The fight or flight response is at the heart of every Survival Horror experience, with these games often encouraging players to flee combat entirely and live to fight another day. However, characters will sometimes find themselves with their backs against the wall, and that’s where weapons come into play. From rusty pipes to pocket-knives, videogames have been forcing us to face our fears with all manner of deadly items over the years.
And with so many of these unusual armaments out there, we’ve come up with a list celebrating six of the most badass weapons in survival horror! After all, fighting for your virtual life doesn’t have to be boring, and some of us prefer to slay monsters in style (or at the very least look cool while getting torn to shreds).
While this list is obviously based on personal opinion, we’ll be following a couple of rules. First of all, we’ll only be featuring weapons that can be equipped by the player character (so no Chainsaw from Resident Evil 4). We also won’t be including bonus “joke” weapons like Heather’s Beam Saber from Silent Hill 3, as this kind of item usually isn’t part of the main experience.
With that out of the way, don’t forget to comment below with your own favorite survival horror weapons if you think we missed a particularly badass one.
Now, onto the list…
6. Hewie – Haunting Ground (2005)
It may seem strange to include a dog on a list of weapons, but don’t let this German Shephard’s lovable appearance fool you. When you first meet Hewie, he’s just as terrified as the player character, finding himself trapped in a mysterious castle and chased by madmen. Of course, that all changes once he’s shown some affection. If you treat this formidable canine right, he’ll soon begin to fight off the maniacal stalkers attempting to harm Fiona, becoming your last line of defense in the process.
The only reason Hewie doesn’t rank any higher on this list is because his status as a weapon depends on player actions. Plus, he isn’t capable of actually killing your pursuers, making him more of a barking stun-gun. That being said, he’s still one of the most memorable parts of this tragically underrated game.
5. Pickaxe – Cursed Mountain (2009)
The Nintendo Wii isn’t exactly remembered for its slew of Survival Horror titles, but Cursed Mountain breaks the mold as one of the only horror games to have ever been improved by its reliance on vague motion controls. Putting players in the shoes of a mountain climber searching for his brother, Eric’s only defense against the mountain’s vengeful ghosts is his trusty pickaxe, which can be used to perform Mantra-inspired rituals to banish enemies.
Like the best Survival Horror games, combat here is rather clunky, with players never being sure if they’re making the right moves. However, when it works, the game makes you feel like a Tibetan wizard as you perform the magical gestures required to take down these pesky hauntings.
4. Yithian Power Weapon – Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth (2005)
Dark Corners of the Earth isn’t the most polished survival horror experience out there, but I personally think it’s the best adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s cosmic horror stories in any medium. Of course, the scary aspects of the campaign tend to fade away once you unlock the game’s final weapon, a relic of the Great Race of Yith.
An energy gun boasting incredible damage and infinite ammo, this thing allows you to brutally mow down the creatures that depleted your sanity during previous levels, and it’s also used to take down the final boss and her minions in an action-packed underwater finale.
Not too shabby for a game that flat-out denies you a gun for the first third of the experience.
3. Circular Saw – Silent Hill Homecoming (2008)
Silent Hill: Homecoming may be a mixed bag, especially once you know about Konami’s behind-the-scenes shenanigans which resulted in the disbanding of the original Team Silent, but the game still has some good ideas going for it. For example, the revamped combat system meant that the developers had more leeway when coming up with fun weapons for players to mess around with, and the best example of that is the deadly Circular Saw.
While it initially appears as a boss weapon wielded by Curtis, a second playthrough of the game will spawn the Saw for player use, allowing them to mow down bubble-head nurses like they’re made of butter. Genre fans might also recognize this weapon from another horror property, as it was actually inspired by the Circular Saw featured in 2003’s High Tension!
2. Sacred Bow – Clock Tower 3 (2003)
I usually prefer my Survival Horror without a side of Magical Girl anime influences, but I’ll make an exception for the madly creative Clock Tower 3. While the main game sees our protagonist running away from cartoonish serial killers with only with a bottle of holy water to defend herself with, every level ends in a boss battle where Alyssa summons a magical bow and finally gets to punish these evil-doers for their crimes.
This abrupt change in gameplay can be a bit jarring the first time around, but taking these killers down is undeniably satisfying after you’ve spent so much time running and hiding. These moments are made even more absurd by the killer’s health bars, as their HP is determined by how many years of prison they were sentenced to for their murders.
1. RC Disc Ripper – Dead Space (2008)
“Cut off their limbs” is what Dead Space infamously instructs Isaac to do when encountering the title’s horrific Necromorphs, so it stands to reason that the best weapon in the game is a sci-fi chainsaw. Capable of launching razor-sharp discs that can then be controlled while in the air, this weapon isn’t just lethal – it’s legitimately fun to use.
And the best part is that it keeps with the game’s recurring theme of having Isaac repurpose engineering equipment in order to defend himself. In fact, the only problem with this entry is that it’s a little bit too good at its job, making several enemy encounters downright trivial with its abundant ammo and absurd DPS.
That being said, I can’t wait to wield the Ripper again in Motive’s upcoming remake.
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