10 Touching Video Game Moments You Probably Missed

3. A Buddy's Death - Far Cry 2

The successors to Far Cry 2 did most things better than the savannah-based shooter. They were bigger, brighter, and filled with memorable characters, which is far more than can be said of the arid, realistic and hostile climes of Far Cry 2. But one thing that the game nailed with surprisingly profundity was the Buddy system, whereby if you're on the verge of death in a firefight, there's a chance that one of the mercenaries you met on your travels drags you to safety and helps you fight off the enemies. These people have no real reason to help you out, and yet the fact that it happens means you develop a bond with them through your shared adventures together. You can imagine drinking some rough rum in a shack with them somewhere between your excursions, drunkenly recounting your near-death experiences while playing games of five-finger skillet. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7KKZ3aZBoA So when one of these buddies dies while saving your life, it hurts. True to Far Cry 2's style, there's no emotional music or fanfare in their death. You can try to revive them using adrenaline shots, but if that fails then they ask you to put them out of their misery with a bullet to the head. It's the coldness of these moments that makes them powerful. After you fire your killing shot, you don't see your character grieving, crying, or talking about how much they'll miss their buddy. Instead, all you get is the continuation of the frog and cricket chorus that's ubiquitous throughout the savannah. You leave your dead buddy out there in the bush, with the only reminders that they ever existed being in your own memory. Bleak, yet somehow beautiful.