If there’s one thing that’s been established in a video game, it’s that you can rarely succeed without donning a full-bodied, hi-tech armored suit of some kind. Sometimes these very suits define the character; they are such iconic symbols that one immediately knows the game that they are from. In even rarer cases, the entire suit is ALL you know of the character, covering every inch of their body in every single game they’ve been featured. No face to put to the name, just an image of one badass suit.
#10: Kain’s Dragoon Armor (Final Fantasy IV)
We start out with the oldest name on the list. In fact, he is one of the reasons I was inspired to create this list, given that his featured game has just recently received a remake on the Nintendo DS to raving reviews. The legendary Dragoon Kain is an icon of Final Fantasy IV, and is often a contender for best Final Fantasy hero. For any fan of the series, the mere sight of this iconic armor evokes a sense of awe from this powerful warrior.
#9: Valiant Mail (Radiata Stories)
Possibly the least acclaimed game on this list, Radiata Stories is a light-hearted and quirky RPG and remains a mainstay in my favorites in the genre. The main character, an outspoken and often-naive Jack Russell, bears the weight of various armored suits throughout the game, all of which are unique and remarkable looking, but none more so than the game’s version of “ultimate” armor - the Valiant Mail.
Inspired by the armor of famed video game heroine Lenneth Valkyrie, of Valkyrie Profile (who makes her own appearance in this game as an optional boss and recruitable character), the Valiant Mail is easily the most breathtaking and powerful piece of armor in Radiata Stories.
#8: Zero’s Armor (Mega Man X)
Not quite as popular as his blue-suited “brother,” Zero is the Dante of the Mega Man series. He’s the rebellious and independent robot of the bunch. But in being so, he also has the best looking armor in the entire franchise, especially the listed one above, first featured in Zero’s debut game, Mega Man X.
The character is itself a complete contrast of the iconic Mega Man, not just in color, but in combat style. While X features long-range projectiles, Zero fights with his concentrated Z-Saber at close-range. He not only kicks ass and takes names, he does it in style.
#7: Octocamo (Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots)
The newest entry to the list, but one of gaming’s oldest legends (pun intended). The Octocamo is an extension of Snake’s earlier sneaking suit; however, with the aid of nanotechnology, the suit, as its name implies, contains near-instant camouflage technology. Merely pressing your body up against any surface blends the suit directly into the environment, allowing Snake almost limitless freedom of movement on the battlefield.
#6: Big Daddy Armor (BioShock)
The only featured name on the list to not be a playable character, the Big Daddy is easily BioShock’s most recognizable character - and rightfully so. One look at this overbearing monstrosity and anyone would be terrified (well, anyone except the Little Sisters…).
The steel-plated frame of this beast gives him near-vulnerability to most weapons, and the massive drill on his right hand makes him a true force to be reckoned with. Couple this with his unusual and eerily protective-nature of the Little Sisters and you have one awesome - and awesome looking - creation.
#5: Gears (Gears of War)
Alien invasion? Check. Chainsaw bayonets? Check. Huge, burly men wearing even bigger suits of armor? Checkcheckcheckcheck. Gears of War was a violent romp into a futuristic, yet devastated world of dismemberment, foul language and chainsaw-buzzing.
But what’s even more interesting is how the hell those guys are able to run around in armor THAT big. Seriously. You could fit three normal people in one of those. What was Epic thinking? Apparently, they were thinking, “Let’s give them some epic armor.” And you know what? They damn sure did.
#4: Nanosuit (Crysis)
Going further with the nanotechnology touched upon with the Octocamo, Crysis’ own variant of a nanosuit features a much more futuristic approach. This hi-tech suit has the ability to increase movement speed and strength nearly threefold, as well as the ability to reduce damage received from any kind of weapon and render the user completely invisible for a short period of time.
This kind of suit in the wrong hands would definitely be a deadly weapon; fortunately, the guys at Crytek were one step ahead of the game. Each nanosuit comes equipped with a self-vaporizer which can be initiated by any of the squad members. Want to get rid of a body and nanosuit so the enemies don’t get their hands on it? Vaporize away!
#3: MJOLNIR Mark V (Halo)
Another iconic figure in video game, a relative newcomer to the medium and yet still one of the industry’s most well known figures. Master Chief, like the Big Daddy and Nomad of Crysis, is a character whose face you never see. Regardless of that, however, simply laying ones eyes upon the Mark V Armor is more than enough to know what game it’s from.
It’s one of the most recognizable symbols from any game, and is literally the image of the franchise’s legendary hero, Master Chief.
#2: Varia Suit (Metroid)
Arguably gaming’s most famous female protagonist (possibly besides Lara Croft, though that’s to be debated elsewhere), Samus Aran is rarely seen without her armor. If and only when one completes any of her games does she treat the player to a vision of beauty that lies beneath the heavy suit.
