Gaming Moments that Shocked Us: Part 3

Metal Gear Solid 2 - Turn off your console!

The Metal Gear Solid sequel was a shock in itself when it was revealed that Raiden is the main character in the game, but the moment the game started to become self-aware and break through the fourth wall was a little further on. It was around the time the colonel started rambling, changed its shape into a skull, and asked the player to switch off their game console momentarily that I froze. In a cold sweat, I obeyed the artificial intelligence... It's worth mentioning that I was ill on the night that I experienced this, so this did not help my feverish dreams at all. There was far too much conspiratorial information for my sick brain to handle, and the shock didn't wear off until I woke up more rested the next morning. Metal Gear Solid 2 offers several brain-melting twists, but this was something I will forever remember as one of my biggest shock moments in a video game.

Mass Effect 2 - The opening sequence

I was so excited to play ME2 once it was released for the PS3. Since the first game was an Xbox exclusive, I played it on my crappy laptop and called in sick the day the second was released to play it all day. It was so magical to see the Normandy again in its first two minutes, anticipating seeing my old crew again to set off on new adventures... only to have my heart in my throat when the Collectors destroyed the ship and killed Shepard, who then floated away and started to burn up in a nearby gravity field. I couldn't believe my eyes and thought for a moment that I wouldn't get to play as Shepard again. Talk about an opening scene! The game's suicide mission is another matter, but the most shocking thing about it was that I managed to save all my crew members on the first try. Otherwise, this placement would probably have looked different.

Bloodborne - Kidnapped by a Snatcher

Horror games are all well and good, but one of the most shocking moments took place in FromSoftware's perhaps best title of all: Bloodborne. In these games, it's worth remembering that the enemies come back to life once you activate a bonfire, and once you've played some of the levels about fifty times, it all becomes a calculated routine where you've learned the enemies' behaviour patterns. Anyway, while out on one of my usual rounds, I decided to go round a church corner to slay some monster crows. But there were no crows waiting around the corner; instead, a three metre tall creature jumped out, covered in rags and carrying a large body bag. I was so taken aback by the sudden change that I was immediately killed, and it didn't get any better when my character woke up in an eerie prison in a seemingly parallel world that didn't behave as expected. I was terrified for a few minutes and this kidnapping scenario was just the beginning of the game's continued agonising cosmic horror.

Shadow of the Colossus - Agro falls to its "death"

Watching your horse die in Team Ico's marvellous game felt like a flashback to that traumatic scene in Neverending Story - a moment I vowed never to relive. Yes, we now know that the faithful horse Agro survives the fall in Shadow of the Colossus and there are far more traumatising death scenes in the world of video games, but once it happened, this was one of those game moments where everything was turned upside down. It's a simple trick to take away the player's only sense that they weren't completely alone in the world and that they had a companion until the very end - until Agro falls to his "death" against the game's final boss. This was downright devastating and mostly just mean, because I remember the shock being so great that I didn't really think it was worth finishing the game. I was so irrationally upset that I put the game on the backburner for a few days to try to recover from the developers' evil pranks - and the ending where you were turned into a demon didn't soften the blow, either.

Doki Doki Literature Club - Hang in there!

Causing offence through visual novel set-ups is not uncommon, but I don't think anyone expected the darkness that paralysed the player once it became apparent that Doki Doki Literature Club was no cute slice of life ride. Without spoiling it for ourselves, a friend and I sat and played through this for fun, to work out why this seemingly bland title has attracted so much attention. Once we reached the scene where one of the characters hanged themselves, the funny mood died for me and my friend. I laughed because there was really no other way to react. We knew there was some weird twist to the whole thing as there were hints of something strange behind the scenes, but that moment killed a bit of the fun that night. Of course, the rest of the game is also a display of effective horror, like when the antagonist touches the player's mouse, but the hanging remains one of those game moments that has been burned into our retinas and will be so for quite some time to come...