Summary
- Some video game weapons were shocking due to their violent or gory nature, like the Air Taser in Syphon Filter.
- Games like Duke Nukem Forever and Turok 2 featured weapons that were surreal and hilarious, like the Impegrenader and the Cerebral Bore.
- Unconventional weapons, such as the Jarate in Team Fortress 2 and the Cat Shotgun in POSTAL 2, added revolting and silly elements to gameplay.
Video game weapons are there to help players defeat enemies and complete objectives. It certainly beats using words or the power of friendship. That aside, there’s no denying the fact that some weapons were pretty shocking to use back in the day.
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This could’ve been for a variety of reasons; it might’ve pushed boundaries for the time in terms of how gory and violent a game can be; they may have been ridiculously powerful, making players of the era laugh at how strong they were; or they may have been so utterly surreal and hilarious that they’re still iconic in their own right to this very day. Whatever the reasons, these guns were real jaw-droppers at one point.
1 Air Taser (Syphon Filter)
The Air Taser fires a grappling hook that latches onto foes from afar and can set them on fire!
Syphon Filter
- Released
- February 17, 1999
- Platform(s)
- PS1, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 3
- Developer
- Eidetic
- Publisher
- 989 Studios
- Genre(s)
- Stealth, Third-Person Shooter
The Air Taser in the first Syphon Filter game was shocking in a literal sense. Unintentional puns aside, it fires a hook from afar and attacks itself as an enemy, where it can be incapacitated by zapping them with a few thousand volts.
What players at the time quickly realized was that, if electrocuted for an extended period of time, this would be enough to set any unlucky terrorist on fire! One can keep holding down the attack button as the flames consume its victim, too. This is a fine example of overdoing it and was a really brilliant example of the game’s attention to detail.
2 Impegrenader (Duke Nukem Forever)
This unusual weapon extracts slime from a massive… body part.
Duke Nukem Forever
The Doctor Who Cloned Me DLC for the critically panned Duke Nukem Forever was a big improvement over the base game in a lot of ways. It had a tighter, more consistent campaign, better boss battles, and even a slew of new guns, one of which is the Impegrenader.
The weapon is a literal giant testicle with a few tentacles that dig deep within and flings slime, splattering enemies for heavy damage. While it’s capable of damaging Duke in both the campaign and multiplayer, it’s very powerful and even slowly regenerates ammo. The game’s in-game tips even encourage users to “c**k-slap” foes with a melee attack. Who knows where it was extracted from, or from whom, exactly, but perhaps it’s best not to think about it.
3 MIRV Launcher (Fallout 3)
A modified version of the Fat Man, the MIRV Launcher fires eight Mini Nukes at once!
Fallout 3
The Fat Man from Fallout 3 could turn any careful player into a harbinger of a nuclear apocalypse on-foot, providing they collect enough ammo. Mini Nukes are rare and hardly cheap, though there’s no glossing over the fact that they produce some jaw-dropping explosions for maximum damage.
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Hilariously, one of the rare variants - the MIRV Launcher - deals even more damage and pops out eight of them at once! Not only is this the textbook definition of what overkill is, but a single pull of the trigger is enough to bankrupt most players. Best make it count by leaving it for the Super Mutant Behemoths.
4 Injector (TimeSplitters: Future Perfect)
In multiplayer mode, darts inflate enemies until they pop.
TimeSplitters: Future Perfect
- Released
- March 21, 2005
- Developer(s)
- Free Radical Design
- Platform(s)
- GameCube, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox (Original)
- Genre(s)
- First-Person Shooter
The Injector is a gruesome and unusual sort of weapon. In TimeSplitters: Future Perfect’s story mode, it proved to be very powerful against mutants in the level taking place in the U-Genix secret labs. A single dart can make the mutants explode in a shower of gore and chunks. Messy but effective.
Alas, it has a totally different effect altogether in multiplayer. There, firing multiple darts will deal minor damage to a target. However, if enough darts are wedged into someone, they will begin to inflate to ridiculous proportions, to the point where they will explode and die instantly. It’s the sort of exaggerated wackiness that took countless players by surprise.
5 Jarate (Team Fortress 2)
A jar of urine can sodden opponents to make them vulnerable to damage temporarily.
Team Fortress 2
Introduced in the Sniper Vs. Spy update for Team Fortress 2 in May 2009: Jarate (its advertisement described it as a “jar-based Karate”) is nothing more than a glass container of wee. Tossing it at foes will cover them with the yellow liquid, leaving them temporarily susceptible to Mini-Crits for additional damage while partially blinding them.
