You might think that shot of Lara Croft sticking her head out of a literal bloodbath looks a bit Apocalypse Now, but it's actually a reference to 2005 horror movie The Descent.
Spec Ops: The Line made me rethink my moral compass, Life is Strange made me rethink time travel, and the Overlord DLC made me rethink ever sleeping again.
Dragon Age Origins made me rethink story narratives. When you’re in the Dwarf kingdom and you say: People say you poisoned your father! Just as many say Harrowmount did! And when Loghain says “I did what I did to save my soldiers! The King wanted glory and he were severely outmatched!” Why send people to kill us?! BECAUSE YOU ACCUSED ME OF TREASON AND TRIED TO KILL ME!
Buddy, without Shepard and the Normandy crew the whole galaxy in Mass Effect universe is a horror game. Take away the ultimate badassery of Shepard and allies and what is left? You don't even need to go far all you have too do is just imagine yourself playing as a civilian in Eden Prime hours before Shepard arrival. It's a fkg horror movie complete with space zombies, murderer alien robots, eldritch hooror creature and alien antichrist. And that is literally just the first mission of the first game. There's plenty more, in some cases if you play as renegade Sheoard itself could be the monster...
@@efxnews4776 I don't disagree, you could also make a case for the Reapers and cosmic horror. The reason I picked this particular quest is how personal and surprising it was.
@@GameTalesHQ Agreed. Many people have called Mass Effect Lovecraftian but I'd dispute that since the Reapers are eventually able to be understood and humanity is able to conquer them. Overlord on its own would still work as a standalone game or horror movie. The plot is basically a hundred X-Files episodes; some ruthless scientist is screwing around, unleashes horror, and Shepard is Mulder and Scully.
Yeah, I've see the Collectors liquefying humans to created a human-like Reaper and that would have been the fate for all of humanity & the other allied alien species if it had not been for Shepherd
Was this so revolutionary a decade ago? I may have just missed the time. Because I see: American empire bad, American forever war bad propaganda everywhere! I feel like I've heard these talking points done to death [I agree with these ideas and am still sick of them]
@@jackalcoyote8777 The war = bad sentiment is, of course, nothing new, but this game marks the first time it was truly explored in depth through the gaming medium and its mechanics. It was different from the typical shooter mold that dominated the era. I can count on two hands the number of games I've played that use mechanics to explore deeper existential and philosophical themes, and I think Spec Ops is one of the best.
@@jackalcoyote8777that’s just what it is circled around online The game was and is still pretty revolutionary for having the actual balls to commit to it. Cause 9 times out of 10, there are still more war games that portray the US as the good guys than the bad ones. Heck you probably won’t even able to find like 5 different titles that portray the US as bad
@longphan7656 I guess it's just the circles I run in then. It's rare for me to see anything that portrays the US Empire and it's armies and intelligence forces as anything but evil exploiters. At best, they're clueless patriots easily manipulated by politicians and businessmen.
If you have a sibling or someone who has disabilities like learning, talking and you are his mentor/guardian and promises them that everything is fine and nothing to worry about. I would advise to be prepared for Mass Effect 2 Project Overlord. Cause these last moments has broken my heart and sometimes making cry. Also great edit and content
I didn't want to delve too deeply into that aspect of the story since I don't have any experience being a mentor or guardian. However, I can imagine that this will make the story even more heartbreaking. Thanks for noticing the edit! I put a lot of work into it :)
I work with autistic people as a behavioral health provider and the way Gavin talks about David makes my skin crawl. It seems like a "good" stereotype to paint David as a genius but I felt dread as soon as I heard the way he talked about David only in terms of what society perceives as valuable. Autistic people aren't super humans and there are plenty who are brilliant but you'll never know because they won't express it unless you're willing to see what value it brings to /them/ and not /you/. David feels like an object to Gavin and I hate how true this is of so many people's perspective on autistic folks. Given Gavin is supposed to be a bad guy, it makes sense why he would talk like that, but I think if you weren't aware of the dangerous game his "praise" implies is going on then it will completely blind side you.
The intention is made clear by the end of the DLC. Fortunately, you can meet David again in the following game. He’s much better off in Grissom Academy
The DLC was much harder on a replay, because when I replayed the trilogy, I was late diagnosed. It was bad the first time, but the second time I understood why what He said felt so Wrong. It was one of the only missions in 2 I had to get up and walk around to vent my frustration and rage. And by the second replay, my little brothers were diagnosed. In that moment, I understood why people break controllers and screens in rage
Still , Ready or Not takes the cake for me. The mundanity and matter of fact delivery of all the horror, the fact that all this is actually real and happening all around us. Just perfect storm
Ready or Not has some of the best environmental storytelling, with an incredible amount of detail put into its maps. However, I’d argue the game didn’t take that much of a dark turn-it’s dark from the start and only gets darker from there. The horror elements are certainly unexpected for the genre, though!
I definitely agree that it’s more about the vibe. And it’s more of a sadness, violence and things going downhill. But, port Hokan, the “container” was a bit of a jumpscare for me, what was fascinating, is it gets worse the more you linger, not the other way around. Maybe it is just me, but Talent Agency gets under my skin stronger than Ishimura
Everything about Spec Ops: The Line will always give me chills every time I see it or play it. That game played out in a way I never expected. I had no idea what I was going in to when a friend of mine got it for me on steam years ago. I haven't ever forgotten. Welcome to Dubai, gentlemen.
Finding out the truth about David Archer always gets me. I can even hear his screams before the reveal which makes the whole mission even more heartbreaking
Playing the overlord dlc as an autistic person was painful and triggering but it was worth it to get to save David and see him in ME3. In a lot of ways it felt like not only a larger story about morality and how far is too far but how society often doesn’t treat autistic individuals as humans with autonomy or feelings. It was healing to get to save David and tell his brother to fuck off. Though from now on if I ever replay ME2 I ask my fiancee to play that dlc for me so I don’t get upset but can see him happy in 3. She’s the best.
