History Main / ArbitraryGunPower

** ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' is a notable aversion, after ''Fallout 3'' pretty much played it completely straight. Though the .357 and .44 Magnum weapons are unrealistically powerful, all of the gun damage values are remarkably consistent and logical: .22 weapons do base 10-12 damage, 9mm weapons do 13-16 base damage, 10mm Auto weapons 19-21, 5.56x45mm weapons 20-25, 7.62x51mm/.308 weapons 40-50, .45-70 Govt weapons 60-75, .50 BMG weapons 110-120, and so on. Additionally, [[ArmorPiercingAttack AP]] rounds for the more modern rifles can ignore much more of an enemy's damage threshold than older rifles or pistol rounds (5.56mm, .308, and .50 MG AP all ignore 15; .45, .44, 45-70 Gov't can at best ignore between 4 and 6 while no 12.7mm variants have any AP properties). On top of that, the base 5.56x45mm and 5mm rounds have inherent DT reduction effects (-3 and -10 respectively) to reflect their nature as high-velocity rifle rounds. Notably, if a weapon fires the same round as another, they'll both do about the same base damage: for instance, the Varmint Rifle (19), Service Rifle (20), Marksman's Carbine (24), Light Machine Gun (20), and Bozar (20) all fire the 5.56x45mm round; guns firing the same round are divided into tiers based on reliability, accuracy, weight, rate of fire, and capacity, instead of simple damage. In fact the game also completely subverts the common PunchPackingPistol trope, as all of the pistols do noticeably ''less'' damage than a rifle firing the same round due to the shortened barrel (e.g. the 12.7mm pistol and 12.7mm SMG compared to the Survivalist's Rifle, the .44 Magnum Revolver compared to the Trail Carbine, the Hunting Revolver compared to the Brush Gun, the .357 Magnum Revolver compared to the Cowboy Repeater). It even extends to energy weapons, which have [[HandWave all the excuses in the world]] to use this trope: the laser pistol is much weaker than the laser rifle, both plasma pistols are much weaker than the weakest plasma rifle, the strongest plasma rifle is much weaker than the [[{{BFG}} plasma caster]], and so on.

** ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' is a notable aversion, after ''Fallout 3'' pretty much played it completely straight. With the exception of .357 and .44 Magnum weapons dealing too much damage, all of the gun damage values are remarkably consistent: .22 weapons do base 10-12 damage, 9mm weapons do 13-16 base damage, 10mm Auto weapons 19-21, 5.56x45mm weapons 20-25, 7.62x51mm/.308 weapons 40-50, .45-70 Govt weapons 60-75, .50 BMG weapons 110-120, and so on. Additionally, [[ArmorPiercingAttack AP]] rounds for the more modern rifles can ignore much more of an enemy's damage threshold than older rifles or pistol rounds (5.56mm, .308, and .50 MG AP all ignore 15; .45, .44, 45-70 Gov't can at best ignore between 4 and 6 while no 12.7mm variants have any AP properties). On top of that, the base 5.56x45mm and 5mm rounds have inherent DT reduction effects (-3 and -10 respectively) to reflect their nature as high-velocity rifle rounds. Notably, if a weapon fires the same round as another, they'll both do about the same base damage: for instance, the Varmint Rifle (19), Service Rifle (20), Marksman's Carbine (24), Light Machine Gun (20), and Bozar (20) all fire the 5.56x45mm round; guns firing the same round are divided into tiers based on reliability, accuracy, weight, rate of fire, and capacity, instead of simple damage. In fact the game also completely subverts the common PunchPackingPistol trope, as all of the pistols do noticeably ''less'' damage than a rifle firing the same round due to the shortened barrel (e.g. the 12.7mm pistol and 12.7mm SMG compared to the Survivalist's Rifle, the .44 Magnum Revolver compared to the Trail Carbine, the Hunting Revolver compared to the Brush Gun, the .357 Magnum Revolver compared to the Cowboy Repeater). It even extends to energy weapons, which have [[HandWave all the excuses in the world]] to use this trope: the laser pistol is much weaker than the laser rifle, both plasma pistols are much weaker than the weakest plasma rifle, the strongest plasma rifle is much weaker than the [[{{BFG}} plasma caster]], and so on.

