HEAD SAW
(RESIDENT EVIL 4)
If there is anything worse than getting your head sawn off with a chainsaw, then it’s got to be getting your head sawn off with a chainsaw by someone called ‘Dr Salvador.’ What kind of a doctor does something like that? Obviously the Hippocratic Oath means nothing these days.

CROTCH SAW
(MANHUNT 2)
Razor wire + groin = massive amounts of pain. We can feel our genitalia cowering in fear as we write this. Luckily, the BBFC won’t let you see Daniel Lamb saw a man through the crotch, but it’s too late for us, we’ve already seen it, and it now forms the basis for most of our nightmares.

SPINE RIP
(MORTAL KOMBAT)
Decapitations are part and parcel of playing videogames, but Sub Zero’s finishing move in Mortal Kombat was particularly gruesome because he didn’t bother to twist the head off his victim’s spinal cord. It’s unsettling because we reckon that’s what it would look like in real life.

INTESTINE YANK
(CONAN)
Conan has just been released, but already it has titillated our sadistic side with its visceral executions. It’s hard to pick a favourite, but we like the gut ripper for its back-to-basics approach to savagery. No swords, or guns, just a manly pair of hands tearing out intestines. Yummy.

BAG CHOKE
(MANHUNT)
Plastic bags aren’t just a danger to young children, as Manhunt aptly demonstrates. If being suffocated isn’t bad enough, John Cash breaks the neck for good measure. But the worst thing about this death is the horrible sound the hunters make as they struggle to breathe.

JENNY's DEATH
(THE DARKNESS)
Jenny’s death is just so painful to watch, especially since halfway through playing The Darkness we went a bit nuts and convinced ourselves she was our real girlfriend. We even contemplated shooting ourselves like Jackie did afterwards, but we couldn’t find a gun…

FLOWER POWER
(METAL GEAR SOLID 3)
You’re a gift to gaming, Mr Kojima. You don’t just open windows into the human soul, you smash them. Wow, the white flowers turned red, that must symbolise blood, death and passion. You’re so subtle, Mr Kojima, how do you come up with such poetic and visionary imagery?

MARY'S DEATH
(SILENT HILL 2)
Bloodied wheelchairs, knife-wielding nurses; Silent Hill has always had unsettling moments, but its most perverse death was in Silent Hill 2, after the protagonist, James Sutherland, watches a video of him suffocating his missing wife. The hero becomes villain.

AERIES' DEATH
(FINAL FANTASY VII)
It’s so clichéd, but we had to include it. Aeries’ death was painful for two reasons. One, it was unexpected, and two, we spent ages levelling her up before she got impaled. Why couldn’t Square give us a hint before she died, so we wouldn’t end up with a gimped party after the first disc?

AI MERGE
(DEUS EX)
Well, it’s not really a death, and there’s no gore, but it’s the end of JC Denton as a singular entity, so it’s good enough for us. After Denton defeats Bob Page, he merges his knowledge with Helios, an advanced AI system, and together they rule the world with knowledge and reason.