It’s also handy for extinguishing burning allies or oneself, and it can reveal disguised or cloaked Spies, too. It’s one of the most powerful and popular weapons in the game for Sniper players and is equal parts revolting and silly.
6 Penetrator (Saints Row 3)
The Penetrator is a melee weapon shaped like… another body part.
Saints Row: The Third
Before the modern Saints Row (2022) came along and effectively sank the franchise, there was a time when the series was at the top of its game. In Saints Row 3, the developers decided to embrace the wackiness and deliver goofier content to go in-hand with its nutty sandbox gameplay.
In short, it introduced a phallic-shaped bat to smack people over the head with. It became synonymous with the series and its immature sense of humor, so much so that even Volition created a full-sized prop version for their offices. Getting battered by one of these was humiliating, but so was letting our parents see it as well...
7 Lancer (Gears of War)
The iconic assault rifle comes paired with a chainsaw to instantly kill Locust grunts.
Gears of War
- Released
- November 7, 2006
- Developer(s)
- Epic Games
- Publisher(s)
- Microsoft Game Studios
- Genre(s)
- Third-Person Shooter
There’s no forgetting the Lancer assault rifle from Gears of War. Nay, it has been included in every other entry in the series and is a staple inclusion. Its design is nothing short of iconic, and the ability to chop Locusts in half with its mounted chainsaw is the sort of deliciously violent stuff that fans gobbled up after staring in amazement at that very first execution they pulled off.
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Rushing at enemies with this thing is the sort of wacky, crazy tactic that can score a frag in an online multiplayer match, too. Plus, it adds a ‘personal touch’ on top of everything else as well. The Lancer, in short, is far more than just a gimmick - it kicks serious hide, too.
8 Cat Shotgun / M16 (POSTAL 2)
Collected cats can be attached to the end of a shotgun and assault rifle.
Postal 2
- Released
- April 13, 2003
- Platform(s)
- PC
- Developer
- Running with Scissors
- Publisher
- Running with Scissors
- Genre(s)
- FPS, Open-World
When there are no suppressors available, one has to improvise. The sociopathic Postal Dude does exactly that in POSTAL 2 by attaching a cat to the end of either a shotgun or assault rifle to muffle the sounds by sticking the barrel where the sun doesn't shine and firing shots out of their mouths.
It’s but one of many examples of the tonal shift in the series. The first POSTAL was dark and brooding, while POSTAL 2 was a lot more tongue-in-cheek and surreal. The satirical and cheeky humor of this title was more than enough to offend countless numbers of people, and the Cat Shotgun was certainly a big part of that.
9 Anal Probe (Destroy All Humans!)
Created by the Furon aliens, one can probe civilians to make their brains pop out!
Destroy All Humans!
- Released
- July 28, 2020
- Developer(s)
- Black Forest Games, Pandemic Studios
- Publisher(s)
- THQ Nordic
Where did the myth of probing even come from, anyway? Regardless of the origin, it seems to have become synonymous with extraterrestrials. An Anal Probe was, consequently, implemented in the third-person shooter Destroy All Humans! This was also, of course, brought back in the remake.
After launching a projectile into a victim’s backside, the hapless victim will run around and excrete uncontrollably while shouting in pain. If a civilian dies while in the process of a very painful probing, their brain stems will eject out of their heads and be ready to collect. It’s even upgradable with things like “Sniffer Sensors” and a “Butt Pressure Maximizer”!
10 Cerebral Bore (Turok 2: The Seeds of Evil)
The Cerebral Bore drills through a target’s skull while blood pours out.
Turok 2: Seeds of Evil
- Released
- December 21, 1999
- Developer(s)
- Iguana Entertainment, NightDive Studios
- Publisher(s)
- Acclaim Entertainment, NightDive Studios
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Game Boy Color, PC, Nintendo 64, PS4, Switch, Xbox One
- Genre(s)
- FPS
Bows, shotguns, and bazookas are all viable options for hunting aliens in the Turok series. Yet, the true cream of the crop goes to the infamous Cerebral Bore, first introduced in Turok 2: The Seeds of Evil. Inspired by the 1979 horror movie Phantasm, the device is capable of killing most enemies in one hit.
Equipped with homing technology, the Cerebral Bore can be launched to lodge itself into a bad guy’s face, slowly drilling its way into their cranium while blood gushes out of the back like a faucet. While it isn’t overly reliable against packs of enemies and has no effect on tougher foes, it has stuck with fans and critics alike for decades now due to its overly-gnarly and gruesome means of execution.
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