Top 10 Most Shocking Moments in Horror Video Games

“The Last of Us: Part II” (2020)

Whereas the rest of our list will comprise of more story-specific moments in games, “The Last of Us: Part II’s” most shocking moment is character specific. This game does have some gruesome imagery in its violent scenes, almost every one of them we cannot show. But the Rat King…is one of the nastiest, most vile creatures we have ever seen in a video game. Seeing this unholy monstrosity of limbs and fungus was absolutely gut-wrenching to look at, made all the worst when a stalker broke free of its bloated corpse.

“Alice: Madness Returns” (2011)

Throughout “Madness Returns”, we learn about how almost everyone in Alice’s life does not respect her in the slightest. Most pity her in a degrading way while others have their own unfair judgments. It’s almost a guessing game as to who may have burned her home and her family. So, imagine our surprise and disgust when Wonderland–er, Alice’s subconscious reveals it was her own therapist, Dr. Bumby, behind her entire trauma. Bumby, a specialist in hypnosis, used his practices on Alice to try and make her forget everything about her past, thus erasing what little evidence remained. For once, Wonderland saved Alice’s life rather than try to take it.

“Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem” (2002)

Admittedly, the gimmicks “Eternal Darkness” brought may not work super well with today’s technological advancements. Our entertainment centers have only become more complex thanks to smart TVs, apps, and game consoles. But back in 2002, “Eternal Darkness” had plenty of us fooled. Should your sanity diminish too much, you’d be subjected to visuals that would actually affect your gameplay or, for some people, outright trick you into thinking something was wrong with your TV or console. Don’t be ashamed if you were one of those individuals because no other game was doing this at the time.

“Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc” (2010)

The very first “Danganronpa” game went from zero to sixty rather quickly after the murder game was presented. Of course, some refused to believe they were being forced to play Monokuma’s sick game. But the final chapter reveals that Monokuma was simply a mask for the Mastermind, and the Mastermind was none other than Junko Enoshima, the Ultimate Fashionista. Wait, but Junko died in the very first chapter, right? Nooo. The Junko who died was actually Junko’s sister, Mukuro Ikusaba. The game was rigged against everyone from the very start, all in the name of despair.

“SOMA” (2015)

One glaring detail players noticed when starting up “SOMA” was the total lack of humans present within PATHOS-II. Just where is everyone? Did all of the robots kill them? It isn’t until the very last moments of the game when we learned that your character, Simon, is not human, and that PATHOS-II’s Warden Unit took over the facility and mutated all staff into mechanical husks. And all of this was done as a desperate means to preserve humanity. But the game left us with a depressingly perplexing thought; is humanity truly preserved if it’s trapped inside mechanized metal or a digital landscape?

“Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria Simulator” (2017)

We honestly anticipated “Five Nights at Freddy’s” to adapt the usual horror franchise tropes. You know, the monsters never truly die, there’s a new threat elsewhere under a new villain, so on and so forth. But the surprise launch of “Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria Simulator” wound up bringing a good chunk of the story to an unexpected end. This whole charade of you running your very own pizzeria was nothing more than a ruse. You were simply a pawn in a wider plan to lure the haunted animatronics in a simple, yet effective trap. And so, you and the animatronics you’ve brought in, are left to burn.

“BioShock” (2007)

Although “BioShock” is not categorized as a traditional horror game like “Resident Evil”, there are enough stomach-churning moments for us to include the it here. And the moment that still haunts us to this day is when Atlas is revealed to be Frank Fontaine. Turns out everything that has occurred in the game, from the plane crash to your run-in with Andrew Ryan, has been orchestrated since before your arrival. The entire time, Fontaine had been posing as an ally who wanted to help you escape the underwater hellhole. In reality, he was just a madman who wanted to shed more blood and wield all the power in what little remained of Rapture.

“Doki Doki Literature Club” (2017)

From the beginning, we all knew there was something up with “Doki Doki Literature Club”. There were very subtle signs, but they grew more terrifying every chapter. It wasn’t until towards the end of our time that Monika reveals herself to be the one pulling the strings. In this world, she is God, and she will torment Natsuki, Sayori, and Yuri as much as she wants. And she’ll make us relive those moments again and again and again. As if the disturbing imagery wasn’t enough already, this twist was what propelled “Doki Doki Literature Club” into the public eye.

“Dead Space” (2008)

At first, “Dead Space” starts off with what seems like a simple search-&-rescue mission: board the Ishimura and pray you make it to Nicole before the Necromorphs do. What isn’t revealed until the very end is that the Markers Isaac collects can distort minds, resulting in vivid hallucinations. Yes, Isaac’s mind had only fabricated all of the messages we received from Nicole. So, what happened to her? She sadly gave her life to helping people flee from the Ishimura, and to prevent the possibility of her turning into a Necromorph, she took the only path she could. Nicole was dead long before the game started.

“Silent Hill 2” (2001)

Much like “Dead Space”, “Silent Hill 2” gives us an unreliable protagonist without revealing it to us until the very end. Throughout the game, we’re led to believe that James loved his wife through thick and thin. He would do anything and everything to make Mary happy. But towards the end, we make the shocking discovery that all is not what it seemed. Though Mary was indeed sick, she did not die from her illness. On the contrary, it was by the hands of her own husband. To this day, we have yet to learn which of the game’s six endings is the real one, which only begs more questions as to whether James was the husband we initially perceived him to be.

Which horror game shocked you the most? Did it make our list? Let us know down in the comments, and be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo for more great videos everyday.