Other times, developers use golden guns as an award for the player’s accomplishments, often by securing a certain number of kills with the base firearm.

It’s not too difficult to guess why developers love treating gold weapons as special gold is the universal currency, a glittering metal that every culture in history treated with reverence, and gamers are no exception. In Borderlands 2, Knoxx’s Gold pistol is a rare drop from the namesake general that has above-average stats and resells for a huge amount of money. In Max Payne 3, each level has three golden pieces of a firearm scattered throughout, and collecting them lets you wield a golden version of that gun that deals 10% more damage. When available (and they seem to be available in almost every game with weapon skins), a golden reskin will almost always have some sort of prestige, rarity, or exclusivity associated with them. In Far Cry 2, the Golden AK is a rare gun that degrades slower than the normal version. Columbia feels like just the sort of jingoistic hyper-American society that would gild everyday firearms. Bioshock Infinite is one of the only games where the gold gun DLC enhances the in-world artstyle.

Far cry 2 golden guns