* In ''VideoGame/UnrealIITheAwakening'', .50 Cal pistol is extremely powerful, accurate, have reasonable range and can fire in short bursts. Save for small magazine capacity and very rare ammo, it will make a much better assault rifle, than an actual assault rifle.

This trope may also result from efforts to make the player's choice of weapon require real thought. Some games have weapons which are too similar and there is thus no real difference in which one you choose. Other games have a variety of weapons which are similar, but include one that is totally superior, to the point that there is no disadvantage to choosing the best gun every time. And while there are clear distinctions between guns in real life, many of these involve subtlties that most games don't model, so games with a wide range of guns are forced to make distinctions within the parts that they ''do'' model if they want to give the player real choices, even if these distinctions aren't realistic.

* Lampshaded repeatedly in ''Webcomic/{{Adventurers}}''; the only aversion is [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Warmaker]], [[http://adventurers.keenspot.com/d/20020403.html a gun]] created by the [[PhysicalGod Eternals]].

Depending on what you consider arbitrary, this trope is near universal to a varying extent in FPS video games, even seemingly realistic ones for a multitude of reasons. A major root of these differences is that games in general are designed to be fair, winnable, and balanced, whereas in RealLife the idea is to get as large an advantage as possible. In real life weapons designers love to produce Game Changers, whereas in games the exact opposite is true; in games {{Game Breaker}}s are to be avoided, as are unsporting and boring but effective tactics like spamming bullets. These core differences almost inevitably lead to a divergence between the abilities of firearms in games vs their real life counterparts, but as noted in some of the examples below, mods bringing guns closer to their real counterparts are often just as fun, so the necessity of employing this trope can be an open question.

This may also be an attempt to add greater flavor to the game and make the player's choice of weapon require real thought. Some games have weapons which are too similar and there is thus no real difference in which one you choose. Other games have a variety of weapons which are similar, but include one that is totally superior, to the point that there is no disadvantage to choosing the best gun every time.

* The ''VideoGame/SystemShock'' series is a notable ''aversion'' of the common FPS trope in which handguns do more damage than assault rifles (or at least comparable damage) to balance out their lower rate of fire and magazine size. Realistically, the handguns in both games deal significantly less damage than the assault rifle (even the Magnum in the first game is noticeably weaker than the assault rifle), making the assault rifle superior in every way (other than availability of ammo in the first game, and the number of skill points required to actually be able to use it in the second game).

** ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDutyWorldAtWar World at War]]'' gets ridiculous with its laughably-underpowered, damn-near-useless M1 Garand. As the basic US starter weapon, it's nerfed to the point that you'd think it was chambered in .22 Short. But the M1 carbine ([[MisidentifiedWeapons incorrectly called the [=M1A1=] in the game]]; that would actually be the paratrooper model with the folding stock) is somehow a HandCannon because it's the last weapon unlocked in the game. That's also ignoring the purest embodiment of this trope with the Garand and the bolt-action rifles, which will have their damage ratings boosted upon the attachment of a sniper scope for absolutely zero reason other than because players expect sniper rifles to be more damaging, even when the only difference is the addition of a scope.

** ''VideoGame/HaloReach''[='=]s DMR does just shy of three times as much damage per shot as the faster-firing assault rifle. Canonically they're using the ''exact same'' round, even if their ammunition isn't interchangeable in-game.

** ''VideoGame/GoldeneyeWii''[='=]s guns tend to get better within each class as you progress rather than matching the attributes (eg., power, effective range) of the particular real-life guns they were modeled after. The AK gets particularly dismal ratings for being the opening gun, and as a class, earlier assault rifles in general receive little benefit in accuracy over submachine guns on single shot, or even handguns in the game's ratings, despite the very large differences of effective range in real life (which is particularly noticeable in larger levels). A real life AKM on semi-automatic should have double the effective range of an FN P90 (Vargen FH-7) or [=MP7=] (Stauger UA-1) and about ''8x'' the effective range of the handguns and TDI Vector (Strata SV-400).

