Small but potent

[shrimpcel]

Now that I've attracted your attention with my oh-so-clever sexual innuendo, here's the real subject:

Have you ever had a weapon in a video game that just seems smaller, weaker and less efficient than its bigger, mainstream counterparts... but turns out to be the real killing machine in your arsenal?

One I remember well is the dagger in the original Assassin's Creed. You'd think it's just a lame cross between hidden blade and sword, with the latter being the actual main unlock, but the dagger was much faster and allowed you to control the flow of combat way better. Dealing with the guards was a piece of cake with it!

A more famous example: the pistol in Halo: Combat evolved. That small little side-arm there? It's your own fist-sized sniper!

 

[ShinyCharizard]

The pistol in Deus Ex HR was my sole weapon for the entirety of that game. It was a killing machine when fully upgraded.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

The pistol in Deus Ex HR was my sole weapon for the entirety of that game. It was a killing machine when fully upgraded.

A one hit kill silenced extended mag rapid fire laser sighted 9mm pistol? Yes indeed.

 

[PrimitiveJudge]

The alien pistol in fallout 3 and fallout NV, one shot deathclaws.

 

[Full]

I present to you one of the greatest rewards for beating a hard difficulty ever.

Spoiler

 

[Tupolev]

The interesting thing about small powerful stuff is that it often winds up feeling a lot beefier than similarly-powerful big scary stuff. The big stuff can easily wind up feeling like an overblown balloon, whereas the small stuff seems power-dense.