What make the most memorable videogame Weapons?

What is the one gun to out-shoot them all?

Yeah, I know that's a pretty open-ended question to lead off with but bear with me for a little while whilst I justify it. Gaming contains a vast array of different experiences, genre's and existential headspins that it's almost impossible to be a fan of almost anything or judge one universal aspect. What I can look at, however, is overwhelming commonalities across a great number of Venn circles. One such commonality is that a great many games feature some sort of strife and thus usually features weapons of some sort that vary depending on the thematic back drop and/or genre in question. Good enough justification? (It'll have to do.) So yes, talking about weapons across all the video game landscape is daunting because there are just so many potential picks to pluck at, but I specifically want to point out the weapons that stand far out to the point of almost overshadowing the game. The sort of weapons that some may be able to name, or at least recognise, before naming the point of origin. And I want to discuss what it is that makes them that way, because I don't feel it's one universal rule, and perhaps in doing so I'll unravel some sort of pessimistic formula to creating the ultimate unforgettable video game weapon. (Or not, who knows.)

BFG: DOOM

And the first weapon I wanted to start off with was an gun so iconic that you probably already knew it was going to be on the list before I even knew, it's just second nature. (But can I at least say that I considered the Super Shotgun first because that's a weapon I see much more often, before realising that gun is actually intentionally generic looking and the BFG was a much better candidate.) So the BFG (standing for 'Big F***ing gun' and not 'Bio Force Gun' like the awful movie tried to say) is a very peculiar first pick because what makes it popular isn't immediately obvious. The immediate first guess would obviously be it's destructive capability, but that has altered so drastically from game to game to the point where that can't be it. All that's consistent is that it can one-shot enemies, but the actual killing beam itself is unrecognisable in modern games in all but colour. Then there would be the design, but again it's been subject to complete reworking, from something that looks like it's harnessed onto the arm to a spiky sci-fi reworking and settling with the more box-y functional look of today. Honestly, I think it's the name. People just love the idea of a name as ridiculous and cool as the BFG, and if you have to swear in order to properly pronunce it then that's just more points to the cool factor. To this day, when swearing in games in no longer a novelty, BFG's name alone is a reminder of the old-school chaotic mayhem and carnage that DOOM represents, thus the gun becomes iconic.

Gravity Gun: Half Life 2

Here's another absolute shoe in. One can hardly discuss iconic anything in the world of gaming before Half Life drops into the conversation, but I like to think that the Gravity Gun covets popularity that persists beyond the game itself, and this time the memorable nature is immediately identifiable for all; it's for the very unique Gravity Gun functionality. Half Life 2 marks gaming history as the first game to execute truly robust physics-based systems, and the Gravity Gun was the way in which they tied it into the gameplay. Allowing players to literally pick up pieces of the environment and manipulate it, the Gravity Gun acted in way that no other gun had really done before in gaming and encouraged imaginative open-ended problem solving that inspired countless games to come. In fact, at a stretch you could even call the success of the Gravity Gun a genesis point for the eventual birth of the Immersive Sim sub-genre of RPGs! (Or at least you could do that if the original Deus Ex didn't predate Half Life 2 by 4 years. We'll say it led to 'the rise' of immersive sims, then.) So this one is iconic for being groundbreaking, simple enough. 

Keyblade: Kingdom Hearts

Okay, getting a little bit off the beaten path with this one, but here we have the ever important Keyblade in the ever esoteric Kingdom Hearts franchise. This here's a bit of personal pick because I haven't had the chance to progress in Kindgom Hearts for a while, but I think it stands due to the sheer popularity of the game and the fact that even if you have no idea what Kingdom Hearts is, you know the Keyblade. What makes it so curious to me, despite the fact that's its essentially just an oversized key, is the way in which it's designed to serve as a sword despite being completely blunt and used to lock doors despite literally representing a symbol for opening things. (Yes, I'm only talking about how it's used in Kindgom Hearts 1, because overwise my brain will explode) This is another clear cut when it comes to pinpointing the fame, because despite one of the coolest aspects of the Keyblade being the fact that it's appearance completely changes depending on the themed keychain attached to it, it's Sora's standard old blade which remains an Iconic symbol of the Disney-Final Fantasy crossover fanfic of a game. Just like with a lot of Square's properties, all the money's in the image and design. (and is that so wrong?)  

Mandibular Rearranger: The Outer Worlds

A bit more of a modern pick for you, yet one that I think still holds up to snuff against the rest of them. Who remembers the Mandibular Rearranger, or used it and cannot remember the name? As a refresher, this is the unique science weapon in The Outer Worlds that was born out of a bug and essentially had the effect of shrinking or enlarging a random part of the victims's body to frankly comical results. (And I don't just mean their horrible, and likely very painful, deaths) Use this on the unsuspecting passerby and you can expect their heads to shink, hands to grow, ear's to pop, all until they look like something out of a SIMS character creator; and all that from essentially just a little glowstick. Coming away from The Outer Worlds I think that this Rearranger was certainly the most memorable weapon in the game to the point where it sort of outshone the game itself when it was first announced. It was just such a silly celebration of the fun people can have from messing around in games and that developers can have when making them, easily cementing this as a weapon iconic for it's wacky effects.

