2013’s Most Epic Video Game Moments

Awesome memories.

Depending on a developer's vision, modern video games can deliver quiet moments of emotional truth, or they can deliver moments of explosive action of an incredible scope and sophistication. Video games are better at delivering massive, memorably epic moments than ever before
These are some of our picks for the most epic video game moments of 2013:

Chasing Down a Crashing Plane - GTA 5

GTA 5 is full of epic moments - especially the game's key set piece heists. But the moment that stands out to me more than any other is without a doubt the story mission Caida Libre, better known as "that absolutely bananas mission where Trevor chases down a crashing plane on a dirtbike." It's just a perfect encapsulation of what makes modern-day GTA, and GTA 5 specifically, so much pure, unadulterated fun.
First off, you get to use a massive gun to shoot a plane out of the sky. Then you must chase said plane across literally half of the entire game world, weaving in and out of traffic, hitting stunt jumps and narrowly avoiding death dozens of times in order to keep up. The mission makes great use of all of GTA 5's best elements: character switching, off-roading, tightly scripted moments, and unscripted sandbox genius. It feels like a tightly controlled moment in a linear action game, somehow stuffed into the middle of GTA 5's free-form open world. Awesome stuff.
Bonus trivia: Caida Libre means "free fall" in Spanish. - Justin Davis

Devastating, Screen-Clearing Bombs - Resogun

One of the most epic gaming moments of 2013 isn’t set in stone. It happens frequently, and it’s exciting each time.

Resogun is all about your reflexes, but no matter how good they are, you’ll eventually need a bit of help. When you crank up the difficulty and the enemy mobs swarm you, your reactions can only hold out for so long. At the last moment before death, letting lose a devastating bomb and destroying every foe on the map feels so satisfying. Resogun constantly pushes you to the edge of your limits before bringing you right back in a way that few other games can. - Brian Albert

Incredibly High-Stakes Pro Play - DOTA 2

My most epic moment of 2013 was worth $500,000. It was the final game of The International Dota 2 tournament and the score was tied 2-2 between the two most popular teams in the world, The Alliance and Na'Vi. The setup couldn't have been better, and neither could the outcome. With both teams stomping through each other's bases, Na'Vi needed to teleport back home to stop The Alliance. But with one second left on their teleports, Alliance's Gustav 's4' Magnusson on Puck blinked in, used his ultimate ability to tether three characters to the ground, forcing their teleports to cancel. The move was game changing, and gave Alliance a huge leg up for the rest of the match.
Later on, in a similarly epic move, Alliance was making their final push to Na'Vi's throne and the only chance Na'Vi had to save it was to teleport back from the middle lane. They thought they found a safe spot to do so in their own jungle, but s4 blinked to them and landed what's now known as the million dollar stun, once again canceling their teleports at the exact perfect time. With no way to get back to their base, Na'Vi couldn't defend against the push of The Alliance. The play was absolutely incredible, and with the win The Alliance walked away with the $1.4 million first place prize. - Leah Jackson

Defeating the Legendary Four - Assassin's Creed IV

By the end of Assassin's Creed IV's sprawling campaign you'll have avenged the deaths of your freedom-loving friends, amassed a truly ridiculous pile of pirate gold, and undoubtedly crafted dozens of upgrades for both yourself and for the Jackdaw, your ship. But one major challenge is still left. And boy, is it a doozy. At the four far corners of the Caribbean lie four (five, if we're getting technical) Legendary Ships. They don't venture inward. They don't harass you or anyone else. They just... wait. Wait to be challenged. And if you're like me and challenge them without a fully upgraded Jackdaw and without proper preparation, it will undoubtedly turn out to be one short battle indeed.
All four fights are all very different, but each is ridiculously tough, and incredibly rewarding when you finally manage to use your cunning and high seas skill to achieve victory. These four battles may be totally optional, but they're the most epic moments Assassin's Creed IV delivers.
Honorable mentions: First earning the Jackdaw & the death of Edward Teach. - Justin Davis

