History NightmareFuel / CallOfDuty

[[quoteright:236:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/call_of_duty_veteran.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:236: You will not survive.]]

* In ''2'', there's the first mission in Toujane, "Outnumbered and Outgunned". Without any warning whatsoever even from the usually trusty loading screen, you find yourself getting orders shouted at you by a desperate Captain Price to help HoldTheLine against a German counterattack with the nearby machine gun. Soon after you start, a scout car comes and blows it to pieces, and the only course of action left is to steal said scout car to cut through the swath of Nazis and meet up with the rest of your own forces. Meanwhile, the radio blurts out several transmissions from panicky British soldiers under heavy attack and taking casualties, right before they're cut off for one reason or another, be it an artillery strike or the operator's building being invaded[[labelnote:*]]"'''THEY'RE INSIDE!''' THEY'RE INSIDE THE MOSQUE!"[[/labelnote]]. Even after Davis, Price and [=MacGregor=] rendezvous with a few allies, your orders are to keep on moving to the evacuation point while they hold the Germans off... and then there's smoke from their position, which means that they were overrun soon after you left them behind. [=MacGregor=] insists on going back to help, but Price only says it's a lost cause and urges you forward. Really, you're only safe after the end-of-level FadeToBlack. The voice acting for this level (complete with more voice cracks ''than the rest of the whole game''), the exclusively reactive actions you take as opposed to the predominantly proactive ones from previous missions (there is barely a defense segment, and after it all there is is legging it away from the city), and the ease of getting overwhelmed and shot to death if you dawdle create a very tense atmosphere that makes it quite explicitly clear that '''you do NOT have the initiative at ANY moment of the level.''' On a grander scale than a soldier-to-soldier conflict, it's a good example of ControllableHelplessness, and a showcase that in war things don't always go the good guys' way. At times TheCavalry isn't there to help the struggling defenders, and even a typical FPS hero can't pull off a fantastic and decisive move that throws the attacking enemy down on its ass. At times the only choice you have is [[RunOrDie turn back and sprint off to safety with your tail between your legs and hope that you live long enough to fight another day]].

* ''NightmareFuel/CallOfDutyBlackOps3''

* ''NightmareFuel/CallOfDutyBlackOps2''

* NightmareFuel/ModernWarfare
* NightmareFuel/CallOfDutyWorldAtWar
* NightmareFuel/CallOfDutyBlackOps
* NightmareFuel/CallOfDutyBlackOps2
* NightmareFuel/CallOfDutyBlackOps3
* NightmareFuel/CallOfDutyGhosts
* NightmareFuel/CallOfDutyAdvancedWarfare
* NightmareFuel/CallOfDutyInfiniteWarfare
* NightmareFuel/CallOfDutyZombies

* ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDuty World at War]]''
** The audio logs in the Nazi Zombies bonus mode In VideoGame/CallOfDuty World at War, ''especially'' the logs in Der Riese.
*** And of course, the Hell Hounds. "FETCH ME THEIR '''SOULS'''!!". It does not help that they can easily kill you, and half of them EXPLODE.
** FridgeHorror: After the Battle of Berlin, [[WarIsHell several German women were raped or otherwise brutalized by the Soviet soldiers.]] So, Dimitri, the character you ''just played as'', and Reznov, one of the biggest Badasses of the series? Yeah, for all you know, they could be rapists.
*** [[ObligatoryWarCrimeScene "Several?"]]
*** Worse, it's not altogether unimaginable that Reznov would rape a German woman, not for his own pleasure, but simply to [[{{RevengeByProxy}} inflict pain on the Nazis.]]
** Being the DarkerAndEdgier version of the original Call Of Duty, World at War has this in spades:
*** The VERY FIRST mission has the first-person view of Miller and his recon team being captured and... [[ColdBloodedTorture "interrogated"]] by the Japanese. One of your squadmates is being [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown brutally hit in the face]] by a Japanese {{Mook}}, to the point it seems [[{{Squick}} most of the skin is cut off and bleeding]]. Then, [[DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu when he spits (Blood!) in the face of the the Japanese officer interrogating you]], the officer [[EyeScream shoves a burning cigarette into his eye]], and orders the Mook to execute you both. Once the Mook [[SlashedThroat slits your friend's throat]], (complete with [[PaintTheTownRed blood splattering the nearby wall]], he grabs you by the neck, and is about to do the same thing to you. [[spoiler: [[BigDamnHeroes If it wasn't for Sgt. Sullivan and the other Marines]], [[DoomedProtagonist your game would've been over before it even began]].]]
*** Then there's the opening of the Russian Campaign: Vendetta. You start off, face-down in a courtyard fountain, [[AtopAMountainOfCorpses surrounded by your dead and dying comrades]]. From your position, you can barely see German soldiers, [[DissonantSerenity casually strolling past]], [[ViolenceDiscretionShot shooting any Bolshevik they missed in the initial fight]]. Then, one hops into the fountain, [[ObligatoryWarCrimeScene fills a few more of your squadmates full of lead]], and barely misses you by that much. Unlike Miller, Dmitri doesn't survive his opening by [[BigDamnHeroes friendly reinforcements riding to the rescue]], but by pure, dumb luck. And if it wasn't for [[MentorArchetype Reznov's guidance in evading the Germans]], [[FridgeHorror said dumb luck probably wouldn't have lasted much longer]] [[EverythingTryingToKillYou in that carpet-bombed hell-hole of a city]].
*** And in the rest of the Russian campaign, [[YouBastard YOU AND REZNOV are doing the same thing to the Germans!]] When Reznov said [[IronicEcho "Their Land, Their Blood"]], he wasn't kidding - the Red Army is shown [[CurbstompBattle blowing away wave after wave of German soldiers]], ([[LoweredRecruitingStandards who aren't even actual soldiers anymore]] but "[[ChildSoldier the young]], [[ShellShockedVeteran the old]], and [[CannonFodder the weak]]"), while [[WeHaveReserves perfectly willing to sacrifice millions of their own troops to drown Germany in their blood, and smother them with their corpses]]. In a game where [[ProtagonistCenteredMorality the player character often got an automatic pass for being the good guy]], [[ButThouMust in spite of needing to shoot up HUNDREDS of enemies]], World at War takes great pains to emphasize the EvilVersusEvil the Eastern Front was in real life.
* ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps2''
** The first mission begins with the [[SarcasmMode charming]] close up sight of a man graphically burning alive while trapped in his own vehicle.
** [[spoiler: Josefina Menendez's]] face. [[http://images.wikia.com/callofduty/images/0/04/Josefina_Menendez_BOII.png Holy...]]
** [[spoiler: Jason Hudson's]] agonized cries as [[spoiler: Menendez]] kills him by shooting him in the knees, then slitting his throat.
** Woods is found during the first mission of the game lying in a shipping container, heavily fatigued and malnourished, surrounded by the decaying, dead bodies of all his fallen squad mates. Supposedly he had been locked in there ''for weeks''. The whole affair is so horrific that for most of the mission, Woods is completely checked out, on the verge of being entirely catatonic. He kind of snaps out of it at the end but still..."The things I've seen, man..."
* ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyGhosts''
