Don't make us control THAT.
SPOILER TIMESTAMPS:
0:26 - Little Nightmares II
1:28 - Red Dead Redemption II
2:30 - DPA: The Devil In Me
3:30 - Scorn
4:30 - Guardians of the Galaxy
5:35 - Martha is Dead
6:46 - The Last of Us Part II
7:46 - It Takes Two
8:52 - A Plague Tale: Requiem
SPOILER TIMESTAMPS:
0:26 - Little Nightmares II
1:28 - Red Dead Redemption II
2:30 - DPA: The Devil In Me
3:30 - Scorn
4:30 - Guardians of the Galaxy
5:35 - Martha is Dead
6:46 - The Last of Us Part II
7:46 - It Takes Two
8:52 - A Plague Tale: Requiem
Category
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TVTranscript
00:00Giving players an element of choice is something that many games allow for. Many, but not all.
00:05This is because developers want us to experience the narrative that they've carefully crafted for
00:09us. However, there are times that us gamers are forced to commit actions so horrific
00:13that we could only wish there was an alternative option to get out of these situations.
00:17Spoiler warnings are in effect because I'm Sci for What Culture and these are 9
00:21Terrible Things Recent Video Games Made Us Do.
00:249. Incinerate the Doctor – Little Nightmares 2
00:28As its name suggests, the world of Little Nightmares is far from pleasant. Least appealing
00:32of all are the cast of grotesque monstrosities who you'll be spending your time hiding and
00:37fleeing from in between solving puzzles. One of these beings, who tiny protagonists Mono and
00:42Six face in the sequel, is a terrifying doctor who runs a hellish hospital.
00:46Aside from his attempts to capture us, our first clue that this character is bad news
00:50is the mangled results of his medical experiments that populate the creepy facility. Like the many
00:55other boss encounters in the game, this nefarious medical professional also features in his own
00:59chase sequence. However, instead of simply escaping as clutches, our protagonists have
01:03a very different idea. During the frantic chase, Mono and Six eventually lure their
01:07pursuer back to the incinerator room which lies between them and their freedom. Using
01:11the doctor's size against him, Mono traps him inside the furnace to prevent him from
01:15chasing them further. This is not enough, however. To progress further, you must now
01:19incinerate the doctor in his own furnace, his anguished cries underscoring the severity
01:24of your actions. Even he didn't deserve that death.
01:288. Beat up Thomas Downes – Red Dead Redemption 2
01:32Throughout the bulk of Rockstar's epic masterpiece Red Dead Redemption 2, we're
01:36given the opportunity to decide if grizzled cowboy Arthur Morgan can redeem his villainous
01:40past with valiant actions, or if he remains a cruel man to the end. Most of these choices
01:45boil down to helping Arthur's friends or choosing whether to kill some foes, but one
01:49action we have no say in is assaulting a man named Thomas Downes near the start of
01:53the game. At this point, Arthur is still a no-nonsense tough guy who's willing to
01:57resort to violence at every turn. This is exactly what happens when he's requested
02:01to collect a debt from the rancher. There are a lot of vile characters in the world
02:05of Red Dead, but Downes isn't one of them. He's a good man who's fallen upon tough
02:09times, and our job is to beat him to a pulp, which leads to his death soon after. In a
02:14twist of irony, it's this interaction which results in Arthur contracting tuberculosis.
02:18Being the turning point in Arthur's story, there's no way of getting out of this task
02:22either. Delay the mission too long, and the game will simply force you to do it.
02:267. Choosing who suffocates
02:28The Dark Pictures Anthology – The Devil in Me
02:31Much like developer Supermassive Games' other horror outings, The Dark Pictures Anthology
02:35is full of numerous tough decisions that can result in potentially fatal consequences.
02:40Most recent entry The Devil in Me is no exception to this tenet of gameplay,
02:43and poses some of the cruelest choices in the series to date.
