Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Bad Game Endings
I *finally* finished Half-Life 2 after taking a multi-month break from the game (I didn't realize I was so close to the end). Man, the ending SUCKED. But fortunately, there were spoilers on the web about Half Life: Episode One, which sounded like it picked up the story in a reasonable manner. It made the ending of HL2 a bit more palatable.
I may wait a little while before getting Episode One. Too much to do, too little time.
I'm trying to think of what other endings out there really blew chunks. Half-Life 1 comes to mind :) Pretty much the same ending as HL2. I'm sorry, but defeating impossible odds only to get captured by the pencil-neck dude with the briefcase isn't all that fun. I know he's supposed to be a "cancer-man" style foil, but in order for that ending to work you need to get SOME kind of reveal. Think back to the X-Files episodes where Cancer Man ended up on top at the end: it was almost always accompanied by some kind of revelation as to the extent or methods of the conspiracy against truth. That way the audience doesn't feel cheated.
At least that's my opinion.
So - thinking of poor / lame game endings...
There were 3 possible endings to Vampire the Masquerade: Redemption, and none of them were particularly satisfying. If you turned evil, you ended up killing your long lost love (you get two choices, and both end the same way). Otherwise, you turned her into a vampire like yourself. Lame, but not terrible.
The ending of Unreal 2 wasn't anything to write home about: It's a goodbye message from friends who let themselves be killed to save you. I think it was attempting to be dramatic. It came off as weak.
The Twilight: 2000 computer RPG crashed (on multiple computers) right before the final confrontation with Baron Czerny or whatever his name was. So you couldn't even GET to the ending on that one. I'd say that takes the cake in terms of suckiness. But that was poor implementation.
Wing Commander: Prophecy. Yeah. Ending on a cliffhanger when you are the last game of the series. I'm sure they didn't know that Prophecy was going to be the last Wing Commander game, but yeesh. What a lame way to end Christopher "Blue Hair" Blair's storyline. "And then he got abducted by aliens and was never seen or heard from again."
Most fighting games of the 90's had pretty poor, text (sometimes text-and-a-static-screen) endings. Our own Twisted Metal had that problem. Oh, and Warhawk. Nobody's perfect. It's just one of those things where a big grand finale wasn't planned out well enough in advance, and it's just never given a high priority... because I guess too many people (like me) never actually COMPLETE these games. (Actually, the first Twisted Metal game did have little videos that were done of each ending character --- but for some reason we rejected them. I think a couple of them were too offensive somehow, and we couldn't have videos for some but not all).
But there are some really great game endings that come to mind. The anarch ending of Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines pretty much rocks all. I saw a couple of the others - they were okay, but not great. The one where you side with the prince had a predictably bad ending, but it was your own dang fault for siding with such a slimey weasel. And the ending of F.E.A.R. kicked some major butt. A perfect end to a horror-movie style game.
So... what are your favorite or LEAST favorite game endings?
Labels: Game Design
- posted by The Rampant Coyote @ 9:52 PM (Permalink)
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>> Man, the ending SUCKED.
WHAAAA? HL2 ending is one of my favourite. It was like the cliffhanger at the end of '24' that leaves you gagging for more. Sheer brilliance.
Also of special note for brilliance: Wing Commander IV. You essentially play through the ending sequence (the court battle). I remember being very impressed at the time that a space sim didn't finish with something big exploding... satisfying.
Also, much as I despised the game in general, F.E.A.R's ending put the shits up me something rotten. Good work there.
WHAAAA? HL2 ending is one of my favourite. It was like the cliffhanger at the end of '24' that leaves you gagging for more. Sheer brilliance.
Also of special note for brilliance: Wing Commander IV. You essentially play through the ending sequence (the court battle). I remember being very impressed at the time that a space sim didn't finish with something big exploding... satisfying.
Also, much as I despised the game in general, F.E.A.R's ending put the shits up me something rotten. Good work there.
I will agree with you on WC4 - that's about my favorite ending of the entire series. It was very different, yet still extremely dramatic.
I had high hopes for the Wing Commander movie after WC4 - I thought WC4 might make something halfway decent to watch in the theaters. Then Chris Roberts had to go and screw everything up with the movie. :)
What made you despise F.E.A.R.? I liked it, though in the end I thought it was only the horror aspect that really made it stand out. The AI was pretty good, too, but the environments and overall gameplay were fairly run-of-the-mill.
