The Editor of Edge Magazine Margaret Roberts has conducted a superb talk at the Edinburgh Interactive Festival about the games that make her cry. It's true that most of us wouldn't like to admit that we shed at a tear when Aerith died in Final Fantasy VII, but I agree with Margaret's opinion that most gamers have experienced intense emotions whilst playing certain games.

Margaret reeled off a whole list of games that have touched her, including Final Fantasy IX, Ico, and Galleon. Whilst I can't say that there are more than a half a dozen games that have tugged at my heart strings, the ones that have, have left a lasting imprint in my memory and when recalling those games I still feel the hairs stand up on the back of my neck.

So I'm going to lay myself bare and admit that the game that had the most emotional impact on me and left me blubbing like a child was Brothers In Arms, the World War II tactical shooter, published by Ubisoft and developed by Gearbox Software.

At the start of the game you're thrown straight into the action as you're dropped behind German lines on D-day. Your character (Sergeant Matt Baker) is pinned down behind a bunker with the enemy barely yards away. In the bunker are some of your troops from the 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment who are fiercly battling for their lives against the constant onslaught of enemy fire, grenades and even a tank. The odds are extremely stacked against you and this opening scene deliberately ensures that you cannot kill any of the enemies, but you'll try you're best as bullets catch the top of the bunker narrowly missing your head and grenades land close-by. A fellow troop goes down injured after being caught by the impact of a grenade and then all of a sudden another one of your troops goes crazy, stands up in the bunker, shouts some expletives at the Germans and, as the rest of the soldiers are calling for him to take cover, he receives a fatal head-shot, the action changes to slow motion and he falls to the ground in spectacular fashion.

The mixture of shock tactics used by Gearbox in throwing you straight into the action, the sound of war exploding all around you, and the graphic murder of one of your troops, had such an impact on me that I stared at the screen open-mouthed and a tear rolled down my cheek. But it's a game, I told myself. I snapped out of it after a minute or so, but I'll never forget how Brothers In Arms was the first game to ever make me feel this way. I think the reality of war dawned on me and BIA made me think about the war whilst playing it and not just treat it as game, but a historical account of some of the tough battles and horrors that our troops had to face.[advert]

Of course not everyone will feel this way whilst playing Brothers In Arms because we're all different emotionally, but I'd guess that most gamers have experienced a game that has brought a lump to their throat at one time or another.

I remember meeting up with one of the designers of Brothers In Arms about six months after the game had been released and I relayed this story to him. He told me that they'd received many emails about the opening scene and the impact it had had on people's emotions. It was exactly the response they wanted. Not the crying bit obviously, but to make the gamer think and to absorb them in the game from the outset.

This is just one example and I'm sure you'll have your own, at least I hope so otherwise I now look a complete idiot. Let us know what games have affected you, over in the forums

Thanks to Margaret Roberts from Edge for a superb talk that brought back many memories of some great heart-wrenching moments within games. Arguably the best talk at EIEF 2006 on the first day of seminars.