Insanely enough, I have to quote Call of Duty: Black Ops. Twice. These points did not make me cry, but the ensuing bloodbath did little to settle the rage.
First: Escaping the Prison with Reznov and countless other prisoners. I got to the point where you had to slide under the door Sergei held up for you. I was having a bit of a rush at the moment and felt awesome. I stopped short of entering the room to raise the door when I heard it crash down, figuring Sergei would either not be there or coming right behind me. So when I find the big guy pinned underneath the door I already knew what was coming and almost physically yelled when one of the guards unloaded into him. I whipped around and emptied both shells of the shotgun I had into the fucker's balls.
Second time: Reznov's flashback mission where you go to find the German scientist and the Nova 6 gas. I think the power of this mission's end result was because I had always been of the opinion that after planting the Russian Flag in the end of World At War, Dimitri should've collapsed from the gunshot wound and died. I thought it would've been a very touching moment to have Reznov's famous "As long as you live, the heart of this army can NEVER be broken!" crumble before him as his dearest friend dies in his arms. Now I am more adamant than ever about it because of the way Dragovich murdered Dimitri and three other men as a demonstration of the Nova 6 Gas' devastating properties. I jumped out of my chair and screamed "Dimitri!" twice as they began floundering and vomiting. When the SAS broke into the ship and started a big ol' firefight, I went Terminator and walked the path to get off the ship tearing down every British operative because I was so enraged with Dragovich.
Needless to say, strangling that son of a ***** at the end of the Campaign was possibly the single most gratifying moment in any game I have ever played.
I also never teared with the deaths of Noble Team in Reach, but I did feel pretty strongly about them.
Jorge giving his life to win this fight and save Reach, only to have that small victory snatched away when the entire Covenant Fleet arrives to take that sole Super Carrier's place.
Next after that was the sense of helplessness when Kat was taken out by a Sniper and we couldn't even shoot the fucking thing out of the Phantom it was perched on.
Carter's death didn't really move me as much, but it felt pretty awesome to watch my CO take out a Scarab by crashing a Pelican right into its side.
Then last was Emile's. That one actually got to me most because getting attached to the Team caused me to look up to Emile as wanting to be the all around bad ass that people didn't fuck with because he took the knife to Brutes and Elites on a regular basis. So having him shooting down transports to protect Pillar of Autumn only to next notice a Phantom get past the MAC gun, drop its load of about a dozen Elites, you get a little worried. The first one jumps up and slices into the cockpit, then gets knocked over by a shotgun blast to the chest. Then he finishes it with a second blast to the face. Oh good, he'll be okay. Nope! Zealot comes up behind him, picks him up and stabs him through the back. And this crazy bastard, even with an energy blade stuck through his spine in two places, just yells at it. "I'm ready! How 'bout you!?" before stabbing it in the throat with his khukri knife and they both fall off and die.
I think the point where Halo: Reach fell short in making the Noble Team a group you could relate to was the blandness of Six him/herself, not the stereotypes and brief time to know them. I think if Six was given more personality about it things would've made the player feel more toward the others. To hell with this "immersion" bullshit where a bland, blank slate must make it easier to get into the skin of who you are. If Six had actually argued with Jorge about who was staying (by the way, can anyone figure out why he threw you? You made no indication you were gonna stop him, or if you yelled something when Kat got shot. SOMETHING! They tried so hard to make it as neutral as possible to make you feel like it was you and yet you feel like you're controlling a cyborg that can barely simulate emotions that doesn't give a damn about anything that just happened.
Which, incidentally, is why I don't include Six's last stand in "Lone Wolf." I didn't feel anything for it except "How bad am I gonna suck all by myself and will I manage to kill at least one Elite?" Luckily, I did not suck as bad as I expected and took down almost ten elites. So yay me. Now I'm dead. (Which I had considered might not be true at one point until someone pointed out where to pay attention and see the blade pierce Six.)
....I rant a lot when I decide to post...