I had high hopes for the Wing Commander movie after WC4 - I thought WC4 might make something halfway decent to watch in the theaters. Then Chris Roberts had to go and screw everything up with the movie. :)
What made you despise F.E.A.R.? I liked it, though in the end I thought it was only the horror aspect that really made it stand out. The AI was pretty good, too, but the environments and overall gameplay were fairly run-of-the-mill.
Warcraft III. Actually, the whole storyline was offensive to me. What can you possibly find engaging about a paladin's descent into evil? I had a bad feeling about where things were going when you have a mission that is essentially a competition with the main villian to kill more villiagers then he does. And it got worse from there. The storyline ruined the game for me. Who is it that decides that playing an egotistical jerk is fun?!?
Yeah, I'd have to choose the Diablo "I couldn't think of anything better to do, so I stuck it into my forehead" ending. But most of the endings I think of as "bad" were really just frustrating--reminders that you were going to have to wait a long long time for the sequel. Not at all the same.
# posted by 
: July 06, 2006 1:24 PM
: July 06, 2006 1:24 PM
Aw, man, you ladies are right! The "Wow, I coulda had a V-8!" ending! That should have been up in my original list. That sucked WAY worse than Half-Life.
I guess in THEORY there is a missing cut-scene on the cutting-room floor somewhere at what was eventually Blizzard North where it explained that you somehow had to take the soul of diablo inside your head to contain it or something... but I looked at that and thought, "WHY on earth did you waste a perfectly good forehead on THAT?"
I guess in THEORY there is a missing cut-scene on the cutting-room floor somewhere at what was eventually Blizzard North where it explained that you somehow had to take the soul of diablo inside your head to contain it or something... but I looked at that and thought, "WHY on earth did you waste a perfectly good forehead on THAT?"
Eye of the beholder:
The moment the beholder has his hit points go to zero the game stops in mid-fight. From that instant on the game just spews out some text to the effect of "you are teleported back to the castle and you are heroes" Then right out to DOS without so much as a "thanks for playing".
The moment the beholder has his hit points go to zero the game stops in mid-fight. From that instant on the game just spews out some text to the effect of "you are teleported back to the castle and you are heroes" Then right out to DOS without so much as a "thanks for playing".
Indigo Prophecy had the most out of place ending ever, which I think made it the worst. I was very emotionally committed to that game, so that made it even harder.
I realized I had a lot to say, so I just wrote an entire post about it.
I realized I had a lot to say, so I just wrote an entire post about it.
Apparently none of you people have played Metal Gear Solid 2.
You are lucky, lucky people. Nothing like having your intelligence repeatedly insulted by the game you are playing. Nope, nothing like it.
Let's see, other bad endings...
Beyond Good & Evil - This was actually a great game with a very good ending, but you really should NOT put a little "Uh-oh! It may not be over!" tease at the end of a game unless you KNOW you're going to be able to make the sequel.
Ultima IX - The whole idea that the Avatar created the Guardian by going on the Quest of the Avatar and is therefore responsible for all the death and destruction the Guardian brought about is offensive. It completely destroys the message of the entire series. I deny its existence.
System Shock 2 - Another good game with a lousy ending. If you've just put us through hell so that we can kill the main baddie, do NOT give us an ending that immediately suggests that said baddie may not be actually dead. This kind of ending can work for movies, but it doesn't work for games because we PLAY games and therefore feel responsible for what happens.
You are lucky, lucky people. Nothing like having your intelligence repeatedly insulted by the game you are playing. Nope, nothing like it.
Let's see, other bad endings...
Beyond Good & Evil - This was actually a great game with a very good ending, but you really should NOT put a little "Uh-oh! It may not be over!" tease at the end of a game unless you KNOW you're going to be able to make the sequel.
Ultima IX - The whole idea that the Avatar created the Guardian by going on the Quest of the Avatar and is therefore responsible for all the death and destruction the Guardian brought about is offensive. It completely destroys the message of the entire series. I deny its existence.
System Shock 2 - Another good game with a lousy ending. If you've just put us through hell so that we can kill the main baddie, do NOT give us an ending that immediately suggests that said baddie may not be actually dead. This kind of ending can work for movies, but it doesn't work for games because we PLAY games and therefore feel responsible for what happens.
