10 Most Powerful Gaming Moments That Give You the Chills


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Video games have evolved into such an immersive medium that they have become capable of making players feel all kinds of emotions based on what they experience when they complete a mission or finish a level. An unforgettable gaming title is defined by the ability of rendering a certain powerful sentiment that lingers with the player, be it fear, joy or sadness. That’s why today we are dedicating this video to 10 of the most powerful gaming moments that really give you the chills. And, of course, be warned, there will definitely be spoilers ahead.

Goodbye Lee – The Walking Dead
Goodbye Lee - The Walking Dead
There are a lot of emotional moments in The Walking Dead series but the final scene from Episode One is certainly the most intense one. The scene when Lee finds out he was infected and realizes he will not be able to protect Clementine anymore is so saddening you’d have to be soulless to not get affected by it. The sheer desperation of the situation and the fact that you get so emotionally attached to the little girl makes you feel so bad for these unfortunate characters that need to part ways.

John Marston’s Death – Red Dead Redemption

image: Rockstar Games

Right after we see John Marston finding his peace at last, enjoying a fine day with the family on his bucolic farm, a government team comes and ruins everything. A terrible shootout takes place and the beloved hero of the western Rockstar game gets killed in the firefight, leaving us with our hearts forever broken. But this misery is also felt by John’s revengeful son who manages to hunt down and kill his father’s murderers and bring satisfaction to all the gamers in the world. Now this is a mixed bag of feelings that’ll stay with you for a very long time!

Final Scene – Journey

Journey is an atypical social game that pairs you up with a nameless player and gives you very few means to communicate. Using only high-pitched noises to indicate that you found something worth looking at, you’ll be roaming the desert with your anonymous companion, bonding in such a particular way that it’s hard to forget the experience. This is why the final moments of the game when you have to endure a cold and harsh environment, not knowing if both of you will survive, feels so much more powerful.

Welcome to the Rapture – Bioshock

Image: bioshock.wikia.com

The desolate look of an underwater city you know nothing about has something uniquely mysterious about it. You are controlling a nameless character who doesn’t know how he ended up in this utopic society and you need to protect yourself from danger while trying to piece out what happened to this eerie town. Bioshock managed to breathe new life into the FPS genre with this kind of atmospheric gameplay that is totally unique and manages to awe any player who first experiences the game.

Joel’s Daughter Dies – The Last of Us

Joel’s connection with Ellie is often seen as a father-daughter type of relationship and it’s no wonder he’s so protective since he suffered the loss of his very own child. Sarah’s death is a tear inducing moment in the Last of Us, Joel breaking down in a soul crushing way after realizing her bullet wound is going to be fatal. The gloomy tone of the entire gameplay is dictated by this devastating incident, making the player feel equally torn apart and lost in a hostile world full of dangers.

Suicide Mission – Mass Effect 2

Building up a team of intergalactic specialists to save the entire galaxy may prove to be one of the most demanding tasks in video gaming. It’s not the recruiting pert itself that is going to require a lot of hard work, but the final suicide mission where the cherished companions with whom you’ve developed powerful relationships are going to die every time you make a bad decision. Knowing that every order you give might result in the demise of your entire team really leaves a mark on you.

Destroying Megaton – Fallout 3

If you were to choose pushing the button and detonating the dormant bomb in the city center of Megaton, you will be met with an overwhelming sentiment of guilt. The spectacular sight of the mushroom cloud created by the explosion and the chilling sound effects that accompany it are only enhancing the intensity of the moment, making you feel even more responsible for what you have done.

The Death of Aerith – Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy VII is a popular gaming title well known for its emotional moments that have a great impact on every player. If we were to choose a single one from the entire game, it would have to be the most heart-breaking scene of all, the one where Aeris dies at the hands of Sephiroth, thus the life of a central character is taken away from us. There is no sight of her in any of the other Final Fantasy titles so the heart break is even harder to bear for the role-playing gamers that witnessed it firsthand while enjoying this emotion filled title.

Snake Eater’s Final Salute – Metal Gear Solid 3

Hideo Kojima is well known for his storytelling talents, transforming his video games into real works of fiction that could easily compete with the motion pictures we’re enjoying on the big screen. He’s also the master of late game revelations and the final moments from Metal Gear Solid 3 are no exception to this rule, the scene where Snake Eater find out that The Boss mission was meant to be ended with him killing Eva all along is an especially evocative turn around.

White Phosphorus – Spec Ops: The Line

Similar to the scenario from Fallout 3, Spec Ops: The Line has you face a crushing feeling of remorse after using white phosphorus to blow up your enemies and realizing that you’ve also exterminated a large number of innocent civilians. Usually FPS games don’t show you this side of the story so when you first see the tragic image of a charred mother holding her child, with the look of horror carved in their faces, you are left definitively scarred for the rest of the game.