Some games make you cry. Some games scare the living daylights out of you. Some games make you smile, make you sad and all the emotions in between. But there are SOME games that leave you like “what the BLEEP just happened?!“
Beware – the following article contains spoilers!
We’ve nailed down the biggest shocks, twists and turns in gaming history. Plot twists, graphics, heart-stopping narratives, and everything else that has ever stopped you in your tracks and turned your blood cold. You name it, we’re counting it!
10. Evil Wheatley – Portal 2
Oh man, we’re starting with a classic. This is THE moment that the sweet Wheatley – the SWEETLEY, if you will – replaces GLaDOS as the central core.
There’s so much tension in this whole scene. The autotuned screams of GLaDOS are horrifying, the contrast of the hilarious dialogue and tension, and that moment when the music starts to change and Wheatley starts laughing will stick with you forever. It still gets me, all these years later.
Fun fact, when Wheatley speaks Spanish he says “Estás usando este software de traducción de forma incorrecta. Por favor, consulta el manual,” which is “you are using this translation software incorrectly. please consult the manual,” in English. God I love this game.
9. White Phosphorus – Spec Ops: The Line
You ask ANYONE the most WTF moment in gaming, it’s likely you’ll see this on the list. The first and only time playing a video game has made me feel guilty. I will warn you now, this scene is harrowing, so please don’t watch the above video if you’re sensitive.
In this scene, Walker stumbles upon what seems like an entire platoon of enemies, and must decide whether or not to use the white phosphorous mortar… But you actually don’t have a choice if you want to keep playing – the game forces you to commit a war crime to keep going.
It turns out that the targets were actually…Well, I’ll let you see for yourself.
8. THAT Plot Twist – Silent Hill 2
Silent Hill 2 has one of the best plot twists in gaming history. The protagonist, James Sunderland, goes to Silent Hill to meet his dead wife, Mary. In Silent Hill he is tormented by monsters and a woman named Maria, who looks suspiciously like his wife.
Then James finds THIS video, which I won’t ruin if you haven’t played the game yet.
The SILENCE as James sits with his head in his hands is so heavy, it’s one of the saddest WTF moments on this list.
7. Fighting Red – Pokemon Gold/Silver
This isn’t a sad WTF moment, it’s an excited one! Who else remembers stumbling across Red in Generation Two and being like “Holy S***! I’m about to beat the old me!’
And then we got brutally beaten. No chance. I’m sure everyone, including myself, got their ass kicked in this fight. Check it out in the video above!
6. Ganon Transforms – Ocarina of Time
Ocarina of Time was a lot of people’s first gaming memory as a kid. One of the most iconic moments is that tension when you finally beat Ganondorf, the ultimate evil king of darkness and, with his dying breath, he brings the castle down around you. If that wasn’t bad enough, the second you breathe a sigh of relief because it’s finally over – BOOM – plot twist.
He bursts out of the rubble and transforms into a giant pig monster. I was so scared I actually ran downstairs to calm down ’cause I was playing it at 11pm on a school night in a dark room.
Let’s not forget that awful scream from Zelda if you ever got hit. Really added to the whole feeling that “this is the end and everything is riding on you.”
5. Kill the Geth or the Quarian – Mass Effect 3
Around two-thirds of the way through Mass Effect 3 players are faced with one of the hardest choices in the series. Shepard finds themselves in the middle of an all-out war between the Quarians, and the Geth, a robot race created by the Quarians, who chased them off their home planet 300 years before. The Geth turned to the reapers for help after the Quarians decided to surprise attack them amidst the chaos of a galaxy wide reaper invasion, hoping to reclaim their homeland.
After helping the Quarians and Legion free the Quarian home planet, Legion reveals it has the ability to upload the reaper code that gave Geth sentience. Doing that would make the Geth much stronger, strong enough to defend themselves against the Quarians attacking them, probably destroying the Quarian fleet.
Shepard is given the choice of stopping the upload, saving the Quarians but destroying the Geth, victims of a sneak attack, completely. Or allowing the upload to continue, allowing the Geth to defend themselves but leading to the deaths of all the Quarian fleet and of Shepard’s longtime squadmate Tali’Zorah.
Ultimately players are forced to choose which species they want to see completely destroyed.
Adding to this, it’s possible to broker a compromise, but it requires a very specific set of objectives, including importing a Mass Effect 2 save. It needs Tali and Legion to both survive Mass Effect 2, which is not the case with a new Mass Effect 3 save. The difficulty of this choice was shown when BioWare released an infographic of choices in 2013. 27% saved the Quarians, 37% the Geth, and 36% managed peace.
4. General Shepherd Betrayal – CoD Modern Warfare 2
Oof, this one is heartbreaking. F for Roach and Ghost. I got nothing else to say, it hurts too much. Watch it above!
3. Psycho Mantis reading your memory card – Metal Gear Solid
Not only just a technically impressive feat for the time, this moment (this entire fight really), is just one big “OH MY GOD’. Psycho Mantis proves his psychic powers by reading the memory card in your system. Hearing this evil villain read off games you like is such a mind-blowing moment, it scarred an entire generation of gamers.
After displaying this impressive (and pretty darn innovative) feat, he asks you, THE ACTUAL PLAYER, to put your controller down. Using the rumble in the DualShock, it shakes uncontrollably and it’s one of the best fourth wall-breaking moments ever.
Yeah I know, I know. Metal Gear Solid is a pretty polarizing game and a lot of you out there are probably disappointed that something like this made the list of most WTF moments of all time.
But BEFORE YOU CRACK YOUR FINGERS AND TYPE OUT A DEVASTATING COMMENT, no matter what you think, you can’t argue that this moment didn’t change the experience of what it’s like to play a video game.
2. THAT reveal in BioShock
One of the few plot twists I didn’t even remotely see coming, would you kindly skip this section if you haven’t already beaten Bioshock?
“Would you kindly” is a hypnotic phrase used by Frank, posing as Atlas, to control Jack while guiding him through Rapture to kill Andrew Ryan.
It was under our nose the entire time and we just thought he was a well-mannered man! It’s interesting how we just take in media given to us without questioning the what or the why. Relive the iconic moment in the video above.
1. That THING that happens to Joel in TLOUII
This is it. Joel’s story in The Last of Us Part 2 delivers one of gaming’s most shocking twists. The lead up, the tension, the chilling realisation of its inevitability. It’s a masterclass in WTF.
The Last of Us was one of the most beloved and praised stories in video game history. Fans had spent seven years theorising about the future of Joel and Ellie, and I don’t think anyone thought this would happen.
So there you have it! The top 10 most shocking, surprising, or downright UPSETTING moments in the history of gaming. What would you have put as number one?
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Featured Image Credit: Naughty Dog/Pokemon Company/2k Games/Valve/Darkside