I never played Ultima IX. THAT was how it ended? YOU HAVE GOT TO BE FREAKING KIDDING ME!
Man. No wonder people didn't respond when I asked how that ended and if you got to kick the Guardian's butt at the end of the series. That's lame. Was Richard Garriott responsible for that?
You were ALREADY responsible for one disaster with the Quest of the Avatar. That was the whole Gargoyle-lands problem. That was the whole quest of Ultima VI. That plot has been DONE. Lame!
Man. No wonder people didn't respond when I asked how that ended and if you got to kick the Guardian's butt at the end of the series. That's lame. Was Richard Garriott responsible for that?
You were ALREADY responsible for one disaster with the Quest of the Avatar. That was the whole Gargoyle-lands problem. That was the whole quest of Ultima VI. That plot has been DONE. Lame!
I am not freaking kidding you. Of course, the game had completely changed from the original version. I do not know if Richard had any involvement in the ending, but I didn't like the original version either, which was Richard-approved.
In that version, Lord British and the Avatar gather everyone still loyal to them on the isle of Skara Brae, raise a protective bubble around the island, and then cast Armageddon, killing everyone loyal to the Guardian and killing the Guardian in the process. The entire planet then flies apart and the last shot was supposed to be of the bubble-domed island floating through space.
I mean, what the hell? "We had to destroy Britannia in order to save it" isn't any more viable an ending than, "The Avatar was responsible for the Guardian and therefore must destroy himself in order to destroy the Guardian". Now, the Avatar destroying himself to kill the Guardian is fine - in fact, I WANTED to see that ending. Ultima became the story of the Avatar after 4 (with 1, 2, and 3 being retconned to fit). It made sense for him to make the ultimate sacrifice in the last game. But to say that Britannia would have been better off if the Avatar had never tried to improve himself...it's just offensive to me as an Ultima fan.
In that version, Lord British and the Avatar gather everyone still loyal to them on the isle of Skara Brae, raise a protective bubble around the island, and then cast Armageddon, killing everyone loyal to the Guardian and killing the Guardian in the process. The entire planet then flies apart and the last shot was supposed to be of the bubble-domed island floating through space.
I mean, what the hell? "We had to destroy Britannia in order to save it" isn't any more viable an ending than, "The Avatar was responsible for the Guardian and therefore must destroy himself in order to destroy the Guardian". Now, the Avatar destroying himself to kill the Guardian is fine - in fact, I WANTED to see that ending. Ultima became the story of the Avatar after 4 (with 1, 2, and 3 being retconned to fit). It made sense for him to make the ultimate sacrifice in the last game. But to say that Britannia would have been better off if the Avatar had never tried to improve himself...it's just offensive to me as an Ultima fan.
Planescape Torment - Most satisfying ending ever. All of the things that they could have done to cheapen it, they did not do. And all of the ways that you could deal with the final boss... excellent. I talked him down, just like in Fallout (same crew, I think...).
The ending of Final Fantasy XII wasn't especially noteworthy, but what WAS noteworthy was the ending credits sequence (not something you hear to often, eh?). As the credits roll, pictures are shown of the characters when they were younger. You see Balthier as a baby, held in his father's arms (before his father goes crazy with power). You see Fran as a young girl with her two sisters, later estranged. And of course, there's one of Vaan and Penelo as childhood friends. Now, the team behind this one likes having concept art during their credits (see Final Fantasy Tactics and the amazing and underappreciated Vagrant Story), but this went a step beyond, creating an incredibly moving sequence and a way to say goodbye to these characters that wasn't hacknied or cheesey.
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The ending of Final Fantasy XII wasn't especially noteworthy, but what WAS noteworthy was the ending credits sequence (not something you hear to often, eh?). As the credits roll, pictures are shown of the characters when they were younger. You see Balthier as a baby, held in his father's arms (before his father goes crazy with power). You see Fran as a young girl with her two sisters, later estranged. And of course, there's one of Vaan and Penelo as childhood friends. Now, the team behind this one likes having concept art during their credits (see Final Fantasy Tactics and the amazing and underappreciated Vagrant Story), but this went a step beyond, creating an incredibly moving sequence and a way to say goodbye to these characters that wasn't hacknied or cheesey.
# posted by : April 23, 2008 7:15 AM
: April 23, 2008 7:15 AMLinks to this post:
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