You’re assigned to rescue the embattled squad you have fought alongside for the past ten hours, but you’ve failed miserably. The music reaches its crescendo as the words ‘game over’ emerge from the gloom. It’s not frustration you feel but regret and sadness for yourself and your fellow men you let die. Do you remember this video game scenario? Probably not... when it comes to games and emotions most touch on our simpler instincts, such as ‘frustrated controller throwing’ or a vague sense of satisfaction upon completion.

A game that can evoke deep emotions like longing, despair, anger, frustration, empathy, fear is the Holy Grail for me and others in the industry as it confirms the vision of interactive entertainment being the best story telling medium since film.

Sadly we are a long ways off from this vision but that’s not to say there haven’t been some inspired moments amongst the mindless shooting and princess saving. There are many ways of looking at emotions in games and many would focus on those which occur in cust scenes. Not I! I look for the ones that combine game play, story and presentation that involves more than just pixels on a screen.

So I present to you my top 5 most emotional gaming moments (besides the death of the chick from Final Fantasy VII). Spoilers all round, if you really care.

5) “This was a triumph…”

When it comes to emotional gaming moments, the majority are sparked by human characters with human emotions. This is of course because we can relate to them. In Portal, however, your only ‘friend’ (and I use that term very loosely) is a bodiless female computer voice who guides you through the levels whilst at the same time trying to, rather blunderingly, end your life by telling you to do such things as step in front of firing guns. Come the end of the game, you must destroy this homicidal bot in classic video game style: blowing the place sky high. However, instead of feeling happy you’ve killed your nemesis, you feel pity. This bodiless voice was so endearing and its comedic qualities amused you no end. The completion of the game feels empty and you have no real sense of achievement. That is until the credits role: a smile creeps slowly across your face when the computer begins to sing that she is still alive.

4) “Hal, I miss you”

If I were doing a ‘top ten’ list, most of it would involve moments from the Metal Gear series. Kojima manages to make grown men cry manly tears as he blends game play with cinema seamlessly. In the case of Metal Gear Solid 2, estranged siblings Hal (known as Otacon) and Emma Emmerich are reunited in a beautifully written piece. She is then, despite the players best efforts, cruelly taken away by fate and Hal must, yet again, endure the loss of another loved one. All that is left of Emma’s memory is her pet parrot who had learned to mimic her. As Hal walks away, dejected and crestfallen, the parrot follows repeating ‘Hal, I miss you’ over and over again…now that’s rough.

3) “What…what have I done?”

My longest and least viewed blog is all about the wonders of Fahrenheit. You see, the most powerful emotional moment in this game happens in the first four minutes rather than in the middle or end. A raven flies through a snowy New York and perches itself on the window ledge of a café toilet. Inside, a man does his business- all is normal. That is, until you see a blood covered blade in the hands of a man with lifeless eyes. You watch, horrified, as he jerkily creeps up behind this blissfully unaware customer and stabs him with absolute resolve. Just as you question what’s going on, the murderer snaps to reality, looks down at the body and desolation grows in his and your stomach as you both come to the same realisation- you are the murderer. You, the player and Lucas, the character begin on the same level of knowledge and the journey you take together becomes not a chore, but a need.

2) “There is only room for one Boss…”

In Metal Gear Solid 3, you must fight your old mentor; the woman who loved and raised you to the soldier you are today. The bond between the two is an unphysical, unspoken love but only one of you can survive- that person is Snake. The woman, ‘Boss’, begs for you to take her life as she lies in a field of white flowers. She hands you her treasured gun and the cut scene transitions into game play. With a press of a button, you end her life. As the sound of the bullet echoes around you, the flowers turn into a blood red and float away in the breeze. From the distance, the Boss’s horse trots hesitantly into the scene. It nuzzles its nose against its master’s body and lets out an ear-splitting lament and tears were shed world wide.

1) “AGRO!?!”

Ever had a pet? Well, imagine this pet was your only companion in a solitary world and had guided you through an epic journey of an impossible magnitude. He was always there, by your side, through good and bad: a loyal friend in a desolate land. How would you feel if, in a desperate attempt to save your life, it had sacrificed itself? That is what everyone who played Shadow of the Colossus had to endure as Agro, your loyal steed, gave up its life so you could finish your mission. He tossed you from his back to safety as the bridge crumbled from beneath his hoofs and he fell with a pitiful wail into the abyss, further and further. People everywhere felt The Wanderers agony as we shouted along with him: “AGRO!?!”