10 Brutal Gaming Cutscenes That Still Haunt You

10. Lara Getting Skewered - Tomb Raider 2013

2013’s Tomb Raider reboot was a triumphant return to a series that had become increasingly risk-averse in previous years, and serves as an origin story for a more fleshed-out, human Lara Croft. Among other additions, it featured gripping, Uncharted-style set pieces, a semi-open world, and what was, at the time, one of the most satisfying bows in gaming.

The game also took a bloodthirsty glee in how many creative and cruel ways it could murder its heroine. Not content to ever let the player relax for more than a few brief moments, many action-heavy cutscenes also featured QTEs the player would need to succeed in if they wanted to avoid Lara getting mulched into so much hamburger meat.

Pickaxe through the chest? There’s a scene for that. Getting crushed by a giant boulder? There’s a scene for that. Lara getting her face chewed off by hungry wolves? You’d better believe there’s a scene for that. As brutal as these scenes all were, none quite matched the nonchalant callousness the game shows when it casually decides to skewer Lara through the throat with a sharpened stick because you didn’t slide down a hill quite the way it wanted you to. Oof.