20 Most Intense Video Game Moments Ever

2. White Phosphorous (And Everything Thereafter) - Spec-Ops: The Line

Praise be to writer Walt Williams for not only exploring the notion of soldier desensitisation, but doing it in a way that utilises Call of Duty's AC-130 gunship cam (or drone cams in general) to hammer home a supremely raw plot point.

At the heart of the game, and one of the most pivotal moments for hero Martin Walker as he struggles to understand the blurred lines between duty and morality, you're given the option to kill a number of soldiers using white phosphorous drops.

Done through the aforementioned thermal view, you'll first take to scorching soldiers left and right. Quickly you come across a cluster of icons and your gamer brain (or preternatural response) goes "I can kill all of them in one go!"

You hit the trigger and... they were civilians being held hostage.

The scene is a microcosm of Spec-Ops' wider thematics and message, but boy if imagery like the above doesn't stop you in your tracks.