Michael's Top 5 disturbing moments in video games
I've always had an interest in things that are a bit messed up and disturbing. To see how deep and dark our imaginations can get and to also see what our minds can handle. As a result I'm always on the lookout for movies, books and games that try to push those limits and rend me speechless, horrified and disturbed and although video games haven't been the biggest source of this for me, I've still come across a few moments that gave me an unsettling feeling in my gut.
Before I start the list I just want to say that these entries are entirely opinion based and I have not included anything from a game I have not played as I'm sure there are moments that are a lot more disturbing than the ones below. Also this list does contain spoilers so if there is something you haven't played and want to then skip that entry and move on to the next. You have been warned
5. Condemned - Mall Mannequins
Condemned is the creepiest game I've ever played and I am no stranger to the horror genre. The whole game is extremely intense and you are always on the edge of your seat wondering what's going to happen or what's out to get you. The absolute creepiest part of the game is when you are in a rundown mall and you come across a group of mannequins just staring at you. This was unsettling enough for me as it was but it got worse as I moved on and there was a flash of light. I turned around and the mannequins had moved directly behind me. This continued on, as you can see in the video above, as the creepiest game of Red Light Green Light in history.
4. Dead Space - Head Transplant
I've shared my opinions about Dead Space in my review of the third game on here but to reiterate, it's my second favourite franchise of this generation and is just all around awesome. With its gory combat, insanely well done characters and atmosphere, it is a series after my own heart. Of course Dead Space has a series of brutal deaths should you fail in your objective but none of them come nowhere near as messed up as what I've called the head transplant. Basically what happens is a rotting head with tentacles latches onto Isaac, rips his head off and proceeds to insert itself into his neck. That's all fine and dandy but the worst part is that it takes control of Isaac's body and the animation of it walking off screen followed by a blood curdling scream simply stunned me the first time I saw it.
3. Bioshock - The Wild Bunny
Here we have something from a game that is packed to the brim with disturbing moments. Hell, I could've filled this list using this game alone but where would be the fun in that? The Bioshock series is one of the greatest in gaming history and a huge part of the reason why is its characters and Sander Cohen stands high among its most memorable. Here we have a man who is a psychotic, deranged freak but above all is an artist. Unfortunately his art revolves around murdering people and coating them in plaster among other things. One of these pieces of art is The Wild Bunny, an audio recording of a poem of some kind that you find while exploring his domain, Fort Frolic. Listening to this recording sent chills down my spine as the pain in Cohen's voice intensifies leading up to a climax that just...stops. Personally, this is one of the most memorable moments in my gaming life and something that I won't ever forget.
2. Eternal Darkness - Maximillian's Ending
(Skip to 1:00 in the video)
Another game I could have filled this list with. Eternal Darkness sits at No. 7 of my top 10 games of all time and for good reason. It's creepy, has an amazing story told over a 2000 year span and the trademark sanity meter brought horror to a new level. The pinnacle of disturbing and unsettling comes from one of the characters, Maximillian Roivas who is an ancestor to the main protagonist, Alexandra. After fighting a tough monster and barely escaping with his life, Max grows paranoid and fearful and seeks help to defeat the evil that threatens the world. This went as well as you'd expect and Max was thrown into an asylum for his trouble. What follows is a cutscene that basically sums up what the game is about and is something that that shocked my young brain at the time and still makes me a bit nervous to this day.
1. Silent Hill 2 - Pyramid Head Doesn't Take No for an Answer
I think it's safe to say that Pyramid Head is the poster boy for the most disturbing game series ever and has become such an iconic character that he is instantly recognisable to gamers the world over. This makes it quite appropriate that this particular scene holds the top spot for most disturbing moment for me. What we see is our main character, James Sunderland witnessing what is implied to be the rape and murder of two mannequin monsters (funny, I started with mannequins and now I finish with them). As Pyramid Head starts dragging one of them away, he stops and sort of looks around. James obviously scared to death fires of a few shots from his gun, causing monster to leave after letting out a horrific roar.
Apart from being quite disturbing on its own, it gets even more unsettling given the context, subtext and the many layers that the Silent Hill series is well known for. Unfortunately I will not be getting into that or else you'll be here all day so you'll just have to take my word for it.
As I've said before, I'm sure there are more disturbing moments than these 5 but since I haven't experienced them myself, I can't include them here. Luckily I'm always on the lookout for this kind of stuff so hopefully I eventually run into one of yours.
Michael Marshman