I haven't played ME2 and possibly never will just because I already have so many unfinished games I need to get through, but like. I immediately went "oh no" at the phrase "his Autistic mind", and I hoped there was an option to _shoot the man_ when he called David a "human computer" in that hologram flashback thing. That remark specifically made me feel a kind of hostility that I generally cannot feel towards fictional characters. I'm so glad to hear they follow up on David in 3 and let you see him thriving instead of being in a sensory meltdown torture machine.
I played Spec Ops: The Line as a very young teen and it completely changed the way I think. It still lives in my head rent free and I'm nearly 27 years old
Life is Strange to me is a perfect depiction of CONSEQUENCE. I remember that around the time it launched, there was a lot of people being interested in how time travel would work in a choice game, because the whole shtick up until then was "every choice generates a loss" (meaning that because you chose path A, you can no longer experience path B, therefore it's lost to you, for example). With LiS, every choice generates a consequence, and you end up not having to choose what will happen, but rather which consequence you are ready to face, because every choice, invariably, leeds to a consequence...
I HATE LIS! Chloe is such a pathetic, selfish narcissist and tries to make everyone else as miserable as she is! Rachel is no better! Max lacks a personality! None of the characters are likeable!
Nonary games and zero time Delema, they made me second guess time travel and my consequence to action.. with a touch of physiological horror this was wayyy before life is strange though. I'm pretty sure I know what I'm downloading tomorrow though.
@@shinai4307 I haven't heard of those games, but I love me some horror, are they on steam? I would like to check them out, they sound right up my alley 😂
This was great! Another entry I'd like to put forward is Halo: CE when you first meet the Flood. Game goes from a great but relatively standard sci-fi shooter (with obvious story element exceptions) filled with enemies to a mostly empty map for most of the level. You're trying to rescue the Captain and the crew he took to investigate the area, only to find out that the ultra advanced aliens of the Covenant you've been killing so far are absolutely terrified of something inside the base. Cue blocked rooms filled with dead bodies, eerie silence, finding the Covenant with their guns turned towards the inside of the base, and a shell shocked marine that has absolutely lost his mind and won't stop shooting you, among so many other things. Absolutely set the stage for the Flood for the rest of the franchise.
skipped the ME part because havent finished the franchise but yeah i remember when i first played that mission in spec ops , i even knew the big reveal and it still got me , chills and not the type you get for a good ost , it was just chills
Good of you to skip that part, I wouldn't want to spoil it for you! Mass Effect is absolutely amazing. And yeah, I wish more games dared to do stuff like Spec Ops did. Hard to pull of as a AAA studio nowadays (even back then tbh)
Props to The Line for having balls. CoD as a series was at its best when it offered challenging moral situations which made you question the concept of warfare and the human cost involved. We need more deep explorations like that in the series to balance out whatever dull multiplayer experience they're pushing now.
It is a crime you didn’t play the audio of Chloe finding Rachel’s body. I didn’t play the game but instead watched a playthrough and that moment was chilling. Ashley Burch sold that moment as the devastating reveal it was.
Another game that fits into this is the Yakuza spin-off “Judgment”, it starts as the tipical “ private detective investigates a murder case”, i was not prepared for the dark turns it gets, specially the final one… still gives me chills
That quest in ME:2 is absolutely fantastic. I always thought that David was trying to communicate with you as you got closer. At least that quest has a solid ending if you do the right thing.
I played the Mass Effect games completely blind, I’d heard of them before of course but I didn’t know anything about the plot or anything. Played a paragon route the first time but skipped a bunch of stuff because I was so sucked in. Decided to do a more thorough playthrough with a renegade Shepard, and even though I’d made some downright genocidal decisions and seen some fucked up shit, I was NOT prepared for Overlord. I was playing it alone at night and I tell you no other game, not even horror games I’ve played, have given me that much of a sense of dread. When I finished it I just sat staring at my TV for like 5 minutes and then went to bed. Couldn’t sleep.
I have to say, the Overlord DLC was the one mission in the Mass Effect trilogy that managed to unnerve me. I think a lot of my unease on the mission was due to just how at odds with typical Mass Effect design the interface device was. It was pretty jarring to finally reach David and go from the typical grey-plastic-and-holographic-display Mass Effect aesthetic to something that wouldn't look out of place in Warhammer 40k (I'm thinking of Penitent Engines, or anything connected to the Adeptus Mechanicus.)
Fun fact for me, when I first played Operation Overlord for the first time, when he asked me to let him have his brother, i screamed to the screen, F*CK OFF!
ME3 spoilers: Should you go the Paragon route in the ME2 DLC, David will appear again on the optional Grissom Academy mission, where Cerberus is attacking both the school and its students. David will be helping two other students in keeping a biotic barrier up, but also unlocks a room containing a weapon. Gavin also appears, and in the case of the Paragon route, he would have defected from Cerberus and wiped all data from Project Overlord, thus them putting out a hit on him, as a result of the immense guilt of using his brother as an unwilling test subject. If you went right away to this mission, you'd get both as war assets.
@@SariniyaKiyu They drag them to an abandoned building to harvest their organs. Or: YOU'RE TURNING PEOPLE INTO GLUE! As the man himself puts it eloquently.
That Overlord DLC for Mass Effect 2 is damn perfect. Great eerie atmosphere and the awful things that were done to David. BY HIS OWN BROTHER. Damn. That is some really heavy stuff.
Still for me the first uncharted game shocked me the most when it suddenly turned to horror in the bunker chapter you are trapped with loads of creepy mutants that can only be killed with gunfire and you have to fight your way out against loads of them armed with just a machine gun - one of the greatest twists in a game I’ve ever played
Me and my best friend have talked at length about Overlord DLC. An interesting thing is that the ethics conversation reaches farther than just the DLC, especially if/when you meet Gavin in ME3. We both chose to save David. We both forgive easily. But we talked at length about Gavin's ethics and the responses you can give him in ME3. We both differed. We still hated what he'd done, but it was about if a man can change after doing something so heinous to his own brother. Its still something we've agreed to disagree on. I like your analysis of it as I notice something new every time I do another playthrough. Its good to see someone bring it up (as well as SO:TL. Oldie but a goodie for morals)
SpecOps, I ❤️ this game and still play it. ❤️ having a physical copy of this game. My friend played this game 2 weeks ago, and he was thinking how this could have really changed his life if he was really doing this in real life. I told him it's a war crime and your life is over
That was really a joy to watch! Even though I haven't played any of these games I think you conveyed the story very well and I feel like I got a glimpse of that feeling I figure you have experienced. Moments like these really add to the emotional and immersive experiences when playing games. I'm excited for more content like this ❤!
