Warriors of Pixels and Polygons

Weapons are something that have existed throughout the ages and
naturally you will find them in any form of media. But since weapons
are basically a form of usable object, you might notice them more
in interactive media such as videogames.

Certainly interesting is the variety of weapons existing in videogames
and their general portrayel, designs, and functionality can be quite
fun, devastating, or dull. None the less, I will talk about the more
popular types of weapons to keep this from going to far into all
the sorts of weapons that exist, which would be a huge list. So,
let's get started.

1.) Swords

Absolutely the first type of weapon you think of, when you think
of medieval RPGs.There is hardly any weapon more iconic for
that genre than swords, specifically one-handed and two-edged
swords.
Swords come in all sorts of shapes, ranging from very light and
swift weapons that even a very weak person could use, to blades
that certainly require more strength in one's arms. But to say it out
loud, swords are not that heavy at all. In fact, the heaviest combat
swords are about as heavy as the gallon of milk you buy from a
supermarket in the US or two and a half 1,5 L bottles of any drink.
So, about 3,5 kilogram being what an ordinary sword would be
weighting. While this sounds encouraging, your body won't be able
to swing the sword constantly without training, so there is that.
A light sword could weight about a kilogram or a medium-sized
bottle of water.
In terms of variety you probably know that next to ordinary
swords there are also Japanese variations that are one-edged
and generally called katana, although this specifically refers to
a longsword actually. And then there are also many different forms
of sabers and rapiers. Generally speaking, you have a lot weapons
with a lot of different styles.
in videogames regular and Japanese swords seem to be the most
common with rapiers being sometimes also included. Your regular
swords are usually portrayed as strong and rather swift, but
katanas can differ a little bit. In the many games I played they
could be faster, but weaker, both strong and fast, have a
long recovery and strong attack, etc. Depending on who designs
the battle style for the game, a katana can be quite different
from instance to instance. Their two-handed variations usually
are also stronger and lack speed. In case of the other types of
swords you might actually have either the same as with a regular
sword or a weaker but faster weapon in case of rapiers.
However, keep in mind that rapiers in real life were civilian weapons
meant for self-defense an dduels rather than actual combat. Also,
one-edged blades have an advantage with their shape dividing
on object with the blade getting broader from it's sharp edge to
the dull one.
And I guess you uys want me to talk about some odd videogame
swords, right? Well, Clouds Bustersword is technically heavier
than recommended and if made out of heavier metal than regular
steel... well, you might as well wrestle a bear with that body,
because the Buster Sword is heavy. Still swingable, but not
easily.
And the Gunblades in Final Fantasy 8. Still no idea what the
hell came into their minds. I think Lightning has a more senseful
variation that is actually switching between sword and gun, but
I have supressed any memory about Final Fantasy XIII.

2.) Spears and Lances:

The one weapon Bethesda forgot to add in all games released after
Morrowind. Being rather long-ranged melee weapons, spears and
lances have a reach that is superior to swords. However, their
tips are the dangerous part, whereas a sword has a much longer
range where it's sharp, so it is probably best used to pierce
with thrusting motions rather than swinging it down. In the end it
is clear that a completely different skill set is needed. And unfortunately
lances and spears can differ a lot with their weight. Jousting was
generally held with lances that could easily require you to train
a few month in a gym before you could use them properly. But in
case of the regular combat weapons their weight is reasonable.
Actually, they are very light weapons overall, depending on what
material is used for the shaft. Metal of course would be more stable,
but heavier, so it can still become a bit heavier depending on how
it is forged. The reason for this is that spears are also meant to be
throwable, as they traditionally were used to hunt fast prey.
In videogames Lances and Spears are hardly different from each other,
meaning that you hardly ever use throwing spears and if, then
they are labeled as such and another weapon class to spears entirely.
So, spears are basically shorter lances in this case.
Interestingly, common weapons in the category of spears and lances
are weapons from mythology. Gae Bolg is one example, but the
problem with that weapon is that according to legend it's only
usable underwater, if you throw it out of it with your toes... quite
a restrictive weapon, so thankfully this is not the case for any RPG
featuring the weapon. Another interesting weapon is the Longinus
spear. According to apokryphs the spear of Longinus once pierced
through the body of Christ on the side, which however let him the
blood coming to his face cure his bad vision, letting him to repent
and get baptisted and he would ironically enough die in the name
of Christ.... yeah, don't bother thinking about it as his lance is
actuall interesting here. The weapon appears in some game, like
the postgame of Final Fantasy 5, and is a holy weapon with usually
high power stats. However, it's most controversial, and by far most
interesting appearance is in Persona 2: Innocent Sin. Long story
short, Hitler (kinda) is a boss in this game and holding the completely
reforged Longinus spear as his weapon. This refers to the account
that Hitler once supposedly got hands on the remnant of this spear
and thought it would grant him victory. And the weapon also kills
someone and it is explained why the wounds can't close even with
magic, which in any Shin Megami Tensei game is extremely powerful.
Actually, this makes lances and spears a more interesting section
to me ultimately. I could name even more legendary weapons of this
kind, but I think that would take too much time

