Lame Ass Game Endings

EvoG · Post by **EvoG** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 8:26 am

Just finished Deus Ex 2 and my god if it wasn't the lamest fucking ending ever. Interesting enough to play through the end, hoping to find some resolution to a someone interesting story, but they're always better in my head than what ends up being.

"I am so-and-so, blah blah"

*fade to black*

*fade in misc historical quote*

*drop to menu screen immediately*

Thats it folks. They just didn't fucking care.

So, with that said, I'd be interested in hearing two things :

A) what you thought was a GREAT game ending and why

what YOU would consider a great ending that hasn't been tried or 'almost' made it but didn't.

I'll expect your papers ON my desk Monday, so that gives you all weekend. This counts as 2% of your final grade.

Cheers

Pialojo · Post by **Pialojo** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 8:52 am

A. Fallout - the PC being shunned and the cutom endings. Yeah, yeah I know everyone loves that but it's still the best ending to a game I've ever played (way superiour to F2). I love bittersweet kind of endings, which is why I also love LOTR, but that ending fitted in so well with the Fallout story and felt so right that I almost wet my pants

B. The Half-life ending could have been good (the one where you join that evil guy) but it just ended up being kind of lame and uninteresting. I'd like to see more endings like that (because they give good replay value) but you'd need to have multiple endings otherwise you'd feel unsatisfied. The Fallout ending where you join the master and tell him where your vault is was done better than Half-life and even some of the endings of Deus Ex were OK. I like the direction (towards multiple endings, particularly 'bad' endings) that games are taking these days, it's just a pity that Deus Ex 2 dissapoints as I was looking forward to that.

Kashluk · Post by **Kashluk** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 9:00 am

Sucky endings: Silent Hill 2. Every option is so not *you* and they all suck. Consider this, you've crawled through a town that's created by the horrors of your brain, fighting endless waves of zombies and whatever monsters and the only options you have are to

a) kill yourself
b) kill your dead(!) wife and hang along with your imaginary girlfriend
c) kill your imaginary girlfriend(!) and hang along with imaginary little girls

Double-You Tee Ef???

Fallout ending rocked. Hard. The ability to have custom endings for each location is sooo sweet. And those endings should be different as well, not just a few sligthly different versions of the same ending the developers wanted.

Stainless · Post by **Stainless** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 9:11 am

Crapping endings. Goldeneye on N64. That ending pissed me off no end, and you couldn't even skip the credits. Toruk also comes to mind. UFO Enemy Unknown had a dodgey ending also.

Great endings. Beneath A Steel Sky had an ok ending. As did both Fallouts.

Grey Fil · Post by **Grey Fil** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 11:59 am

Surprise endings, when you think you have it all figured out and a nasty/pleasant surprise comes with the ending. Like having a little sidequest make a big difference.

Good old style "save the world" endings which when well done give a sense of accomplishment.

I`m tired of the modern trend in wich the character can choose to be a good guy or a bad guy and thats it. How about something neutral or a mix of good and bad. Becoming the evil king or the good king are to few options. Not everybody wants to rule the universe, fading into legend after so much struggle (like in FO1) has a bittersweet taste.

Shino · Post by **Shino** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 12:26 pm

The most disapointing ending I've ever seen was in Syndicate. Game itself was great, I had a lot of fun doing all the missions (and god knows, there were a lot..)
You conquered the whole world and they don't loose a single word about it, nothing at all. Mission ends and credits fly by, thats it.

The best endings I saw that far were in Final Fantasy7 (it just goes on and on and on and..), Secret of Mana, Zelda - a link to the past, Command&Conquer1, BreathOfFire2, Chrono Trigger (there are about 14 different endings for this game ^^ craazy) and Fallout1&2.

Silver · Post by **Silver** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 12:48 pm

Jagged Alliance 2

RawonaM · Post by **RawonaM** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 1:34 pm

UFO Enemy Unknown had a dodgey ending also.

Yeah... I remember when I finished Enemy Unknown for the first time I really waited for a great ending (Remembering the cool intro) and then BAM :!:
it was just few pictures with text.
But the game itself was great!

Smiley · Post by **Smiley** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 1:40 pm

Ermm.... well...

HotU had a somewhat alright ending...
Following the great footsteps of Fo1/2, the ending describes what further happens with the NPC's and towns throughout the game.
Buuut... I dunno... It leaves you with a kind of "Oh..." feeling anyway.

Halo had a major sucky ending, too Unreal like...

Talking about Unreal, Unreal 2 did the same damn thing >_<

So lots of bad endings out there really...

Hmm I know people will flame me for this, but I really liked the FF8 ending, it didn't make much sense, it was all, "Evil perished, and you live happily ever after" but it did leave an impression and a good feeling.. maybe 'cause you've played for so long you're in denial...

First Force · Post by **First Force** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 1:45 pm

good endings:

1- daggerfall, still love the game although very buggy

2-fallout 1

3-mafia, i still think mafia rules, and good material for a movie

bad endings:

1-deus ex 1, although i liked the game the ending left me with a bad feelin

2-delta force, yes i know im also sorry i played it

3-nox, ............

