Most controversial videogame levels - from beautiful to cringey

[Monika H.]

I'll start off easy.
No Russian in MW2 and although it didn't really have an impact in the West as much as in my country, MW3 "Eye of the Storm", which shows several Czech civilians getting executed and brutalized by the Russian Army - kinda hits harder than No Russian because it really happened in the past.

What's your pick?

 

[Duncan Hills Coffee]

White Phosphorous from Spec Ops.

It's a nightmarishly grisly scene. Not a lot of games at that time had the balls to hold you down and show the absolute destruction you just committed.

Even outside the horrific imagery, this is the scene that will make or break the game for you. Either you get interested in the game's philosophical debates over violence and player involvement, or you call the game out on blaming you for something it told you to do and relying on cheap tricks to guilt-trip you. It effectively boils down the discussion over Spec Ops' themes and effectiveness down to one incredibly visceral scene.

 

[Revo]

From GTA series: Demolition man in gta vc,because in 2000's many people complained that this mission sucks and it's hard. By the book in GTA 5 where you must torture a innocent immigrant.The Deal ending from Gta 4 ,where Niko's best friend must be killed .

 

[Kamov Ka-52]

White Phosphorous from Spec Ops.

It's a nightmarishly grisly scene. Not a lot of games at that time had the balls to hold you down and show the absolute destruction you just committed.

Even outside the horrific imagery, this is the scene that will make or break the game for you. Either you get interested in the game's philosophical debates over violence and player involvement, or you call the game out on blaming you for something it told you to do and relying on cheap tricks to guilt-trip you. It effectively boils down the discussion over Spec Ops' themes and effectiveness down to one incredibly visceral scene.

I really liked the game and thought the themes were interesting, (although its source material Heart of Darkness definitely outshines it,) but that scene was bullshit. It's not only that the game tells you to do it, it outright forces you to in order to move forward. The scene was effective, but not at all earned.

 

[Duncan Hills Coffee]

I really liked the game and thought the themes were interesting, (although its source material Heart of Darkness definitely outshines it,) but that scene was bullshit. It's not only that the game tells you to do it, it outright forces you to in order to move forward. The scene was effective, but not at all earned.

That's totally fair. I personally like the scene mostly for the imagery (the scene with Walker staring at the dead civilians is absolutely haunting), but in terms of gameplay it is a cheap trick. You are forced into doing something the game is telling you to do with no other alternative and then the game blames you for it. It's not as graceful as the other scenes in the game that handle the same ideas in a much more subtle way (I'd argue the scene with the crowd that lynched Lugo is a much better representation of the game's themes).

 

[ES 148]

Stage 3-2 from Mario.

 

[byuu]

It's not only that the game tells you to do it, it outright forces you to in order to move forward.

This so much.
Before it happens the game does heavily imply that it's a bad idea to actually use the phosphorus.
So of course I'm gonna look for alternative ways to proceed.

I spent almost half an hour on that tiny part, trying everything.
And it's invisible walls everywhere and infinitely respawning enemies.
And then it can't stop shitting on me for something it forced on me in such an incredibly lazy and blunt way? Fuck off.

Yeah, yeah "I could have quit the game!". If I had done that you'd just call my opinion irrelevant because I didn't even finish it and see the "amazing" twist (don't get me started on that one).

I can respect the game's writing for being ambitious and trying something different but in the end that writing is just slapped onto a really lazy linear third person shooter and it all falls apart.

 

[Duncan Hills Coffee]

From GTA series: Demolition man in gta vc,because in 2000's many people complained that this mission sucks and it's hard.

You know what's funny? I didn't play Vice City until like last year, and I think I failed this mission only once. Don't get me wrong, it sucks and the controls are god-awful, but I've never had too much trouble with it. Personally I think the boat missions are way fucking worse.

 

[Takodachi]

White Phosphorous from Spec Ops.

It's a nightmarishly grisly scene. Not a lot of games at that time had the balls to hold you down and show the absolute destruction you just committed.

Even outside the horrific imagery, this is the scene that will make or break the game for you. Either you get interested in the game's philosophical debates over violence and player involvement, or you call the game out on blaming you for something it told you to do and relying on cheap tricks to guilt-trip you. It effectively boils down the discussion over Spec Ops' themes and effectiveness down to one incredibly visceral scene.

Yeah, no, this part can fuck right off.
It's such a lazy way to push the "war is bad, m'kay?" argument that realistically speaking is bullshit, because I dont know many people that believe that "war is super cool and we should totally bomb the rest of the world".
But that aside, what bothers me the most is how cheap it feels, there is no way to avoid this scene other that just turning off the console, it doesnt build up or give you another way to deal with the enemies, what else was i supposed to do when YOU forced me kill all those civilians? not play the fucking game?

