[dANGER boy]

Just wondering what kind of games twinged some of those heartstrings (and don't act all tough like you don't got 'em). *twang! Choose any moment(s), maximum of 3, rank em', and post!  It's always interesting to see how different people respond to different video game moments.

*****SPOILER WARNINGS*****

1) Final Fantasy X - The entire ending gets my #1 spot.  

Spoiler:

I had this feeling the entire game that Yuna was going to die, even before you officially learn about it.  But when they find a way to save Yuna, only to sacrifice Tidus...I have to admit, had a little tightness in my throat.  Had to feel so sorry for Yuna.  Yuna running through him was tragic.

IMO, saddest but best video game ending I've seen.

2) Half-life 2, Episode 2 - For those who haven't played it, I can't dishonor the one perfect video game series in the history of the world by spoiling this so I won't say it.  But for those who have played it, you know exactly what I'm talking about.  Got me totally by suprise and almost put my fist through my LCD screen.  I was so ready to go kick some Combine ass only to remember that they haven't made Ep. 3 yet.  Poor Alyx.

3) Mass Effect 1 - Losing a crew member on Virmire sucked.  'Nough said there, right?

Edit: Fixed my poor grammar and added spoiler tags!

[ShadowGorrath]

1. Metro 2033 - most of the game

2. FreeSpace - most of them too

[NGTM-1R]

Wow.

I mean, wow. That's shallow guys.

1. Admittedly quite personal, but the first time I completed MechCommander 1; mainly because I'd been trying off and on for two years. I finally limp into the last section and go "****" because here comes the five Hunchback IICs and a couple Masakaris and then I follow up a soft, awed "****" as my team of MechWarriors preceed to kill each and every one of them with perfect shots to the head in an orgy of Gauss rifle and ER-PPC fire.

2. Kharak. 'nuff said.

3. NWN 2 Mask of the Betrayer's ending for all the wrong reasons. I knew, the whole game, that they weren't going to let me **** with the cosmology like that. But you know what? I believed they were right, that this was all bull**** and the wall of the faithless required tearing down. And towards the end, as everything built up I was honestly starting to think they might let me actually do it.

Then they didn't. And my "OH **** YOU WIZARDS OF THE COAST" rant probably had to be heard to be believed.

[Sushi]

2) Half-life 2, Episode 2 - For those who haven't played it, I can't dishonor the one perfect video game series in the history of the world by spoiling this so I won't say it.  But for those who have played it, you know exactly what I'm talking about.  Got me totally by suprise and almost put my fist through my LCD screen.  I was so ready to go kick some Combine ass only to remember that they haven't made Ep. 3 yet.  Poor Alyx.

Thanks for reminding me to be mad about the lack of Ep3 (or even any news about it). Again.

[zookeeper]

What happens right before the final fight in Super Metroid. Waah.

[Ransom]

I think maybe the OP should use spoiler tags.

I'll second Homeworld.

Oddly, Final Fantasy 8 got under my skin. I didn't much care about any of it for the first two thirds of the game, but then something happened.

Spoiler:

Events became increasingly eerie and dreamlike. Little ambiguities became more and more difficult to ignore. I got invested in the romance between Squall and Rinoa, which made it all the more disturbing when I started to doubt any of it was real. The worst of it is the game never directly acknowledges any of it, which makes it either the most subtle Final Fantasy story ever or an accidental masterpiece. The odds are high it's the latter, but it still got to me.

I also consider Ultimecia to be the most effective antagonist in the series. I was scared of her. Like the Shivans, it wasn't because of anything she did, but because I had absolutely no idea why she was doing it.

[Angelus]

Homeworld 1

Mechcommander 1

The entire Legacy of Kain Series ( Soul Reaver, Blood Omen )

[StarSlayer]

Math Blaster on the Apple IIe


It was a sad day when you gave the wrong rocket number to the astronut.

[General Battuta]

Homeworld 1, Kharak.

Ground Control 2, 'For Her Light'.

Mass Effect 1 Virmire, a lot of character moments in Mass Effect 2.

Will think of more...

[MR_T3D]

here's a pair of games that really should be listed:
GTA4: the wedding, especially if you went revenge.
World of Conflict: Bannon was annoying, but watching those cutscenes, and what he did.
that redemption.

[General Battuta]

World of Conflict: Bannon was annoying, but watching those cutscenes, and what he did.
that redemption.

I'll second that in a heartbeat. Great writing in that game.

[Polpolion]

1) Unreal 2, having the Atlantis get destroyed and her crew killed. Pretty much from that point on the game was one big OH MY GOD moment.
2) Kharak in HW1
3) Abandoning the Pride of Hiigara in HW2
4) System Shock 2,  Recreation deck, having the one person that wasn't trying to kill you die, and then following in the footsteps of the dead resistance.
5) MW4: Black Knight, Having the Colonel get killed wasn't much fun. It's a shame that the rest of the game didn't seem very polished, because it could've been really cool.