** The remakes of ''2'' and ''3'' both downplay it, though moreso in the former (where both of the full-auto [=SMGs=] use a round that really is weaker than 9mm in reality). Your automatic weapons still aren't quite as damaging per round compared to your standard handguns and most of them cannot perform [[YourHeadASplode critical headshots]] on zombies, but they get enough of a power upgrade to share the same functional role as your pistols, and they are actually quite effective at drilling down on enemy weak points.

** We also have the [[GatlingGood minigun]] mooks that can eat several rockets from the RPG, the most powerful weapon in the game (excluding the miniguns themselves, which just aren't practical). These rockets can kill the other mooks in one hit, but they don't really phase the minigunners. And later in the game, rockets kill [[spoiler:the tank]] in 3-4 hits. Fighting just two guys will use more precious rockets then fighting [[spoiler:a main battle tank]]! Drake calls them mutants, perhaps there's some truth to that...

** ''VideoGame/{{Battlefield 3}}'' plays it a bit less straight as guns of the same caliber do the exact same damage per bullet and suffer the same damage-falloff, making the guns of the same caliber different by the fire-rate, magazine size, and how the weapon reacts to recoil... well, mostly, [[ArtisticLicenseMilitary aside from when the guns do the same damage when they actually aren't the same caliber]] (such as the 7.62mm RPK being mistaken as the 5.45mm RPK-74 and given the same lower damage profile as the AK-74M).

** Funnily enough, the best armor in the game, the Carrier Special Rig, rating Level V, is described at a hefty 24 armor and 90% base resist. Looks tough as nails and sounds like you'd be able to take a mag of ammo and not drop right?! NOPE! Around 5 9mm handgun hits drop you. It might let you take 3-4 5.56 hits, and forget about 7.62, those will drop you in around 3. Meanwhile, in testing, a modern-day Level III trauma plate for civilians sustained 8-10 hits.
* ''[[Videogame/{{STALKER}} S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Shadow of Chernobyl]]'' balances its weapons by giving rifles high armor penetration but extremely poor damage, while shotguns, pistols and submachineguns have much higher damage but with poor armor-piercing properties. This fits together with a health/armor system where mutant enemies (both animals and human-derived monsters) have large health pools but no armor to speak of, whereas normal human enemies have very little health but can wear many types of armor, some highly effective. This system works pretty well in terms of making buckshot or high-caliber pistol slugs strong against mutants but not against military-grade combat armor. Where it falls down is that this makes rifles bizarrely ineffective against mutants, to the point that it may take an entire 30-round mag of expensive rifle ammo to kill a wild boar when a single cheap shotgun shell would have done the trick. This balance element tends to persist in the many mods and conversions that exist for the series, presumably because if rifles were realistically powerful and effective against all enemies then the other weapons wouldn't have much reason to exist.

* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarships'' is made from ships that were made in real life or at the very least were some kind of prototype design, while also splitting them into tiers of ship quality. As the ships are given the correct gun size & count, they have to be balanced by things like rate of fire and accuracy. A major example of this is the United States Heavy Cruiser line, which is 5 ships who all have the exact same main gun (203 mm (8 inch)/ 55 Caliber) with several ships having the same 3x3 gun battery configuration. The Tier 7 New Orleans has the exact same gun setup as the Tier 8 Baltimore, but fires slower than the latter even with the exact same guns.
* This is a gameplay mechanic for the SniperRifle introduced in ''VideoGame/SeriousSamTheSecondEncounter''. Its NETRICSA info for that game makes mention of a pressure-venting system to minimize risk to the user by slowing down the bullet if it detects that it's not fired from a stable stance - what this means is, if you use the scope and fire you'll get a shot that's as powerful as two rockets hitting the target, while if you fire it from the hip, the ''same bullets'' will become significantly weaker, closer to a single shotgun blast. Later games switched to making the bullets deal the same damage regardless, instead making you [[ATeamFiring noticeably less accurate]] if doing so without the scope.
* Almost any remotely modern military RTS will display this as a result of trying to harmonize combat roles with the InfiniteAmmo, ShortRangedLongRangeWeapon, easy logistics, and potential hitscan weaponry. For instance soldiers capable of taking multiple anti-tank rocket hits.