** Extinction. To elaborate:
*** Heading into this game mode and hearing [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ik79J33F9A this]]. In the Extinction menu, you're treated to a [[http://oyster.ignimgs.com/mediawiki/apis.ign.com/call-of-duty-2013/thumb/9/98/Extinctionfront.jpg/460px-Extinctionfront.jpg simply wonderful close-up]] of an enemy's face.
*** The monsters themselves. The creatures in this mode make the zombies in Zombie Mode like a fluffy creature. Each creature offers their own unique brand of NightmareFuel:
*** The smallest ones are the weakest, and rely on ZergRush tactics. This is problematic in that each one is about as big as you are. [[OhCrap You may face as many as a dozen at one time,]] ''[[UpToEleven alongside other, more dangerous types]]''.
*** Scorpions. Much bigger than normal foes (thus, larger than you), and capable of shooting projectiles. They can shoot balls of acid that, on impact, create a small area that ''asphyxiates you when you walk through it''.
*** [[ActionBomb Meteors.]] They're deployed from a rock that falls from the sky, [[ParanoiaFuel meaning they can spawn anywhere, at any time.]] They explode when they get close, and are completely silent.
*** [[BossInMooksClothing Rhinos.]] You will learn to hate and fear the distinctive appearance of a Rhino, as it's melee attacks are peerless. One Rhino can easily take down a four-man team of well-equipped players, if they are not careful. Lord help you if you find more than one at a time.
*** The new DLC pack "Onslaught" contains a new extinction pack called "Nightfall". The setting is alot more eerie and they've included atwo new creatures. "The phantom" which turns invisible and even worse is a giant creature called the "Breeder" which is even worse than the rhinos. And the best thing? This is part of a five episode pack so expect even more alien horror!
*** The environment is covered in AlienKudzu, and you will have to use a drill to remove large chunks of it. The sign reading "SEND HELP" really drives home the point that shit has hit the fan.
*** Even worse, at various points you will need to call in a ''helicopter'' to remove large, obstructive "Barrier Hives".
*** The fan-made [[https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsq-9rAKYAYuWk_J2xTka3e7MxiNr605h Extinction album]] by Benn Down is either this, TearJerker, or both. The first song, [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?list=PLsq-9rAKYAYuWk_J2xTka3e7MxiNr605h&v=ylagIcK2JYE Unstoppable]], is a very upbeat song from the perspective of the humans, saying that they'll be able to win against the alien horde, and stuff. By the end, though...just listen to the [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?list=PLsq-9rAKYAYuWk_J2xTka3e7MxiNr605h&v=oaJhvJNUhNU last song]]...
** At one point during the campaign, you end up swimming through a school of sharks while trying to evade the Feds. So get too close to one, and you're fish food. More often than not, you won't even see one until it's jaws are around your belly, by which time, you can't escape...
** The introductory cutscene to "The Hunted". Showing Rorke in a hole, as black crystals erupt from his body... showing how he was changed from Ghost, to Ghost Killer.
** During the mission "Clockwork", you infiltrate a Federation base while wearing enemy uniforms. When the power cuts out, you immediately start shooting your way through and finally infiltrate a computer data center where a gigantic fight ensues. Upon escaping the battle, the Ghosts begin pretending they're injured Federation soldiers, and the trick works. As you exit the facility, you see numerous wounded enemies being treated by medics and dead bodies covered up: corpses that you created. It helps to humanize the Federation soldiers and really hammers home the damage that ''you'' just did.

