In my opinion, gaming is one of the most immersive and effective storytelling mediums out there. You don’t just bear witness to a story. You actively live the character’s experience and become complicit in their actions.
It’s why we’ve seen narrative-driven games rise in popularity in the last decade. Who doesn’t want to be swept away on an epic adventure? It’s no surprise really that Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is already PlayStation’s fastest selling game of all-time. It’s the closest any of us will ever come to living out a superhero fantasy. Being immersed in a story is incredible, but it does mean that when the story takes a sad turn, it can really punch you in the gut. The Last of Us Part II, Ghost of Tsushima, and Professor Layton and the Spectre’s Call all spring to mind as games that brought a tear to my eye, but many gaming fans are calling Gears of War’s Dom’s death the ‘saddest in video game history’.
Speaking of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, take a look at the game in action below.
Reddit user GearsOfJacoby wrote, “No matter what, Dom’s death will always be the saddest death to me in gaming history,” with plenty of people agreeing. Spartan17492 added, “As soon as I hear the piano of ‘Mad World’ I get sad, combine that with Marcus making a desperate attempt to stop him. Hits me every time,” while wheel_of_cheese92 wrote, “I truly believe the cinematic experience in video games peaked when Dom died. Everything afterwards has just been a sad attempt at stirring up emotions and everything trying to be too epic and like a movie. Dom's death didn't have any of the extreme cheesiness that all these other games seem to thrive on.”
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While I can’t agree with that, I do think Dom’s death was perfectly executed … pardon the grim pun. User jcquantihero shared, “That scene was so sad I literally named my son (who my girlfriend was pregnant with at the time) Dominic after him. He's six and a half now.” How wholesome is that? IamTheMaker said, “It's second only to one of the endings from Life is Strange for me.” Another worthy shoutout.
MM00DY commented, “Nah John Marston then Dom.” What this is reminding me is that actually, I’ve cried at most video games.
Topics: Gears Of War, Xbox