10 Scariest Video Game Moments Nobody Saw Coming

9. Max Payne's Hallucinations

Max Payne Nightmare
Remedy

One of the most harrowing beginnings to any video game ever, seeing Max Payne's dead baby daughter laid out by her cot was grim. As if that wasn't enough for old Max, his wife Michelle was also murdered by junkies hyped up on mysterious new designer drug Valkyr. Spyro The Dragon this isn't then.

Seriously though, we were expecting Max Payne to be dark in tone going in. Those film noir-style comic book cut scenes (if they can even be called that) set the tone straight away. Then, all of sudden there's a dead baby crying and, oh my God, what the hell is happening? That's right, it's time for one of Payne's hallucination heavy nightmares.

As a baby cries in the distance, blood streams down the walls and players are forced to deal with the fact they're no longer a vengeful bad-ass cop who can slow down time as he shoots the baddies. The feeling of helplessness is powerful during these cutaway segments, and the fact they come out of nowhere is quite the shock.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.