* NightmareFuel/NaziZombies

* ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps''
** The [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJerWQhMl6k single-player trailer ]] for Black Ops. Especially somewhere in the middle, where the background is a hellish red, and the scientists are just dying from no apparent cause other than the air? Or the GKNOVA6 zombie videos, with the zombies apparently becoming a world-wide problem, business-suit zombies, and swarming zombies everywhere in cities, soldiers getting swarmed and falling back?
** Speaking of Black Ops... [[spoiler: Dimitri Petrenko's death. Seeing the once-invincible "heart of the Red Army" desperately pounding on a glass wall as his face liquefies into blood is not a sight that is easily forgotten. Considering how frequently Petrenko cheated death in World at War, also drives home the point that AnyoneCanDie.]]
** The bits with Mason's SanitySlippage are also quite unsettling.
** Really anything with Nova-6 counts. Especially[[spoiler: having to fight in a cloud of it. If you take too much damage to the HAZMAT suit your character dies rather messily...]]
** Kravchenko's log in "Victor Charlie." You know the guy was bad when you see him slicing captured German throats for the fun of it a mission earlier, but the fact that they were gassing random villages with the compound, performing lab tests on ''infants'', and removing infected tissue from exposed victims (read: ''slicing them apart'' while they were ''still alive and dying'') all to ''see how much longer they could keep the victims alive'' proves that this man was a sick bastard among sick bastards.
** Zombies mode manages to be this just by selecting it on the menu. As you select it, the lights take on an orange tint. The monitors on the right change, now showing panicking civilians, soldiers in hazmat suits fighting, and occasional glimpses of the monstrosities the soldiers are shooting at. Your interrogator moves off to the side for a second; when he comes back, he's a zombie. When he notices you, he starts pounding on the window, trying to get to you. Also, you're no longer able to escape from your chair...
** The normal title screen does just as well. As soon as you launch the game, you are strapped in a chair, being interrogated - and of course, because you haven't played yet, you don't know the answers. Assuming, of course, that you're not in-the-know regarding secrets, you start the game in a position which would, in real life (and for most of the game, too), be one of total helplessness - trapped, with no apparent way out, being tortured, with no way to abate the torturer.
** Speaking of Black Ops: [[spoiler: You are a Soviet agent]]. You don't know about what's in the spoiler box, of course, which is what makes this even worse. You find that you can't get [[spoiler: [[EarWorm a set of numbers]]]] from repeating in your head over and over again. It gradually begins to [[SanitySlippage erode your grasp of reality.]] People around you begin to be visibly weirded out by your behavior, even when you aren't experiencing anything unusual. It's almost too late when you realize [[spoiler: You're the TomatoInTheMirror. You are going to assassinate the President of the country you have sworn your life to protect. And there is nothing you can do about it.]]
** There are actually some pretty disturbing sounds in Rebirth and a couple other levels were you see [[spoiler: hallucinations]]of [[spoiler:Viktor Reznov]]. It sounds like a bloody scream from a bigfoot. If you've seen Lost Tapes episode with Bigfoot, you should know what I'm talking about.
*** The horror movie-esque music in Mason's half of that level doesn't help.
** Samantha Maxis. A [[CreepyChild creepy child]] that appears to be controlling the Hellhounds (and maybe the zombies) , and [[CuteAndPsycho changes from being sweet to psychotic in seconds]]. The fact that she still might be alive doesn't help.
** The "Revelations" mission was pretty freaky. After you punch out your interrogator, [[spoiler:Hudson]], you stumble through the NSA building that they've been keeping you in. You see the numbers in the air, hear them being spoken over Mason's screams that he keeps ''"HEARING THE FUCKING NUMBERS!"'', hear flashbacks from earlier in the game, and you can hear Mason yelling "Proceed to target" and "Oswald compromised", then you walk into a room and see footage from your escape from Vorkuta while Reznov speaks to you.
** The ship in "Project Nova". We start with the [[SarcasmMode lovely]] sight of a [[JumpScare dead body suddenly entering your field of vision]] as you navigate the dark entrance tunnels. Then you enter the main part of the ship, which has these huge fuck-off V2 rockets which were meant to unleash Nova-6 upon Allied command-and-control centers. [[DissonantSerenity While that's going on, Dragovich and Steiner have this creepy little chat about the weapon, and Dragovich praises Steiner for his "ambition"]]. [[spoiler: It finishes with the gas chambers, where Dragovich orders Dmitri to be gassed because he's [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness outlived his usefulness]]. It would have happened to Reznov, too, if the British didn't show up.]]

* ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyAdvancedWarfare''
** By and large the Manticore weapon. A bioweapon capable of ''selectively'' killing targets that aren't entered into a large database controlled by its handler. It's like mass-produced ethnic cleansing.
** When you grapple kill an AST, Mitchell yanks the pilot out of the cockpit and pulls him in. When he catches the guy, you get a brief look in his eyes and it definitely has a look of "You don't have to do this..." right before Mitchell violently smashes his face into the ground. One of the few times in the series the level of brutality was a bit overboard (even a NeckSnap seems more warranted than vindictively crushing your victim's face in for no direct wrong).

** FridgeHorror: After the Battle of Berlin, [[WarIsHell several German women were raped or otherwise brutalized by the Soviet soldiers.]] So, Dimitri, the character you ''just played as'', and Reznov, one of the biggest [[{{Badass}} Badasses]] of the series? Yeah, for all you know, they could be rapists.