* ''Film/LastManStanding'', an American remake of Kurosawa's ''Yojimbo'', has Bruce Willis' Sanjuro-analogue armed with a pair of what appear to be normal 1911 semiautomatic pistols that nonetheless strike with such incredible force, his victims are literally hurled dozens of feet through the air, sometimes while being folded in half, othertimes turning full flips midair. The guns have only normal recoil, as well, despite apparently firing full cannonballs at people.

** The remakes of ''2'' and ''3'' both downplay it, though moreso in the former (where both of the full-auto [=SMGs=] use a round that really is weaker than 9mm in reality). Your automatic weapons still aren't quite as damaging per round compared to your standard handguns and cannot perform [[YourHeadASplode critical headshots]] on zombies, but they get enough of a power upgrade to share the same functional role as your pistols, and they are actually quite effective at hammering on enemy weak points.

** ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTenseiPersona'', and ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' in general, do this so often that it's the king of GunsAreWorthless as from beginning to end, maybe except in the hands of characters who ''only'' use guns, they really are worthless.

** ''VideoGame/HaloCombatEvolved'': Going by official sources on the ammo used by the assault rifle (7.62x51mm) and pistol ([[HandCannon 12.7x40mm]]), you'd think they'd be about the same power. The rifle requires some odd 20 rounds (1/3 of the magazine) to down an Elite and 5-10 to kill Grunts and Jackals (depending on rank). The pistol is one of the most powerful weapons in the game, allowing for a one-shot of all the grunts and two shots for Elites.

* This is a gameplay mechanic for the SniperRifle introduced in ''VideoGame/SeriousSam: The Second Encounter''. Its NETRICSA info for that game makes mention of a pressure-venting system to minimize risk to the user by slowing down the bullet if it detects that it's not fired from a stable stance - what this means is, if you use the scope and fire you'll get a shot that's as powerful as two rockets hitting the target, while if you fire it from the hip, the ''same bullets'' will become significantly weaker, closer to a single shotgun blast. Later games switched to making the bullets deal the same damage regardless, instead making you [[ATeamFiring noticeably less accurate]] if doing so without the scope.

In entertainment media, however, the creators may arbitrarily assign any given gun more or less power than it should have, whether it is some calculable damage value (e.g., a pistol does 10 damage, a sniper rifle does 20, anything automatic does 2), or given a gun's recoil, that gun should be really powerful in a twisted sense of Newton's Third Law ([[LawOfInverseRecoil the more kick back, the bigger the damage right]]?) [[note]]Recoil is a tricky business, as the amount ''you feel'' depends on a number of factors. Two different rifles can have two different perceived recoil forces despite firing the same round.[[/note]] Or perhaps the creator just wanted something dramatic. It may not make sense that a weeny pistol in real life is now a hand cannon, but [[RuleOfCool it does look cool]]. But it's still absurd that there are strange cases where guns just can't seem to kill as fast as they should.

* Since the gameplay in ''Roleplay/DestroyTheGodmodder'' runs around HitPoints and any source of damage only decreases HitPoints, guns are no exception. They'll never do any instantly fatal damage as is typical in real life. In addition, other ranged weapons such as bows, crossbows, and even melee weapons can be just as effective, as the power of an attack depends purely on the creativity and effort put into it - and, for games that use it, the level of the weapon alchemized with the [[Webcomic/{{Homestuck}} Alchemiter]].