3.) Axes

Probably something you use to chop wood. Or to chop somebody's
limbs and head off, if you are not a woodcutter. Axes are an extremely
lethal type of weapon, even though their shape and weight make them
a bit harder to use for frequent attacks. The force that can go with
a swing of an axe can really blow someone's mind... by hacking through
the skull in a way that is certainly good to induce nightmares for kids.
Now, in videogames axes are often used by regular warriors, but they
of course handle differentely. Slower and having a greater impact.
Legendary axes are kinda difficult to name here, but that's not meaning
that you should ignore this category. And a two-handed axe certainly will
be quite powerful, if you can swing it well enough.
And in case of TF2... well, I fear the Pyro got buffed with his axes, so
not too overpowered.

4.) Warhammers

SInce we all know that hammers are a weapon since Thor, it's kind
of a no-brainer to say that they are just as lethal as any other weapon.
They simply just smash more than other weapons, since they are blunt.
Warhammers are handling a bit like axes, just with a different weight
proportion, since a hammer is on both sides deadly, while you want
to hit with the sharp-edge of an axe.
In videogames, hammers are also used by the same guys that use
axes, but sometimes a weapon like Mjollnir, the weapon of Thor,
can be found in a secluded chest. Seemingly every random adventurer
is worthy to wield Mjollnir.

5.) Bows and Crossbows

Finally a ranged weapon. Probably easy to say that bows and crossbows
are totally different in the way the function, but are both using projectiles
by firing them with stored energy. Extremely efficient, as an arrow or bolt
can penetrate a lot of things quite easily. Except for ballistic armor, maybe.
It also is a better method to stay hidden than a pistole, if you are into
stealth.
Both weapons are commonly found in RPGs, but also some medievally
inspired action games. In either case, aiming is all that counts and a
good aim usually allows to take out multiple enemies quite fast. In fact,
even in turn-based RPGs I found bows to be very powerful.
It is usually a weapon category for those, who are good at aiming and
patient enough to take out enemies as unnoticable as possible. But bad
stealth can quickly make it harder to use, since moving targets are
a pain for ranged combat.

6.) Firearms

And now the other type of ranged weapons. Firearms, which shoot
projectiles by triggering an explosion, which shoots the bullet
forwards. The projectiles can range in size and lethality. Smaller bullets
might even fail to kill by headshot, as the skull endures it, but
larger bullets might obliterate it completely. So, if you want to kill
the curier, better use a magnum instead of a fancy 9mm. It really is
a matter of what weapon you use for what situation. However, in
videogames you mostly end up in situations, where fire power is
the most important thing. Sometimes however you might have
NPCs that are not allowed to die, so you use precise firearms to
take enemies out, while you try to not aim at the npcs. So, don't
use a rocket launcher, shotgun, or any weapon that will not just
hit the enemy. Or it's Mission Failed. Vice Versa, for massive damage
on multpile enemies you better use those weapons that are bad
for keeping innocent bystanders alive. And if you face against single
or just few enemies a regular handgun should work as well, unless
they are armored or have a lot of health, in which case a shotgun
is most likely going to be more effective. And if that doesn't work
use more gun, or so.
In case you like to be more stealthy, you are most likely best of
with a sniper riffle, which has a far range and is precise thanks to
a vizor. Of course it's easier, if the enemy is unaware of you, so you
can aim nice and slowly before you push the trigger for the Mission
to succeed.
Being mostly at home in modern RPGs and Shooting games, they
are usually a type of weapon that replaces bows and sometimes
crossbows altogether. They usually are weaker in settings that
are resembling the early New Age, as guns back then were actually
harder to reload and weaker in fire, but in modern setting they are
as lethal as to expect.


7.) Other things

Like bumerangs, explosives and all the stuff that doesn't make it
on to this list. There is much more than just the six categories I
named and even those are incomplete, since there are more weapons
in each category that I simpy can't mention due to a lack of time.
Weapons are things that especially get creative in videogames,
like the Gravity Gun in Half-Life 2, literally any combined weapon
in Dead Rising, cars, street signs, barrels, everything really. In
a virtual reality there is no real limit for this kind of thing.


Final Disclaimer:

I don't posses nor do I plan to acquire any weapon myself. I simply
wrote this journal about videogame weapons in interest to the
virtual weapons and how they are represented in the games themselves.