* In ''2'', there's the first mission in Toujane, "Outnumbered and Outgunned". Without any warning whatsoever even from the usually trusty loading screen, you find yourself getting orders shouted at you by a desperate Captain Price to help HoldTheLine against a German counterattack with the nearby machine gun. Soon after you start, a scout car comes and blows it to pieces, and the only course of action left is to steal said scout car to cut through the swath of Nazis and meet up with the rest of your own forces. Meanwhile, the radio blurts out several transmissions from panicky British soldiers under heavy attack and taking casualties, right before they're cut off for one reason or another, be it an artillery strike or the operator's building being invaded[[labelnote:*]]"'''THEY'RE INSIDE!''' THEY'RE INSIDE THE MOSQUE!"[[/labelnote]]. Even after Davis, Price and [=MacGregor=] rendezvous with a few allies, your orders are to keep on moving to the evacuation point while they hold the Germans off... and then there's smoke from their position, which means that they were overrun soon after you left them behind. [=MacGregor=] insists on going back to help, but Price only says it's a lost cause and urges you forward. Really, you're only safe after the end-of-level FadeToBlack. The voice acting for this level (complete with more voice cracks ''than the rest of the whole game''), the exclusively reactive actions you take as opposed to the predominantly proactive ones from previous missions (there is barely a defense segment, and after it all there is is legging it away from the city), and the ease of getting overwhelmed and shot to death if you dawdle create a very tense atmosphere that makes it quite explicitly clear that '''you do NOT have the initiative at ANY moment of the level.''' On a grander scale than a soldier-to-soldier conflict, it's a good example of ControllableHelplessness, and a showcase that in war things don't always go the good guys' way. At times TheCavalry isn't there to help the struggling defenders, and even a typical FPS hero can't pull off a fantastic and decisive move that throws the attacking enemy down on its ass. At times the only choice you have is turn back and sprint off to safety with your tail between your legs and hope that you live long enough to fight another day.

* In ''2'', there's the first mission in Toujane, "Outnumbered and Outgunned". Without any warning whatsoever even from the usually trusty loading screen, you find yourself getting orders shouted at you by a desperate Captain Price to help HoldTheLine against a German counterattack with the nearby machine gun. Soon after you start, a scout car comes and blows it to pieces, and the only course of action left is to steal said scout car to cut through the swath of Nazis and meet up with the rest of your own forces. Meanwhile, the radio blurts out several transmissions from panicky British soldiers under heavy attack and taking casualties, right before they're cut off for one reason or another, be it an artillery strike or the operator's building being invaded[[labelnote:*]]"'''THEY'RE INSIDE!''' THEY'RE INSIDE THE MOSQUE!"[[/labelnote]]. Even after Davis, Price and [=MacGregor=] rendezvous with a few allies, your orders are to keep on moving to the evacuation point while they hold the Germans off... and then there's smoke from their position, which means that they were overrun soon after you left them behind. [=MacGregor=] insists on going back to help, but Price only says it's a lost cause and urges you forward. Really, you're only safe after the end-of-level FadeToBlack. The voice acting for this level (complete with more voice cracks ''than the rest of the whole game''), the exclusively reactive actions you take as opposed to the predominantly proactive ones from previous missions (there is barely a defense segment, and after it all there is is legging it away from the city), and the ease of getting overwhelmed and shot to death if you dawdle create a very tense atmosphere that makes it quite explicitly clear that '''you do NOT have the initiative at ANY moment of the level.''' On a grander scale than a soldier-to-soldier conflict, it's a good example of ControllableHelplessness, and a showcase that in war things don't always go the good guys' way. At times TheCavalry isn't there to help the struggling defenders, and even a typical FPS here can't pull off a fantastic and decisive move that throws the attacking enemy down on its ass. At times the only choice you have is turn back and sprint off to safety with your tail between your legs and hope that you live long enough to fight another day.

We all know that war is hell, right? And we are reminded of it on certain passing days. But this series does '''not''' sugar coat how bad war can be...and the tropers who have played this and attained nightmares (and probably [[BringMyBrownPants browned pants]]) can attest to that whole-heartedly.

