Our Favorite Video Game Weapons Of All Time

I’ve been singing the BR’s praises since I first got into Halo back in the aughts, and I will continue to sing them now. The Halo franchise was perhaps the most-frequently named when I asked the denizens of X to tell me their favorite weapons, and that’s a testament to just how good Bungie and 343 Industries are at designing gunplay. But the battle rifle will always be my baby, even though it’s had a rocky history in the franchise (after its reveal in Halo 2, it quickly became a massive point of contention amongst gamers who preferred it to the assault rifle, or vice versa). Team SWAT match when?

Vicious and stylish, they’ve become embedded in my brain as the peak action game weapons. — Kenneth Shepard, staff writer

The Cerebral Bore from Turok 2: Seeds of Evil. Just saying the name of the gun makes you hear the screeching sound it makes as it seeks out its target’s skull. This was pre-Ratchet and Resistance and Iguana, later Acclaim Studios Austin, were making some of the most out-there weapons in the FPS space. It’s also a gun that’s so ingrained with that franchise that most people will probably immediately remember it the second you say Turok. They may not remember the weird aliens, the stages or supporting cast, but they’ll remember that gun. — Blair Farrell, ComicBookVideoGames

It’s a gun with a chainsaw on the end of it, and you can literally saw through enemies with it. Is there anything else that needs to be said (except maybe that you can and should still play Gears of War 3 multiplayer)?

Several people named Kingdom Hearts’ keyblades as their favorite weapons, which makes sense as they can look so wildly different depending upon the wielder and the location in which the weapon is being used. Writer and comedian Jake Steinberg likes Mickey’s keyblade in particular, writing on X: “Sora’s running around with this mysterious key-shaped weapon then BAM the mouse himself shows up and the gold color makes me think he’s already gotten mastery over this thing! Then you learn it’s the realm of darkness counterpart to Sora’s keyblade like [shocked face emoji].”

I do not know if God has a cock, but I imagine it would feel similar to the M6D Pistol from Halo: CE. Among the most OP weapons in video game history, this unassuming pistol had a power and precision that felt celestial in origin. Capable of popping Jackal skulls at 500m or eviscerating the soupy orange innards of marauding Hunters at point-blank range, the CE Pistol also turned Halo’s legendary multiplayer into a gleeful headshot bonanza. Nothing had ever made me feel so drunk with power, and nothing has since. — Mo Mozuch, Kotaku contributor

Kris Wall, a games PR account director, loves God of War’s axe, which Kratos wields alongside his classic chains in the Sony Santa Monica reboot series. He writes on X that “the sound design gives it a really satisfying sense of weight and impact. Spent hours in the game throwing the axe just to hear that “THWAP” sound as it lands back in Kratos’ hand, so satisfying!”

“Samus’ arm cannon in the Metroid series and Smash—especially Ultimate—adds so much depth of movement and versatility to the character from a gameplay perspective,” said freelance writer Charlie Wacholz on X. “It’s a movement option, a combo tool, a kill option, and a fast projectile. Plus it’s satisfying.”

It’s beautiful, it’s big, it’s bestowed upon you by Ranni the Witch, who you can travel the stars with if you choose to take her as a lover in Elden Ring. The Dark Moon Greatsword is the reward for a somewhat involved questline tied to her, but it’s well worth the effort. Powerful, beautiful, and glowing an ethereal blue, this thing is something you’d want to hang on the wall of your office. And you can, because there’s a company currently selling Dark Moon Greatsword replicas for $500.

If there was one weapon that was a clear winner in terms of the number of mentions, it’s the Buster Sword. A friend of mine who is not even remotely involved with video games, or regularly on social media, texted me to make sure her input was heard. “Cloud’s Buster Sword from Final Fantasy 7 because it’s iconique,” she insisted. Many of you echoed similar sentiments.

When considering a favorite video game weapon, a key criteria should be whether it’s something that feels satisfying to use however many hundreds of times over a play-through you let that baby rip. It’s with this rationale that I’m nominating the Stake Gun from People Can Fly’s Painkiller series. Not only is the Stake Gun powerful, delivering a one hit kill against most enemies, but also nailing dudes to walls and seeing enemies viscerally flung back from the Stake Gun’s righteous force never gets old. — Eric Schulkin, video lead

When you think of combining a gun and a sword, I imagine something more along the lines of a bayonet. But Square Enix blew my expectations up with the gunblade, a reoccurring weapon in the Final Fantasy series that first appeared in 1999's Final Fantasy VIII.

While I’m an utter simp for katanas, when I first laid eyes on Seifer Almasy and Squall Leonhart’s iconic gunblades, I forgot about my beloved Japanese blades. With its sharp edge and revolver-like hilt, the gunblade is one of the sickest weapons to come from the mind of FF character designer Tetsuya Nomura. — Levi Winslow, staff writer

She has guns on her high heels. There is no need to elaborate further.

“Objectively one of the coolest sci-fi weapons in gaming,” writes Bungie associate world designer Collin MacGregor on X. “Turning your enemy into a pink pincushion only or for them to then explode is so satisfying and stylish.” Where is the lie?

You might struggle a bit in Elden Ring’s early game, but not if you have Bloodhound’s Fang with you. This curved greatsword can be found in Limgrave, after defeating the Bloodhound Knight Darriwil, and is a great all-around weapon that can get you through plenty of fights in the first half of FromSoftware’s open-world RPG. And, as my partner pointed out, “I was having a blast using it for about 12 hours and THEN realized it had a teleport function.”

The original Doom’s shotgun is incredible. It sounds good. It feels good. It drops demons consistently, too. But it’s not perfect. You see, it only has one barrel and that’s not very “super.”

Enter Doom 2’s superior Super Shotgun.

This double-barreled, death-dealing weapon does more damage and sounds even more ferocious. Pulling the trigger on the Super Shotgun is like letting a bear loose inside a small room filled with demons and zombies. It just shreds and rips them apart, not leaving much when it’s done. In Doom 2, when you need a big monster to die—and it needs to happen right now—the Super Shotgun is waiting for you and your itchy trigger finger. Truly a space marine’s best friend. — Zack Zwiezen, staff writer

Once in a while a video game weapon comes along that’s so unique in both form and function that you can’t help but be fascinated by it. Half-Life 2's Zero Point Energy Field Manipulator (commonly referred to as the Gravity Gun) is one of those kinds of weapons. Valve set an incredibly high bar when it came to in-game physics with the Half-Life sequel, and the Gravity Gun brilliantly makes the most of those physics, allowing you to interact with the world in a variety of fun ways, from throwing exploding barrels to moving objects to use as cover. This isn’t just a weapon, it’s a crucial tool.

“In a game designed around shooting, it’s so damn satisfying to face tank for a few moments and smash bitches to smithereens,” writes What’s Good Games’ cofounder Brittany Brombacher. No lies were told. If you’re unsure of their value, just load up any Halo game and play a round or two of Grifball; you’ll be converted to a Gravity Hammer lover in no time.

There you have it, a collection of the best video game weapons of all time, based on input from the staff at Kotaku and the larger video game world. What do you think?