I know everyone loves to shout out the mission 343 Guilty Spark from Halo CE, but honestly the Composer in Halo 4 doesnt get enough credit. Rushing to secure the Forerunner artifact only for it to be suddenly and violently activated, disturbingly composing everyone around Chief, still sticks with me almost as much as the Flood. Great vid!
Regarding overlord, don’t know if I chose to ignore it or I forgot it until I picked up the series again, but I’ve just recently realizes David had a surgical halo on him along with everything else his brother forced on him…
Overlord in the Mass Effect DLC caught me incredibly off guard. I felt that something was very very very wrong and I didn’t trust Gavin. My husband had not played the DLC and we were HEARTBROKEN and horrified
I've always found that the prisoner segment of Tomb Raider (2013) reminded me of Outlast, which is one of my favourite horror games. But that section was unexpectedly scary in the action adventure game
I've just seen the game Mouthwashing, indie, poor graphics, short, but just brutal. It goes places you can't imagine when it starts as a sci fi mistery drama where you think you'll just be watching how they will manage it with short supplies and such. Worth a watch, just the gameplay or some story explained video maybe
My recent favorite would be from Cloudpunk, just in the ending, but the story was built from the beginning piece by piece as we on comms with Control (known later as Ben), and in the ending found out he was an automata (like AI program, but mind and memories from real human brain), knowing the story how he became Control kinda sad and so dark to think.
@@GameTalesHQ its a must, first it was like just a game for chill as no action or shootout etc. But when you focus on the story, feel the atmosphere of Nivalis (the city) it’s just perfect for me.
I played the blackops the line and that was the moment that the game got grip of me.. i will stop watching from that moment to get spoilers from other games with similar effect.
It really shows what kind of monster Gavin when paragon Shepard shows anger and disgust and beats Gavin with a gun. All of those voice lines and actions are usually reserved for renegade Shepard. And all totally justified as even the player is probably feeling the same, especially if you are neurodivergent or know someone who are.
Thief 3 also had a part where it suddenly became a horror game (the one with the locked attic) Subnautica is also terrifying without actually trying to be a horror game.
These examples are 🔥🔥🔥 . Well done with the video, game 3 specially was unexpected! Overall horror works best when you don't expect it. Oddly enough, last time I encountered so.ething similar was Starfield 😅
In a similar vein, I had thought of other dark twists in games. Example that I remember and must mean they were memorable to an extent, Saints Row 1 (ending cutscene) Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic when it’s revealed who the player character actually is, and I would be amiss if I didn’t find a way to mention XIII as the character begins to regain their memories. Not that the twist was the same in those games, but games that I felt have memorial twists that make it hard to look at the game the same way on replays.
@@GameTalesHQ I hope you find the time to give them a shot! Star Wars: KoToR can easily eat up 50+ hours for a play through for a first timer if you like to make sure you explore everything. The other two games would have much shorter time investments, but worthwhile in my opinion.
Nonary game 1&2 + Zero time Delema they were really fun series. Honestly they still live up today, if you can handle the play style and escape rooms. imma finally play life is strange. You kinda sold it to me.
@@schruteforce People generally dislike these sections; I'm not a huge fan either, but I do appreciate how they add a sense of scale to the games. And yeah, the enviroments were pretty for sure!
I find that a lot of people feel the need to express their thoughts on this game when they finish it. We have so many video docs and the like because of just how it impacts people. If (and when) you decide to make a video about it, I bet it will be awesome
@@Skeletoonz Well, I'm planning to include it in my next video already! And that's before I know about the ending haha. The video is gonna be about 'Games that make full use of the medium". Basically, game narratives that would be hard or impossible to adapt to other artforms. Seems like a perfect fit already!
weird addition maybe but genshin has this feeling for me, with the war happening rn and the abyss's effects on the lands its getting more darker and deeper
We need more games that cross the line (pun intended) when it comes to depicting war. World at War showed that war is hell. Spec Ops: The Line showed people are capable of spectacularly terrible things. We’re so afraid of telling a gripping story, where the lines between right and wrong, good and evil, good vs. bad guys, are incredibly thin, and blurry at BEST.
Spec Ops is a game that has stayed with me since I played it. It has been the single game that just replays in my head time and time again. Tbh, I will be adapting part of it into my multiverse d&d camapign. Its gonna be a hell of a ride.
Brothers in arms!! ❤️ One of the classic shooters that has the tone of the game change, i feel like they incorporated that type of story/gameplay in even there first release
you can go for sekiro too, senpou temple monks to make their own divine child and get the immortality, literally kidnap kids and do experiment on them and if they are unsuccessful they turn them into taro troops or centipede or the kids just dies.
"I'm gonna do good tomorrow though. God knows I've skrewed things up before and probably shouda stayed out of the Army in the first place instead of signing up because of what I thought Dad would think. But that doesn't really matter now. Tomorrow I'm gonna do good. No matter what it takes. Take care, okay? Bye Mom. I love you." - CPT Bannon
i know the video specifies it isn't talking about jump scares, but. the fucking book jumpscare in harry potter is the only jumpscare to have ever gotten me- presumably because it's a children's movie about wizards and i was NOT expecting that shit. i was like 22 the first time i saw it
One moment for me is in Hollow Knight. You work so hard to finally approach your sibling, the Hollow Knight, who has been spewing infection across all of Hallownest infecting the minds of all its citizens. You fight and fight, until it lets out a screech. With that, its music shifts from a cryptic battle theme to a slow theme of dread and despair. And after that, the Hollow Knight turns its weapon on itself and begins stabbing its chest. It's finally become sentient and sees all the damage it caused. It recognizes this and in between fighting you, it fights itself and in turn the Radiance (the source of the infection). The musics swells and swells getting more dramatic as the Hollow Knight's movements become slower as it focuses more on killing itself rather than you. And once you kill your sibling, you absorb and seal the infection. Doing what your sibling could not, sealed away, forever
wow, a videogame video essay with post-ironic horror themes that talks about spec ops the line! theres only like 500000000 of those already available! and wow, the guy talking has a low-tone unenthustiastic voice???? this is amazing!
