Silent Hill 2 (2001)
The Moment
For the duration of Silent Hill 2 we take James Sunderland at face value. He receives a letter from his deceased wife asking him to come find her in their 'special place' – a hotel in the evil-infested town of Silent Hill – and he sets off to find her.
But then, upon reaching the hotel that was so special for the couple, he's faced with the truth.
There was no letter. He was the one who killed her, to spare her from the pain of an incurable disease.
A chilling moment, and one that makes you question everything you've experienced up until that point. Was it all in James' head?
Cinematic Equivalent
Brad Anderson's The Machinist (2004) also plays with the idea of an unreliable narrator. Trevor Reznik (played by a stick-thin Christian Bale) is a factory worker terrorised by hallucinations and who hasn't slept in over a year.
We soon learn that the reason for this paranoia and his emaciated body is a hidden guilt he's forced himself to forget – a hit and run accident in which a small boy is killed.
This revelation hits the viewer just as hard as Reznik, and raises questions about what was real, and what was all part of his sleep-starved imagination.
Next: Killzone
Comments
MattMaytum
Sep 17th 2009, 11:50
Great feature. Makes me really want to play all those games.
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MattMaytum
Sep 17th 2009, 11:50
Great feature, makes me really want to play all those games!
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sowasred2012
Sep 17th 2009, 11:56
Would've picked a different moment from MGS4 - the battle with Snake/Rex vs. Liquid/Ray at Shadow Moses follows up with the most incredible cutscene as Snake defeats Liquid, only for him to go jump off into Arsenal Gear at which point Snake pretty much gives up. Up steps Raiden, who cuts off his own arm (he was caught beneath falling debris in their fight) to get into the action, and then (literally) single-handedly stops this Titanic-sized ship from destroying Snake. Not entirely sure what that could be compared to in a movie, maybe Randy Quaid's sacrifice at the end of Independence Day, but turned up to 11.
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Buried At Sea
Sep 17th 2009, 18:50
the intro to dead space was the only good bit from the game. such a piece of s**t.
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TheTingler
Sep 17th 2009, 23:05
Medal of Honor: FRONTLINE?! I think you should go back and play Medal of Honor: Allied Assault instead. Frontline was the crappy console equivant. Allied Assault was the PC version which was made by a team that immediately split from EA after finishing it and formed Infinity Ward, creators of Call of Duty. Allied Assault is unofficially the first Call of Duty game, then. Allied Assault also had the Omaha landing, but it wasn't a stupid tutorial mission. It was several missions in and re-created it perfectly, including all the Saving Private Ryan moments.
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hreyy
Sep 18th 2009, 3:25
Wait theres no Halo 1 FIRST time you encounter the flood? LMAOO fail
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somewhatfrail
Sep 18th 2009, 12:42
Great article guys. Call Of Duty 4 is jampacked full of film references, I absolutely love it. 'Crew Expendable' - Alien. And the line of dialogue "I like to keep this for close encounters" while pulling out a shotgun being lifted straight from Michael Beihn in Aliens. 'Charlie Don't Surf' - Apocalypse Now. 'No Fighting In The War Room' - Dr. Strangelove. Also, Spielberg actually wrote the first MoH games so it's unsurprising to see so many things in those games which feel all too Ryan-esque.
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somewhatfrail
Sep 18th 2009, 12:43
Oh, and in CoD: World At War there is an Xbox achievement called Saved Private Ryan. XD haha
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KerrAvon
Sep 18th 2009, 23:40
No Knights of the Old Republic? Pity. Better script, acting and effects than all 3 prequels but its easy to bash the prequels because they are awful. Should check out the Conflict series, Vietnam for all the Apocalypse Now references and Desert Storm for the Black Hawk Down ones, or just shout your own with a mater "Charlie's in the trees!"
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shinysavage
Sep 20th 2009, 20:37
No love for Mass Effect? Plenty of cinematic moments there - the Salarian captain's speech to the troops, the first time you see Sovereign (in game, at least), the final space battle over the Citadel, the first jump in a mass relay, the Mako getting catapulted out of the mass relay to the Citadel... Or Halo 3, and the first Scorpion fight. Epic stuff. Good list though.
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bentgaga
Sep 21st 2009, 3:51
Wow I thought that as well with COD MW somewhatfrail I love it when stuff like this is done, makes everything so much more exciting I hope COD MW2 exceeds all expectations..
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RazorbalNL
Dec 9th 2009, 15:15
The moment in Bioshock(FAVO GAME!)was the greatest moment in gaming ever! The moment in Call of Duty 4 was also an masterpiece
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RazorbalNL
Dec 9th 2009, 15:19
Part 2: (its not the only cinematic moment in the game but sure this is the BEST). The moment in Killzone is also awsome(the Helghast are my favorite bad guys). GREAT ARTICLE! the end.
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