* {{TabletopGame/Warhammer 40000}} has an odd version, in that lasguns (which are explicitly more powerful than modern assault rifles, but still among the weakest weapons in the game) have no armor penetration value. This means a normal human wearing a flak jacket has a 1 in 3 chance of shrugging off a lethal wound, under the justification that their "armor" which covers at best their upper chest, shoulders, and head, stopped it. And then, other weapons pack the same strength as the lasgun, but are impossibly better at piercing armor despite no other change in performance. For example, the hellgun, which has just as much theoretical power as the lasgun, is capable of ignoring space marine armor. That puts it a factor of two better at piercing armor than the Marines' own full-auto-rocket-propelled-grenade-firing guns.
** Then again, most personal armor in the 40th century is excellent compared to 21st century stock. The aforementioned "flak jacket", the Imperial Guard Flak Armor, is actually a very high-quality personal protection system capable of withstanding fire from a ''light machine gun'' and preventing its user's death. Though given the average weapon power of the present, it's as good as tissue paper most of the time.
** {{Averted|Trope}} in most cases, really — a failed To Wound roll with firearms means the target ''was'' hit, but was wounded non-fatally and not incapacitated. A failed armor roll either means the firearm pierced the target's armor or hit them in a place where the armour couldn't protect (say, a lasgun-toting conscript taking out a Space Marine with a lucky shot [[EyeScream through the visor]]). Since most infantry only have one wound, this means they can be killed by a good hit easily. On the other hand, there are infantry which have more than one wound. They may be very badass non-humans which served as a more reasonable justification, but may be simply very badass humans that play the trope straight: [[OldSoldier Commissar Yarrick]], for instance, who is apparently a normal human pushing 70 and can not only survive three consecutive blasts from a fusion gun, but still get back up and give the opponent a PowerFist to the face.
* Played straight and averted in ''TabletopGame/FengShui''. A regular shot is an InstantDeathBullet for the regular Mook, but protagonists ([=PCs=] and relevant [=NPCs=])suffer reduced damage, just like the movies.
* The TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness used this trope but not as flagrantly as many {{Role Playing Game}}s. All guns were fairly lethal, though a bit less so than real life weapons. Additionally, a weapon's lethality was more like real world lethality than many games. Velocity and caliber, not rate of fire, dictated damage. Supernatural creatures only resisted firearms by virtue of their powers, not because the guns themselves weren't deadly. Finally, a shot with more successes was a more well-placed shot and rolled more dice for damage. It was still extraordinarily difficult to kill anyone instantly with a handgun, however, regardless of how many successes the attack rolled since the damage dice would usually reduce this to a survivable but deadly level.

** ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDutyWorldAtWar World at War]]'' gets ridiculous with its laughably-underpowered, damn-near-useless M1 Garand. As the basic US starter weapon, it's nerfed to the point that you'd think it was chambered in .22 Short. But the M1 carbine ([[MisidentifiedWeapons incorrectly called the [=M1A1=] in the game]]; that would actually be the paratrooper model with the folding stock) is somehow a HandCannon because it's the last weapon unlocked in the game. Except that in RealLife, the .30-06 semiauto Garand was (and still is) known for being exceptionally accurate, exceptionally durable and reliable, and was a proven "one shot, one kill" man-stopper, meaning the American GI was significantly better armed than his British, Russian, German, Japanese, or Italian counterparts. The carbine, on the other hand, was lightweight and durable, but its .30 Carbine round lacked the punch of the .30-06, and could sometimes require half or more of its magazine to put down a charging Japanese berserker.[[note]]Which resulted in later iterations of the M1 Carbine being given select-fire ability, effectively making it more on par with a ''submachine gun'' than a carbine.[[/note]] That's also ignoring the purest embodiment of this trope with the Garand and the bolt-action rifles, which will have their damage ratings boosted upon the attachment of a sniper scope for absolutely zero reason other than because players expect sniper rifles to be more damaging, even when the only difference is the addition of a scope.

* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarships'' is made from ships that were made in real life or at the very least were some kind of prototype design, while also splitting them into tiers of ship quality. As the ships are given the correct gun size & count, they have to be balanced by things like rate of fire and accuracy. A major example of this is the United States Heavy Cruiser line, which is 5 ships who all have the exact same main gun the 203 mm (8 inch) Mark 25 with several ships having the same 3x3 gun battery configuration. The Tier 7 New Orleans has the exact same gun setup as the Tier 10 Des Moines, but the New Orleans fires half as fast and has less damaging shells.