@@GameTalesHQ yes it is it totally shifted the tone of Mafia 2 for me after that. I vividly remember playing it as a child / preteen and I tell you it shocked me.
YESSS SPEC OPS IS SO GOOD AND UNDERATED, I WISH EVERYONE KNEW HOW GOOD IT IS, i remember buying it one day my partner was away and i was by myself, i played it all in one sitting and was basically screaming towards the end. Thats the only game ive ever done that for
Didnt know the third and must say, as an autist it is hard to swallow the additional casual ableism that comes with it. (might not been their intention, but could have been avoided). Autism and savant syndrome (already dumb to call it a syndrome) are not the same. savants are extremely more rare and neither are like a "super computer" either if its math (and I yeah obviously people would agree and think his brother is evil. but many people, especially back than, werent aware of what either else meant. plus the likely stereotypical representation in the game - at least from footage used here). otherwise, obviously a great video by you and agree, it hits different and kinda special in those ways u dont expect horror.
Thank you! And yes, other people have pointed out that the representation wasn't great. I don't have any knowledge or experience on the subject, so I kept it broad.
I had a similar experience with Spec Ops. I had no clue about the story until I played it. I thought it was just another mindless FPS. First time a game every depressed me. 10/10
Lets play Tunic, a cute adventure with a little fox, what could go wrong, mmmh the power obelisks make a strange noise, o this is the place where they come from, o, o crap, wtf.
What I like about the ME Overlord dlc is that when you go to Grissom Academy in 3, David is happy and thriving because they did know how to help him.
I love the ripple effects troughout the series. Grissom Academy is one of my favorite moments as well!
Ngl, that scene made me tear up a bit.
10:21 I remember when I first played that DLC and heard that and thought it said "please, make it stop" Immediately changed the tones up.
You've got a sharp ear!
Reminds me of the zombies in Half-Life 2, screaming, "Oh god, help me!" in reverse.
Same!
You might think that shot of Lara Croft sticking her head out of a literal bloodbath looks a bit Apocalypse Now, but it's actually a reference to 2005 horror movie The Descent.
I'm actually a giant fan of The Descent! Instantly recognized it when I first saw it :)
@@GameTalesHQ Ah, I see you are a man of culture as well.
Oh yeah! that shot and when you are scrambling up the hill of bones toward the light I was like, "someone definitely watched The Descent"
@@GameTalesHQ me too, it is a great homage. :)
On the other hand, Spec Ops: The Line is based on the same source material as Apocalypse Now.
Spec Ops: The Line made me rethink my moral compass, Life is Strange made me rethink time travel, and the Overlord DLC made me rethink ever sleeping again.
That's a lot of rethinking! Thanks for stopping by again :)
do you feel like a hero yet?
@@conan2096 I understood that reference, classic
Dragon Age Origins made me rethink story narratives.
When you’re in the Dwarf kingdom and you say:
People say you poisoned your father!
Just as many say Harrowmount did!
And when Loghain says “I did what I did to save my soldiers! The King wanted glory and he were severely outmatched!”
Why send people to kill us?!
BECAUSE YOU ACCUSED ME OF TREASON AND TRIED TO KILL ME!
>rethink time travel
By virtue of it being one of the worst examples of time travel plot?
Buddy, without Shepard and the Normandy crew the whole galaxy in Mass Effect universe is a horror game.
Take away the ultimate badassery of Shepard and allies and what is left?
You don't even need to go far all you have too do is just imagine yourself playing as a civilian in Eden Prime hours before Shepard arrival.
It's a fkg horror movie complete with space zombies, murderer alien robots, eldritch hooror creature and alien antichrist.
And that is literally just the first mission of the first game.
There's plenty more, in some cases if you play as renegade Sheoard itself could be the monster...
@@efxnews4776 I don't disagree, you could also make a case for the Reapers and cosmic horror. The reason I picked this particular quest is how personal and surprising it was.
@@GameTalesHQ Agreed. Many people have called Mass Effect Lovecraftian but I'd dispute that since the Reapers are eventually able to be understood and humanity is able to conquer them. Overlord on its own would still work as a standalone game or horror movie. The plot is basically a hundred X-Files episodes; some ruthless scientist is screwing around, unleashes horror, and Shepard is Mulder and Scully.
Yeah, I've see the Collectors liquefying humans to created a human-like Reaper and that would have been the fate for all of humanity & the other allied alien species if it had not been for Shepherd
Spec Ops the Line is what “subverting expectations” should be like
@@nont18411 I wish more games would have the guts to do this kind of thing
Was this so revolutionary a decade ago? I may have just missed the time.
Because I see: American empire bad, American forever war bad propaganda everywhere! I feel like I've heard these talking points done to death [I agree with these ideas and am still sick of them]
@@jackalcoyote8777 The war = bad sentiment is, of course, nothing new, but this game marks the first time it was truly explored in depth through the gaming medium and its mechanics. It was different from the typical shooter mold that dominated the era. I can count on two hands the number of games I've played that use mechanics to explore deeper existential and philosophical themes, and I think Spec Ops is one of the best.
@@jackalcoyote8777that’s just what it is circled around online
The game was and is still pretty revolutionary for having the actual balls to commit to it. Cause 9 times out of 10, there are still more war games that portray the US as the good guys than the bad ones.
Heck you probably won’t even able to find like 5 different titles that portray the US as bad
@longphan7656 I guess it's just the circles I run in then. It's rare for me to see anything that portrays the US Empire and it's armies and intelligence forces as anything but evil exploiters. At best, they're clueless patriots easily manipulated by politicians and businessmen.
