10 Video Games That Punish You For Being Unlucky

Much like The Oregon Trail, Medal of Honour: Allied Assault uses unforgivingly brutal sudden death to underline the gravity of real history.

The iconic FPS features an unforgettable early level set during World War II's Normandy landing on Omaha Beach, basically offering up an interactive version of the mesmerising opening to Saving Private Ryan (tellingly, Steven Spielberg co-wrote this game).

It's a stunningly cinematic level that's aged pretty well over the last 20 years - a frantic sprint across the beach while attempting to avoid German machinegun fire.

But the level has one majorly frustrating hidden danger - the random incidence of mortar fire which, more often than not, will land directly on your position.

This occurs enough on lower difficulty settings to be inconvenient, but on Hard difficulty it becomes downright maddening.

There's no way to tell when a mortar is about to strike your position and instantly kill you, turning it into a pure game of chance where you attempt to dart to safety as fast as possible.

PC players were therefore encouraged to "save scum" their way to survival - that is, make a manual save every few seconds to ensure incremental progress.