The First Shocking Game You Ever Played

Some developers revel in the idea of creating a title that will cause gamers to gasp in shock and horror and though most experienced gamers are now probably desensitized to this, there was a time when such images like the torture scene in GTA V would have been far too much for any sane minded player to take. So what was the first game you ever played that truly questioned your morality compass?

[EdnaJones97]

Far Cry 2 was probably one of the most shocking games i have played. i was shooting an enemy who after the first hit, I though he would just die but he kept crawling to get to cover. It made me shudder thinking of the realism of the AI's real human reactions. it definitely left an impression on me.

[NukaCola]

I remember when I was playing MK on the Genesis and he burnt me with Scorpion. I was horrified.

Also one of the classic shockers was Soldiers of Fortune during Xbox/PS2 era. Shooting people's heads and the gore was really intense then.

[SolidStoner]

Postal, Silent Hill and Leisure Suit Larry? :) Im sure I cant remember the truly 1st one!

[Panthers]

Mortal Kombat was also the first (and perhaps only) game that made me sick when I first saw it. I was pretty young and seeing Scorpions fatality for the first time seriously bothered me.

After that I was pretty desensitized to video game violence. Nothing has really bothered me since.

[Fullmetalevolust]

haha, I guess some of us got traumatized by MK at some point in our childhood.
I remember standing in horror before the Arcade cabinet, it was so loud and gory, I just stood there and I couldn't look away!
I had never seen anything like it, and at the first fatality, as blood splashed all over, my dad dragged me out of the arcade.

[HammadTheBeast]

For me it was this messed up game for the Gamecube called "RoadKill".

It was basically Twisted Metal but somewhat open-world I think (idk I was 11 or something).

Yeah it as pretty bad.

[lisamorgan4]

Seeing blood and guts doesn't shock me in games its more psychological horrors that affects me, like the first time I experienced silent hill. Played it with all the lights on. lol

[Insomnia_84]

That scene in Outlast where this crazy guy is raping a dead decapitated body and another guy watching. The whole picture plus what he says when he sees you is pretty disturbing. The things he says to you makes it kinda funny but still a disturbing scene. SICK!

Gore in video games isn't disturbing for me either but the first time I watched a REAL beheading on video...no words for that.

[jimjam3442]

yeah, once you see the real thing video game gore just looks fake.

[Concertoine]

Its actually really impressive how well silent hill 1 holds up for a ps1 game. I remember in the otherworld hospital i checked every door on like all three floors so im like "well damn..." and then when i go in the elevator this mysterious 4th floor button appears out of nowhere.

No audio cue or build-up... just that ominous button staring at me. It messed with me bad.

[patelsanjeed]

COD Warfare 2 Airport Massacre was probably the one that made me pause and wonder if I had somehow crossed the line. Very disturbing.

[Goro]

That was awesome! Remember, No Russian!

[alvinmiller92]

It just seemed surreal.

[Lwhit6]

@alvinmiller
My jaw was dropped in awe and disgust as the people started screaming. Really made me despise makarov.

[Tetsujin]

I'm probably the majority but No Russian was the only mission I liked in MW2; and yes I did play the game through.

Before people ask no I'm not in any sort of legal trouble, don't do drugs, drink alcohol, have sex with random women, an active positive member in my community, and attending college for a second degree.

OT
The Getaway was my first "shocker" since it was the first game I played that dropped the "f-" bomb in any game I played. Even then I was like "nice, I can see this as a norm now" since it added realism towards conversation in gaming at the time.

[psman012]

I'm confident nobody was going to ask you that, but it's good to know!

[Harmy666]

The Getaway was so good! I'm still waiting for a reboot or sequel!

[Lwhit6]

I couldn't bring myself to kill them so it was kind of funny when the video cameras "proved" that an American committed the crimes.

Another thought, without a massacre like that, would it have even been a story? Because that did set the stage for Russia attacking America.

[alvinmiller92]

@lwhit6

I did shoot a few of the civilians, but didn't feel great doing it. The author hits the nail on the head asking questions like who these innocent civilians where, if they had children if they would be missed. That scene made me question who was the terrorist in all this bloodshed

[RedDeadLB]

Well.. Government agencies commit the most heinous crimes, and yet when someone else does something suddenly the government that does shit is the one who is branding others as terrorists.

