video recording game endings have potentially the most rewarding finales in all of pop acculturation . After all , unlike score it to the sexual climax of a movie , TV show , or comic Holy Writ – which is basically a passive social function – beat the last level of a video recording game takes actual effort on the part of the histrion .

So when a game wraps up on a bum note , it ’s even more disappointing . alas , we ’ve all be there : you put in hours of sweat only for the story to reach a ill devised finish , often following a hastily conceive , gravely executed final stage .

Endings like these craw up in even the most acclaimed dealership , and are capable of tarnishing an otherwise flawless example of interactive amusement . It ’s peculiarly thwarting in these instances , as a dud of an ending can seriously   tarnish   even the most well - designed , brilliantly scripted game .

Collage of Willow and Clash of the Titans

On the other deal , a keen finale can drastically raise a gaming experience , bring up a good game to out - and - out legendary status . These   endure - out closing are capable of rescuing game from amidst the ocean of quality titles let go of each year , control that we ’re still talking about them today .

Those of you who ’ve beaten these retro and advanced classic , cook to plug the melody in triumph – or roar with scandalization – all over again !

We ’ve strike a look back over the many peachy ( and not - so - cracking ) video game termination from the past few decades and pulled together this short - list of10 Endings That Hurt Video Games ( And 10 That save Them ) .

Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt in Mission Impossible The Final Reckoning

Hurt – Vault Fake-Out (Borderlands)

Borderlandspulled off the telling task of juggling gameplay mechanics from the RPG , shooter , and sandbox secret plan genre – it ’s just a ignominy it could n’t adhere land with its ending , too .

The whole gist of the biz is that the thespian ’s type is a “ Vault Hunter ” on the trail of a fabled hoard of alien technology . When you at long last defeat the gigantic monster guard the Vault , you ’d think its treasures would be yours to plunder , right ?

Wrong . Just as the histrion is on the cusp of setting ft in the Vault , it ’s sealed by mystical Guardians for 200 years ! That means no new miniature for you to spiel with inBorderlands’open public environment – which seems wildly unfair .

Charlie talking to cops in Poker Face

Saved – Ellie Or The World (The Last Of Us)

If you ever require proof that video games are a genuine graphics form desirable of regard , look no further than selection repugnance   gameThe Last of Us . Every look of this game is masterfully realized – and that includes its plot of ground , which come to a close on an emotional , thought - plague tone .

Here , primary playable character Joel is confront with a simple yet impossible choice to make : sacrifice his young companion Ellie to turn on the cosmos of a therapeutic for the virus ravaging humanity , or let her survive , endanger our species ’ future .

In an all - too - relatable moment ,   Joel chooses the latter , and in an added twist , deceives Ellie to put her thinker at ease regarding her humanity - peril salvation .

Male Commander Shepherd from the Mass Effect trilogy.

Hurt – Everything You Do Is Meaningless (Mass Effect 3)

Action / sci - fi RPG seriesMass Effectis built around the promise that the pick musician make have a tangible force on the future of the games ’ fictional population . So how fare all of the possible endings to the original trilogy essentially amount to the exact same thing happening ?

No matter what your actions were inMass EffectandMass Effect 2 , whenMass Effect 3is over and done , Shepard always conk , the scourge stupefy by the Reapers is always claim care of , and the Normandy always bites the dust .

This effectively means that everything you did over the course of action of your ( virtual ) life was at long last nonmeaningful .

Borderlands

Unless you happen to be a hardcore nihilist , that ’s a pretty bummer Book of Revelation !

Saved – The Boss Was A Hero (Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater)

Snake Eateris grounds that theMetal Gear Solidfranchise is capable of delivering a strong conclusion when its penchant for knotty storytelling is toned down in favor of pellucidity and genuine pathos .

Snake Eater ’s tense last stagecoach colliery Snake against former mentor ( and quasi - maternal figure ) The Boss , who has defected to the Soviet Union .

Upon get the better of The Boss , Snake attain that she was n’t really a two-timer at all .

The Last of Us Video Game

It was all a ruse that culminated in her volitionally sacrificing her life ( and legacy ) for the trade good of her country . The single bout running down Snake ’s face as he give his respects by her graveside says it all , really .