Steel Sword: Skyrim

Ah, now we get to the games of my age; The Elder Scrolls Skyrim and it's iconic... Steel Sword? Of course there are many examples of memorable iconography from The Elder Scrolls series including some from Skyrim itself. You have the Daedric artefacts, the Nordic Aedric symbols, the banner of the Imperials and the Stormcloaks, etc. But when you think of bog standard weapons it always comes back to this Steel Sword, such to the point where more than one asset-store flip job has been rustled for stealing it. (Which is so short sighted, this is one of the most recognisable swords in gaming.) Here the recognition is quite interesting, as the sword itself isn't special in any way and it's design, whilst thematically impeccable, rather pointedly avoids the grandeur that one would call back to in reverance. No, I'd say the popularity of the Steel Sword actually goes back to the marketing, in the same why that the Dragonborn is synonymous with the 'iron armour with Studded Cuirass' combo look. These are the images that adorned all the marketing, the live action trailers, the gameplay trailers and the promotional material, thus just as with cover characters,  these stick out as the first impression everyone thinks of when it comes to Skyrim. Just goes to show how important those first impression are, no?

Greatsword of Artorias: Dark Souls

Oh, there it is. (Bet you knew I couldn't go a listicle without dropping the Dark Souls) So there is a truly ludicrous number of great weapons and armour from the Souls games that stand out as symbols, yet when pressed, most remember the Greatsword of Artorias the best, and I'm still not completely confident as to why. As opposed to the cover adorning, Elite Knight Armour, or the ever present, Moonlight Greatsword, here's a weapon that doesn't really get any overt coverage in material or really in the game either. I mean sure, it's technically on the back of the character for the cover of the 'Artorias of the Abyss' DLC, but that's not the image of Dark Souls, so I'd hardly say the popularity starts there. Even in the game it's only ever seen wielded by Artorias himself, (as well as giant version held in the mouth of his greatwolf Sif) unless you go far out your way to craft it. I actually think these weapon's popularity might actually come down to the pure design of the thing, because even in game of fantastic designs there is something about this sword in particular that is truly exceptional. It's a huge, shapely, medieval Greatsword with enough ornate decorations to stand out but not appear too gaudy. It glints with that dark, cruel gleam that invokes the gothic shades of the theme as well as the tinge of tragedy that taints it's master's backstory. Put simply, in many ways this Greatsword's design is the purist reflection of the game that spawned it, thus her aesthetic propagates the fandom.  

GLOO Cannon: Prey 

The Gelifoam Lattice Organism Obstructor (or GLOO) Cannon from Prey's 2017 revival is not what I would call the prettiest weapon in the world. Nor is it the most revolutionary thing to hit the world of gaming, changing the way that software itself it formed. It also doesn't have a name that really rolls off the tongue or has a fun swear word to blurt out at inappropriate moments. But what it does have is function and versatility, and in an immersive sim like Prey, that's pretty much the player's bread and butter. The GLOO gun shoots out a substance that glues (I get it) itself to the surface it touches in a gelatinous, foam-like substance which is strong enough to stand on, or trap something in. When faced against the mimics that litter the gameworld (beings capable of shifting their shape in order to imitate other objects) you can probably figure out the appeal. What makes the GLOO cannon so special and memorable is the way that it's the first ranged weapon you get access to in the game, thus forcing you to become familiar with all the ways in which you can manipulate it's GLOO for any situation. Combat, boosting yourself to a new floor, blocking entry points, covering electrical bursts, making snow angels, just about anything you can think of. And when you pull something crazy off, you feel like a winner for thinking outside the box. Hindsight has been kind on 2017's Prey, and the GLOO cannon is a big reason for why that is; it set the tone for the creative adventure Prey would be, thus it's memory is tied to hers.

Master Sword: Zelda

And last, but by means least, we have the humble Master Sword, as wielded numerous times by Link in the franchise that doesn't even feature his name. (Has Zelda ever even held the Master Sword?) The mere silhouette of this weapon is enough to set fanboys off hyperventilating, and you would be remiss to see a gaming-themed decor job that had neither this or a triforce somewhere. (It's like a rule) And honestly I think that this particular Sword owes it's memory as much to nostalgia as to design itself. You see, Zelda has spanned decades and innumerable art styles, but the Master Sword has remained more or less exactly the same in look throughout the games. At times it's been the strongest weapons in the player's arsenal, whilst at others it's keep earned in other ways; but the narrative import and the cyclical nature of the legend keep this Sword as a permanent part of Link's arsenal. At this point, as much as Link is a piece of gaming history, so is this sword, and that's the sort of iconic status that is sure to stick for more decades to come.

So that was just a cherry picking of some weapons that permeate the legends of gaming culture, and from collating them all together we get a pretty definitive idea of what the perfect video game weapon would resemble. It would have to be beautifully designed to an impeccable degree so that it dazzles the user, yet still be simple enough to be recognisably silhouetted. It would need heavy marketing alongside the game it features in, as well as image consistency throughout the years so that everyone remembers it. It would need to be groundbreaking from a technical aspect as well as highly versatile as more than just a tool of destruction, perhaps some progression could tie in too? And it would need to be thematically synonymous with the story of the game, and have a name with one profanity or obscene recommendation in it... So I guess what I'm saying is: the perfect video game weapon of all time is the Dildo bat from Saints Row 3. Mystery solved, riddle cracked.