8 Emotional Video Game Deaths (We Couldn't Help Laughing At)

3. The Hostage (Spider-Man 3)

Spider Man 3
Activision

You know you've messed up when a death scene is so unintentionally hilarious that players go out of their way to fail the QTE attached to it just so they can have a chuckle to themselves.

I am, of course, talking about Spider-Man 3 and the infamous bomb disarming sequence that occurs early in the game. Here, our friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man is tasked with saving a hostage tied to an explosive device. A QTE sees him zip through the burning building to the victim, giving the player a few button inputs to hit along the way.

Miss the final one of these though, and the old Web Head hits the floor like a sack of potatoes. As he presumably combusts, we get a quick shot of the hostage - all bug-eyed and manic having just seen this hero faceplant the floor - who exclaims "I'm going to die" before the whole building explodes.

It's probably the best thing in the whole game.

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Josh has over 11 years of experience as a published writer, having worked nine of those years as a full-time content producer at WhatCulture. In that period he has created hundreds of articles, videos and podcast episodes for multiple WhatCulture channels, specialising in gaming, horror and film & TV. He now primarily works as a senior content producer and presenter on WhatCulture Gaming where he co-hosts the WhatCulture Gaming Podcast, a top 3 UK most listened to gaming podcast that he co-created in 2018. Over the years he has reviewed several high-profile gaming releases, covered industry events with on-site reporting, opined on breaking news, and even kicked off his interviewing career by chatting to childhood hero, Tommy Wiseau.

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Editorial Team

Benjamin was born in 1987, and is still not dead. He variously enjoys classical music, old-school adventure games (they're not dead), and walks on the beach (albeit short - asthma, you know). He's currently trying to compile a comprehensive history of video game music, yet denies accusations that he purposefully targets niche audiences. He's often wrong about these things.