***DIVE, DIVE, DIVE, HIT YOUR BURNERS, PILOT!!!!***

What greets you in the first literal two seconds of the mission is this visage of a GIGANTIC alien Juggernaut covering your entire screen as it initiates a 'jump-out' process right in front of you, with your wingman freaking out and telling you to get the hell out of the way RIGHT NOW, before you end up splattered against its hull. Most players I know ended up staring dumbfounded at the 'Game Over' screen the very first time they did the mission to this end, simply because it was such an unexpected twist for the game to throw at you.

Sadly the number of times I've played through the game has almost completely ruined the effect of this mission for me, but it still counts as one of the scariest gaming moments I've ever witnessed. Plus the "...we've gotta wait fifteen minutes to change our shorts" comment your wingman makes should you survive makes the whole thing worth it. - Dave VanDyk; Staff Writer

4. Resident Evil 4 -- Zombie Surprise; Capcom; PS2; 2005

I was playing Resident Evil 4 with a friend, and we came to the part where you discover the journal about regenerating zombies. The description of these massive, nearly indestructible monstrosities had us a bit tense as is... then we heard clanging from behind us. We looked through the window, opened the door, and saw nothing. So we continued to investigate the room where we found the journal, since it seemed pretty obvious what would happen.

There was a test subject torn open on a bed, after all, and it couldn't be more clear that this guy was the so-called invincible beast we'd come across. After a few seconds of fruitless snooping, I turned around to leave. The spiky, towering zombie we'd come to believe was a hoax was busting through the door in our very, very small lab room. Before we could scream -- and, oh, we certainly squealed -- the thing decapitated Leon with a shrill, terrifying scream.

It was noon. We are babies. - Mitch Dyer; Staff Writer