*** And in the rest of the Russian campaign, [[YouBastard YOU AND REZNOV are doing the same thing to the Germans!]] When Reznov said [[IronicEcho "Their Land, Their Blood"]], he wasn't kidding - the Red Army is shown [[CurbstompBattle blowing away wave after wave of German soldiers]], ([[LoweredRecruitingStandards who aren't even actual soldiers anymore]] but "[[ChildSoldier the young]], [[ShellShockedSenior the old]], and [[CannonFodder the weak]]"), while [[WeHaveReserves perfectly willing to sacrifice millions of their own troops to drown Germany in their blood, and smother them with their corpses]]. In a game where [[ProtagonistCenteredMorality the player character often got an automatic pass for being the good guy]], [[ButThouMust in spite of needing to shoot up HUNDREDS of enemies]], World at War takes great pains to emphasize the EvilVersusEvil the Eastern Front was in real life.

*** The fan-made [[http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9AmK8SSTi2IIU4S4r4zPu9oSB4hKMEoJ Extinction album]] by Benn Down is either this, TearJerker, or both. The first song, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jT6drg2Fgz8&list=PL9AmK8SSTi2IIU4S4r4zPu9oSB4hKMEoJ&index=1 Unstoppable]], is a very upbeat song from the perspective of the humans, saying that they'll be able to win against the alien horde, and stuff. By the end, though...just listen to the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBaSKB26pM0&list=PL9AmK8SSTi2IIU4S4r4zPu9oSB4hKMEoJ last song]]...

** By and large the Manticore weapon. A bioweapon capable of ''selectively'' killing targets that are entered into a large database controlled by its handler. It's like mass-produced ethnic cleansing.

** The audio logs in the Nazi Zombies bonus mode In CallOfDuty World at War, ''especially'' the logs in Der Riese.

* ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare ''
** One level in ''CallOfDuty 4: ModernWarfare'' ends with one of the playable characters' entire unit being [[spoiler: [[NukeEm wiped out in a nuclear blast]]]]. If that weren't enough, you are forced to control that character and [[FirstPersonShooter see through his eyes]] as he [[spoiler: limps out of his crashed helicopter, struggles across the wasted landscape, and gasps his last ragged breath]].
*** The guy in the helicopter as it spirals out of control... the look of absolute fear on his face... then he's gone.
*** If you listen carefully near the end of that scene, there's the sound of a playground full of happy children in the background.
** There's also plenty of instances where, unlike in most FPS games, wounded or dying enemy soldiers will still be moving around, crawling, stumbling, and writhing on the ground as they slowly die - though in some cases, they [[PlayingPossum fight back]]. Watching it is rather disturbing, and in ''Call of Duty 4'' you actually get an ''achievement'' for being cold-blooded enough to execute wounded enemy troops with your knife.
** The first sign that the creators weren't screwing around is in the ''opening credits''. Why? Because while the credits roll, you see through the eyes of the president of an [[{{Qurac}} unnamed Middle Eastern country]] as the victorious revolutionary troops drive him through a war-torn coastal city, showing civilians being gunned down by their rather menacing army without the driver even commenting to a courtyard, where you get to see the president's execution ''in first person''.
** Remember "DeathFromAbove"? Fun, right? Not so much when you think about how it must've felt being the Ultranationalist troops on the ground as their comrades are suddenly disintegrated by the dozens. The application of DangerDeadpan, which implies that the player character and his fellow crewmembers actually ''enjoy'' this, does not help at all.
*** Watch some real AC-130 gunship footage sometimes. There is almost no difference between the game and the footage.
*** somehow that's even worse...
** Chernobyl. Several parts of the levels were lifted straight from photographs of the actual site. Then there's the bits where you can faintly hear the laughter of children in the distance....
*** The part where Macmillin gives that speech about what happened to Pripyat and the disaster.
*** ''"Unbelievable... 50,000 people used to live in this city. [[GhostCity Now it's a ghost town..."]]''
** In the sequel, the infamous airport terrorism mission. Not only are you killing unarmed civilians, you slowly start to realize that the airport looks familiar, that it could just as easily be ''you''. Taken to the next level with [[spoiler:the Russian invasion. Imagine fighting in the Virginia suburbs, ducking in and out of BrandX versions of your favorite chain restauraunts while BTRs roll down main street. And Washington gets invaded.]]
*** [[spoiler: KILO FIVE ONE TO ALL FRIENDLY UNITS IN DC- HAMMER DOWN IS IN EFFECT, I REPEAT, HAMMER DOWN IS IN EFFECT. IF YOU RECEIVE THIS TRANSMISSION YOU ARE A HARDENED, HIGH-VALUE STRUCTURE. DEPLOY GREEN FLARES ON THE ROOF OF THIS STRUCTURE TO INDICATE YOU ARE STILL COMBAT-EFFECTIVE. WE WILL ABORT OUR MISSION ON DIRECT VISUAL CONTACT WITH THIS COUNTERSIGN. ...2 minutes to weapons release.]] The bit at the end is an OhCrap moment as you realize [[spoiler: you have less than two minutes to get to the roof of the White House before the fighters swoop in and destroy it, since it is hardened against an EMP and too valuable to fall into enemy hands.]]

