Jumping online for a game or two of the latest shooter each evening has become a staple part of many gamers’ diets. But sometimes things don’t quite go your way, and the odds seem strangely stacked against you. Perhaps it was something you ate this morning, or you could be feeling a little under the weather. Or maybe, just maybe, it’s that gun everyone but you seems to be using.
No one likes to see overpowered weapons in their favorite shooter, though we’d be lying if we said we never used them ourselves. But while some guns are always going to be better than others, every now and then a weapon comes along that simply takes the bullet-ridden cake. Read on to discover the most overpowered guns in multiplayer history.
1. Magnum pistol (M6D PDWS) – Halo: Combat Evolved
Our early days of online FPS were forged in the fires of Halo’s Blood Gulch. I dread to think how many hours were lost trading flags between bases and flipping warthogs across that bumpy canyon. Bungie’s first foray into the now famous series introduced us to all kinds of unusual and powerful alien weaponry. The Needler fired homing bolts, turning enemies into an explosive pincushion, while the Fuel Rod launched chunks of radioactive goop across the map. Unfortunately, when it came to multiplayer, most of these weapons were effectively moot thanks to the starting pistol’s absurd strength.
Just two shots to the body followed by a single headshot was enough to kill a super soldier Spartan, and when the gun had the accuracy to rival a sniper rifle, it was rarely worth taking anything else. Considering the Magnum’s insanely high damage and accuracy, lock-on melee, and the fact that it came equipped with a 2x scope, we wonder why the Covenant bothered attacking at all. I mean it’s got to feel bad to travel light years across space only for humanity’s smallest firearm to outclass anything you brought along for the ride. Clearly 343 Industries was also a big fan of the weapon, as it remained just a broken in the 2011 Anniversary remaster.
2. Model 1887s – COD: MW2
There was a time in Modern Warfare 2’s multiplayer life that the Model 1887s dominated the game. You’d struggle to play a single match without two or three people charging through the map with these in their hands. The old-school, lever-action, spin-to-reload shotties had an undeniable cool factor. It also helped that they could kill a man from half a mile away with only the vaguest sense of aim.
If you saw a player rounding a corner toting two of these beasts, you’d best have had them equipped too, or your time definitely was up. Alone, the Model 1887 wasn’t all that special, but adding in the dual-wield Akimbo attachment made them feel even more broken than the game’s Commando perk. Okay, maybe they weren’t quite that bad. At the time, Infinity Ward rarely released patches for Call of Duty games, but the models proved so broken that the developer eventually brought out the nerf-hammer.
3. Farsight XR-20 – Perfect Dark
These days, getting shot through walls in an FPS game is a good indication that you might be facing a hacker. Back on the N64 however, being killed through metres of solid stone was simply an intended part of the game. Perfect Dark was rightly lauded for its expansive and involved multiplayer component, but the Farsight sniper rifle almost led us to reconsider. Able to see through walls, this gun let you target players anywhere on the map, and killed in just a single shot, giving your victim absolutely no chance to retaliate.
Even worse, the secondary fire would actively seek out players, homing in on and tracking your hapless targets. It fired at an incredibly sluggish rate, but that didn’t really matter when the enemy was on the opposite side of the level. We can only assume that the developers figured the almost painful to look at x-ray scope would limit our will to abuse it, but they sorely underestimated our childhood appetite for victory.
4. The MP-40 – Call of Duty: World at War
The poor Call of Duty devs seem all too drawn to the idea of making guns a bit too good. Despite multiple studios now alternating releases, there always seems that one gun towering above all the rest. Usually the difference isn’t too severe, but in the worst cases we get weapons like World at War’s MP-40. There’s nothing too flashy to say about this weapon, it simply had the best of pretty much every world.
As an SMG, it allowed players to move and aim more quickly. Typically, these benefits would come at a tradeoff to damage, but the MP-40 dished it out like nobody’s business, killing in just a few hits at short to medium range. Throw in the gun’s enormous magazine size of 32 rounds with a rapid reload and you’ve baked a perfect recipe for some OP cookies. Oddly, the MP-40 was actually nerfed for the PC release of World at War, reducing the weapon’s damage, but the console version — and larger audience — never saw the patch arrive.
5. Prometheus Lens – Destiny 2
Now only a shade of its former self, the Spartan Laser inspired Prometheus Lens was the go to gun in Destiny 2’s PvP Crucible for a time. The laser weapon, intended to reward keeping your aim on target over an extended period, was instead capable of dissolving an enemy Guardian in little more than an instant. It went undiscovered for a while after release, but as soon as players began to realise just how broken the weapon was, everyone started scrambling to acquire it. The best part? Bungie’s first solution was to make the weapon available to all by adding it to space-merchant Xur’s list of goods.
The Crucible was soon filled to the brim with red lasers splaying out in every conceivable angle, as both sides did their best to melt the opposition. It was certainly stupid, but by god was it fun. So much so in fact that Eurogamer’s Wesley Yin-Poole ran an entire article on how much he loved it. While most would rather it didn’t return, you can be sure that players will look back fondly at the time the Prometheus Lens’ lasers lit up the Crucible like a christmas tree.
6. The R8 Revolver – Counter Strike: Global Offensive
We don’t usually cover much PC content here at AllGamers, but such an egregious example of an OP gun simply couldn’t go unchecked. Plus, CS:GO technically released on Xbox 360 and PS3, though the less said about that travesty the better. Counter Strike is a game built entirely around its high skill-ceiling. As an FPS, CS:GO rewards fast reactions, precise aim, and above all else, headshots. Back in 2015 however, someone at Valve clearly had other ideas, and in the Winter Update on December 8th, the R8 Revolver was introduced.
A new alternate to the popular Desert Eagle, the R8 was dealt insanely high damage, and was capable of killing armored players in a single shot to the chest or lower body at a healthy range. It was accurate while on the move and also had a high bullet penetration, allowing players to pull of ridiculous shots through walls. To put this in perspective, the R8 cost just $850 to buy, and the only other weapon capable of killing armored opponents in a single shot (excluding point blank shotguns) was the famous AWP sniper rifle, which weighs in at a whopping $4750. In fact, the gun was so broken on release that you could even fire it while defusing the bomb — how about that for multitasking? The R8 Revolver proved so controversial that esports tournament organisers were quick to ban the weapon from use.
Valve was swift in both nerfing the R8 and fixing its many bugs, but anyone who was around at the time will remember the update with fondness, fury or some ungodly mix of the two. For a few short days, CS:GO matches became a spaghetti western in which everyone played as a busted version of Overwatch’s McCree.
7. Cerebral Bore – Turok 2: Seeds of Evil
Turok 2 was renowned for its gruesome weaponry, but the Cerebral Bore took the blood-stained crown when it came to horrific ways to kill. Firing a homing shot that would track its target, the now-infamous bore would embed itself in the head of an opponent, drilling directly into their skull for a few seconds before exploding. An instant kill, it was incredibly gory, causing a fountain of blood and viscera to spurt from the juddering victim’s head. In the game’s campaign, the weapon was so terrifying that some AI enemies would even flee in terror.
Though footage is hard to come by, the effect was eerily similar when applied online, as players would raced around the arena, desperately trying to escape the deadly source of that high pitched whine. Even from max health, the Cerebral Bore was a one-hit kill, meaning the only way to survive it was to run and never look back.