If you have a sibling or someone who has disabilities like learning, talking and you are his mentor/guardian and promises them that everything is fine and nothing to worry about. I would advise to be prepared for Mass Effect 2 Project Overlord. Cause these last moments has broken my heart and sometimes making cry. Also great edit and content
I didn't want to delve too deeply into that aspect of the story since I don't have any experience being a mentor or guardian. However, I can imagine that this will make the story even more heartbreaking.
Thanks for noticing the edit! I put a lot of work into it :)
The crazy thing is, I have Autism and I wanna say some Dyslexia, and I've been drawn to video games since 2017.
Goodness, I myself am on the way of being diagnosed with autism and I'm horrified by this. I had never seen that game in my life
I work with autistic people as a behavioral health provider and the way Gavin talks about David makes my skin crawl. It seems like a "good" stereotype to paint David as a genius but I felt dread as soon as I heard the way he talked about David only in terms of what society perceives as valuable. Autistic people aren't super humans and there are plenty who are brilliant but you'll never know because they won't express it unless you're willing to see what value it brings to /them/ and not /you/. David feels like an object to Gavin and I hate how true this is of so many people's perspective on autistic folks. Given Gavin is supposed to be a bad guy, it makes sense why he would talk like that, but I think if you weren't aware of the dangerous game his "praise" implies is going on then it will completely blind side you.
The intention is made clear by the end of the DLC.
Fortunately, you can meet David again in the following game. He’s much better off in Grissom Academy
The DLC was much harder on a replay, because when I replayed the trilogy, I was late diagnosed. It was bad the first time, but the second time I understood why what He said felt so Wrong. It was one of the only missions in 2 I had to get up and walk around to vent my frustration and rage. And by the second replay, my little brothers were diagnosed. In that moment, I understood why people break controllers and screens in rage
Still , Ready or Not takes the cake for me. The mundanity and matter of fact delivery of all the horror, the fact that all this is actually real and happening all around us. Just perfect storm
Ready or Not has some of the best environmental storytelling, with an incredible amount of detail put into its maps. However, I’d argue the game didn’t take that much of a dark turn-it’s dark from the start and only gets darker from there. The horror elements are certainly unexpected for the genre, though!
I definitely agree that it’s more about the vibe. And it’s more of a sadness, violence and things going downhill. But, port Hokan, the “container” was a bit of a jumpscare for me, what was fascinating, is it gets worse the more you linger, not the other way around. Maybe it is just me, but Talent Agency gets under my skin stronger than Ishimura
There is a reason why aftermath of war is censored. We should strive to make peace to end the bloodshed for both sides.
Everything about Spec Ops: The Line will always give me chills every time I see it or play it. That game played out in a way I never expected. I had no idea what I was going in to when a friend of mine got it for me on steam years ago. I haven't ever forgotten. Welcome to Dubai, gentlemen.
Finding out the truth about David Archer always gets me. I can even hear his screams before the reveal which makes the whole mission even more heartbreaking
Spec ops: the line had my entire guts sink into a black hole.. what an amazing delivery of dark and disturbing real events
Playing the overlord dlc as an autistic person was painful and triggering but it was worth it to get to save David and see him in ME3. In a lot of ways it felt like not only a larger story about morality and how far is too far but how society often doesn’t treat autistic individuals as humans with autonomy or feelings. It was healing to get to save David and tell his brother to fuck off. Though from now on if I ever replay ME2 I ask my fiancee to play that dlc for me so I don’t get upset but can see him happy in 3. She’s the best.
I haven't played ME2 and possibly never will just because I already have so many unfinished games I need to get through, but like. I immediately went "oh no" at the phrase "his Autistic mind", and I hoped there was an option to _shoot the man_ when he called David a "human computer" in that hologram flashback thing. That remark specifically made me feel a kind of hostility that I generally cannot feel towards fictional characters. I'm so glad to hear they follow up on David in 3 and let you see him thriving instead of being in a sensory meltdown torture machine.
"...while Chloe reveals that her best friend, Rachel Amber..."
'Best friend'? The award for Understatement of the Century goes to... 🤣
Hahah. Well, at the start of the game it's still a bit ambiguous what exactly they were. Didn't want to risk spoiling more than necessary!
And this, my friends, is lesbian erasure
I played Spec Ops: The Line as a very young teen and it completely changed the way I think. It still lives in my head rent free and I'm nearly 27 years old
Oh... the last of the 90s kids... lets brave that storm bro.
Life is Strange to me is a perfect depiction of CONSEQUENCE. I remember that around the time it launched, there was a lot of people being interested in how time travel would work in a choice game, because the whole shtick up until then was "every choice generates a loss" (meaning that because you chose path A, you can no longer experience path B, therefore it's lost to you, for example). With LiS, every choice generates a consequence, and you end up not having to choose what will happen, but rather which consequence you are ready to face, because every choice, invariably, leeds to a consequence...
I HATE LIS! Chloe is such a pathetic, selfish narcissist and tries to make everyone else as miserable as she is! Rachel is no better! Max lacks a personality! None of the characters are likeable!
Nonary games and zero time Delema, they made me second guess time travel and my consequence to action.. with a touch of physiological horror this was wayyy before life is strange though. I'm pretty sure I know what I'm downloading tomorrow though.
