Most video games are all about self-empowerment fantasies and the ones on this list are no different. There's been plenty of badass moments over the course of video game's long and storied history. So many in fact, that we’ve decided to compile some of them in a list with the explicit rule of being confined to games released over the last few years.
When we say "badass," we're talking about moments that aren't just self-empowerment fantasies like I might have implied, but moments where you tell yourself "Whoa” because it's either something you didn't expect from the game, or it's something that very much makes you feel like a BAMF. As you can imagine, it's pretty subjective, but you get the idea.
Let's just say that these moments feel a little "larger than life" and in saying so, we should've just called this list the "best larger than life gaming moments", but I digress.
Without further ado, here are the most badass gaming moments of this generation.
When the nuclear bomb detonates in the fictional middle eastern country, you never see it coming. You're just sitting there comfy in your helicopter thinking that you're about to get the hell out of dodge when the bomb goes off and sends your ride spinning straight into the ground with all its live cargo on board. To top it all off, you get up after that and see the aftermath before succumbing.
One particular mission in Black Ops 2 puts you in the shoes of the game's main antagonist, Menendez, who after being forcefully kidnapped from his safehouse, manages to escape and must find his way back to his sister, Josefina, whose name he yells throughout the entire mission. The scene is particularly badass because Menendez appears to be invincible to bullets and hacks and slashes his way through dozens of soldiers before making his way back to his sister.
The destruction of the Eiffel Tower, a world-renowned landmark, never felt so poignant. As fierce battles are waged across the streets of Paris between Russian and American forces, the Eiffel Tower takes too much damage, causing it to collapse at the end of the game's 12th mission.
There’s a moment in Gears of War 2 when a giant rock worm—one which you’ve been hearing through tremors in the earth for quite some time—swallows you and your whole party. It’s quite terrifying.
One moment you probably didn’t expect in a game where you play a writer stuck in a world plagued by shadow monsters would be one where you’re part of a rock show. If you play Alan Wake, you’d better expect it, because it’s awesome. Wake up and smell the metal.
Similar to how the Metal Gear Solid games would break the fourth wall and mess with your mind, Arkham Asylum throws a bait and literal switch, making you replay the beginning of the game as the Joker. It doesn’t end there either, it doesn’t just mess with the player, it actually messes with the Batman’s mind inside the game as well! BA points to Rocksteady for doing a solid on that one.
Most of the items in this list are moments. The train level in Uncharted 2 is an entire level. It lasts for ages in comparison, and it makes you feel like a badass throughout, while having the added bonus of watching the amazing environment whizzing by.
Everybody knows that Shepard’s a BAMF, he even has a song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiRDJLcYua0) dedicated to him. Because of all the moments where he’s being all heroic and awesome, any moment when one of his mates steal his spotlight is something to regard with respect. Gotta love how Grunt returns from a near-death experience just covered in his enemy’s blood.
Topping off the ending of the first Portal was to be quite an undertaking for Valve. Fortunately they’ve come up with one of the best ways to end the second title by firing a portal to the moon in order to suck Wheatley and his personality cores into the vacuum of space. Spaaaaaaace!
Gratuitous violence has always been a forte of the God of War series, but ripping Helios’ head off in order to use it as a flashlight puts Alan Wake to shame, really.
The game almost has too many completely insane badass moments to count. Defeating one of the ridiculously gigantic bosses, conjuring up the hair-magic demons at Bayonetta’s command, defeating a large group of tough to beat regular enemies? The whole game is just one unending deluge of awesome moments.
The Souls games are special, in that they first break the players. And then build them up again to some major badassdom. Defeating even the first few bosses is no mean feat, since not only are those beasts towering, but also very, very lethal. As in killing an unattentive player with a single strike lethal. So defeating even the very first boss, the Prison Demon, makes the player feel like a badass, once that thing is cut down.
Nothing says badass like big enemies. Except maybe nuclear weapons. Except maybe both together. Which is what Fallout 3 featured. A gigantic, building sized super mutant, and a hand held nuclear missle launcher. Combine for maximum badassdom.
Because, there is no such thing as “too big”! Wait, that came out wrong...
The entire game’s purpose was the final mission, with the Normandy jumping beyond the Omega 3 relay into Collector Space. It was clear from the outset that some of the beloved characters would die. That maybe, even Shepard would not return for good from this run. With the stakes insanely high, each little action mattered. The suicide mission was the game’s way of evaluating the player’s behavior throughout the course of the story, and also an indicator of how successful the particular Shepard was as a leader. A brilliant, badass culmination of one of this generation’s greatest games.
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