the "Doom Clone") by not only introducing 3D graphics, but by introducing internet multiplayer and, thanks to QuakeWorld, making accessible to all types of people. It also birthed a new gamer sub-culture based around FPS gaming over the internet. This sub-culture worshipped one weapon from Quake: the seminal rocket launcher. Insanely powerful and deadly, when you got a rocket launcher in Quake, you squealed with glee as you picked it up, laughed maniacly as you fragged a few people, then cried like a baby as someone else carrying this gun turned you into bloody chunks from behind. Multiplayer gaming hadn't been so cutthroat and mean-spirited since the introduction of the Red Koopa Shell in 1992's Mario Kart. Oh, and don't forget rocket jumping. By launching a rocket at your feet as you jumped, you could hurl yourself into the air and reach ledges that were previously inaccessible, or just fly through the air launching rockets at enemies. Either way you used it, no weapon changed the face of gaming the way Quake's rocket launcher did... up until 2004.

The Gravity Gun changed gaming. No doubt about it. Half-Life 2's awesome physics engine showed the world that games weren't about static level design and canned death animations anymore, and the Gravity Gun was the tool with which the game proved its point. It was a sight to behold: an orange-glowing claw-like weapon that could fire beams of energy that pushed objects out of the way. Not only that, but it could pick them up, set them down, or launch them! It was extremely inventive; almost anything can be used as a weapon. A toilet becomes a deadly missile. Cars can be pushed onto enemies or shoved into the to make them fall off ledges. And when the gun was altered by Combine tech in the last levels, enemies and other organic material were no longer immune to the gravity gun's amazing effects. Rarely does a game allow you to use parts of the scenery as a weapon, and Half-Life 2 nailed it. It's equally amazing in Half-Life 2's Deathmatch add-on, had a clear influence on Portal's ASHPD (Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device), and was part of the inspiration for the greatest player-made modification of all time: Garry's Mod. With all this hubub, you ask, how can it only be the second best? Well, there's one weapon that is just... better.

More useful than the boomerang and hookshot/clawshot, since it can kill enemies instead of just knocking them out. More useful than bombs, because 1. increased range and 2. you could incorporate them into arrows! More useful than More useful than the iron boots, the Magic Armor, and every other of the useful items in the Legend of Zelda series. It may be even more useful than the sword and shield. That's right; the bow and arrow. This weapon could easily be your main weapon of choice throughout most Zelda adventures, even moreso than the sword, thanks to its incredible versatility. Can you say that for any other side weapons? Not only is it used to kill enemies, but it is used in a wide variety of puzzles as well. There is also a nice variety of different arrows: flaming arrows that light enemies on fire, ice arrows that freeze the enemy, light arrows, which deliver a one-hit kill to ALL normal enemies, and bomb arrows, which are... self explanatory. It could even be used while mounting Epona for some awesome mounted archery. Not only is the bow and arrow the single greatest weapon in the history of video gaming, but it has remained virtually unchanged throughout the entire history of Legend of Zelda. Some things just hold up really, really well.

I hope you enjoyed this list of the greatest weapons of all time. However, this is only a fraction of the great weapons out there and it's only my opinion. There are tons of others out there, and I encourage you to make your own list if you love video game weapons like I do.

List by The_AI (08/11/2009)