The Image: A mother and her child disfigured beyond recognition while corpses lie scattered around them. Why It's Powerful: Do we really need to explain this one? During this devilishly underrated third-person shooter, the player and his teammates launch a white phosphorous attack on the Damned 33rd, only to discover in the wake of the attack that the 33rd were giving shelter to civilians, who they just summarily murdered with the white phosphorous. So rarely do war games make us consider the consequences of our actions, namely our compliance with following whatever objectives appear on screen, no matter how horrific they might seem. Spec Ops: The Line made us pay for this, showing us a shower of corpses, and most upsettingly, this grimmer-than-grim visage of a mother and child confined to a deeply unpleasant fate. Naturally, the scene was incredibly controversial, but its disturbing power cannot be denied. Once you've played through this game, it's difficult to shake the image from your head for days and days, and more games should approach the nature of war in such a thoughtful, provocative manner.
Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes).
General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.