02:47Taking inspiration from the chilling real-life tale of 19th century serial killer H.H. Holmes'
02:51notorious murder castle, the game sees a production crew find themselves trapped in a
02:55faithful reconstruction of the macabre murder hotel, complete with its own shifting walls,
03:00trap doors, and elaborate death traps. At one point during the hellish ordeal,
03:04presenter Kate and timid intern Erin are locked in airtight suffocation chambers. Outside,
03:09a switch will give only one of these rooms air, with players now forced to decide which one of
03:13these characters they want to kill and which one they want to save.
03:16What makes this choice that extra bit more fiendish though is that there's a sneaky trick
03:20at play here too. Eagle-eyed players may be able to spot that there's a leak in one of the windows
03:24that will give you time to save both. Miss this though and you may feel worse about your choice.
03:306. Squash a Fetus – Scorn
03:33From the moment the unnamed protagonist awakens in the fleshy alien world of Scorn,
03:37it's evident that everything here is just horrific. Narrow corridors covered in viscera feel
03:42like the insides of a great beast, each tool and weapon you'll acquire during your journey looks
03:46like it's made of writhing flesh, and then there's whatever that mangled creature is you grab from an
03:51egg. Given that being gross is Scorn's whole aesthetic, it shouldn't come as a surprise
03:55that this game asks you to do some disgusting things throughout its brief run time.
03:59One of the most unpleasant tasks comes in the fifth and final act,
04:02in which we're required to collect blood containers to activate a console.
04:05To fill these containers with blood, however, we're going to have to collect what can only
04:08be described as an alien fetus and put it in a device that is specifically designed to squeeze
04:13every last drop of blood out of it. The concept of juicing a baby, even if it is some kind of
04:18Lovecraftian monstrosity, is unpleasant enough in itself. However, Scorn ensures that we endure
04:24through every squelchy second of this mechanical procedure through excellently disgusting sound
04:29design. 5. The Promise – Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy
04:34The Guardians of the Galaxy, the ensemble intergalactic superheroes with large-than-life
04:38personalities, are best known for their light-hearted and comical adventures. This was
04:42true in their comic book and blockbuster outings, and it was also the case in their very own video
04:46game. Taking control of Peter Quill, Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy is a fun-filled action
04:51adventure that places you in the centre of one of the team's escapades. However, despite the
04:55quippy dialogue and humorous interactions, this game takes an unexpectedly dark turn.
05:00After the team are captured by the Church of Truth, they're sent into their own dream world.
05:04For Peter, this is being reunited with his mother. As the touching sequence goes on,
05:08however, a black substance gradually begins to cover the screen until everything goes black
05:12and the credits roll. The only way to break free from this fantasy is to do the unthinkable and
05:17have Peter kill his own mother. Manually breaking free from her loving embrace is already difficult
05:22enough, but things only get much worse from here. Drawing your weapon, you'll now be prompted to
05:27shoot her multiple times, all while she begs for her life and tells her son that she loves him.
05:32It's brutal.
05:344. Desecrating Your Sister's Corpse – Martha is Dead
05:38Set in the picturesque Italian countryside during World War II, unflinching psychological horror
05:43Martha is Dead sees Julia discover the bloated corpse of her titular twin sister in the lake
05:48near her family's home. But when their grief-stricken mother arrives at the scene and
05:51mistakes Julia for her sister, the surviving sibling inadvertently takes on Martha's identity.
05:57What follows is a twisted exploration of Julia's unravelling mental stability as
06:01she becomes haunted by her inescapable trauma and grief over what's happened,
06:04as she's forced to live with the aftermath of her decision.
06:07This game pulls absolutely no punches when it comes to depicting its hardest-hitting themes.
06:12The title even quite rightfully begins with a severe content warning. Those familiar with
06:16the game will already be aware of a sickening dream sequence in which Julia cuts off her
06:19dead sister's face, but things get much worse. Late in the game, when Julia suspects that
06:24Martha may have been pregnant when she died, she takes it upon herself to discover the truth.
06:28She breaks into the family crypt and, using a pair of scissors,
06:32cuts open Martha's womb to find a small fetus inside.
