Summary
If there’s one thing many first-person shooters hope to achieve when hitting the market, it’s offering an experience unique enough to stand out in such a crowded genre. Franchises likeBattlefieldtry to accomplish this with massive multiplayer maps, while something likeApex Legendsleans into a subgenre like battle royales, but one franchise has managed to thrive by developing a melting pot of creative features. That franchise isBorderlands, and for fifteen years it’s combined offbeat humor, visual flair, and frenetic gunplay to create an experience that is seldom found anywhere else.
Across its three mainline titles and two spin-offs,Borderlandshas created a personality all its own. One crucial aspect of that personality is the franchise’s weapons, which often display just as much creativity asBorderlands' vault hunters. Though its weapons may seem familiar at first, falling into recognizable categories such as shotguns and assault rifles, the charm of these weapons comes from their unique abilities. Many ofBorderlands' weapons do things that simply don’t happen in other games, and these unique weapons are what make the series a standout for countless gamers.
Sand Hawk
Borderlands 2had a massive amount of guns in the base game, butdeveloper Gearbox Softwareintroduced even more with the game’s many DLC expansions. The Sand Hawk is one such gun introduced in theCaptain Scarlett and Her Pirate’s BootyDLC, and it stands out thanks to its unique firing pattern. Instead of shooting one bullet or even two, the Sand Hawk fires eight rounds in a horizontal, bird-shaped pattern that flies like a bird flapping its wings.
SWORDSPLOSION!!!
One ofBorderlands 2’s most popular expansions wasTiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep, which served as a major inspiration forTiny Tina’s Wonderlands. Many new weapons were introduced in this DLC, one of which epitomizes the zany nature of the game. The SWORDSPLOSION!!! is a Torgue shotgun that, in true Mister Torgue fashion, fires explosive swords. One sword will leave the gun when it’s fired, and upon impact, that sword explodes into three more explosive swords.
Grog Nozzle
Sticking withTiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep, the Grog Nozzle is a unique pistol that’s given to players as part of a mission fromClaptrap. This pistol, like other Moxxi weapons, is more effective at healing players than directly dealing damage, but it’s truly unique feature has nothing to do with dealing damage at all. As players use the Grog Nozzle, they may find that their screen starts to sway from left to right, and their accuracy is greatly hindered, as using the gun starts to make their vault hunter drunk.
Smart-Gun
The Smart-Gun highlights one ofBorderlands 3’s special weapon variations: guns with legs. When players reload thisTediore submachine gun, it’ll grow spider legs, a distinct brain, and eyeballs. These turrets bear a striking resemblance to Kang fromTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, something the weapon’s description makes reference to.
Bane
Borderlandsis filled with loud and colorful characters, but that doesn’t stop its weapons from getting in on the fun. The Bane is an SMG that makes its unique effects known right away, as it both screams at players whenever it’s being fired, while also drastically lowering a player’s movement speed. The one upside of the Hyperion gun is that it deals a considerable amount of damage, making it useful for those who are willing to bear its annoyances.
Gearbox has shown no shortage of creativity withBorderlandsweapons over the years, and witha potentialBorderlands 4on the horizon, there’s no telling what new tricks it may come up with. If its track record is anything to go off of, there’s likely to be plenty of memorable weapons forBorderlandsfans to take advantage of.