@@shinai4307 I haven't heard of those games, but I love me some horror, are they on steam? I would like to check them out, they sound right up my alley 😂
or maybe there is nothing that you said, just a bad written plot with nothing in it
@@Exel3ncebro move on with your life she'll never notice you
This was great! Another entry I'd like to put forward is Halo: CE when you first meet the Flood. Game goes from a great but relatively standard sci-fi shooter (with obvious story element exceptions) filled with enemies to a mostly empty map for most of the level. You're trying to rescue the Captain and the crew he took to investigate the area, only to find out that the ultra advanced aliens of the Covenant you've been killing so far are absolutely terrified of something inside the base. Cue blocked rooms filled with dead bodies, eerie silence, finding the Covenant with their guns turned towards the inside of the base, and a shell shocked marine that has absolutely lost his mind and won't stop shooting you, among so many other things. Absolutely set the stage for the Flood for the rest of the franchise.
skipped the ME part because havent finished the franchise but yeah i remember when i first played that mission in spec ops , i even knew the big reveal and it still got me , chills and not the type you get for a good ost , it was just chills
Good of you to skip that part, I wouldn't want to spoil it for you! Mass Effect is absolutely amazing. And yeah, I wish more games dared to do stuff like Spec Ops did. Hard to pull of as a AAA studio nowadays (even back then tbh)
Props to The Line for having balls. CoD as a series was at its best when it offered challenging moral situations which made you question the concept of warfare and the human cost involved. We need more deep explorations like that in the series to balance out whatever dull multiplayer experience they're pushing now.
It is a crime you didn’t play the audio of Chloe finding Rachel’s body. I didn’t play the game but instead watched a playthrough and that moment was chilling. Ashley Burch sold that moment as the devastating reveal it was.
Amazing performance! I wanted to keep the pace of the video going
@ that’s fair, it was just such a great scene
Another game that fits into this is the Yakuza spin-off “Judgment”, it starts as the tipical “ private detective investigates a murder case”, i was not prepared for the dark turns it gets, specially the final one… still gives me chills
Halo ce did this great with the flood and the horrific flesh mess captain keys
That quest in ME:2 is absolutely fantastic. I always thought that David was trying to communicate with you as you got closer. At least that quest has a solid ending if you do the right thing.
I played the Mass Effect games completely blind, I’d heard of them before of course but I didn’t know anything about the plot or anything. Played a paragon route the first time but skipped a bunch of stuff because I was so sucked in. Decided to do a more thorough playthrough with a renegade Shepard, and even though I’d made some downright genocidal decisions and seen some fucked up shit, I was NOT prepared for Overlord.
I was playing it alone at night and I tell you no other game, not even horror games I’ve played, have given me that much of a sense of dread. When I finished it I just sat staring at my TV for like 5 minutes and then went to bed. Couldn’t sleep.
Every time I see even a split second of signalis in a video essay my head perks up like “my hyperfixation???👀👀👀👀”
David Archer's story is heartbreaking. I adore the Mass Effect series, have played it several times...I will always save him. Always.
Id also say the brood mother reveal in dragon age origins was a dark turn
Origins did go pretty dark at times for sure!
I have to say, the Overlord DLC was the one mission in the Mass Effect trilogy that managed to unnerve me. I think a lot of my unease on the mission was due to just how at odds with typical Mass Effect design the interface device was. It was pretty jarring to finally reach David and go from the typical grey-plastic-and-holographic-display Mass Effect aesthetic to something that wouldn't look out of place in Warhammer 40k (I'm thinking of Penitent Engines, or anything connected to the Adeptus Mechanicus.)
Fun fact for me, when I first played Operation Overlord for the first time, when he asked me to let him have his brother, i screamed to the screen, F*CK OFF!
ME3 spoilers:
Should you go the Paragon route in the ME2 DLC, David will appear again on the optional Grissom Academy mission, where Cerberus is attacking both the school and its students. David will be helping two other students in keeping a biotic barrier up, but also unlocks a room containing a weapon. Gavin also appears, and in the case of the Paragon route, he would have defected from Cerberus and wiped all data from Project Overlord, thus them putting out a hit on him, as a result of the immense guilt of using his brother as an unwilling test subject. If you went right away to this mission, you'd get both as war assets.
ME3 spoilers:
I love the dialogue when you met him again :)
The way only three games were touched on here when I can think of so, so many more is so scary. Please do more of these😭
What would be your picks? I might do another in the future.
I remember the twist in Max Payne 3. Regarding why the corrupt cops were kidnapping the poor folks from the favelas.
uh, context?
@@SariniyaKiyu They drag them to an abandoned building to harvest their organs. Or: YOU'RE TURNING PEOPLE INTO GLUE! As the man himself puts it eloquently.
organ theft
That Overlord DLC for Mass Effect 2 is damn perfect.
Great eerie atmosphere and the awful things that were done to David. BY HIS OWN BROTHER.
Damn. That is some really heavy stuff.
Still for me the first uncharted game shocked me the most when it suddenly turned to horror in the bunker chapter you are trapped with loads of creepy mutants that can only be killed with gunfire and you have to fight your way out against loads of them armed with just a machine gun - one of the greatest twists in a game I’ve ever played
Me and my best friend have talked at length about Overlord DLC. An interesting thing is that the ethics conversation reaches farther than just the DLC, especially if/when you meet Gavin in ME3. We both chose to save David. We both forgive easily. But we talked at length about Gavin's ethics and the responses you can give him in ME3. We both differed. We still hated what he'd done, but it was about if a man can change after doing something so heinous to his own brother. Its still something we've agreed to disagree on. I like your analysis of it as I notice something new every time I do another playthrough. Its good to see someone bring it up (as well as SO:TL. Oldie but a goodie for morals)
SpecOps, I ❤️ this game and still play it. ❤️ having a physical copy of this game. My friend played this game 2 weeks ago, and he was thinking how this could have really changed his life if he was really doing this in real life. I told him it's a war crime and your life is over
That was really a joy to watch! Even though I haven't played any of these games I think you conveyed the story very well and I feel like I got a glimpse of that feeling I figure you have experienced. Moments like these really add to the emotional and immersive experiences when playing games. I'm excited for more content like this ❤!
Thank you, I'm glad you got something out of it :)
Got yourself a subscriber. Amazing job. keep up the good work and look forward to your future videos
Thank you Dani. I really appreciate that!
Flawlessly edited video!
Thank you brother!
This was a great vídeo! Hope you make more of these
I know everyone loves to shout out the mission 343 Guilty Spark from Halo CE, but honestly the Composer in Halo 4 doesnt get enough credit. Rushing to secure the Forerunner artifact only for it to be suddenly and violently activated, disturbingly composing everyone around Chief, still sticks with me almost as much as the Flood.
