10 Gaming Moments Everyone Wishes They Could Unsee
7. Johnny & Meryl Get Engaged Outta Nowhere - Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns Of The Patriots
There's perhaps no greater example of Metal Gear Solid 4 being an excessive - if entertaining - exercise in fan service than Hideo Kojima's decision to make Meryl Silverburgh and Johnny Sasaki a romantic pairing during the game.
Johnny was a joke character in previous games yet reinvented here as a more fleshed-out human being - albeit still with some major digestive issues.
Throughout the game he's part of Meryl's Rat Patrol Team 01, and after saving Meryl from drowning in Europe, the two share a kiss. But the most unbearable part of Meryl and Johnny's unexpected, forced romance? The damn proposal scene.
Late in the game, the pair are teaming up to fend off a seemingly unending wave of Haven Troopers, when Johnny suddenly reveals he's always been in love with Meryl and abruptly proposes to her on the spot.
In-between gunfire Meryl rejects him, and when Johnny suggests they move in together instead, Meryl replies that she wants to do things her way, in turn proposing to Johnny.
A shocked Johnny agrees as they continue mowing down Haven Troopers, all while Meryl tells Johnny he shouldn't even think about cheating on her, and that she wants a "real wedding," with flowers and a cake, before they share a passionate smooch.
Though the scene is clearly meant to be campy and heightened, it's also one of the most embarrassing moments from any Hideo Kojima game - it's right up there with Quiet dancing seductively in the rain in Metal Gear Solid V, and "Mario and Princess Beach" in Death Stranding.
There's fan service and then there's a totally unnecessary and unearned romance - and lightning-fast proposal! - inserted into the middle of a game's action-packed climax. You flew too close to the sun on this one, Hideo.