Like... it's a videogame, calm the fuck down. You'll never be a book or a movie, your artistic value is that of a hangout at a strip club at best.

 

[MuuMuu Bunnylips]

White Phosphorous from Spec Ops.

It's a nightmarishly grisly scene. Not a lot of games at that time had the balls to hold you down and show the absolute destruction you just committed.

Even outside the horrific imagery, this is the scene that will make or break the game for you. Either you get interested in the game's philosophical debates over violence and player involvement, or you call the game out on blaming you for something it told you to do and relying on cheap tricks to guilt-trip you. It effectively boils down the discussion over Spec Ops' themes and effectiveness down to one incredibly visceral scene.

Actually my first though was "Good idea. Why waste ammo if you have the means to deal with the problem quickly?"

My second was "These people make the funniest noise when they die".

There's no such thing as 'civilians', there's 'enemies that haven't been given guns'.

 

[Duncan Hills Coffee]

Yeah, no, this part can fuck right off.
It's such a lazy way to push the "war is bad, m'kay?" argument that realistically speaking is bullshit, because I dont know many people that believe that "war is super cool and we should totally bomb the rest of the world".
But that aside, what bothers me the most is how cheap it feels, there is no way to avoid this scene other that just turning off the console, it doesnt build up or give you another way to deal with the enemies, what else was i supposed to do when YOU forced me kill all those civilians? not play the fucking game?

Hence why I said that it's the "make or break" part of the game, and that a lot of people say that it's a cheap way to make the player they feel guilty for something the game forced them to do.

 

[DumbDude42]

not sure about controversial but the first modern warfare had some really neat stuff

the opening where you witness the aftermath of a coup from the perspective of the president that was just coup'd out of office was really cool

 

[Jason Wynn]

Back in the day you'd hear certain people REEEE'ing about Pyramid Head raping the mannequin in the apartment stage of Silent Hill 2. Not a stage, but Angela's strong hints of her father molesting her and flirting with the idea of suicide were pretty heavy for 2001 as well.

 

[Oskar Dirlewanger]

de_dust2

 

[Scandinadian Bacon]

White Phosphorous from Spec Ops.

It's a nightmarishly grisly scene. Not a lot of games at that time had the balls to hold you down and show the absolute destruction you just committed.

Even outside the horrific imagery, this is the scene that will make or break the game for you. Either you get interested in the game's philosophical debates over violence and player involvement, or you call the game out on blaming you for something it told you to do and relying on cheap tricks to guilt-trip you.

Absolutely game breaking for me because I was paying the fuck attention, knew what the fuck was up in that area, and spent the entire mission making sure I didn't harm any civilians.

Along those lines, how about the last fucking level of Black & White 2? Yeah Peter Molyneux, I'm calling you the fuck out again. Why the fuck did you encourage me to play your entire fucking game as a good god, painstakingly winning every map via cultural victory which takes FOR FUCKING EVER, and then when I get to the last mission the good adviser says: "Well shit, this guy is really really evil. Raise an army and wipe them out!!"

Fuck you, Peter. Fuck you to purgatory.

 

[Rei is shit]

Anyone who says the water temple level in OOT is just bad at games.

 

[Slowpoke Sonic]

From GTA series: Demolition man in gta vc,because in 2000's many people complained that this mission sucks and it's hard. By the book in GTA 5 where you must torture a innocent immigrant.The Deal ending from Gta 4 ,where Niko's best friend must be killed .

what about the wrong side of the tracks

you shoot some cholos on a train and its hard af

 

[CivilianOfTheFandomWars]

I really liked the game and thought the themes were interesting, (although its source material Heart of Darkness definitely outshines it,) but that scene was bullshit. It's not only that the game tells you to do it, it outright forces you to in order to move forward. The scene was effective, but not at all earned.

That's a fair take, but I liked the scene. To me, the story wasn't about you, but about the main characters whom you are following around. Yes, you play as the main guy, but you are not the main guy. I think that the White Phosphorus scene, to me, cemented the idea that this is his story, not yours, and he is making these decisions.
That's how I see it, anyways.

 

[Marissa Moira]

White Phosphorous was basically what happens in the first level of Divinity Original Sin II.

You have to kill everyone or you don't get enough EXP.

Also the WP scene wasn't gorey enough, the textures were too muddled. You have your Crispy Burny Bois and Skeleton Lads now you could look up the real shit on the internet and compare. The horrifying and shock factor was pretty dull. If anything they really should have showed it up close and not through a cut scene. It's a third person game with some first person mechanics all this shocking shit should have happened in real time through the player's perspective it would have worked better.

 

[MrTroll]

I love watching gamers discuss Spec Ops: The Line. It reveals who the cultural illiterates are when they start gushing over a mediocre third-person-shooter because its story (badly) rips off some books and movies they've never read or watched.