10 Most Important Video Game Deaths This Decade

5. White Phosphorus Attack (Spec Ops: The Line)

No one expected Spec Ops: The Line to have hit with as much impact as it did with it dropped in 2012.

And yet moment after moment managed to bowl over players, breaking the boundaries of war shooters and the fourth wall in the process. However, there is one set piece in particular that has endured for years: the white phosphorous scene.

Despite resistance from his team, Walker insists that they must use white phosphorus to attack the 33rd, at which point the player has to control a drone which fires down a rain of the explosive, skin-searing material onto white dots. When the fire clears, you walk through to see several dying, severely burned people crawling around in their final moments, begging for help, before Walker and co. realise they've condemned a group of civilians to death.

The most haunting image is unquestionably that of a woman with half her face burned away, cradling her young daughter. What makes this moment so impactful though is when Walker tries to rationalize what they've done and move ahead with the mission. It's a direct challenge on the whole "just following orders" defense, and it leaves the players questioning real life events of the same manner.