Top 20 Overpowered Weapons In Multiplayer Video Games

Hammer time, this is not. From the original “Super Smash Bros.” on Nintendo 64 onward, the Hammer pickup has been an aid to those fast enough to grab it... and a detriment to everyone else. When picked up, the player's character enters a repetitious state of hammering for 7.5 seconds, with anyone hit by the Hammer suffering severe damage. A hammer blow means an almost instant knockout for damaged players, so keep your distance if you can.

Since the earliest days of Mario's karting adventures, this item has cursed players. Received by racers in or near last place in a given race, the Thunderbolt is effectively an ace-in-the-hole – shrinking down every racer on the track – except the one who used it of course. Thus, last-place players are given a chance to catch up, while everyone else is rendered both slower and more vulnerable to spinning out when struck. Those frustrated by their friends using the Thunderbolt against them can rest assured that they only picked it up because they were losing.

What could make a thermonuclear warhead even more powerful? How about putting it in projectile form? Want even more power? Well its secondary fire allows you to steer said projectile into any poor bastard that you might stumble across. The Redeemer first appeared in Unreal Tournament back in 1999, and has been wreaking havoc in the series ever since. The splash damage is so intense on this mini nuke that all you have to do is merrily aim in your target’s general vicinity and all that will be left is smoke. And a mushroom cloud.

One of three mine types available for use in “GoldenEye 007”, the Proximity Mine is certainly an... interesting addition. Unlike the timed or remote mines, these explosives can be thrown and put to use as a hands-off surprise attack – which can be devastating to unwitting players. Multiplayer matches featuring Proximity Mines as the sole weapons are not uncommon, with instantaneous deaths abounding and a fear of being caught off-guard being prevalent. Such a fun idea, such a chaotic and overpowered result.

If you like your carnage a little more intimate, then get up close and personal with the Dark Sword from Dark Souls 3. This pitch black sword starts off with low dexterity and strength, but with certain infusions the player can increase both categories to make it an effective and powerful weapon no matter what build is being used. Once a player starts a heavy attack with the Dark Sword, it’s hard to get knocked out of and you can break the guard of opponents. Also, being a Straight Sword, or one handed sword, the player can still carry a shield for defense. Speed, power and a deceptively long reach make this one sword you don’t want to come across.

Nothing like an unavoidable weapon to make things interesting, right? Well, that's what players were given with the Cerebral Bore, a firearm of unknown origin with a lock-on feature. If successfully locked onto an enemy, its fired projectile latches onto the enemy's head and begins drilling in gruesome fashion. With regards to multiplayer, this weapon makes quick work of one's foes and can be difficult to avoid once it obtains a lock. At least it's slow to use, providing time to flee.

Earning the infamous title of “noob tube” in the Call of Duty multiplayer world, the grenade launcher can either be a standalone gun or be attached under the barrel of an assault rifle. Most incarnations require the round to travel a certain distance to explode, to avoid accidentally blowing yourself up. However, it’s not just the explosion that can kill. A player can also be killed if a round hits them directly, which is slightly more embarrassing for those of us on the receiving end. The large splash radius means a player can simply aim and fire and deal massive damage and most of the time death.

Fear the donkey, for it brings devastation wherever it may bounce. Since the final expansion to the original “Worms” game, “Worms: The Director's Cut”, players have had the dubious honour of utilizing the Concrete Donkey weapon. Exactly as it sounds, this sturdy statue-like item is dropped from the sky and then smashes through the landscape until it hits water. Should any teams of worms be caught underneath, they're likely to suffer hundreds of points of damage – or suffer a water fate. It is quite the spectacle.

Need to put out a lot of bullets in a short amount of time? At 1000 rounds per minute, you can’t get much better than the Laptop Gun. This submachine gun designed as a laptop computer, hence the name, can either be fired like a standard machine gun or can be placed in the environment as an automated turret. Because of the turrets small size, this weapon can turn into a camper’s best friend. The low damage it inflicts is quickly nullified by its deadly accuracy and speed at which it fires. Also, if it is in turret mode and is destroyed, it will explode and deal damage to anyone close enough. One last shot before it logs off.

Even Nintendo's ink-themed take on third-person shooters isn't immune to imbalance. For example, there exists the Splat Roller, by all accounts a standard Roller weapon with which players can coat maps with ink. However, its more-than-impressive ability to spread ink faster than any other weapon, gives it something of an unfair advantage. Additionally, it comes with the ability to spray ink at opponents in close range and with a wide spread, which can be particularly annoying when players use squid mode to sneak up on players.