* ''[[VideoGame/ModernWarfare Modern Warfare 2]]''
** The moment in [=MW2=], where [[spoiler:Shepherd betrays Task Force 141 by shooting Roach in the chest, headshotting Ghost, and then tossing them both into a ditch - and Roach is still alive, mind you - , dousing them with gasoline, and setting them on fire, burning Roach alive. And you see all this ''through Roach's eyes''. Gah!]]
*** The cherry on top of this is Captain Price's frantic voice on the radio shouting [[spoiler:"'''Do not trust Shepherd!'''"]] -- as [[spoiler:Shepherd is lighting you on fire]].
** Also in Modern Warfare 2, seeing most of DC and Virginia in flames was incredibly shocking (particularly to me, living in the area AND serving in the military)
** Not to mention the mission ''Of Their Own Accord'', whose intro briefing is the ''Emergency Fucking Broadcast System'', telling civilians to evacuate the area. It even throws in a dash of FridgeHorror with the last bit about "BE AWARE OF YOUR SURROUNDINGS. REMAIN ALERT." The civilians have to be alert because the Russian soldiers are killing ''any'' Americans they find, not just military personnel.
** As if the broadcast system wasn't bad enough, the intro starts literally a second after the previous mission. The term JumpScare dosen't even begin to do it justice.
*** It's specifically disturbing to us because, since it fills the entire screen and is made to resemble an actual Emergency Broadcast Message, it looks like it's actually a REAL Emergency Broadcast Message, as if they're warning you that the Russians really ARE coming to your homes to shoot you dead (If you're playing the game in America, anyway)
*** Then the mission begins and a few seconds later, you get to see UsefulNotes/WashingtonDC [[SceneryGorn reduced to a warzone]]. You thought the Twin Towers being destroyed was bad? How about the very capital of the United States?
** They wanted 1000 dead Americans for every victim of the airport attack. They really don't give much of a damn whether they're armed or not. The civvies in that airport weren't.
** The ending of Modern Warfare 2. [[spoiler: You're button-mashing to pull out a knife buried to the hilt in your chest, first with one hand, then with both. The screen starts to fade to an ever-darkening red and Soap is crying out in agony as he (this bears reiteration) IS PULLING A KNIFE FROM HIS CHEST.]] All while you're in first-person.
** The multiplayer map "Vacant" from Modern Warfare 1 and 2 certainly qualifies; is an abandoned building with surreal graffiti paintings, a office-like room with lots of computers and some BEDS in the corridors, and can't figure what people did there.
** The view from space as [[spoiler:the Missile Price launched at DC.]] [[spoiler: You see the view form an astronaut near the ISS. over your radio you hear them tell you to look to your right. You get to watch as the missile flies towards the east coast of the united states. With the east coast being on the dark side of the planet, you get to watch as THE ENTIRE EAST COAST OF THE US (with the exception of Florida and half of Georgia) goes completely dark.]] Not enough? [[spoiler: Suddenly, the ISS breaks apart and pieces of it go flying at your character.]] He undoubtedly dies. Probably on impact if he was lucky.
*** If it comforts you in any way, the ISS scene was scientifically inaccurate as [[spoiler: explosion shockwaves won't hit the space station because there's no medium in space. Therefore, if the game was consistent to reality the astronaut and the ISS would be unharmed. And since Florida's lights are still on after the explosion, Cape Canaveral should still be operation and the astronaut would be brought back to Earth in due time. Of course, it doesn't dampen the shock of seeing the East Coast being blacked out by EMP.]]
**** Oh, no, it's worse than that. [[spoiler: Taking the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starfish_Prime#Aftereffects Starfish Prime]] High altitude nuclear test into account, the nuclear detonation may very well have knocked out the electronics aboard the ISS. That means they had no communications with earth, no life support, and no 'life boat' to boot, leaving them to slowly suffocate as the Carbon Dioxide builds up and the Oxygen content of the air dwindles down to zero.]]
*** [[FridgeHorror Another even more terrifying thing to consider:]] what if that astronaut had survived the impact of the panel? [[DramaticSpaceDrifting Assuming his suit wasn't breached, he'd be left to suffocate, or starve in space.]] [[AndIMustScream Truly a horrifying way to go.]] [[NothingIsScarier We're not shown if he survives or not, which doesn't ease our minds.]]
* When the Russian aircraft are advancing towards the United States and [[TheVoice Overlord]] is not sure whether or not the radar is displaying them correctly. Then when Overlord asks Sierra Delta if anything is in the sky a terrified voice cries out and sirens are going off in the background.
--> "''They're everywhere!"''
** "[[OhCrap ENEMY AC130 ABOVE]]!"