The Jizz Stain · Post by **The Jizz Stain** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 2:29 pm

Call of Duty's ending sucked ass. I beat the game first time through on the hardest difficulty level which fuckin took forever cause just a few rounds from a German K 98 and your dead. And all i fucking got was a little guy sidescrolling across a couple of game maps tied together cuttin down nazis like fuckin Hitler in paradise.

Megatron · Post by **Megatron** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 2:37 pm

Mafia - One of the best story-lines in a game probably? The gameplay was a bit boring/shitty though, so meh. Good ending though.

Fallout

Max Payne - I liked the ending. The last 'boss' was a bit lame, but I thought it had a decent story.

Bad Endings

Nearly every fucking game. You get to the last level that's usually really short and it isn't as hard as any of the previous levels. You fight the last boss that's usually pretty boring and easy, run around a bit after, have a pointless pre-rendered ending then you sit through 6 minutes of credits.

No.

The endings usually aren't 'big' enough for the game that precedes it. It seems game developers put everything into the start of the game then get bored at the end. Also the endings are usually out of character and you expect more. Even great games usually end with some shit exploding and mabye some philosophical bullshit or stuff left open for a sequel.

Also, credits are shit. Nobody reads them anyway. I'd prefer if credits were played during the first level or during the last level. Or at least let the player be able to do something, mabye watch some early dev stuff, concept art or be able to view models or something. I don't like skipping credits much though, it's like watching a really long and good movie at the cinemas then as soon as the credits roll, the lights come on and everyone walks out. No time to absorb it.

Spazmo · Post by **Spazmo** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 4:14 pm

Bad endings abound and to my favourite games, too.

Monkey Island 2 had a pretty bad ending which didn't make a whole lot of sense. They were able to recover from it pretty well in Curse of Monkey Island, but it still was a bit off putting.

But I think the worst culprit is the ending to Freespace 2. There isn't really one. That game leaves too damn many plotlines loose. There's just so many things that need concluding, so many questions that need answering at the end of that game. Anyone who's played through it knows what I mean.

S4ur0n27 · Post by **S4ur0n27** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 4:22 pm

FO had good endings, The best tho was Final Fantasy 7, followed by the 8. Old FFs had good endings too, but FF7 is just THE best.

Talking of FF7, I'm replaying it again, and the story is just great.

I had to say it, even tho I'm aware most of you fools hate it

Mad Max RW · Post by **Mad Max RW** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 4:51 pm

Starcraft had some pretty sweet endings. I can't think of a game that has them beat.

I kinda liked the Freespace 2 ending, but that's back when 3 was almost a given. They purposely set it up for another sequel and we all know how that turned out.

Aliens vs. Predator has a few of the worst endings ever. It kinda depends on what you expect. There isn't much of a story, and the 3 second clips at the end might be rewarding for some.

Menno · Post by **Menno** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 5:09 pm

There are tons of games with horrible endings, and you guys mentioned a lot of them. Developers seem to just tack on endings with minimal effort, most of the time to leave the door open for lame sequels. A game like Metal Gear Solid 2 put a great deal of effort into the ending...unfortunately the ending was pure fucking non-sensical garbage. But the NES/Genesis/SNES games have the all-time worst endings, since most consist of just a single screen with a paragraph of text.

avenger69ie · Post by **avenger69ie** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 6:54 pm

s4ur0n27 wrote:FO had good endings, The best tho was Final Fantasy 7, followed by the 8. Old FFs had good endings too, but FF7 is just THE best.

Talking of FF7, I'm replaying it again, and the story is just great.

I had to say it, even tho I'm aware most of you fools hate it

have to totally agree with you on that FF7 ending, even after the credits roll, After the 10 minute cgi, theres more!! Class stuff and my hat goes off to square for it.
Command & Conquer, first one, the multiple endings and cgi in thsi game at the time were IMO fucking brilliant. the rest of the games endings werent so good.

Turrican and Turrican 2 for the C64 and amiga also had great endings.

S4ur0n27 · Post by **S4ur0n27** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 8:47 pm

I just remembered, Shining Force II has a pretty neat ending, no movies, but the story ending is good.

Mandalorian FaLLouT GoD · Fri Dec 19, 2003 8:59 pm

Good Endings:

Fallout 1 - for obvious reasons
Max Payne 1 & 2 - good endings even tho the games were terribly short
Starcraft - most of the endings were good and they fit
Arcanum - the whole big boss guy who isnt really the enemy thing is cool
Return to Castle Wolfenstein - i just liked the ending

Bad Endings:

Most of the D&D games ever created - play them and tell me one that had a good ending
NWN - was there even an ending?

i've got to agree with the guy who said most games have terrible endings because they do.

oh and FF8 is the worst FF i have ever played.

S4ur0n27 · Post by **S4ur0n27** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 9:10 pm

Lot of people says FF8 sucks, and FF7 too, I dunno why. Explain me Mandalorian, why do you hate it so much?

I played the first ones, so don't bother telling me I'm not an old school and can't understand.

In my mind, FF online is the worst one, I haven't played the IX and X yet tho.