In Gears of War 3, there's a multiplayer Easter egg on the Gridlock map. If you can make it through an entire round without anyone destroying any of the "ash people" on the map, the next round will feature dimmer lighting and Gary Jules' piano cover of "Mad World." The map is already ominous enough with all the crumbling buildings and people turned to ash, but the darkness and the song combine to bring the creepiness factor to a whole new level. Yeah, it gives me tingles just thinking about it.
Uncharted 3 contains a stretch of gameplay where the action is absolutely relentless for several back-to-back hours. The climax of this action takes place in the ballroom of a sinking cruise ship, where the glass ceiling gives you a beautiful view of the ship's decent into the dark ocean. And then Rameses the pirate shoots the glass to send the thing rapidly into the abyss with the both of you still inside it. Perhaps it's just my lifelong fear of the depths of the ocean talking here, but this was absolutely terrifying for me. Also, it was perhaps my favorite moment in the entire Uncharted series, even topping Uncharted 2's heart-pounding train car sequence.
Sure, Modern Warfare 2's "No Russian" scene was designed with the sole intent to stir up controversy, and sure, it was incredibly implausible from a storytelling perspective. Still, unless you're a psychopath, being forced to turn your gun on innocent civilians in an airport presents you with one of the most disturbing moral dilemmas in video game history, one that will be forever etched into our minds (and our consciences).
