20 Most Important Gaming Deaths This Decade

5. White Phosphorus Attack - Spec Ops: The Line (2012)

Spec Ops: The Line may not have been a AAA blockbuster like the Call of Duty franchise, but it more than made up for this with its intelligent, character-driven approach to a war-time scenario, complete with all of the unpleasantness that this implies. The game's most memorable scene comes as three Delta Force soldiers, protagonist Walker alongside teammates Adams and Lugo, arrive at a location called The Gate where the rogue squad the Damned 33rd are holed up. Despite resistance from Lugo, 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 the white dots which scarcely resemble people. 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 burned to death a large number of civilians. The most haunting image is unquestionably that of a woman with half her face burned away, cradling her young daughter who also has most of her skin seared off. Clearly, all three men are shell-shocked by the incident, even as Walker tries to rationalise what they've done and move ahead with the mission. This is a rare moment in a military shooter where players have been asked to consider the nature of blindly saying yes to orders, paralleling our position as gamers wanting to reach the end of a game with the "ask no questions" mentality of soldiers in the army. Had we unknowingly had a choice not to fire the white phosphorus, then this moment would have been even more powerful and telling.