Monument Island Destroyed - Bioshock Infinite

If Monument Island is Elizabeth’s prison, then Songbird is her captor. After years and years trapped in the tower, you free her from captivity. It’s sort of ironic, but no less epic, that Songbird destroys the building she couldn’t escape for so long. As it crumbles in a huge explosion, Elizabeth finally has a chance to live her own life. - Brian Albert

The Electrocutioner "Fight" - Batman: Arkham Origins

My favorite Epic Moment of 2013 was early in Batman: Arkham Origins. I found myself in a vast arena surrounded by a horde of screaming criminals. The Electrocutioner was waiting for me, slamming the ground with is fists and spewing cascades of lightning. This was my first boss fight after the tutorial, and I was pumped. The setting was grandiose, the approach uncertain. I saw no obvious openings, so I closed quickly and punched Electrocutioner in the mouth. One solid blow and he went down. The room fell silent around me. It was a fabulous prank by the developers evocative of Indiana Jones, and at that moment I felt more like Batman than at any other point in Origins. The Electrocutioner was the most epic event in Origins, and one of my favorite boss battles of all time. - Jared Petty

Deathstroke's Relentless Assault - Batman: Arkham Origins

Batman: Arkham Origins filled me with both excitement and cautious optimism. I was in the camp that only Rocksteady could make a true Batman game, and only Kevin Conroy could voice the Dark Knight. Despite some minor flaws, I was happy to be proven wrong, and nothing proved it moreso to me than the Deathstroke fight. Sure, some people out there will write the battle off as a button-mashy quicktime event - but that's not what I got. Walking in on Hard Mode with no prompts or counter indicator, the entire fight was a deadly dance of attacking and counter-attacking. For me, this was a true boss battle worthy of a Batman game - not some scrawny villain or giant monster with an arbitrary weak point. I enjoyed the boss fight so much, I don't mind saying I thought about busting Deathstroke out of jail so we could fight again! - Brendan Graeber

An IGN Editor is Taken Hostage - Rust

A group of bandits took fellow IGN editor Mitch Dyer hostage in Rust, a new open-world survival/crafting game currently available on Steam. What I love about this story is that it shows how the behavior of fellow humans at their worst represents free-form, open sandbox gaming at its best. It's a little bit of a cheat, but this Rust anecdote stands in for all the unexpected, surprising, epic moments that emerged this year when game devs turned a group of humans loose in a sandbox game world with no rules.
The game has no classes or explicit goals. Instead you just start with a rock, and bash it on things. From there you eventually craft homes, defenses, guns, and more terrifying weaponry. When a group of raiders siege your house and won't leave until you agree to go back to their stronghold with them... what choice do you have? - Justin Davis

Teaching Grendel a Lesson - The Wolf Among Us

My favorite “epic” moment of 2013 isn’t some bombastic set-piece, but rather a singular character act that solidified my hero as pretty much the biggest badass in all of history. Near the end of Episode One of Telltale’s The Wolf Among Us, Bigby throws down with a snookered bar-patron who ends up transforming into the mythical Grendel. The two of us tore the dive apart, crashing through pool tables and trading blows for a solid minute. I finally got the beast on the ground, and was given the option to take the high road and walk away, or leave him with a lasting impression. I’m not ashamed to say that I ripped the beast’s arm off, tossed it across the room, and told him to “fetch.” I’m a fan of my Bigby, and can’t wait to have more moments like this in 2014. - Marty Sliva

The Final Dungeon - The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

Real talk: the final, game-ending dungeon in most Zelda games is often a disappointingly short and anticlimactic affair. A few token puzzles, a boss fight that hopefully includes more than batting energy balls back and forth, and you're done. But not so in A Link Between Worlds' Lorule Castle. Now this is what a final dungeon should feel like! Several rooms of some of the trickiest, lengthiest, and most challenging puzzles in the entire game. Optional treasure chests that are even harder to reach. A few boss reprises, presented again with new tweaks. The dungeon is full of great tiny details too, like the gradually escalating background music. Even the final boss delivers, with plenty of tricky patterns (some pulled right from history), and a couple of interesting forms. - Justin Davis