Great vid!
@@VeritabIlIti Thank you 🙏🏼
Regarding overlord, don’t know if I chose to ignore it or I forgot it until I picked up the series again, but I’ve just recently realizes David had a surgical halo on him along with everything else his brother forced on him…
His position and the halo around him are no more an accident than the main character’s name being “Shepard”
If there's ever a time to pick a Renegade prompt in a Paragon run of ME, it's Overlord.
I mean, the paragon prompt still has you attack him
Scorn was something that is stuff of nightmares!
Overlord in the Mass Effect DLC caught me incredibly off guard. I felt that something was very very very wrong and I didn’t trust Gavin. My husband had not played the DLC and we were HEARTBROKEN and horrified
4:14
The worst horror isn't supernatural it's the one that is actually possible in this world.
Man...that last entry made me cry actually😢
I've always found that the prisoner segment of Tomb Raider (2013) reminded me of Outlast, which is one of my favourite horror games. But that section was unexpectedly scary in the action adventure game
I really liked that segment too! That's why I put it in the honorable mentions :)
I questioned why a video with this title needed a cw, then I remembered autoplay.
I think it's always good to give people a heads up. But yeah, it's mostly because of autoplay!
I've just seen the game Mouthwashing, indie, poor graphics, short, but just brutal. It goes places you can't imagine when it starts as a sci fi mistery drama where you think you'll just be watching how they will manage it with short supplies and such. Worth a watch, just the gameplay or some story explained video maybe
Thanks for putting that game on my radar, looks right up my alley!
My recent favorite would be from Cloudpunk, just in the ending, but the story was built from the beginning piece by piece as we on comms with Control (known later as Ben), and in the ending found out he was an automata (like AI program, but mind and memories from real human brain), knowing the story how he became Control kinda sad and so dark to think.
I've yet to play that game, have had it on my wishlist for a while!
@@GameTalesHQ its a must, first it was like just a game for chill as no action or shootout etc. But when you focus on the story, feel the atmosphere of Nivalis (the city) it’s just perfect for me.
The overlord dlc broke me for a bit. I had to put the game down to get back in the mindset of "its just a game its not real."
please please please make a part two or just any suggestions for other games with twists like these? I loved this!!
I'm glad you enjoyed it! I'm currently working on something else but I might do a part two sometime.
for anyone that doesn't understand how horrifically bad white phosphorus is should watch ChemicalForce's video on it
I played the blackops the line and that was the moment that the game got grip of me.. i will stop watching from that moment to get spoilers from other games with similar effect.
It really shows what kind of monster Gavin when paragon Shepard shows anger and disgust and beats Gavin with a gun. All of those voice lines and actions are usually reserved for renegade Shepard. And all totally justified as even the player is probably feeling the same, especially if you are neurodivergent or know someone who are.
Dam. If that was me in spec ops and id just done that, I’d eat my own bullet. 😱
Thief 3 also had a part where it suddenly became a horror game (the one with the locked attic)
Subnautica is also terrifying without actually trying to be a horror game.
Very well thought out analysis. Thanks!
@@Willroast Thank you!
Reminds me of the Bloody Baron Quest in Witcher 3. Wasn't ready for that like at all.
@@dandyvision42 What a great quest that was!
We need an episode 2 !!!
These examples are 🔥🔥🔥 . Well done with the video, game 3 specially was unexpected! Overall horror works best when you don't expect it. Oddly enough, last time I encountered so.ething similar was Starfield 😅
Thank you. I think RPG's have a lot of potential in this regard!
Dude same, I'm excited for them to dive into that a bit more with Shattered Space
@@VeritabIlIti I'm cautiously optimistic 😅
Do you feel like a hero yet
Subnautica looks so fun on the outside and it kinda is but holy hell, it is TERRIFYING in certain places.
You should make another part of the same topic exploring more normal games with dark ending 🙂
Maybe I'll do a similar video in the future! Do you know of any examples? (without spoilers please!)
In a similar vein, I had thought of other dark twists in games. Example that I remember and must mean they were memorable to an extent, Saints Row 1 (ending cutscene) Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic when it’s revealed who the player character actually is, and I would be amiss if I didn’t find a way to mention XIII as the character begins to regain their memories. Not that the twist was the same in those games, but games that I felt have memorial twists that make it hard to look at the game the same way on replays.
@@domhanson9167 I'll keep those in mind! I haven't played any of the games you mentioned though.
@@GameTalesHQ I hope you find the time to give them a shot! Star Wars: KoToR can easily eat up 50+ hours for a play through for a first timer if you like to make sure you explore everything. The other two games would have much shorter time investments, but worthwhile in my opinion.
Right now I can only think of games like Doki Doki Literature Club, Ori and the Blind Forest, Shadow of the Colossus and Undertale
Spec ops, one of the game that reminds others that something is missing. Civilians, the victim of war.
I know fallout is creepy to begin with but clearing the supermarket always scared me
Nonary game 1&2 + Zero time Delema they were really fun series. Honestly they still live up today, if you can handle the play style and escape rooms. imma finally play life is strange. You kinda sold it to me.
ME3 Overlord is generally mentioned as a bad dlc, but I always liked it for its story
I didn't know that! I guess its because of the Mako sections.
@@GameTalesHQI especially liked the vehicle sections because the environments we're so beautiful and I missed the Mako from ME1 :D
@@schruteforce People generally dislike these sections; I'm not a huge fan either, but I do appreciate how they add a sense of scale to the games. And yeah, the enviroments were pretty for sure!
Outer Wilds and TUNIC, both have extreme existential and direct horror moments that come when you’re not ready
@@Skeletoonz Currently making my way through Outer Wilds! About 12 hours in with not too many '?' left. Super curious where it will go!
I find that a lot of people feel the need to express their thoughts on this game when they finish it. We have so many video docs and the like because of just how it impacts people. If (and when) you decide to make a video about it, I bet it will be awesome
@@Skeletoonz Well, I'm planning to include it in my next video already! And that's before I know about the ending haha. The video is gonna be about 'Games that make full use of the medium". Basically, game narratives that would be hard or impossible to adapt to other artforms. Seems like a perfect fit already!