Samus has been featured wearing a large variety of different armor throughout her masterpiece of a franchise; from the listed Varia Suit in a majority of the titles, to the Fusion Suit, and the various enhanced armors throughout the games such as the Phazon Suit and the Zero Suit (a more revealing, completely helmet-less bodysuit).
However, no matter how many new suits Samus wears, there are none more recognizable and important than the Varia Suit.
#1: HEV Suit (Half-Life)
The silent protagonist that is Gordon “The Free Man” Freeman and his trusty HEV suit received the number one spot on this list. Why? Because unlike the others featured, it is NOT a hi-tech suit with nanotechnology; it is NOT massive cast of armor that’ll deflect rockets and any other kind of explosive projectile; it is NOT a legendary piece of armor or a robotic body. It is simply a Hazard Suit - and simply is the key word.
Gordon Freeman is a scientist. Seeing him in anything that looked remotely futuristic would be even more absurd than the actual plot of Half-Life. So, Valve decides to give him a standard-procedure Hazard suit, similar to ones that real-life scientists wear.
Sure, the game features armor and health stations to replenish the respective points, but if it didn’t, it would be a freaking hard game. However, it’s in the design of the HEV suit that makes it stand out above the rest. And that is why it deserves the number one spot on this list.
There you have it. We’ve seen robots, we’ve seen space marines, we’ve seen underwater-monsters, and we’ve seen scientists. Each are vastly different, but all of them have that one thing in common - they all wear protective suits. Some are more absurd than the others, and even fewer are the ones that seem remotely logical by real-life standards. If there’s one thing that can be learned from this list, it’s that no matter the age, no matter the game, from now until the end of time, we can look forward to more burly protagonists, more armor-clad bounty hunters, and more old men in sneaking suits.
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Casual Comments (43)
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Polluted:
August 6, 2008 at 5:03 pm
No love for the UT3 armour? It’s like Gears, but with spikes all over the place.
Hardcore.
Jim McDosh:
August 7, 2008 at 11:17 am
What about Link from Zelda! His armor is legendary is it not?
JT
http://www.FireMe.To/udi
taylormoore:
August 7, 2008 at 11:45 am
WHAT. You can’t tell me any of these are better than the madness armor in the Shivering Isles.
Jesse:
August 7, 2008 at 11:47 am
Big Daddy is playable IMO. Finish the game?
Mark:
August 7, 2008 at 11:48 am
You can too play as a big daddy in bioshock.
Level: 3
August 7, 2008 at 11:51 am
Big Daddy armor is available and essential to the game. But Big Daddy himself is not playable. Regardless of whether or not you smear Big Daddy pheromone on your body and play dress-up.
Jake:
August 7, 2008 at 11:51 am
You mean to tell me that they’re gonna list all the best armors from various games without mentioning the Brotherhood of Steel armor from Fallout 1 & 2?!?!? This is a sad day indeed…….
Level: 3
August 7, 2008 at 11:52 am
It’s all semantics, people. “Playable,” in the sense that I used it, means for the entire duration - or at least a good percentage - of the game. Not a few minutes to get through a certain area.
someguy:
August 7, 2008 at 11:57 am
Kerrigan’s Ghost suit from Starcraft, anybody? Any of the suits from Starcraft. A dragoon for instance? Did we all just forget?
wryterra:
August 7, 2008 at 12:14 pm
Urm, Space Marine Terminator Armour from Dawn of War? Or even Dreadnoughts, they’re technically armoured suits.
Meh..:
August 7, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Isn’t the Gears of War armor a rip off of Marine armor from StarCraft? Sure they added a chainsaw, and have exposed heads, but when I see that armor I think StarCraft marines.
Look at the trailer for StarCraft 2 where the marine is having it put on him. The description seems to sum it up.
Zach Shalack in the ack ack pack:
August 7, 2008 at 12:26 pm
WTH. FALLOUT ARMOR MkII. What a waste of research when you leave out the most awesomist feeling you acquire the MkII armor and walk around all virtually bad ass!
bollock:
August 7, 2008 at 12:30 pm
There’s obviously a plethora of missed suits. WarHammer got a tottal shaft, I think space marine / terminator armour is pretty cool. The starcraft marine / firebat. Mando armour, Boba / Jango Fett. The Tribes Stuff was pretty awesome too for anyone who played it. What about some classic ones like the Tanooki Suit from SMB. Too many to list really. Gears is pretty generic same with the dragoon and the valiant. Rpgs should basically be disqualified cause the armor doesn’t define the character. Like you gonna put some D2 Saigon’s set there? Or like the turtle shell from super mario RPG? Bollocks, this list could have had more depth…
vagrant-soul:
August 7, 2008 at 12:32 pm
well the starcraft and gears armor is basically just a play off the warhammer 40k stuff
tha haent:
August 7, 2008 at 12:34 pm
umm… i gotta agree with Zach Shalack here. leaving out the fallout armor (especially with the upcoming release of the new fallout) is just ridiculous.
