Game moments that shocked us: part 1 –

“Would you be so kind… ” in BioShock

The fact that we have an intrinsic and inviolable will is perhaps the most defining thing about us as human beings, and that is what makes the ending in BioShock so incredibly powerful, unexpected and dark, as it is revealed that you as the player have never had any real control. It turns out that Frank Fontaine controlled you in every mission and every decision through hypnosis, using the phrase “Would you be so kind.” used to turn against Rapture creator Andrew Ryan. This innocent phrase is a programmed command that forced us to blindly obey Fontaine’s will, and at the same time created game magic of a kind we have simply never seen before. For my part, this has remained in the back of my mind, and I am now aware of how often in games – and in real life – we are given apparent choices that are actually predetermined. So BioShock’s unique moment is both existential and deeply uncomfortable, and completely unforgettable.

Aerith’s death in Final Fantasy VII

It was not very easy to be a console gamer in Europe in the 1980s and first half of the 1990s. Our games were shoddy PAL versions that were often released several years after their debut in Japan and, remarkably, many often didn’t arrive at all. So it was a bit of a strange experience when we finally became familiar with the Final Fantasy series in Final Fantasy VII. This was at a time when we had grown up with Nintendo’s cute games and Sega’s cooler titles, which were generally pretty family-friendly. Developers rarely dared to take real risks, especially when it came to main characters, but Square didn’t care. Aerith was not only a central figure in the story, she was a playable character that many invested both time and emotions in. Her unexpected and irreversible death in the middle of the game’s story hit like a real punch in the gut. There was no way to save her; games just couldn’t work that way. A sense of helplessness and sadness was instilled by the brilliantly directed scene, and three decades later it is still a hot topic.

No Russian mission in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

No Russian from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was so controversial that it was world news even before the game was released, with the developer even offering a way to skip the mission if you didn’t want to play it, something completely unthinkable at the time. In the mission, we take on the role of an infiltrator in a terrorist group and are forced to participate in a massacre of civilians at an airport, where it is clear that killing innocent people cannot be avoided. It was a somewhat surreal feeling that made me feel uneasy and offered a moral challenge I had never experienced before in a gaming context. No Russian remains one of the most memorable moments in the Call of Duty series, and a perfect example of how games can challenge and be culturally significant in a way that books and film cannot provide.

John Marston’s fate in Red Dead Redemption

John Marston seemed a rather tragic character from the moment we first met him. He had obviously committed some real atrocities and would now undergo penance on behalf of the American state, which was the only way to regain his freedom and be reunited with his wife. It led him on a wonderfully powerful adventure where we really bonded with Marston, learned to appreciate his rugged personality and did what we could to get him back on track. But. after trying to do the right thing by tracking down his former gang members and friends (who were clearly like family), the final shock comes when, despite his sacrifices and willingness to change, John is murdered by government agents who break their promise. It was like the air went out of me completely. It was brutal, cold, raw and I felt like I had been betrayed myself. Instead of the typical triumphant hero, we got a tragic ending and a powerful reminder of the real world where too few stories end happily.

Who is the origami killer in Heavy Rain?

I love the adventures of Quantum Dream, and I like Heavy Rain best of all, which I rewarded with a 10 at the time. Throughout the game, we work hard to solve the mystery of a series of missing children, with the seemingly invisible culprit being called the Origami Killer. But. the characters and I were always one step behind and struggling to figure out who was behind these terrible crimes, even though we follow different people, each with their own personal motives and secrets. When the true identity of the Origami Killer is revealed – Scott Shelby, the seemingly good-hearted private investigator who has been in the game all along – the shock was unreal. This is not only because he has been one of the most sympathetic and believable characters, but also because I so skillfully manipulated Quantum Dream into believing something quite different. It was just an unusually successful twist where the character who was shown the most and seemingly propelled the story forward was the real problem. It meant that as a player I was actually helping a child killer, and it stands out as a twist that I sometimes think about to this day.