A video game story without great twists is unthinkable. Surprise endings guarantee memorable moments that spark years of discussion. The best narratives deliver huge plot twists and emotional endings. If you've been playing video games long enough, you can probably recall games with twists that changed everything, like BioShock's motivational change-up, the reveal of Samus Aran's sex in Metroid, or the surprise enemy in Halo: Combat Evolved.
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BioShock. The player controls Jack, a plane crash survivor. Jack must explore a terrifying underwater city full of lunatics. Andrew Ryan, the city's leader, fights a civil war against Atlas. Atlas guides Jack through dangers, aiming to destroy Ryan.BioShock has a mind-numbing twist only a video game can pull off. The player controls Jack, a plane crash survivor. Jack ventures through a terrifying underwater city overrun by lunatics. Andrew Ryan, the city's leader, fights a bloody civil war against Atlas. Atlas directs Jack through dangerous spots, seeking to take Ryan down permanently.
Atlas always starts his requests to Jack with, "would you kindly." Initially, this pattern goes unnoticed. A shocking twist later shows Jack was brainwashed before the game began to follow any instruction starting with those words.
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Knights of the Old RepublicKnights of the Old Republic is regarded by many as the greatest.Star WarsStar Wars tells the greatest story ever. Players hear about Darth Revan, the Jedi hero who crossed space, and his Sith invasion force led by his apprentice, Malak.
Much of the story involves retracing Revan and Malak's steps. This helps figure out why the Jedi turned to the dark side.The story shows how the Jedi turned to the dark side.The player discovers something horrifying. You controlled Revan the whole time. The Jedi wiped his memory, using him to show the secret behind the Sith's power.
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Red Dead RedemptionRed Dead Redemption features a tragic video game twist. After many struggles, outlaw John Marston defeats every member of his gang. He does this to save his wife and son from a corrupt Bureau of Investigation.
After the shooting ends, Marston goes to his ranch for a simpler life. The Bureau of Investigation plans to kill him after his mission. The player faces armed agents; Marston has no chance of survival.
In an epilogue chapter, Marston's son Jack hunts down and kills the agent who ordered his dad's murder.
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The Last of Us'sThe Last of Us has a big twist in the final hour. Joel escorts young Ellie to a medical facility seeking a virus cure. The facility leader reveals Ellie must die for scientists to make the cure. Joel escorted Ellie to her death the whole time.
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Silent Hill 2Silent Hill 2 is a horrifying trip through guilt, regret, pain, and suffering. James Sunderland arrives in Silent Hill after his dead wife's letter says she waits in their "special place." A mission to rescue her turns into a tale of masochistic redemption. Late in the game, James killed his wife, and the letter was just blank paper.
James's guilt drives him mad. Everything he sees in Silent Hill is his repressed emotions showing up physically. This makes you rethink the hyper-sexualized monsters he fights.
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Quantic Dream asks: Who is the Origami Killer?Heavy RainInvestigators hunt a serial killer stalking their city. Scott Shelby, a PI, turns out to be the killer. Shelby destroyed evidence to cover his tracks. This twist hits hard since Shelby is a likable character.
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This is the biggest shock in Final Fantasy VIIAerith dies halfway through the game, killed by Sephiroth. Aerith, a main character, might hold the key to saving the planet. The villain stops her before she finishes the job. Cloud Strife might have thought about Aerith, but her death ends their potential relationship.
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Assassin's Creed IIIThe game shows the 'good guy is actually the bad guy' trope. Connor Kenway fights to free the colonies from the British. Initially, Haytham Kenway stars in the first part. Players think Haytham is an assassin searching for a Templar temple. Suddenly, Haytham is a Templar, the game's main villain.
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You expect casualties in war games, but not on this scale.Call of Duty 4: ModernWarfare's The game has a big twist. While targeting a tyrant in the Middle East, you see a nuclear device explode. It destroys the city you fight in and kills you. You crawl through the ruins for minutes before the plot shifts to another character.
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The first twist inMetal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty The story jumps ahead to introduce Raiden, a new protagonist. Players thought they played as Solid Snake. Raiden infiltrates an enemy base to save the President of the United States.
Raiden's mission is a simulation run by shadowy forces. This simulation recreates Solid Snake's mission from the first game.Metal Gear Solid.
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In the 1980s, video games rarely featured a female protagonist. Revealing Samus Aran's true identity at the end of this game shocked people.MetroidYou play as an armored badass, then find out it's a woman with the power suit. This reveal shocked nerds then, but Nintendo made Samus a woman by subverting gender roles.
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Portal appears in the list '15 Video Game Plot Twists We Didn't See Coming'.Portal is on the list '15 Video Game Plot Twists We Didn't See Coming'.Portal starts with tests at the Aperture Science facility. Soon, something much worse appears. GLaDOS, the AI running the place, takes Chell through obstacle courses, offering a big prize if she finishes all levels.
GLaDOS tries to drop Chell into an incinerator for her reward! GLaDOS became corrupt before Chell woke up and killed everyone else in the facility, leaving Chell to play her game.
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No one saw the Flood coming. Midway throughHalo: Combat Evolved is in the list '15 Video Game Plot Twists We Didn't See Coming'.The Chief finds out about the "Halo" ring in space. It contains and destroys the parasitic alien Flood, which infects and controls any living thing. Humans and aliens fight for survival against this new, scarier enemy.
A second twist shows Master Chief working with the AI 343 Guilty Spark. The AI tells him to turn on the Halo ring and destroy the Flood, but the weapon actually kills the Flood's food source: every living thing in the galaxy, including humans!
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Game characters often flip sides before the story ends, butBraid is listed in '15 Video Game Plot Twists We Didn't See Coming'.Braid shows one of the creepiest takes on the trope. The game makes the player move through a strange,Mario is in the list '15 Video Game Plot Twists We Didn't See Coming'.Mario-style platformer to save a princess needing help. Then, the final level (set before the game starts, explaining the burning city) reveals you are the monster she has been running from, avoiding the traps you set. Creepy!
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The first Resident Evil is in the list '15 Video Game Plot Twists We Didn't See Coming'.Resident Evil is in the list '15 Video Game Plot Twists We Didn't See Coming'.Resident Evil tells the story of a commando unit investigating grisly murders near Raccoon City. The team finds an experiment gone wrong, causing corpses to rise from the dead.
The Umbrella Corporation runs this plot and wants to hide it. While Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, and Barry Burton try to expose Umbrella and stop the undead from invading Raccoon City, a final twist shows Albert Wesker, the team leader, has worked for Umbrella the whole time and plans to use the virus for his own gain.
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