Nobody likes getting a game over when playing video games. It’s the universal sign of “you blew it, do it over.”
While many game overs settle for a simple splash screen with a retry prompt, though, not all of them do.
10 Best Game Over Screens In Gaming
Even though they may be disturbing, creepy, or scary, you’ve got to admit, Game Over screens are a nice touch.
Some games need totake things the extra mile, just to drive home how badly you messed up here.
Some of these game overs can only be encountered in special circumstances, while others show up in a normal fail state.
Either way, these game overs really beat you over the head with your own failure, and send a message not to let it happen again.
10Cereza Is Taken
Normally, when you die inBayonetta, a gaggle of demonic hands will appear to drag her down to Inferno if you don’t retry.
This is already pretty dramatic, but there’s a certain variant game over that’s a bit metaphorically heavier.
During the segment when you’re escorting Cereza through Paradiso, a Joy angel takes her away and makes a break for it.
If the Joy gets away with Cereza, you’re greeted with a game over screen with her stuffed cat, Cheshire, left abandoned on the ground.
9Prince Ralis’ Carriage Burns
The Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Midway through the story ofThe Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Link istasked with escortingthe sickened Prince Ralis from Hyrule Castle Town to Kakariko Village.
Unfortunately, the road to Kakariko is lousy with Bulbins and monsters, who attempt to destroy Ralis’ carriage by setting it on fire.
The carriage can only take so much punishment before it collapses, leaving us with a slow zoom out as it burns to ash.
Pair that with Twilight Princess’ already dramatic choral game over theme, and have an image that plants firmly in your mind.
8Terminal Corruption
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
The main gimmick ofMetroid Prime 3is the Hypermode system. By using corrosive Phazon, Samus can power up her weapons systems and utilize new abilities.
However, even with the help of her PED Suit, Samus’ body can only handle so much Phazon before its corruption takes hold.
If Samus remains in Hypermode for too long, her Phazon corruption levels will become terminal.
This leads to a variant game over where Samus is transformed into aduplicate of Dark Samus, a slave to the whims of the Phazon avatar like her former comrades.
7Monstrous Tootie
Banjo-Kazooie
InBanjo-Kazooie, the witch Gruntilda’s big scheme is to use a magical machine to drain the youth from Banjo’s sister Tootie and transfer it to herself.
Should the bear and bird fail, Grunty’s plan goes off without a hitch, leaving her beautiful and vibrant and Tootie reduced to a hulking monstrosity.
For some reason, in addition to running out of lives, this game over cutscene also plays if you just save and quit the game.
Seems a little mean-spirited on Rare’s part, but to be fair, you did “quit” your sister-rescuing adventure.
6SHODAN’s Newest Servant
System Shock
InSystem Shock, therogue AISHODAN has assumed near-complete control over Citadel Station and its various systems.
As she’s an AI, though, she can’t directly intervene in the physical world. This is why many of the station’s inhabitants have been transformed into monstrous cyborgs.
10 Games You Should Play If You Love System Shock
Finished System Shock and looking for something similar to dive into? We’ve got you covered.
Should the Hacker be killed in the vicinity of a cyborg conversion chamber, one of SHODAN’s Cortex Reavers will drag his corpse to it and place him in it.
This results in a cutscene of the Hacker’s brain being sealed into a fresh cyborg abomination, ready to serve SHODAN’s needs.
5Welcome To The Underworld
King’s Quest VI
King’s Quest VI
As with any game in theKing’s Questseries, there is averitable galaxy of ways to get Prince Alexander killed.
These range from getting hugged to death by sentient ivy to being sucked down into the sea by an undertow, among other highlights.
No matter how Alexander expires, it’s immediately followed by a brief cutscene of him appearing at the skull-like gates of the underworld.
He sadly marches along with the queue, hands his ticket to the skeletal attendant, and passes through the gate to the kingdom of the dead.
4Overrun By Tick Choppers
Brutal Legend
Following the battle for Bladehenge early inBrutal Legend’s story, Eddie decides it’s time to take the offensive.
He builds a tour bus to bring the entire Ironheade army on the road, but as they drive, they’re attacked by the Tainted Coil’s Tick Choppers.
Eddie needs to use his car’s weapons to drive the Tick Choppers off before the bus is too damaged.
Should he fail, we see a brief cutscene where his assistant Mangus screams in pain and fear through the radio while Eddie stares ahead in sorrowful silence.
3Inaba Is Lost
Persona 4 Golden
In every arc ofPersona 4, you have ahard time limitto complete the dungeon and rescue whoever was thrown into the TV.
Should you fail to do this, you’ll get a variant game over where one of your friends calls you and tells you the victim’s body has been found.
This is pretty unsettling, but we have to give special mention to the game’s last deadline to hunt down the culprit.
If you miss this deadline, Inaba will be completely consumed by fog. Naoto will call you in a panic before she’s attacked by a horde of shadows.
2Sacrificed To Pregzt
Alone In The Dark
Alone in the Dark
In the originalAlone in the Dark, Derceto manor is overrun with all kinds of extradimensional terrors, all of whom are working for the spirit of occultist Ezechiel Pregzt.
Should Edward or Emily be killed by one of Pregzt’s horrors, we’re then treated to a cutscene of a beast dragging their body to an underground altar for sacrifice.
This is followed by a smash-cut to Derceto manor’s exterior, where the dark powers of Pregzt are running wild.
Somewhat amusingly, if you die from falling down a pit, you won’t get the altar cutscene. This is presumably because the monsters couldn’t figure out where you landed.
1Vincent Found Dead
Catherine: Full Body
InCatherine, Vincent Brooks is forced to climb a massive tower of blocks and traps in his nightmares every night.
As the game makes clear from the outset, death in these dreams means death in reality as well.
Should Vincent be killed and not have a magic pillow available for a retry, your only option will be to return to the title screen.
In this case, we get a brief cutscene of Vincent’s body found in his bed by the police, face frozen in screaming terror.
