10 Times Video Games Brutally Trolled You

10. Scarecrow Restarts Your Game – Batman: Arkham Asylum

Each entry in the main Batman: Arkham tetralogy (including 2013’s underappreciated Batman: Arkham Origins) is full of mind-blowing sections that challenge our expectations of what’s going on and what we should be doing next.

Although it’s arguably not the best chapter in the series, 2009’s Batman: Arkham Asylum houses the single most deviously confounding and traumatic trick in the whole franchise: Scarecrow’s third nightmare sequence.

In fact, it’s among the greatest video game moments of all time.

Here, Scarecrow’s dose of fear toxin goes far beyond what his prior duo did by seemingly freezing and then restarting the game.

As Batman is walking down a corridor, both the screen and audio suddenly glitch out. Then, the opening cinematic plays, but with several unsettling changes.

For instance, Scarecrow’s face appears in the clouds; a new road sign reads, “Madhouse. Batman may be escaping patient”; Joker is driving a restrained Batman to Arkham Asylum; and upon arrival, it’s Batman who’s being carted away as you take control of Joker.

Eventually, Joker shoots Batman, prompting the Caped Crusader to wake up and fight Scarecrow. Still, it’s an ingenious way to severely baffle and frighten players during their first playthrough.