10 Most Creative Guns In Video Games

Without a doubt the most popular piece of equipment across almost all manner of video game genres, the gun remains the weapon of choice for many, whether you're battling Nazi Zombies in COD, lasering ships in Star Wars Battlefront, or launching darts at balloons in Shrek Super Party.

And yet, as effective as the gun can be at launching a projectile from one point to another really really quickly, that simple purpose can become somewhat stale. As exciting as some weapons can be at tearing up the multiplayer battlefield, be it with a cascade of automatic fire or by launching a barrage of rockets, they're all essentially doing the same thing; catapulting a smaller object through a larger object really quickly, until that larger object explodes/deflates/dies/disintegrates.

Fortunately, video games are able to bend and break the rules of physics, so developers can create weapons capable of much greater, more exciting things.

Here I'm not only going to honour the imaginative guns that combine with other weapons to increase their effectiveness as harbingers of destruction, but also at some of the weirdest and most insanely cool ways we've used them over the years.

The Mk-II Lancer Assault Rifle is the standard rifle of the Gears from the Gears of War series. The gun itself, while not offering anything particularly unique, is one of the most satisfying to fire in any video game. It is strong, stable and has almost no recoil. This makes it not only ideal for mid-range combat typical of the encounters the Gears face throughout their battles against the Locust Horde, but also means they are highly effective long-range weapons, as well.

Unfortunately, the original Lancer Assault Rifle was equipped with the more traditional knife bayonet, which quickly proved to be ineffective against the touch skin and armour of the underground armies. As such, hero Marcus Fenix and his father developed a chainsaw bayonet extension – and it is this feature that sees the weapon transform into such a iconic bringer of death.

While the rifle itself is highly effective at medium and long-range, there is no substitute to finishing a close-quarters encounter by firing up the chainsaw and slicing through a Locust's limbs. The stuttered camera movement, combined with the blood-splattering across the screen, lends a vicious realism to the saw slicing through bone and muscle, which – while gruesome – lends itself as one of the most satisfying ways to kill an enemy bent on destroying the human race.