10 Shocking Video Game Betrayals That Scarred You For Life
"The person you've been talking to is..."
In the pantheon of standout moments people bring up when championing why gaming is one of the best entertainment mediums in the world, the old rug-pull backstab rarely gets its due.
And that's a shame, because although film has its Fredo Corleones and its Lando Calrissians, gaming has just as many - if not more - impeccable heart-palpitators that hit home in a far more impactful way, simply because it's usually you who's being betrayed in the first place.
Active player agency in a given narrative really can't be understated, as while great film twists will always hit home and sublimely written passages can burrow their way into your subconscious, combining the two and putting you slap-bang in the centre will always make them the finest of all.
10. Joel - The Last Of Us
A slight twist on the standard betrayal setup to start, as one of the most shocking table-turners in gaming history comes from not knowing you were playing as the bad guy all along.
Or were you?
The Last of Us' finale forces you to take Ellie away from the Fireflies, who have stated they'll have to kill her to extract a cure for the Cordyceps virus spreading across the world. That said, it's simply a setup to ask the player the very same question: What's more important - the lives of millions of strangers, or the one you love?
Brilliantly, Naughty Dog have Joel make this decision for you, and after scooping Ellie off the operating table, he savagely executes the otherwise-friendly Marlene in fear of being followed, only to end this turn by lying to Ellie and claiming the Fireflies never needed her in the first place.
The fact the game doesn't give you any real agency other than acting out Joel's actions only hammers home the severity of what he's doing, and in doing so, has forever put gamers on one side of the fence as to whether they agree with him or not. Do you?