Zach Shalack in the ack ack pack:
August 7, 2008 at 12:58 pm
Yea!
Ryan:
August 7, 2008 at 1:03 pm
I know the game wasn’t that popular or good, but I think the time shift armor was kind of cool in idea.
If I had to pick a favorite though it would have to be the octocamo. Unless metal gear Rex counts that that one is the best.
shadedmagus:
August 7, 2008 at 1:03 pm
As far as Zero’s “badass” look goes…he didn’t always have it. It’s never mentioned, but I bet X took his armor off after the first MMX game and upgraded Zero with it. The style is really close.
BigBoogie:
August 7, 2008 at 1:42 pm
Vay.
Jesse:
August 7, 2008 at 1:42 pm
What about the MDK suit
Nick:
August 7, 2008 at 1:44 pm
Power Armor from Fallout?
Lungfish:
August 7, 2008 at 1:59 pm
What, no love for the Power Armor in Fallout 1 and 2? Even thought Fallout 3 is right around the corner? Get with it, people.
Komsan:
August 7, 2008 at 2:02 pm
BOBA FETT! Cannot absolutely cannot miss good ole Boba?
GoNintendo » Blog Archive » Top 10 armor/bodysuits- What are you waiting for?:
August 7, 2008 at 7:38 pm
[...] If she wasn’t included in this list, I’d think that there was a Metroid conspiracy! Check out the full list here. // Cache-busting and pageid values var random = Math.round(Math.random() * 100000000); if [...]
Sean:
August 7, 2008 at 8:20 pm
Lol, putting the HL suit on first is kinda stupid, i would recommend looking @ Quake 1 & 2. Powershield ftw.
Gus:
August 7, 2008 at 9:52 pm
Where the heck are the gears from Xenogears?
Big bad giant robots > Master Chief
Jimmy James:
August 7, 2008 at 10:21 pm
No Earthworm Jim battlesuit = fail.
Lord Korax:
August 7, 2008 at 10:57 pm
Not too sure that I can trust the opinion of a gamer that calls the Halo 2/3 Mark VI armor Mark V instead. Shame.
The Video Game Spectrum » Blog Archives » The N3 Newswire for August 7:
August 7, 2008 at 11:13 pm
[...] Oliver on gaming –The top ten armor/bodysuits in a game –The fine line between gimmick and gameplay –The great graphics debate –New [...]
msa:
August 8, 2008 at 12:25 am
>>Jesse:
>>Big Daddy is playable IMO. Finish the game?
do you know what “imo” means?
check the internet for that.
@ Jim McDosh: Link doesnt wear any armor. its just a suit.
webtechreviews:
August 8, 2008 at 1:27 am
I found this blog from digg, and agreed, how come there’s Gundam didn’t make it to the list? >.>
Roy:
August 8, 2008 at 3:38 am
Uhm, the MJOLNIR armor Master Chief is wearing on that picture is actually the Mark VI. He wore Mark V during Halo: Combat Evolved.
Eva Ribs:
August 8, 2008 at 4:06 am
Yeah, that’s a Mark VI. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about the Mark V, but that’s a Mark VI you’ve got there.
Thygrrr:
August 8, 2008 at 4:32 am
Umm, TURRICAN is missing. Best suit ever.
Dorian:
August 8, 2008 at 5:04 am
How could you miss Fallout’s Power Armor?
Autos and motos: all news and articles » Blog Archive » The Top 10 Videogame Armor/Bodysuits:
August 8, 2008 at 5:11 am
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Scene4kaos:
August 25, 2008 at 3:32 pm
What about sam fisher?
Id say his suit is pretty intense, if your talking Chaos theory and before
Personally, no series is better than Splinter cell
and also what about Altair? His suit, is pretty trendy
Level: 5
October 12, 2008 at 6:52 am
Really nice list. I agree with all of them.
Though I feel like there are better armor/bodysuits out there.
I have seen better armors, infact.
bloob:
November 6, 2008 at 9:23 am
wtf?
they put the half life armor as first?
might as well put marios costume as first….
hashpotato:
November 16, 2008 at 2:08 am
the parachute coil suit from MDK was fucking legendary and deserves a place on this list.
Level: 5
November 16, 2008 at 2:51 am
The MDK guy did have a sweet suit. The built in scope was pretty cool.