Terrorism depends on the point of view and the agenda. Modern Warfare 2 showed exactly that in the No Russian mission. Killing is just killing, it doesn't matter if it's done by the government or the supposed terrorists.

[Matt666]

that level was just boring

[henrythomas284]

The scene in Heavy Rain when I killed a guy in his little girls bedroom.

i really enjoyed playing this but definitely one in the books on blood pressure level increase.

[ArronNelson]

That messed me up so much, I actually killed him the first time and on my replay let him live but felt bad not wasting him. If the roles were reversed he would have not thought twice.

[danniellelewis]

One of Far Cry 3's alternate ending where I had to play as someone I would rather have killed, glad there were other endings so it wasn't so bad.

[charliewong980]

GTAV torture scene made me cringe. I just had to keep reminding myself it's only a game, its only a game.

[Frankskint]

All of Mortal Kombat fatality kills.

[alvinmiller92]

Max Payne dream sequence walking on a trail of blood while the baby was screaming.

[Wordzero]

Agreed. That one was rough in its time.

[MSBAUSTX]

Man I forgot about that part of that game. Yes that was a disturbing scene indeed. Good one.

[RedDeadLB]

That would definitely be the creepiest thing I've played. The beginning also, walking by the dead baby in it's room..

[amyortega131]

All Silent hill games are scary and very disturbing.

[diepdiep]

Parasite Eve

I never actually played the game, but I watched a CG trailer of it from a demo disc. The mutations gave me nightmares for a while.

[fonger08]

Doom... damn I'm old...

[Frankskint]

Doom is Epic, not too many young gamers know that one lol.

Just thought of two other games, Manhunt 2 was Pyschotically chilling and the ending of the Knights of the old republic dark side path was crazy the level of evil things you have to do and that final choice at the end, left no happy thoughts when i finished.

[fonger08]

I still occasionally play it lol. Silent Hill, Turok, and to be honest... reading the text lines when Barrett curses in Final Fantasy Vii... wasn't expecting that I guess.

[MRMagoo123]

Playing doom makes you old ? It came out in the 90s lol

[ninjahunter]

Cod 4, up until that point, i had never really experienced a playable character being killed off.

[ThatEnglishDude]

The first shocking game I remember is a very obscure game on the Megadrive/Genesis called "Chakan: The Forever Man" released back in '92. It is a very dark, Gothic, 2D side scroller with quite an emphasis on a macabre and almost horror vibe.

Having come off the likes of Sonic the Hedgehog and Super Mario Brothers - it was just a very jarring and surprising change. I didn't realize games could be this dark and even scary.

I'd suggest everyone at least look it up and give it a go. It's known for being virtually (read: near) impossible to complete due to it's hard difficulty. The difficulty of this game is legendary. It does NOT mess around.

It's so weird to see people claim Call of Duty 4/MW2 and the likes being the most shocking games they've played.

@NinjaHunter, you've never experienced a playable character being killed off until CoD4? Wow.

[Vantage]

The original Medal of Honor. I was so offended that you had to shoot dogs that I had my mother return the game. I was around seven or eight years old.

[Imalwaysright]

Dune for the PS2. I was shocked at how bad that game was.

[dillhole]

When I was at school back in about '92 - '93 there were some kids running a demo of this kinda amateurish looking 2d platform game with quite bright colours where the main guy had a chainsaw and there was blood just flying everywhere. I couldn't work out if one of them had built it or it was actually released commercially, it just looked so crazy. It was on an operating system called RiscOS. It was the first time I had seen such gore. I wish I could find that game again.

[trenso1]

The end of final fantasy crisis core and watch Zack die right before your eyes, very emotional ending for such a great character.

[nope111]

Getting decapitated by the chainsaw guys in RE4 freaked me the f*** out. That was the first time i've seen something so realistically gruesome.

Another one was a Dead Space death. Those walking head thingies killed Isaac, replaced Isaac's head with its own and took control of his body. That freaked me out.

[Matt666]

In the original RE's you could get decapitated by hunters, so it wasn't anything new time it came round to RE4

[MSBAUSTX]

Does anyone remember the crab walk by the ghost girl on the ceiling of the duct work in F.E.A.R. towards the beginning.of the gamw when everything goes dark? That scared the shit out of me and was definitly a shocking moment because it wasnt expected. Aside from that I am rarely shocked by games. It is ore scared if I play a scary game.

