10 Video Game Moments So Scary You Stopped Playing

6: The Rat King - The Last of Us: Part 2

The Last Of Us Part 2 rat king
Naughty Dog

Sometimes the scariest scenes that make us seriously need a screen break come in games where we don’t expect to get that scared.

Despite the totally valid creepiness of the Clickers, The Last of Us isn’t a horror game, and once you nail the pattern of skulking around quietly even the clickers shouldn’t worry you too much, especially if you’ve been hoarding firepower. That doesn’t so much apply to The Rat King in Part 2, though, who is as disgusting and horrifying in the game as it is in real life. Just like the Cordyceps virus, actually. The Last of Us: Part 2 is phenomenally crafted which is all well and for the clever developers but pretty nauseatingly scary for those of us on the other end enduring the claustrophobic blood-soaked hallways, skin-crawling tension, and horrifying boss encounter. The garbled screams coming out of this monstrosity are bad enough, quite apart from the fact that you need to run like a bat out of hell, navigating poorly-lit hallways and mashing quicktime encounters as fast as possible. You always know something is going to crop up in these games but no one expected the almost invincible mutant blob. I feel like I need to lie down just watching a replay of this one.

Abby might not have been everybody’s cup of tea but the enemy of my enemy is my friend and The Rat King can go do one, we’re in this together.

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Jess has been a journalist and content creator in the games industry for over 15 years and has been WhatCulture's resident Australian import and sorry cop since 2020, upping the quotient of swearing and apologising in WhatCulture Gaming's annual blooper videos considerably. She previously worked at GameSpot for 10 years, most notably hosting GameSpot News in addition to E3 live shows, and PAX panels. She regularly livestreams a variety of games on her 'jessmcdonell' YouTube and Twitch channels and hosts the 'Do It On The Day' podcast. She has won awards for her news and feature work in gaming as well as an accolade for her comedic writing (likely an admin error). She can be found on X at @jessmcdonell and Instagram at @jessicamcdonell sharing her current videogame fixations, industry insights, and videos of her cat, Karma.