Top 10 Most Shocking Video Game Moments of the Last Decade

“Bugsnax” (2020)

Something isn’t right on Snaktooth Island, and from the beginning, the discerning player will suspect that eating the critters and slowly turning your body parts into food probably isn’t the best idea. But even all those hints don’t prepare you for the final revelation about what the Snaxquatch and the Queen of Bugsnax really are. It’s been Lizbert all along, the original leader of the Snaktook expedition, and she’s turned into an enormous, mutant monster. The Bugsnax reproduce by being so delicious you can’t help but eat them, which eventually transforms you into one. It’ll be even more traumatic if you tried to rush through the game, as any characters whose side quests aren’t complete will die to the Bugsnax hoards.

“Until Dawn” (2015)

A prank gone awry causes the Washington twins, Beth and Hannah, to run out of their cabin in the woods and into a snowstorm, where we see them tumble from a cliff, never to be found. Over the course of the game, you’ll uncover various mysteries that all converge at the end, unravelling who the killer is, what the wendigos are, and what happened to Beth and Hannah. The truth is horrific, though, as we learn that Beth died during her fall and to survive, Hannah had to eat her body. But cannibalism, in this world, turns a person into a wendigo, meaning Hannah was cursed to become one.

“Red Dead Redemption II” (2018)

We knew from playing the first game that eventually Dutch would abandon morality and the gang would splinter, but we didn’t know how this would all play out. We get hints from the very beginning, as the gang talks about the innocent woman, Heidi McCourt, Dutch shot in the Blackwater Massacre. But even Arthur was shocked to see what happened to Dutch on Guarma, as he violently murders an old woman, Gloria. It’s true that she pulled a knife and tried to get more money from him, but that’s nothing Dutch himself hasn’t done in the past. And going by how easily Dutch disarms her, she was clearly never a threat. Even on a low honor run, Arthur is horrified.

“Cyberpunk 2077” (2020)

She’s the one who sets up the Relic heist at the beginning of the game. Long-time friend of Judy Alvarez who frequently saw Yorinobu Arasaka as a client, Evelyn has a lot of valuable information. After the heist went wrong, Evelyn eventually found herself badly beaten by another client at Clouds, where she was handed over to the world’s sleaziest ripperdoc. V and Judy finally find her, but she never recovers. Judy only leaves her alone for a short while, but Evelyn takes her own life. In a game that tries to shock you at every turn with its hypersexualized world and endless crime, poverty, and violence, this is perhaps “Cyberpunk 2077’s” most tragic event.

“Resident Evil Village” (2021)

At the beginning of “Village”, Ethan and Mia are playing happy families with their newborn daughter, Rose – only for that dream to be shattered by Chris Redfield kidnapping them. Ethan eventually finds out that Rose has fallen into the hands of Mother Miranda who has, shall we say, “separated” the baby into four pieces, and given one to each of the Four Lords for safekeeping. You eventually find out that Rose is made of the Mold, which is how she’s able to survive dismemberment. Ethan is also later subjected to a nightmarish hallucination of a monstrous baby at the hands of Donna Beneviento, one of the scariest bosses in the franchise.

“Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus” (2017)

This scene is so shocking that YouTube won’t even let us show you the original version; instead, we have to use the censored, German release of “Wolfenstein II”. Following his supposed execution and resurrection, BJ is sent on another daring mission, this time all the way to Venus where he’s undercover as an actor auditioning for the role of “Terror Billy” – i.e., himself. But who else should show up to the audition than the big man himself, who’s clearly gone even more insane since Germany won the war. BJ is horrified by his presence, as he vomits and urinates everywhere and then shoots one of BJ’s fellow thespians for having a bad audition.

“The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt” (2015)

There are a lot of shocking moments in “The Witcher 3” to choose from; the first appearance of the Ladies of the Wood, or the Botchling, for instance. But the quest “Possession” is perhaps more distressing than both of those, as the best choice is to have Geralt put a baby into an oven. This is because Udalryk, the unstable jarl of Clan Brokvar, has been taken over by a Hym, a dark entity that feeds on guilt. One option to free him of the Hym is to trick the Hym by having it latch onto somebody else’s guilt – in this case, Geralt’s. But the Hym is forced to release him when the trick is revealed: the baby is actually unharmed.

“Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain” (2015)

“Metal Gear” has always been known for its twists and turns, but few stick in the mind as much as the revelation that throughout all of “The Phantom Pain”, you weren’t playing as Big Boss at all. Previously, you believed that you WERE Big Boss, awoken from a nine-year-long coma and taking on the mantle Venom Snake as you intervene in international politics again. But this was all a red herring so that the true Big Boss, who you’ve known as Ishmael since the beginning, could operate unnoticed. You’re actually just some guy who’s been brainwashed into THINKING he’s Big Boss as part of this extremely elaborate plan.

“God of War Ragnarök” (2022)

Though he’s a god of war as well, Tyr is famously a level-headed pacifist in the Norse pantheon, always looking for a way to avoid bloodshed. He behaves like this for most of “Ragnarök”, until Atreus finally retrieves the mask. But it’s Brok who sees through him first, ranting until Tyr stabs him. It turns out that Tyr has been Odin in disguise the entire time, and he then takes Atreus hostage until he’s able to escape. This betrayal gives the player even more of a reason to hate Odin – as if there wasn’t enough already – since Brok’s death makes you desperate to launch the final assault on Asgard and take down the All-Father.

“The Last of Us Part II” (2020)

Maybe the most controversial moment in a video game ever, even though this story beat leaked ahead of time, many still didn’t believe it. But it was true: Joel is brutally murdered by a golf-club wielding Abby right at the beginning of the game, in front of Ellie, who swears revenge. This series is full of violent and disturbing moments, but the murder of the previous game’s main character was too much for some players to bear. People ended up breaking their discs in half and sending death threats to the cast, refusing to play the rest of the game that reveals Abby had a good reason for what she did; her father was the surgeon from the first game’s finale.

Let us know in the comments which of these moments you can never unsee.