Roadhog’s Scrap Gun (Overwatch)

As soon as Blizzard’s hero-shooter IP Overwatch came out in 2016, the Scrap Gun. And the Australian outlaw who uses it became instantly recognizable symbols of the game. The Scrap Gun was made and used by Roadhog, a huge outlaw who made a name for himself in the wastelands of post-apocalyptic Australia. It is a walking Blunderbuss that fires scrap metal and found junk instead of shotgun shells or muzzle-loaded pellet wraps.

When his Ultimate is used, Roadhog throws a makeshift grinder on top of the Scrap Gun. Which is filled with extra scrap and fed by turning a crank. This turns the shotgun into a firehose of molten lead that sends enemy players flying in all directions. The Scrap Gun is a workhorse weapon for a team that needs to get enemies out of the way quickly. It is loud, proud, and looks like it will blow up and take Roadhog with it one of these days.

Neostead 2000 Combat (Battlefield: Bad Company 2)

The Neostead 2000 Combat, or NS2000 for short, is a pump-action beauty that comes from South Africa. It is full of tricks and rules the multiplayer in Battlefield Bad Company 2. The NS2000 reloaded faster than other pump shotguns and could be easily stopped from reloading because of a bug that was never fixed. It was otherwise the same as the other pump shotguns in the game. But its quirks made it a common sight on the battlefield as news of how quickly it reloaded spread online and in person around the world.

When loaded with slug rounds, the NS2000 can also be used as a sniper rifle. This is possible thanks to Bad Company 2’s forgiving and easy-to-master bullet drop system, which lets players kill unwary players with a headshot from a shotgun at distances that will make their eyes pop out and their jaws drop. The NS2000 was unique in how it looked and how it could be used. Its legacy was almost certain. And its silhouette in games has become as well-known, if not more so, than its real-life counterpart.

Spas 12 (BLACK)

In 2006, action shows, shows about federal agents. And shows about the war on terror ruled the airwaves in the United States. The story of BLACK is a standard military drama, but the game’s bombastic, over-the-top, and explosive gameplay makes it feel like an interactive 1980s action movie, with waves of faceless bad guys, explosive containers and vehicles, and loud, fully loaded weapons that can blow away enemies, effects, and debris with a single trigger pull.

As soon as the game starts, the Spas 12 is leaning against a solid metal door as a guide for the player. When you pick it up, one shot blows the door right off its hinges, sending it flying backwards in a shower of clangs, booms, and sparks. This is how the whole game feels, and the Spas 12 makes it feel even better in all ways. The Spas 12 is big, powerful, and easy to get for most of the game. It can be found in armories, propped up against walls, or taken from dead shotgun enemies. It is the heart and soul of BLACK, from the first minute until the end of the game.

The Terrible Shotgun (Fallout 3)

Armed forces, police, and civilians all have a lot of old guns in the Capital Wasteland. The Combat Shotgun was a workhorse weapon in the last years of pre-war America. Now, it’s all over the wasteland, where militants, raiders, store clerks, and vault dwellers all want and use it. Smiling Jack and the Terrible Shotgun is set in a factory from before the war that has been taken over by thieves. Even though it looks the same as a normal Combat Shotgun, The Terrible Shotgun does much more damage and is the second deadliest weapon in the Small Guns category. With the right perks, it can do up to 540 critical damage.

Even though Terrible Shotguns are less durable than regular Combat Shotguns, they can be found all over the game, making it easy to fix and maintain them for all the closed-off sewers and tight hallways that the ruins of D.C. will throw at the player. Taking the Terrible Shotgun from Smiling Jack and using it to make the wasteland a better (or worse) place is one of the best things a player can do in Fallout 3 to increase their chances of surviving and thriving in the dangerous new world. The gun is deadly, easy to get, and easy to keep.

USAS 12 w/Frag Rounds (Pre-Patch) (Battlefield 3)

This exact weapon no longer exists, which is a shame. But the videos and memories of those who saw and used it will live on forever. In the early days of Battlefield 3‘s multiplayer mode, this gun was the most important. It was used to get whole teams out of hallways, metro tunnels, and warehouses all over the battlefield.

When combined with the magazine-fed USAS 12, the Frag Rounds attachment turned the gun into a fully automatic grenade launcher. Each shot created a deadly blast that could kill around corners. And through cover, leaving no one safe from the nearly 35 explosive rounds the player could use. In the weeks after the game came out, patches and content updates would make Frag Rounds much less useful. This giant shotgun would become a thing of the past, gone but not forgotten.

Spas 12 (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, 2009)

This one was never changed by the nerfs. Nearly 15 years after Modern Warfare 2 came out, the Spas 12 shotgun is still the best weapon in the game. As a backup weapon, the Spas 12 quickly proved to be stronger than the more traditional handguns. It had good damage, a good range, and a decent reload speed. And it was easy to kill enemies at distances where the other shotguns would have trouble killing them in one shot. The Spas 12 was an early-progression weapon that was unlocked at level 4 in multiplayer. Even as players unlocked more guns to play with, it stayed strong and kept blowing away the competition all the way up to Max Prestige rank.