** ''VideoGame/HaloCombatEvolved''[='s=] standard issue assault rifle is weaker than the melee attack you can do with it, requiring some odd 20 rounds (1/3 of the magazine) to down an Elite and 5-10 to kill Grunts and Jackals (depending on rank). However, the pistol is one of the most powerful weapons in the game, allowing for a one-shot of all the grunts and two shots for Elites. The pistol/rifle comparison is at least semi-justified; while the assault rifle fires 7.62mm NATO, which in the real world is far too powerful for the kind of close-range spraying the in-game weapon is designed for, it's also noted in the fluff as having titanium-jacketed rounds, which is supposed to make them better at piercing armor but is actually a really bad idea (titanium is noticeably heavier and doesn't expand as well as other coatings for bullets, thus they don't grip the rifling as well; while the bullets would hit harder and thus penetrate surfaces further from the extra weight, they'd be less accurate and have a shorter reach). Conversely, the pistol fires rounds that are [[HandCannon absolutely overkill]], their size comparing very close to the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.500_S%26W_Magnum .500 S&W Magnum]] revolver round, on top of being semi-armor piercing ''and'' explosive. Though, that still wouldn't justify it, as going by the round's known dimensions and velocity, the muzzle energy would still come out as only slightly greater than a 7.62mm NATO round. The melee's power is also justified, [[SuperSoldier because you're a Spartan]].
** The SMG in ''VideoGame/Halo3ODST'' is rather odd. Despite only firing 5x23mm submachine gun rounds, the weapon seems to drop Brute [[DeflectorShields shields]] just as effectively as the much larger (and logically more powerful) 7.62x51mm rounds used by the assault rifle. ''VideoGame/{{Halo 2}}''[='s=] [=SMG=]s were realistically weak by comparison, in part because it was designed for the then-new GunsAkimbo ability (meaning using one without pairing it up with another gun was [[LittleUselessGun pointless]]) though for some reason could still cut through non-shielded Covenant forces. Then again, ArmorIsUseless when worn by the Covenant, very consistently, in all games, books, and cutscenes.
** The shotgun in all games is ludicrously overpowered compared to what it should be, doing nearly as much damage per shot as the 14.5x114mm SLAP anti-materiel rifle (within its wet cough range, anyway). As above, this is at least slightly justified by noting in the fluff that it fires much larger shotgun shells than we use in the modern day, firing 8-gauge 3.5"-long shells (compared to the more standard 12-gauge, 2.75"-long shells).
** There is also a tendency for rifles firing the same rounds doing different amounts of damage, for no discernible reason beyond "game mechanics and balance"; for instance, ''VideoGame/HaloReach''[='=]s DMR, firing the same rounds from the same magazines and with about the same barrel length as the Assault Rifle, does just shy of three times as much damage per shot, in return for semi-auto-only firing and just less than half the capacity of the assault rifle. In other words, the DMR does proportional damage relative to the other human firearms and is very effective, while the assault rifle still fires spit wads like it did in ''Combat Evolved'' (at least it's a bit more accurate this time).
** And of course we have the infamous Needler. This is a gun that fires ''shards of glass the size of your arm that stab into you and explode'', and it barely hurts unless you fire practically the entire magazine into a guy, at which point the shards all explode at once and are pretty much a guaranteed kill. They do move [[PainfullySlowProjectile very slow]], but they're supposed to be extremely sharp to boot. That said, it can still be a ''very'' useful weapon; the otherwise bullet-spongy Brutes are especially vulnerable to it, and it is one of the few weapons that can rapidly and effectively kill full-health enemies in Legendary difficulty. It was so effective at doing this in ''Halo 2'' that they took out the option to dual-wield needlers in ''Halo 3''.

** ''VideoGame/HaloCombatEvolved''[='s=] standard issue assault rifle is weaker than the melee attack you can do with it, requiring some odd 20 rounds (1/3 of the magazine) to down an Elite. However, the pistol is one of the most powerful weapons in the game, allowing for a one-shot of all the grunts and two shots for Elites. The pistol/rifle comparison is at least semi-justified; while the assault rifle fires 7.62mm NATO, which in the real world is far too powerful for the kind of close-range spraying the in-game weapon is designed for, it's also noted in the fluff as having titanium-jacketed rounds, which is supposedly to make them better at piercing armor but is actually a really bad idea (titanium is noticeably heavier and doesn't expand as well as other coatings for bullets, thus they don't grip the rifling as well; while the bullets would hit harder and thus penetrate surfaces further from the extra weight, they'd be less accurate and have a shorter reach). Conversely, the pistol fires rounds that are [[HandCannon absolutely overkill]], their size comparing very close to the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.500_S%26W_Magnum .500 S&W Magnum]] revolver round, on top of being semi-armor piercing ''and'' explosive. Though, that still wouldn't justify it, as going by the round's known dimensions and velocity, the muzzle energy would still come out as only slightly greater than a 7.62mm NATO round. The melee's power is also justified, [[SuperSoldier because you're a Spartan]].