[dANGER boy]

Man, enough people have listed Homeworld that I might have to go check it out.  I own the game but have never bothered to play it.  Guess I might have to now.

A runner-up for me would've been the ending of The Darkness.  Creepy, weird game but the final scene with Jenny and Jackie lying on the bench was powerful.

[Dilmah G]

GTA4: the wedding, especially if you went revenge.

Oh yes, definitely. I can't really remember too many emotional moments in a game to be honest, epic fights, however...

[TrashMan]

Any Bioware Game.

Freespace.

Outcast

Jagged Alliance 2 (I had Shadow die, then Grizzly...the farewell speeches of the rest of the gang..RELOAD!)

[fightermedic]

3. NWN 2 Mask of the Betrayer's ending for all the wrong reasons. I knew, the whole game, that they weren't going to let me **** with the cosmology like that. But you know what? I believed they were right, that this was all bull**** and the wall of the faithless required tearing down. And towards the end, as everything built up I was honestly starting to think they might let me actually do it.

Then they didn't. And my "OH **** YOU WIZARDS OF THE COAST" rant probably had to be heard to be believed.

WOW I SO agree with you there
mask of the betrayer has been the most awesome dnd game i ever played.. not for the gameplay but the story after the first missions gets better and better and better
and i too was SO cracy i couldn't tear down the wall.. omg

other moments:
baldurs gate 2 throne of bhaal
whats better then becoming a god???
awesome moment

aquanox 2
the whole game
played it on the easiest difficulty just to see the story faster ^^

final fantasy X - the video where yuna summons the spirits
plain exitement

almost all of mass effekt 2
best characters in any videogame ever

warcraft 3
the cutscenes

icewind dale 1 when you learn the story of the daughter of the boss of the 4fingered hand

much of the beginning of dragon age

vampire the masquerade.. awesoooome story.. bloodelines is good too

the first moment playing rome total war with the total realism mod.. it was like the best game ever back then

and soooooo many more i can't think of atm
computergames CAN indeed be worth your time

[jr2]

Hmm, what was that FS1 mission where you arrive just in time to see the Lucifer skewer the Galatea?  The Galatea says something along the lines of 'protect the escape pods'... The first time I played that mission, I arrived and somehow managed to get my comm system damaged (I think... unless it was the Galatea's Comm system), so what I got (as the Galatea was breaking up) was a distorted message that was almost impossible to understand.  But not quite impossible.  So it sounded like the guy in the Galatea was using his last words to tell you to save his crewmates who were in the escape pods, as the bulkheads exploded around him.  This only happened once, on subsequent replays the message was never garbled.

EDIT:

Oh, and the ending of FS2... I was bound determined to save as many of the escaping refugees as humanly possible, and still make it out on time.. I thought that Alpha 1 surviving was necessary to complete the mission, and half the time when I play a game, I make decisions as if it was for real... and there was no way I was letting those refugees get destroyed by Shivan fighters.  So after doing everything I could, I set my engines to max and headed for the node... I didn't make it, of course, and I knew I wasn't going to, but I kept trying and decided to wait for the end whilst trying against all hope to make the node before the supernova.  I figured I'd have to do the mission all over again and I was trying to think of how to still save all the refugees that was possible, and still make it to the node.  Then I got the ending cutscene where Alpha 1 dies and I was like... oh.

[Mobius]

I think maybe the OP should use spoiler tags.

I'll second Homeworld.

Oddly, Final Fantasy 8 got under my skin. I didn't much care about any of it for the first two thirds of the game, but then something happened.

Spoiler:

Events became increasingly eerie and dreamlike. Little ambiguities became more and more difficult to ignore. I got invested in the romance between Squall and Rinoa, which made it all the more disturbing when I started to doubt any of it was real. The worst of it is the game never directly acknowledges any of it, which makes it either the most subtle Final Fantasy story ever or an accidental masterpiece. The odds are high it's the latter, but it still got to me.

I also consider Ultimecia to be the most effective antagonist in the series. I was scared of her. Like the Shivans, it wasn't because of anything she did, but because I had absolutely no idea why she was doing it.

[MP-Ryan]

Homeworld's Kharak and HL2:Ep2 I'll definitely agree with.  Episode 2 left me open-mouthed.

Virmire.... meh, I thought that part of ME was pretty weak, myself.

Max Payne had a few moments (when he discovers his dead wife and child) that certainly affected me.

[redsniper]

Metal Gear Solid - all of it. (or at least any part where The Best is Yet to Come plays)

MGS4 - the last boss fight was perfect

Final Fantasy VI - Best opening credits ever. Also, suicide attempts in an SNES game? Say it isn't so!

Spoiler:

Talking about Celes here. That whole first bit in World of Ruin was pretty emotional actually.

Homeworld - I was young and not very good at games when I played this. In that last huge battle I had enemies constantly dealing damage to the mothership and support frigates constantly repairing it... but not fast enough. She got down to a one-pixel sliver of health left, and right then I killed enough enemy ships to tip the scales back in my favor.

Hordes of the Underdark - "Mephistopheles, I command you to fight me!"