8 One Shot Kill Weapons That Fail At Their Job

These one-shot weapons fall hilariously short of the mark.

Red Dea Redemption Undead Nightmare
Rockstar

One of the great draws of video games is the power fantasy wish fulfillment aspect - to do things that you simply can't in real life. And of course, that inevitably includes wielding a comically destructive weapon which can reduce every foe in your vicinity to a smoking hole in the ground.

One-shot kill weapons are almost always a ton of fun to use, and while they're usually sparingly deployed by games for the sake of balance, sometimes we just want to melt the bad guys with zero resistance, challenge be-damned.

But developers often design these one-shot weapons with a major flaw in mind which makes their sheer operation wholly counter-intuitive.

To ensure players can't unleash unrestrained fresh hell upon every enemy they come across, these weapons had some serious drawbacks, from their impractical operation to their massive damage radius, or perhaps even the fact that their mere use rinses the player's health.

Whatever the reason, these one-hit kill weapons ultimately failed at their jobs because the downsides of using them were so damn overwhelming. That still didn't stop us using them, at least for a time, but it came with a considerable snag...

8. Rocket Launcher - Resident Evil REmake

Red Dea Redemption Undead Nightmare
Capcom

Anyone who knows anything about the Resident Evil franchise will be aware that, when all else fails, the trusty Rocket Launcher can be relied upon to take down the final boss. That's just how it's been ever since the first game, when players blew the Tyrant to holy Hell at the end.

But for the 2002 REmake, Capcom pulled a cheeky fast one on players, as if they fired the Rocket Launcher at the Tyrant while it was stood still, the monster would just straight-up no-sell it.

That's right - the Tyrant would just swat the rocket away like it was a most minor inconvenience, and only a second well-placed rocket would actually take it down for the count.

Considering the Rocket Launcher's vaunted status as a guaranteed one-hit kill weapon in the Resident Evil franchise, it's both hilarious and a teensy bit cruel that Capcom decided to buck the trend to give us one extra final scare.

Contributor
Contributor

Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.