** There is also a tendency for rifles firing the same rounds doing different amounts of damage, for no discernable reason beyond "game mechanics and balance"; for instance, ''VideoGame/HaloReach''[='=]s DMR, firing the same rounds from the same magazines and with about the same barrel length as the Assault Rifle, does just shy of three times as much damage per shot, in return for semi-auto-only firing and just less than half the capacity of the assault rifle.
** And of course we have the infamous Needler. This is a gun that fires ''shards of glass the size of your arm that stab into you and explode'', and it barely hurts unless you fire practically the entire magazine into a guy, at which point the shards all explode at once and are pretty much a guaranteed kill. That said, it can still be a ''very'' useful weapon; the otherwise bullet-spongy Brutes are especially vulnerable to it, and it is one of the few weapons that can rapidly and effectively kill full-health enemies in Legendary difficulty. It was so effective at doing this in ''Halo 2'' that they took out the option to dual-wield needlers in ''Halo 3''.

Depending on what you consider arbitrary, this trope is near universal to a varying extent in FPS video games, even seemingly realistic ones for a multitude of reasons. A major root of these differences is that games in general are designed to be fair, winnable, and balanced, whereas in RealLife the idea is to get as large an advantage as possible. In RealLife weapons designers love to produce Game Changers, whereas in games the exact opposite is true, in games {{Game Breaker}}s are to be avoided, as are unsporting and boring but effective tactics like spamming bullets. These core differences almost inevitably lead to a divergence between the abilities of firearms in games vs their RealLife counterparts, but as noted in some of the examples below, mods bringing guns closer to their reallife counterparts are often just as fun, so the necessity of employing this trope can be an open question.

This may also be an attempt to add greater flavor to the game and make the player's choice of weapon require real thought. Some games have weapons which are too similar and there is thus no real difference in which one you choose. Other games have a variety of weapons which are similar, but includes one that is totally superior, to the point that there is no disadvantage to choosing the best gun every time.

Compare GunsAreWorthless and SortingAlgorithmOfWeaponEffectiveness. Contrast InstantDeathBullet, which usually applies to guns in other fiction.

* The assault rifle in ''VideoGame/DeusEx'' was seriously underpowered, despite being chambered for 7.62mm NATO, a rifle cartridge that was considered excessively powerful for the purpose it was being used for. A pistol will be a OneHitKill on nearly any enemy across the game if you [[BoomHeadshot nail them in the head]], but a full five-round burst from the rifle will only do a ''single'' extra point of base damage over that pistol shot.
* The hunting rifle in the ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'' series is based on a weapon that should be firing the same bullets as the assault rifle, and is noted for a lack of accuracy in the real world, but in-game it's a pixel-perfectly-accurate terror that will penetrate and [[OneHitPolykill instantly kill as many zombies as you can line up in one shot]]; meanwhile the assault rifle will barely penetrate one zombie and often requires multiple bullets to put them down. The pistol-versus-rifle issue is at least played somewhat closer to reality, as the standard pistols suffer in accuracy and damage per shot compared to any of the primary weapons, but because they have [[BottomlessMagazines infinite reserve ammo]] and a high yet controllable maximum rate of fire, a lot of players still swear by them (even without the achievement for completing a campaign using nothing but the pistols). Meanwhile, the HandCannon Magnum introduced in ''VideoGame/Left4Dead2'' trades capacity and fire rate for damage jacked-up close to that of the sniper rifles' - hell, even Realism mode's ridiculously-tough common Infected can tank two or three shots from a sniper rifle with no problem, but will die where they stand from a Magnum shot.