@@GameTalesHQ Can’t wait
How do you only have a couple of clicks. Your content is similiar to videos that do 100k-Million clicks, keep grinding. Got yourself a new sub
Ahh, thank you! Means a lot :)
You're so Dutch coded I love it so much
@@elizabethmaria_9201 haha schuldig! 🙋🏼♂️
weird addition maybe but genshin has this feeling for me, with the war happening rn and the abyss's effects on the lands its getting more darker and deeper
We need more games that cross the line (pun intended) when it comes to depicting war. World at War showed that war is hell. Spec Ops: The Line showed people are capable of spectacularly terrible things. We’re so afraid of telling a gripping story, where the lines between right and wrong, good and evil, good vs. bad guys, are incredibly thin, and blurry at BEST.
Spec Ops is a game that has stayed with me since I played it. It has been the single game that just replays in my head time and time again.
Tbh, I will be adapting part of it into my multiverse d&d camapign. Its gonna be a hell of a ride.
Brothers in arms!! ❤️ One of the classic shooters that has the tone of the game change, i feel like they incorporated that type of story/gameplay in even there first release
Such an underrated series, I try to mention it every chance I get.
you can go for sekiro too, senpou temple monks to make their own divine child and get the immortality, literally kidnap kids and do experiment on them and if they are unsuccessful they turn them into taro troops or centipede or the kids just dies.
Life is strange is a game i'll never forget
Mass Effect in general is unexpected horror. The first game presents itself as a sci-fi shooter then you see a horrific vision of death.
I love your style and then I see that you have a video on Hell's Highway!? Oh fuuuuck yeaah I'm subscribing!! :D
@@alexb7039 Hell yeah! Glad to have ya!
"I'm gonna do good tomorrow though. God knows I've skrewed things up before and probably shouda stayed out of the Army in the first place instead of signing up because of what I thought Dad would think. But that doesn't really matter now. Tomorrow I'm gonna do good. No matter what it takes. Take care, okay? Bye Mom. I love you." - CPT Bannon
i know the video specifies it isn't talking about jump scares, but. the fucking book jumpscare in harry potter is the only jumpscare to have ever gotten me- presumably because it's a children's movie about wizards and i was NOT expecting that shit. i was like 22 the first time i saw it
One moment for me is in Hollow Knight. You work so hard to finally approach your sibling, the Hollow Knight, who has been spewing infection across all of Hallownest infecting the minds of all its citizens. You fight and fight, until it lets out a screech. With that, its music shifts from a cryptic battle theme to a slow theme of dread and despair. And after that, the Hollow Knight turns its weapon on itself and begins stabbing its chest. It's finally become sentient and sees all the damage it caused. It recognizes this and in between fighting you, it fights itself and in turn the Radiance (the source of the infection). The musics swells and swells getting more dramatic as the Hollow Knight's movements become slower as it focuses more on killing itself rather than you. And once you kill your sibling, you absorb and seal the infection. Doing what your sibling could not, sealed away, forever
Halo CE starting out making people think it was an intergalactic war, and then you start fighting galactic horror that is the flood works really well.
Really good video, thanks!
The mass effect one was more sad than scary really.😢
It was quite the mix of emotions for me personally! Shock, anger, sadness. There's also definitely a body-horror aspect to it.
Honorable mention: The video tape side quest from the Yakuza 0 game.
wow, a videogame video essay with post-ironic horror themes that talks about spec ops the line! theres only like 500000000 of those already available! and wow, the guy talking has a low-tone unenthustiastic voice???? this is amazing!
@@pigslopenjoyer4595 Glad you enjoyed it!
For me it's Mafia 2 man its gets bleak towards the end of the game and damn what happens to one of the main characters friends is just terrifying.
@@yungsmug7110 I actually thought about adding that scene to this video. Very horrific!
@@GameTalesHQ yes it is it totally shifted the tone of Mafia 2 for me after that. I vividly remember playing it as a child / preteen and I tell you it shocked me.
YESSS SPEC OPS IS SO GOOD AND UNDERATED, I WISH EVERYONE KNEW HOW GOOD IT IS, i remember buying it one day my partner was away and i was by myself, i played it all in one sitting and was basically screaming towards the end. Thats the only game ive ever done that for
Right!? I love it so much, I cover it again in my upcoming video 😆
Fire video man 🔥
Thank, I appreciate that!
Didnt know the third and must say, as an autist it is hard to swallow the additional casual ableism that comes with it. (might not been their intention, but could have been avoided). Autism and savant syndrome (already dumb to call it a syndrome) are not the same. savants are extremely more rare and neither are like a "super computer" either if its math (and I yeah obviously people would agree and think his brother is evil. but many people, especially back than, werent aware of what either else meant. plus the likely stereotypical representation in the game - at least from footage used here).
otherwise, obviously a great video by you and agree, it hits different and kinda special in those ways u dont expect horror.
Thank you! And yes, other people have pointed out that the representation wasn't great. I don't have any knowledge or experience on the subject, so I kept it broad.
@@GameTalesHQ fair enough, and glad others could see it at least.
cause otherwise it is a gripping story
You think Digimon Survive is a really funny Anime Game. Then you meet Plutomon
I had a similar experience with Spec Ops. I had no clue about the story until I played it. I thought it was just another mindless FPS. First time a game every depressed me. 10/10
Lets play Tunic, a cute adventure with a little fox, what could go wrong, mmmh the power obelisks make a strange noise, o this is the place where they come from, o, o crap, wtf.
for me was Silent Hill 3 when you meet Vincent Cooper and Heather ask about the monsters
Haunting Ground truth and Rule of Rose of what happened to everyone
Kirby and the Forgotten Land (SPOILER ALERT) turned into John Carpenter's The Thing REALLY FAST.
Next video: Games that took a SEXUAL turn
@@_-pf_gd-_ Interesting, already got something different lined up though!
Spec ops is SO SO underrated!