Witnessing the sight of blood or a severed head is sufficient to make anyone’s stomach churn (unless of course you enjoy these sorts of gruesome sights). However, a gamer’s excitement and immersion in a video game depends on several factors. Believe it or not, one of them happens to be the repulsive animation of someone or something’s head being pulled off from their (or its, depending on if it’s a creature or not) spine while you keep looking on in profound amazement. Here, let us look at four of the most grotesque decapitations in video games and see the level of impact they made on the gamer as they clamor for more video games boasting the same kind of animations.
1: Resident evil 3: Nemesis
There were two instances where the term ‘decapitation’ was involved. One was when the Nemesis grabbed Brad Vickers from the head and drives its tentacles through Brad’s skull (such a shame they could not show us this cinematic). Nonetheless, Brad’s brief career in the Raccoon Police S.T.A.R.S unit had concluded with a bitter end; an end that probably not a lot of people were expecting, but at the same time, we are pretty sure it did not make much of an impact to them because Brad’s pusillanimity was enough to contemplate that ‘yeah, this guy’s gotta go. He’s pretty much useless’. Then came the highlight of the video game; when Jill Valentine decapitates the behemoth Nemesis by shooting several valves of ‘skin corroding acid’ on top of the ugly hulk. Surprisingly, it still survived and continued its pursuit of Jill Valentine (until a rail gun finally got the better of the monstrosity).
2: Resident evil 4
After Capcom changed the entire landscape of the Resident evil franchise with the release of resident evil 4, you could expect that the new and reformed gameplay came bundled with a lot more goodies. For example, shooting at the enemy’s head several times (depending on what difficult you are playing on) caused a minute but enjoyable little moment when the head exploded and started spewing out blood. However, we have to admit that the highlight of the video game was not aimed at the enemies, but it was aimed at the player. Remember Dr. Salvatore, the parasitic controlled farmer wearing a hay bag as a mask and wielding a large chainsaw? (keep in mind that the Bella sisters also caused our spine to chill) Yes! That Dr. Salvatore. The only thing that was more repulsive than his appearance was his erratic movement as he approached us, hurling the chainsaw in every direction. If you came within close proximity of that chainsaw, do not expect that you will fall down and receive a huge reduction in your health points. No. Instead, you were given another treat; one that would leave Leon Kennedy’s head separated from his body, leaving you with your eyes protruding from your sockets.
3: Dead Space 2
Isaac Clarke’s nightmare has just started developing. With the addition of new enemies (labeled necromorphs), whom you knew nothing about in terms of their repertoire of attacks, there were several surprises stored for you in this video game. For example, take a look at the divider (pictured above), a humanoid shaped necromorph that can only be killed through the strategic attacking method of dismemberment? Wrong. Even after the creature’s limbs have been separated, the creature’s head is alive and it is only after one thing; Isaac’s head. If the player was on his / her last bar of health, the divider’s head would jump on top of Isaac’s body, pulls his head from his body through the use of the divider’s tentacles, and replace it by placing its own head while bobbing about in all directions. Definitely not for the faintest of hearts.
4: Aliens Vs. Predator (2010)
The attempt to resurrect the AVP franchise was commendable with the release of Aliens Vs. Predator. Though we can give them a round of applause for their efforts, the game ended up being too drab for gamers too enjoy in terms of plot structure. Nevertheless, there are other things to look forward. Like the decapitation of your enemies. Of course this can only be achieved when you play as an Alien or a Predator, because a human would not have the physical strength necessary to pull out an enemy’s head with his / her bare hands (he also wouldn’t be equipped with a razor sharp blade hooked on to the tail of the alien or deadly wrist mounted retractable blades of a predator). Nevertheless, it was always enjoyable when the execution button popped up, prompting the player to press the correct button and watch in ever astonishing amazement as the Predator (or alien) performed a signature fatality like move, finishing the enemy in a single move. This video game is a must play (its been four years, you must have played it by now) for those who display an abhorrence towards games with limited amount of gore.
So that is it folks. Our countdown of the four most grotesque decapitations in video games has finally come to a conclusion. Sadly, it was a rather brief one and we sincerely hope that developers take note that this is a worthy addition to several video games out there. If the story cannot be concrete enough, then at least make the main course more appetizing with the addition of several sidelines, like decapitation. Do you know any games that featured intense amounts gore, particularly when it came to separating the head from the body? Leave it in the comment banks below.
