The 15 greatest guns in Xbox history

Battle rifle - Halo 2, 2004

Ridiculously overpowered over medium-to-long distance shootouts, the Battle Rifle was the weapon of choice in both Halo 2 and Halo 3. It's been tamed since those heady days, and we'd argue Halo 5's version could actually do with being beefed up a tad, but Ol' Faithful will always have a special place in our cold, dark hearts. It's arguably the most iconic gun in all of Xbox history. Tempt us all you want with exotic Convenant weaponry; when the chips are down, its the BR all the way.

BFG-9,000 - Doom 3, 2005

The weapon that first made us fall in love with pixelated guns. The iconic BFG 9000 (it stands for Big, uh, Freakin' Gun, so now you know and there's no need to Google it, kids) is a whopping energy weapon that blasts out huge plasma bolts that kill opponents on impact. Doom 1's version made it famous, but we've got a soft spot for Doom 3's charge-based variant, which has a little more oomph to it.

Handheld Portal Device

An experimental gun that shoots out beams of light that unwrap into a portal when they come in contact with a flat surface. Two of these portals can be linked together, which comes in handy if you're late for work, fancy hiding the boss stapler for a prank, or if (just for example) you find yourself trapped in a hellishly sterile test centre where every single room is a spatial puzzle. Except for the bathroom. One hopes.

Flailgun - Bulletstorm, 2011

The Flailgun works by firing out two grenades that are tethered together by a chain. These grenades explode after a few seconds, as grenades are wont to do, but its possible for you to hasten their fate with a quick button press. Equally destructive and tactical, you can use the Flailguns unusual projectiles to truss up a nearby enemy, and then kick him towards his mates, using him as an organic grenade. That is what we call a....*puts on sunglasses* epic flail.

MK 2 Lancer Assault rifle

The Mark 1 Lancer, which predates the Gears of War series (but appears in Gears of War 3 due to fan demand), is a rather unremarkable weapon with a standard-issue bayonet affixed to the end for close-quarter skirmishes. So far, so World War II. The Mark 2 Lancer, on the other hand, is our idea of a dystopian future-gun not only did it hold more ammo, it replaced the pointy bayonet extension of yore with a fully-operational chainsaw capable of drilling a Locust clean in half.