* ''[[VideoGame/ModernWarfare Modern Warfare 3]]''
** [[spoiler: Makarov]]'s death scene in [=MW3=]. Yeah, he had it coming to him, but was it ''really'' neccessary to show him frantically flailing around before he died?
*** Yes. Yes, it was. And the bastard deserved a lot worse for what he did to [[spoiler:Soap and Jackson.]]
*** And [[spoiler: [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg Yuri]]. [[RunningGag And Allen. And Kamarov.]]]] Ok, maybe not [[spoiler: [[TheLoad Kamarov]].]]
*** And the airport. Don't forget that.
*** And Prague, and every city in Europe that was a victim of the gas attacks that he orchestrated.
*** Let's not forget the thousands of soldiers, American, Russian, French, German, British, etc. that died just following orders.
*** Can we just say that hanging is the lightest punishment the man could receive?
** In Modern Warfare 3, when [[spoiler: the Russians launch the gas attack]], even though you see what happens in the "Davis Family Vacation" bit, the full scope of the attack is not revealed until several missions in, when you first get to Paris. Dead civilians ''everywhere''.
--> '''U.S Soldier:''' All the civilians at the Louvre are ''dead''!
** Something similar in ''Hunter Killer''. You have to swim through a collapsed tunnel in New York, flooded, filled with cars, debris, and corpses. Playing through the level gave you the sight of a man floating in said tunnel.
** [[spoiler:Davis Family Vacation]] is ''terrifying''. Worst MoodWhiplash ''ever''. It's still frightening even if you know what's going to happen, and if you haven't had it spoiled for you, the GenreSavvy gamer will know that when [[spoiler:we see a happy family vacation]] in a game like ''ModernWarfare'', shit is about to go ''down''. It's like the Sat1 sequence from ''2'', except much, much closer to home.
** All of the American levels in ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare2'' and [=MW3=], just imagine if the Russian Invasion and the reasons for it were just a tad bit earlier, like a few years before the games events, looks like Occupy Wall street would have become run from wall street, and then there were the people in the tunnel, just floating there made me cringe at the thought.
** The sandstorm that whips up during Return to Sender is terrible, especially if you have a fear of natural disasters.