Only dropped when completing the Vault of Glass Raid on Hard Mode, this fusion rifle received backlash when it was introduced into PvP matches. Criticized for being overpowered, Bungie released a patch to “nerf” the gun, or make it less powerful. Its base damage was reduced by 34% but it still packs a punch. The Vex Mythoclast is currently the only gun of its kind and considered by many to be the best weapon in the game. It requires no charge time and fires 1 round per pull of the trigger and boasts a 279 Attack Power. Despite the damage reduction, you still wouldn’t want to be staring down the barrel of this gun.

First introduced as the player's primary melee weapon in 2007's “Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare”, the Knife has become something of a legend... though not always for great reasons. Whether in an online suite or in a campaign mode, players using the Knife can very easily obtain instant kill after instant kill. On top of that, perks that add extra speed and knife range make this simple weapon into an absolute terror - no matter how big your gun is. Anyone who’s sprayed their weapon into an enemy’s belly only to have them lung forward and insta-kill you with the knife knows the frustration this contentious mechanic is famous for.

Now this is one big freakin’ gun. Capable of clearing an entire room of enemies in one shot, the BFG is by far the most powerful gun in the Doom series. It fires green plasma and deals major damage. By major damage we mean death. If you somehow survive the initial shot, you most likely aren’t going to survive the spread that expands out in a cone pattern in front of the shooter to deal maximum damage in a devastating area-of-effect. Kills are all but guaranteed. Just point, shoot, and watch the beautiful barrage.

Known by a few names – Arctic Warfare Police, Magnum Sniper Rifle, or just AWP for short – this gun is virtually guaranteed to leave death in its wake. Though it has arguably a balanced and integral part of the Counter-Strike experience, anyone who’s been on the receiving end of this 1 hit kill machine has wished it wasn’t – especially if this was in the days of switch glitching. One shot from the AWP is basically a guaranteed instant kill, provided they're hit anywhere but the legs. Known to players for it’s terrifying and distinctive report, the AWP puts the BOOM in “Boom! Headshot!”

The most powerful blaster pistol in the galaxy, the DL-44 is the sidearm of choice for Han Solo and is the last gun unlocked in Star Wars Battlefront. It requires level 25 and 2,500 credits to acquire, or if you pre-ordered the game. Dealing massive damage at short range and equipped with a scope, the only downside to this blaster is how quickly it overheats. Dealing the second highest damage per shot in the game, a player can often one shot one kill the opposition with a well-placed headshot. Anywhere else on the body can take as little as 2 shots to kill. It’s since been nerfed but the fact that this was a pre-order item leaves a really bad stigma on EA’s business practices.

Though many have fallen to the sheer power of the Energy Sword, this particular firearm stands out a fair bit more. As one of the first weapons available for use in “Halo: Combat Evolved”, the Pistol – known in full as the M6D Personal Defence Weapon System – packs quite the punch. In fact, the gun's long-range scope, sheer force when fired, and semi-automatic nature can make for imbalanced multiplayer battles. Developer Bungie has said that there was back-and-forth about the Pistol's intended power before “Combat Evolved” was released, with a last-minute code change granting the gun its strength.

Facing hordes of the undead? Need a powerful weapon with large spray and high rate of fire? Then the Auto Shotgun from Left 4 Dead is the right tool for the job. A more powerful version of the pump action and chrome shotguns, this tier 2 beast doesn’t require a pump between shots which enables the player to get more shots off. Dealing a lot of damage extremely fast and with a lot of kick behind it, the Auto Shotgun is by far the best weapon for taking out infected, and the best for losing friends when playing VS mode.

Well, at least the name's appropriate. Rare's 2000 first-person shooter “Perfect Dark”, renowned in large part for its elaborate and high-quality multiplayer suite, has quite the line-up of weapons. One weapon of note is the FarSight XR-20, a shoulder-fired railgun which can see through walls via X-Ray vision... and which can shoot through any object, resulting in instant kills. Combined with its absurd secondary mode that seeks out targets anywhere on the map and the FarSight was the very definition of unfair.

An extremely powerful and devastating melee weapon in close quarters, the Energy Sword can pierce through the shield and armor of a Spartan in a single slice. Once a player has an enemy in the crosshairs, all they have to do is swing and they will be propelled forward and deal a deadly blow. While not ideal for large maps, any time there are tight quarters, small rooms and ambush points, the Energy Sword is unmatched. An enemy can be dealt with in a single blow before they even have time to react.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions:

Ah the Golden Gun, responsible for more ruined friendships than Oddjob. This high-risk, high-reward gun is, believe it or not, a gold plated pistol and is the most powerful weapon in the game. It holds only one bullet at a time, but requires a single shot to any body part to kill. With its appearance based on the weapon Christopher Lee’s character uses in The Man with The Golden Gun, it became so popular from its appearance in the Goldeneye game that it was added to subsequent Bond games. Although gorgeous in appearance, if you ever catch a glimpse of it you are most likely dead.