[Pridefall]

I love the Fear series

[level 360]

I still have my copy of Thrill Kill on PS1, thought that was quite shocking when it was released which subsequently got banned.

Not so much the game but the theme of the game and those creepy/sickly characters.

[dafegamer]

Conkers Bad fur day.... Holy Shit!!!!!
Dont let the cute Squirrel cover misguide you lol
I was like 9 or 10 when I played it for the first time

Another example was God Of War 3, everyone knows what I'm talking about

[MSBAUSTX]

Also the opening part of the first Silent hill when you see that body fileted open hanging on the fence in that alley with its insides spilled on the floor. That was an intense moment for me because that was the most gore I had seen up to that point.

[HentaiMasterRace]

Persona 3 ending.

[ChickenOfTheCaveMan]

It's usually not that bad because it's in the mood of the game and to some extent pure perceivable fantasy, but Heavy Rain (ex. cut the main character's finger) and Spec Ops : The Line (ex. launch that sarin gas) felt so damn real. Some plot points in these two games really turned my stomach.

[Burnin]

Phantasmagoria... hardcore shit for a 10 year old.

It messed me up

[Tornadobounce]

Haha nice one

[Mr Tretton]

Beyond The Forbidden Forest for Commodore 64. Mid to late 80's

[slivery]

Wow did no one mention Postal or Manhunt?

I think those two games take the cake in terms of shock value, the things you could do in those games I've never seen in any other games or even in games today anymore. Sure the same level of gore may exist but not the same level of insanity.

Manhunt specifically, the murders were so brutal they had to censor the sequels. Postal was just ridiculous with all the things you could do, burn people alive while pissing on them.. I mean that is shocking to me, to see things like that in games.

Games that push the boundaries of what real life has to offer, I find that shocking in general because life is shocking enough as it is with the things people do.

[captainexplosion]

Phantasmagoria on PC back in I think 1995. Still one of my favorite games. It is the only game I have played with realistic gore. At the time the controversy was more about a bit of side boob lol.

[DarkOcelet]

Manhunt on ps2 was really shocking and brutal .

[CertifiedGamer]

Final Fantasy 7 when Sephiroth kills Aeris. I spent the rest of the game hoping that she could come back somehow. I look back at that memory today and ask myself why didn't Cloud or someone in the team revive her if revive is a magic spell in the game.

[Sheikh Yerbouti]

First time using the blood code on Mortal Kombat back in college...! I liked it, but others were shocked to see it. God it looks so tame now.

[xer0]

Does Doom count?

It was literally the 1st game with buckets of blood and haunting sounds.

[IrishSt0ner]

Alien for the C64, I was a young child... damn I'll never forget how scared I was.

[Tzuno]

ReZ 3 Nemesis, boy that one was nightmares.

[wolfcreek]

What is every one here 10 lol. Far cry, cod2 lol . Back in the day it was alone in the dark, res evil and Mortal kombat. Those 80's and early 90's games would get banned and congress started the videos games are bad for society. Even the Snes and N64 had MK. Silent hill ps1 all scary in the day and there's no games out there now that compare. Then there's the Original Doom and Turok, Soul Reaver and the scariest of them all any game with Bowser.

[spektical]

shocking? meh nothing shocks me after the columbine RPG, now that was shocking both as a gamer playingit, and for a developer ot have the balls to release it. It definitely pushed the envelope and it was a solid game too.

[TheRedButterfly]

Hexen: Beyond Heretic on DOS/N64 was the first title to ever leave me shocked. It's been a while, so my memory is a bit spotty, but the what really got me was when the player was impelled on the spikes that rise out of the ground. It left me quite shaken.

After that it had to be Dead Space. That one was pretty "bad"... Awesome, but it left me shocked in a few ways. (Dead Space 2/3 have yet to recreate the affect Dead Space 1 had.)

[trywizardo]

postal 2 ; i played when i was like 8 or 9 years old xD

[ATi_Elite]

Doom...........it was so violent! Oh so violent and bloody!

then along came GTAIII and all the language, hookers, and random violence.

But Doom was just so Violent and bloody

[CrowbaitBob]

The Suffering had quite a disturbing storyline, definitely memorable. But Manhunt was something else.

[DOMination-]

Dreamweb on the Amiga. Had gritty violence and boobs. First 18 rated game in the UK that I saw. Nobody will remember it though