Hurt – That Cliffhanger (Halo 2)

Cliffhanger endings   are n’t always a bad thing , but leave a tale unresolved and still fork out a rewarding sense of accomplishment is a tricky thing to   do – as the developers ofHalo 2found out the hard way .

When the franchise ’s first subsequence was released in 2004 , there was considerable lover outcry over the game ’s final cutscene , which shows the Master Chief returning to Earth to finish the battle with Earth ’s alien enemies .

straight , finishing on this line dead set upHalo 3and built anticipation around the stick with - up instalment – but gamers were force to wait for three whole years for this remuneration - off to arrive !

Mass Effect 3

Saved – The Prince’s Audience Revealed (Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time)

Prince of Persia : The Sands of Timeis a wizardly reboot of one of play ’s oldest franchises . Everything about the action - platformer is exalt , mightily down to the Prince narrate the events of the biz ’s narration to the player . Though , it   turns out he was n’t really speak to us !

After vanquishing baddie Jafar and rewinding fourth dimension so that his risky venture never happen , the Prince reconnects with Farah , who no longer remembers him .

The yarn we hear is in reality the Prince trying to bring her up to speed on everything that happened .

Image of Naked Snake in military uniform saluting the gravesite of The Boss in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.

The story reason with a unbelieving Farah left to ponder what she has just heard , after the Prince utters the secret word the twosome shared during the alternate timeline .

Hurt – Jacked-Up Joker (Batman: Arkham Asylum)

Easily one of the great comic Word of God - base video recording game of all time , Batman : Arkham Asylumnevertheless fumble its closing curtain slightly .

Eschewing the sophisticated storytelling and level excogitation   found in the balance of the game , the final level see the Dark Knight slug it out with a top-notch - sized Joker , who is fuelled by   Titan .

The end result is a rather generic , sterile brawl that largely ignore the psychological element of the Batman / Joker dynamic , which make interplay between the two iconic eccentric so bewitching .

Master Chief

It ’s not enough to undo all of Rocksteady Studio ’s otherwise leading laborious work , but it ’s disappoint all the same .

Saved – Happily Ever After (Final Fantasy VII)

In keeping with tradition , the orgasm ofFinal Fantasy VIIis utterly bonkers , but unlike other entries in the long - ply serial publication , the insanity is underpinned by solid storytelling fundamentals .

Every tale liberal goal is enclose up in a way that makes common sense , serving up a happy ending that feels earned , rather than   saccharine .

Before the last credit roll , the right Guy get ahead ( extremist - destructive spell Meteor is thwarted by nurturing Lifestream energy ) , the bad guy lose ( Cloud get the better of Sephiroth in a spectacular affaire d’honneur ) and we even get to bid a last , semisweet farewell to departed love interest Aerith .

Prince of Persia Sands of Time ending

Hurt – The Demon Wall (Doom II)

First - person shooterDoom IIrequires the player to overpower wave after wave of Hell ’s foulest habitant , before come up grimace - to - face with the demonic being in charge of these vile hordes .

Given this job verbal description – not to cite its visit title , “ The Icon of Sin ” – you ’d reckon this obscure overlord would be your most fearsome foe yet .

Not exactly . Doom II ’s very last boss is a unholy - calculate head firmly - wired into a wall . That ’s right : the final encounter is between you and a cruddy noggin – which may well be the bounteous anti - climax in gaming history .

Batman Arkham Asylum

Saved – Still Alive (Portal)

A first - somebody torpedo / puzzle - platform cross , Portaltook both gamers and critic by surprise in 2007 , wow them with its original , physics - based gameplay and quirky story .

accept on the use of unwilling test matter Chell , players are forced to complete an increasingly diabolical array of challenges set for them by sinister AI GLaDOS .

The final confrontation between the nemeses is as entertaining as a honcho fight should be .

Aerith Zack Final fantasy VII

GlaDOS ’ brilliant , post - fight melodic bit ( sung over the game ’s credit ) is rightly acknowledged as one of gaming ’s greatest and funniest moments .

Portal GLaDOS