The goriest, nastiest moments of E3 2014

E3 2014's first day saw a load of bloody great games. And I mean that quite literally. Blood, guts, brains, decapitations, dismemberments and all manner of other violent actions were everywhere you looked. Yes, even LittleBigPlanet 3. Well, OK, maybe not LittleBigPlanet 3.

So pull your sick bucket nice and close as we pick out the most brutal, gut-wrenching, wince-inducing moments from the Sony, Microsoft, Ubisoft and EA press conferences. Oh, and bring a mop. This is going to get messy...

Assassins Creed has built a reputation on stabbing, and close-quarter violence, but Unity takes things a little further with a good, old-fashioned decapitation. At the Ubi conference we saw a man getting his head guillotined clean off (this is the French revolution after all), while at Microsofts conference there was a CG scene where the viewer gets decapitated from first-person. You actually see the world spinning as your noggin rolls down the dirty Parisian street. Oh, and theres some hot head-on-a-spike action in the trailer too (not to be confused with this awesome Alan Partridge moment).

Snake doesn't look very happy at all in the trailer for MGS5: The Phantom Pain. But then again, he's not having a great time of it. Knife fights are everywhere, with lots of nice light-glinting-off-the-blade moments of artfulness for good measure. But that doesn't stop Snake from plunging his dagger right into some poor sap's chest. Dude, it won't be as shiny if you do that.

The Divisions CG trailer--as shown at the Ubisoft conference--is one continuous tale of misery. Most of the violence and brutality is implied, but theres a moment where an unseen figure clearly commits suicide. Theres a gunshot noise, and we see brains and blood splash liberally over a window. Put it this way: its definitely not a flesh-wound. The implication of violence here is perhaps more shocking than if wed seen the unfortunate victim actually put gun to mouth.

Hotline Miami 2 is simply upping the violence that we know--and love--from the original. And the obvious way to increase gore (for a game set in 80s Miami) is chainsaw kills, as pioneered by visionaries like Tony Montana in Scarface. The executions--as seen in Sonys press conference montage--arent as graphic as Mortal Kombats disturbing finishing moves, but they sound brutal and manage to unleash a fair amount of digital man-pulp. The best / worst bit? Apparently, youll be able to dual-wield chainsaws in the final game! Talk about overkill.

There is an air of inevitability once clearly psychotic antagonist Pagan Min (yes, that's his name, folks) starts talking to the over-zealous gunman in Far Cry 4's reveal trailer. "Stop... Shoot", he explains as he repeats his instructions from earlier, which is pretty clear, to be fair. Only he does so with a calmness reserved only for people who are about to go postal. Sure enough, one of gaming's most brutal stab scenes ensues, right into the chest of the unfortunate goon. To be honest, one would have sufficed, but the assault continues until Mr Fancy Suit has blood on his expensive shoes. To be honest, he's only got himself to blame.

There are all kinds of gory moments in the predictably ace trailer for Dead Island 2. Sure, the chunks of flesh dropping off as the jogger turns into a zombie is pretty gross, as is the truck-induced dismemberment at the scene's conclusion. But the most brutal moment has to be the shotgun decapitation in the background. Still, the zombie should have seen it coming. Bit of an occupational hazard.

There are plenty of violent moments in the trailer for Suda 51's latest game, Let It Die, and the flamethrower bit almost made the cut. But it doesn't look quite so arty as the face-through-a-hole camera shot here. Yep, that's a hold in a dude's chest, big enough to see through. It's a pretty big hole and one that would normally win on most E3 years. But there was a bigger one than that. Wait until you see...

Which moment was nastiest in the Mortal Kombat X trailer? The eye impalement was reasonably unfriendly, the face smash/neck snap slam into the ground isn't the action of a gentleman and the 'say hello to my little friend' Stabby McStabs special is the kind of conduct that will get you thrown out of most drinking establishments. And the 'dangling heart' probably wouldn't make the best image for a Valentine's card. But it all pales in comparison to the spine snap. After making a hole the size of a large football in Scorpion's chest, Sub Zero reaches through and grabs Scorpy's exposed spine with two fists... and rips it apart. Probably the most painful thing anyone could do.

Oh, man--is that a skinless dog in this new Bloodborne trailer? Thats horrible. Wait is that guy hacking up the skinless dog? WHY IS HE DOING THAT? Its disgusting. Oh, and now hes slicing up a bunch of angry villagers with his scythe. Dismemberment, perforation, general slicing? Yup, its all there. Feel vaguely sick now. Off to watch that delightful LittleBigPlanet 3 footage again.

Mercifully, you don't actually see the death of the massive gryphon beast in the trailer for The Witcher 3. Nor do you see its head getting hacked off. But you do get to see its head being carried away on a horse. Gotta love kill trophies, eh? Problem is, the camera lingers plenty long enough to see that the hook through the beast's cheek is re-emerging from its eye. Ewwww!

Make no mistake, after being forced to kill a man in the last game, Lara's journey has turned her into a stone-cold killer. During the reveal trailer for Rise Of The Tomb Raider, we watched in horror as our lovely heroine lined up the sights on her competition bow and shot a dude through the back of the head, without even the glint of compassion in her cold eyes. What have they done to you, Lara? Needless to say, the game should be fantastic. And fantastically violent to boot.

The cost of futuristic warfare is huge. All those mech suits and insect drones--they cost and arm and a leg. Well, just an arm, if youre the star of Call of Duty Advanced Warfare. Poor Mitchell loses his left arm at the end of the Microsoft press conference trailer but its unlikely that youll play the rest of the game as a one-armed soldier. The smart-money says Mitchell gets some kind of cybernetic, robot-arm thing, allowing him to murder terrorist folk with enhanced efficiency. And, yknow, hell probably be able to crush pool-balls with his bare hands to impress girls in bars. Win, win!

Magicka 2's trailer raises a few smiles as the poor, down-on-his luck wizard suffers his way through his search for a new job. At least he's got his cat. Oh wait... he's accidentally exploded his cat. Poor Mittens.

What do you mean, 'had enough gore'? We can NEVER have enough gore! We eat gore for breakfast, wear gore pants and go out with the girl next gore. Moar gore, please. Oh, and Gore for president, naturally.

And if you're looking for more, check out our Sony press conference recap and our Microsoft press conference recap.