** A gun's damage in ''VideoGame/Fallout4'' varies tremendously depending on which mods are equipped, despite most of them not changing the ammunition used. Switching a gun from semi-automatic to fully automatic drops the damage per bullet significantly, even with same-level mods. [[GunsDoNotWorkThatWay Even stranger]], the part that affects damage and fire rate is the receiver, which in real life is just the gun's ''casing'' -- if anything should be affecting damage, it would probably be the barrel.

** ''VideoGame/HaloCombatEvolved''[='s=] standard issue assault rifle is weaker than the melee attack you can do with it, requiring some odd 20 rounds (1/3 of the magazine) to down an Elite. However, the pistol is one of the most powerful weapons in the game, allowing for a one shot of all the grunts and two shots for Elites. The pistol/rifle comparison is at least semi-justified; while the assault rifle fires 7.62mm NATO, which in the real world is far too powerful for the kind of close-range spraying the in-game weapon is designed for, it's also noted in the fluff as having titanium-jacketed rounds, which is supposedly to make them better at piercing armor but is actually a really bad idea (titanium is noticeably heavier and doesn't expand as well as other coatings for bullets, thus they don't grip the rifling as well; while the bullets would hit harder and thus penetrate surfaces further from the extra weight, they'd be less accurate and have a shorter reach). Conversely, the pistol fires rounds that are [[HandCannon absolutely overkill]], their size comparing very close to the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.500_S%26W_Magnum .500 S&W Magnum]] revolver round, on top of being semi-armor piercing ''and'' explosive. Though, that still wouldn't justify it, as going by the round's known dimensions and velocity, the muzzle energy would still come out as only slightly greater than a 7.62mm NATO round. The melee's power is also justified, [[SuperSoldier because you're a Spartan]].
** The SMG in ''VideoGame/Halo3ODST'' is rather odd. Despite only firing 5x23mm sub machine gun rounds, the weapon seems to drop Brute [[DeflectorShields shields]] just as effectively as the much larger (and logically more powerful) 7.62x51mm rounds used by the assault rifle. ''VideoGame/{{Halo 2}}''[='s=] [=SMG=]s were realistically weak by comparison, in part because it was designed for the then-new GunsAkimbo ability (meaning using one without pairing it up with another gun was [[LittleUselessGun pointless]]) though for some reason could still cut through non-shielded Covenant forces. Then again, ArmorIsUseless when worn by the Covenant, very consistently, in all games, books, and cutscenes.

** There is also a tendency for rifles firing the same rounds doing different amounts of damage; for instance, ''VideoGame/HaloReach''[='=]s DMR, firing the same rounds from the same magazines and with about the same barrel length as the Assault Rifle, does just shy of three times as much damage per shot.

** ''VideoGame/GoldeneyeWii''[='=]s guns tend to get better within each class as you progress rather than matching the attributes (eg., power, effective range) of the particular real-life guns they were modeled after. The AK gets particularly dismal ratings, and as a class, earlier assault rifles in general receive little benefit in accuracy over submachine guns on single shot, or even handguns in the game's ratings, despite the very large differences of effective range in real life (which is particularly noticeable in larger levels). A real life AKM on semi-automatic should have double the effective range of an FN P90 (Vargen FH-7) or [=MP7=] (Stauger UA-1) and about ''8x'' the effective range of the handguns and TDI Vector (Strata SV-400).

* ''VideoGame/ParasiteEve'' plays this trope straight when you attempt to increase the firing rate. Modifying a single-shot weapon to fire two rounds at once causes its bullets to only deal around sixty percent their original damage, for instance. Averted, however, by the ''VideoGame/ParasiteEve2'', where cartridges deal the same damage regardless of the gun that fires it--instead of getting more powerful guns, you get more powerful ''ammo''. The difference between guns of the same caliber is weight (how much is slows you down/how long it takes to ready it), range, rate of fire, and critical hit rate. Generally speaking, the higher rate of fire weapons, like the [=M93R=] you start with, have shorter ranges, weigh more, and have a worse chance of a critical hit.