06:35If you're playing on PlayStation, however, this sequence, alongside others, is not
06:39interactive. But regardless of where you play it, it is disgusting.
06:443. Killing Dogs The Last of Us Part 2
06:48The post-apocalyptic world of The Last of Us has never shied away from exploring the
06:52brutality of violence. This was especially the case during Part 2, in which these themes tied
06:56directly into the gameplay. Violence is something that isn't taken lightly in this game. Even in
07:01typical combat encounters, every blow and gunshot is felt with visceral bluntness strong enough to
07:06make those with the strongest stomachs wince. Enemies will cry in pain and grasp in desperation
07:12during their dying moments, and it's all pretty horrible. Even more upsetting is when dogs are
07:17included in encounters. Able to use their keen sense of smell to lead enemies to your location,
07:22eliminating these canines is necessary if you don't want your cover to be blown.
07:26Hearing the animals' cries of distress and agony when doing so, though, is one of the
07:30harshest reminders that violence should never be the answer. Though it's possible to get by
07:34without killing most of these dogs, Ellie is forced to euthanise Abby's dog when the animal
07:38attacks her. It's only when we play fetch with that dog later during a flashback that we realise
07:43the full extent of how monstrous we were. 2. Dismembering Cutie – It Takes Two
07:49When feuding couple Cody and May are magically turned into their child's toys, they must work
07:54together to overcome a variety of imaginative obstacles to find a way to return to their own
07:58bodies whilst mending their fractured relationship in the process. Despite presenting us with the
08:03sombre reality of divorce right at the start, the collection of environments you and your
08:07co-op partner will be traversing are full of vibrant colour and a playful sense of humour.
08:11Coming from the developers behind Brothers A Tale Of Two Sons and A Way Out, however,
08:15there was bound to be some emotionally devastating moments. Here, players were
08:19expected to make the couple's child cry by killing their favourite toy, an adorable stuffed
08:24elephant named Cutie. Since it was their daughter's tears that got them into this situation,
08:28they believe that making her cry again will solve the problem. What ensues is a relentless pursuit
08:33of the fleeing stuffed toy who pleads with you that they don't want to die.
08:37When the murderous couple finally trap Cutie, players will take absolutely no pleasure in
08:41dismembering the innocent animal's leg and ear before throwing them from a ledge.
08:45It doesn't matter if it's a stuffed animal, we'll never forgive ourselves for this one. Sorry Cutie.
08:511. Killing a Major Character A Plague Tale, Requiem
08:55Taking place six months after the first game, Requiem sees siblings Amicia and Hugo,
09:00having escaped their home, travel to the lush lands of Provence in hopes of finding a cure
09:04to the youngster's affliction. However, tragedy is never far behind this pair,
09:08and they soon find themselves plunged into another emotionally devastating adventure where
09:12they uncover more secrets about this strange illness. After spending two entire games with
09:17this dedicated duo and going through their heart-wrenching journey alongside them,
09:21we're immensely invested in saving Hugo from the disease that's slowly consuming him.
09:25But this is a plague's tale, and nothing pleasant is ever allowed to happen.
09:29Towards the end of the pair's journey, Hugo, who believes his sister to be dead,
09:33allows himself to be taken over by the sickness. Amicia does everything she can to reach him,
09:38but there's nothing she can do for him. The only way to prevent the rat plague from spreading is to
09:42kill Hugo ourselves. It's at this point we must aim Amicia's slingshot to deliver the killing blow,
09:48cutting the screen to black. There's no way to get out of sealing Hugo's fate either.
09:52Wait too long and your companion will simply kill him instead.
09:56Well, now I am severely bummed out.
09:58And that's the list! Let us know what you thought of this video down in the comments below. Which
10:02of these terrible things was the worst to you? And of course, let us know of others that we
10:06didn't include. Make sure you like this video, share it with your friends, subscribe and hit
10:10that notification bell. Cheer yourself up by watching one of our other videos or visiting
10:14WhatCulture.com where there's more content every day. I've been Si for WhatCulture, and have a good week.