this is the second thread of the "what a moment" threads i am making, apperantly they are a for me now. anyways the moment i will be discussing is from the exellent red dead redemption, the only thing revealed here will be a side mission, yes my guilty moment happens in a side mission, so only spoilers from this particular side mission will be talked about
The moment in the picture above happens in red dead redemption in the "water and honesty" stranger (side) mission. for those who played the side mission skip this paragaph as you know what the side mission is. for those who havent played the game let me explain what the side mission is. in the early stages of the game i will be making my way to a city named armadillo, while on the way i see on the map a sine for a question mark, i go to it and i meet a guy camping, i go up to him and talk to him. basically the side mission starts and the man asks me to go to a place up on the hill and buy a piece of land for him, he will give me a reward if i get him the deed for the land.
once i reach the house of the old man i am greated with him pointing a gun at my face thinking im a rober wanting to rob him, john(the main character) though proceeds to calm him down and explain to him that he just wants to buy a piece of land. the guy is listening and willing to sell, i am left with two options, give him 200 bucks and buy the land, or kill him and just take the deed. i thought to my self why would i spend 200 bucks just for a stranger who wont pay me back? why shouldnt i just kill the guy? and thats what i did, i took out my gun and killed him in cold blood.
i took the deed off of him, took the bullets of his rifle,while my honor level went down and then went on my way back. and at that moment, i felt something i never felt before while playing a video game, i felt guilty. why did i kill him? was it really worth 200 bucks? killing an old man? i honestly regreted it. the old man was afraid that i was going there to rob him, after i assured to him that i wasnt i betrayed him, and not only robbed his land, but robbed him of his life. and wow was i guilty.
i was thinking to my self while i was on my way back to the man who sent me that atleast he will be greatful, ill get my reward and he will thank me. once i handed him the deed, the guy noticed the old mans blood on it and figured out what happened. he got angry, yelled at me for taking the guys life and said it wasnt worth it, and at that moment i felt even more guilty.
that moment basically changed what i believed was possible in video games. i felt something, something other than "this is fun" or "im so angry". red dead redemption made me feel sad, angry, happy, confused, guilty and disgusted. it literally changed the way i play video games and the way i see them. that moment was one of the many amazing moments in the game, if you havent played the game yet, i urge you to do so.