The Model 1887 shotguns, which were its biggest rival, were soon nerfed to death because they did too much damage at long range. However, the Spas 12 was almost left alone, and it quickly replaced the Model 1887s as the go-to shotgun for players and has stayed that way to this day. This version of the Spas 12 was one of the best in gaming history because of how it looked, how it sounded, and how reliable it was. It is still used as a model for future Call of Duty shotguns whenever a new game comes out.

Super Shotgun (Doom 2)

Not the first shotgun, and not even the first DOOM shotgun. But this one made a new sub-genre all on its own. The Super Shotgun is a double barrel shotgun that fires both barrels with one pull of the trigger. It solidified the idea that double barrel shotguns are absolute death machines in video games. As a way to make up for the fact that you can only fire at most two shots before you have to reload. The Super Shotgun became the unofficial symbol of the DOOM series because it was easy to get and still worked well against enemies late in the game.

In the 2016 remake of DOOM and its sequel, DOOM Eternal, the Doom Slayer would get a special double barrel shotgun that blows both barrels with a single pull of the trigger. Later, the Doom Slayer’s shotgun would also have a grappling hook that would pull him toward his enemies to make the blast even more deadly. The Super Shotgun is a great example of the Rule of Cool. And nearly 30 years later, it still seems to be on a mission to break and tear things.

12 Gauge Shotgun (Half Life 2/Garry’s Mod)

A gun that might be bigger than its inspiration. In Half-Life 2, the 12 Gauge Shotgun is a go-to weapon for both Mr. Freeman and the player. It easy to get and often used against Freeman by Combine soldiers. The 12 Gauge has a powerful punch, a satisfying soundboard, and a decent reload time. It is also the only spread-fire weapon in the world’s sandbox, so it stays useful throughout Half-Life 2. When this shotgun used by the equally famous Gordon Freeman. It’s easy to see why it has such a good name. But this weapon’s effects won’t stop there. Because Valve’s Source Engine open-ended, assets, weapons, and models from most Source Engine games can easily dumped into each other.

Garry’s Mod is a fan project that was turned into an official release. It used the Half-Life 2 version of the Source Engine to make open source tools for making content, porting maps, and making custom game modes. Popular games like Trouble in Terrorist Town and Prop Hunt got their start in Garry’s Mod, and the 12 Gauge Shotgun was there from the beginning. It was one of the default weapons that a lot of players and creators used to explore the game’s many maps and modes, making it even more clear that this is one of the best weapons for doing what it does best: killing in style.

VK-12 Combat Shotgun (F.E.A.R.)

A first-person shooter in the style of John Woo that takes place in a scary world sounds like an odd idea. It is. But just because it’s strange doesn’t mean it won’t be a masterpiece game with a masterpiece shotgun. The VK-12 Combat Shotgun is the fourth shotgun on the list that is based on the Spas-12. This shows that, despite its flaws, the Spas-12 has lasted in popular culture for a long time. The VK-12 does this weapon justice and packs a powerful punch. This made even better by F.E.A.R.‘s great particle effects system, which sends dust, sparks, paper, and glass shards flying in all directions with every shot.

Using the VK-12 and the player’s slow-motion ability together makes the particle effects, muzzle flash, and spread of the buckshot shine and fill every frame as they fly in all directions and send enemies flying to the ground with blood splatter and red mist filling the space where they just stood. In F.E.A.R. and its DLC expansions, the Rule of Cool can only turned up to 11. And the player’s microphone is the VK-12.

Pump-Action Shotgun M45/90 (Halo Series)

How could anyone else have done it? Pump-Action Shotguns in Halo have given players 8 Gauge satisfaction against the Flood, the Covenant, Covenant Remnants. And the Prometheans for more than 20 years and 8 games. Pump-Action Shotguns have never failed to deliver, from the fast-loading 12 rounds of death in Combat Evolved to the close-quarters powerhouses in Halo Reach, 4 and 5. In the multiplayer game mode “Infection,” where these shotguns used most often, they have become legendary. With infected players coming from every direction, players have to decide when to shoot. When to reload, and when to turn and run.

This deadly game of cat-and-mouse with shotguns and swords has made this game mode a fan favorite for a long time, and it’s all because of these shotguns. Even though they come in different models with different sounds, ammo capacities, and stats. The core of how to use this weapon has stayed the same and is always fun to play with. Its absence from Happy Wheels, along with the lack of an Infection game mode, is one of the most surprising and contentious things that has happened to the game and its fans. Even though this franchise has talked about and debated a lot. The fact that one weapon wasn’t in the game caused so many people to raise their eyebrows is a testament to its history.