I enjoy playing games where I mercilessly maraud around shooting futuristic weaponry at my friends hoping that my shots meet their target to dismember them. I rarely take a moment to think about the guns that I’m firing but upon reflection, here are my top 10 badass guns of all time.


10. Hammer of Dawn - Gears of War
Put simply - who wouldn’t want an orbital death satellite canon at there disposal?





Guns like this have appeared before in games such as the Ion Painter in Unreal Tournament, but the Hammer of Dawn has unlimited ammo if your not multi-playering and only limitations is the time limit on the beam and the fact you have to have a clear sky...


Apart from that its all good!




9. Redeemer - Unreal Tournament
The Redeemer, a hand held nuclear missile silo with a impressive blast radius - which you'd fully expect from a nuclear warhead.





Even better you can remotely guide the missile to your target, sneaky players could glide up to the other team from behind and let them know that they are there by making contact with a players head unleashing an utterly devastating explosion, just don’t let them see you while your doing it!




8. Spartan Laser - Halo 3
A big red death laser ... sounds right up my street. Designed for anti vehicle use but is also superb in anti personnel use. This highly charged energy laser beam will destroy anything you point it at.


Put in the right hands the Spartan Laser usually leaves opposing players waiting for their respawn.





Just image if you could dual wield it!




7. Lancer - Gears of War
Chainsaws have been used in games before and everyone knows they are a lot of fun but who'd have thought how awesome it is to stick one on the end of a gun?





Gears of War did a lot of things right and this is just one of them. We have always felt a sense of achievement when we have knifed another player, ohh but how that joy has increased with the ability to actually take our enemies apart with totally awesome visuals and animations.




6. Rail gun - Quake 2
Back in Quake 2 if you had skill with this gun you were the ownerer and your catch line was one shot one kill.





How I remember zooming around the confined deathmatch levels when that little spiral trail of hot death exploded me into lots of bloodied meaty chunks, I'd then scream much to the delight of Mikethelad who'd then do an evil laugh and then set about dismembering his next victim.


I still haven’t forgotten the pain Mike, I still haven’t forgotten.




5. Shink Ray - Duke Nukem
Remember those kids TV shows where the mad scientist has a shrink gun so he can go really small places, namely inside a human body? With the handy usage of steel capped boots Duke Nukem managed to weaponise this notion!





Every body loves Duke Nukem for the crazy weapons and the stupid phrases. But only Duke Nukem could create a weapon that once fired, your chosen victim shrinks to a ridiculously small size and then gives you the ability of squashing them with you boot. In Duke Nukem this is a perfectly viable way of dispatching the bad guys.


Oh fun times.




4. Gravity Gun - Half Life 2
Valve and Sir Isaac Newton come together in to create this great piece of equipment named the Zero-Point Energy Manipulator aka the gravity gun. Who'd have though that breaking the fundamental rules of physics was such a good idea?


It can be used for good (problem solving) or for pure evil (throwing explosive barrels), in fact this turns nearly everything into a weapon. Where ever you look there is potential projectiles to be used against your foes which often left you wondering - what is the funniest / best way I can kill this guy?





The best part about this was that you could never be quite sure how it'd all end up and you were pretty much guarantied that hilarity would ensue after equipping it.




3. BFG 9000 - DOOM
The BFG, or “Big Fucking Gun” if you need help working it out, may look like a futuristic shopping trolley but once equipped really does make the player "too tough for the forces of Hell to contain".





Nothing is quite as exciting as watching your enemies being engulfed in a green blob of pure plasma obliteration causing instant death, just don't stand too close. In a real life situation, this is the only weapon you'd ever need as long as it had unlimited ammo.




2. Cerebral Bore - Turok 2
Over the last 20 years I've grown very attached to my brain, It has always been there for me and only very occasionally lets me down. Even at the most inappropriate times of failure I'd never wish to punish my brain with the Cerebral Bore, when it comes to creativity in coming up with horrible ways to die they certainly had it when they came up with this weapon back in 1998.





The creators wanted to come up with a "slow and agonizing" death and I think they might have got it. What could be worse than having your cerebrospinal fluid slowly drained, and promptly after being decapitated by a small explosive...




1. Farsight XR-20 - Perfect Dark
Imagine this; your running through a series of corridors that you've trodden 1000's of times before, armed so heavily it'd make Rambo jealous. Your closing in for your next kill and ... BAM. You drop dead for no apparent reason.


"WTF hax0r - cheating n00b", you scream abuse as you watch your team being laid to waste by some fag who is using an aimbot and can shoot through walls, it has all happened to us. But in Perfect Dark this can happen for the most legitimate reason. Thank you RARE for making one of the most badass weapons of all time. Say Hello to the Farsight.





A snipers wet dream, X-ray vision that let you see through walls, making it very easy to locate you next kill. PFFT walls, what are walls, this thing can shoot right through them. In fact nothing stands between you and your kill.
If that wasn't enough this baby can auto target your enemies making aiming a breeze.