Summary
There have been manyXboxgames with storylines often revolving around a protagonist defeating a great evil, which ultimately improves the world. However, sometimes a story ends on a darker note, with the world or its characters being left in a worse position than when the story began. From tragic personal stories to possibly ending galactic civilization, these endings have the potential to be the best in gaming.
When these endings are guaranteed, they can ultimately drive home the game’s themes or set up future stories. On the other hand, when the endings are just one option of several, the story has higher stakes, as the player knows their actions have serious consequences. In either case, darker endings can often have a far greater emotional impact, which is more likely to stick with a player after the game’s end.
Alan Wakeoriginally released as an Xbox 360 exclusive in 2010 but has also seen a sequel and remastered version. In it,the player controls the titular character throughout his journey through a mysterious town.The game calls Alan’s sanity into question many times, but he still manages to keep moving forward, acting against the supernatural forces trying to use his words against him in a literal sense.
While the ending is rather dark on a personal level, it’s not the darkest ending, as Alan is the only one who suffers at the game’s conclusion.
Eventually, Alan learns that the supernatural entity has captured his wife, and he works to get her back. In the end, he is able to free her, but at great personal cost.Ultimately, he is trapped in the Dark Place to maintain balance and protect the people outside.The expansions ofAlan Wakefurther torture the poor man’s psyche. While the ending is rather dark on a personal level, it’s not the darkest ending, as Alan is the only one who suffers at the game’s conclusion.
Each game in theFableseries follows the story of theHero, who is expected to save the world from a great evil.However, even from the beginning of the franchise, the Hero has had the chance to act more like a villain. This includes the firstFable, which was released on the original Xbox, though fans can also replay the story with improved graphics and performance inFable Anniversary.
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The original release ended with the Hero deciding what to do with the Sword of Aeons, but inThe Lost Chapters, the player faces their old nemesis, Jack of Blades, for the last time.The ending presents a choice similar to Isildur’s inThe Lord of the Rings: wear the evil mask or cast it into the flames and destroy it.If they decide to wear the mask, they are possessed by Jack of Blades, becoming the evil they had been struggling to destroy throughout the entire game.
While the epilogue says the Hero of Oakvale terrorizes the world after this event, it does leave a sliver of hope: that good will always rise to defeat evil. Even so, the world is inevitably a darker place upon the player’s ascension into pure evil. The final fate of the Hero is unknown, as 500 years passed before the story of its sequel,Fable II.
TheStar Warsseries has had many video game adaptations, and one of its most memorable was the Xbox-exclusiveStar Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.The story allows the player to live out the life of a Jedi in the old Republic, almost 4,000 years before the events ofA New Hope. However, that is not the only path a player can take.
Despite the game attempting to push the player to the light side of the Force, the dark side offers its own temptations. When the player’s true identity is revealed, these temptations only grow. A dark side user can choose to conquer and control the Star Forge, an automated shipyard that gives them the ability to dominate the galaxy.The ending shows a celebration of the player’s power with a dark Bastila by their side.While an age of tyranny no doubt follows, it is likely that it does not last long, as Sith history is filled with betrayal.
TheGears of Warfranchise (shortened to justGearsin its most recent installment) followshumanityon the verge of extinction after the emergence of the homicidal Locust hordes.By the time ofGears of War 2, civilization had gone from billions of humans to a few million at most. The majority were located in Jacinto City, one of the few places the Locust were unable to reach through their mining efforts.
The city was evacuated, but humankind lost its final stable home.
During the events ofGears of War 2, Marcus Fenix and his squad fight the Locust once again. His father, Adam, reveals that the Inner Hollow that served as the Locust’s home could be flooded, destroying the Locust, and the game ends with this plan being executed. Unfortunately,the cost of this last-ditch effort was the final human stronghold of Jacinto City.The city was evacuated, but humankind lost its final stable home, and the Locust threat was still not completely eliminated.
Several of Bethesda’s titles have started their lives as Xbox console exclusives, includingStarfield,TheElder Scrolls 3: Morrowind, andTheElder Scrolls 4: Oblivion. Fortunately, all three titles can be played with Xbox Game Pass.Oblivionserved as the entry point into the series for many fansand has gained a reputation for its bright, stylized visuals. The game may have a cheery aesthetic, but its story is one of apocalyptic proportions, and even after the Oblivion Crisis has been resolved, the world suffers.
Its story is one of apocalyptic proportions, even after the Oblivion Crisis has been resolved.
On the surface,Oblivion’sending is the stereotypical triumph of good over evil.Yet the Oblivion Crisis leaves a lingering scar on the world with consequences stretching into the more popular sequel,TheElder Scrolls 5: Skyrim. Martin Septim sacrifices himself, mantling the god Akatosh to defeat the invasion of Mehrunes Dagon and prevent future invasions from the realms of Oblivion. The death of the last Septim emperor leaves a power vacuum which causes the Empire to crumble.
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After the game’s ending, many events take place which leave Tamriel in a state of strife that lasts hundreds of years. Several provinces secede, with the Altmer of the Summerset Isles recreating the Aldmeri Dominion alongside Valenwood and Elsewyr.This new rival eventually starts a war with the declining Empire, which ends in the White-Gold Concordat that leads directly to the Stormcloak Rebellion ofSkyrim.Oblivion’sending may stop the threat of Daedric invasions, but it starts a new era of war.
TheHalofranchise is legendary, and for good reason. Its first entry,Halo: Combat Evolved, was an original Xbox exclusive that served as the catalyst for many changes in first-person shooters. During several entries in theHaloseries,the main conflict revolves around the war being waged against humanity by the Covenant, a militaristic, theocratic hegemony of alien races.
Halo: Reachis a prequel toCombat Evolved, and it portrays the fall of the planet Reach.Reach was the last major human stronghold before the Covenant was able to target Earth directly, and its fall signified one of the lowest points for humanity in the series.
Halo: Reach, and many otherHalogames can be enjoyed as part ofHalo: The Master Chief Collection, which is also available on Xbox Game Pass.
In the final mission ofHalo: Reach, Noble Six ensures the survival and escape of thePillar of Autumnbefore fighting the Covenant for as long as they can. The screen is adorned with the now-iconic “Objective: Survive” text, and this is appropriate, as the Spartan can only hope to take down as many Covenant as he can beforedying in a last stand similar to the one at Thermopylae in Ancient Greek history. The epilogue shows a Reach which is supporting life again; the battle may have been lost, but not the war.
TheDead Risingseries began in 2006 as an Xbox 360 exclusive, and one of the reasons for its staying power was its replayability. While its combat and premise were certainly a draw, one of the other factors that made people want to replay the game was the possibility of multiple endings. Including the overtime mode ending,Dead Risinghas seven possible endings, with each one being based on how successful Frank West has been.
The worst ending for everyone involved is Ending F.
Each ending is tied to a grade from A to F (with S being the seventh, highest ending), and the worst ending for everyone involved is Ending F. This ending happens if Frank fails to collect Carlito’s bombs. If this occurs,those bombs will detonate, killing everyone in Willamette. Even worse, the force of the explosion sends the zombie parasite into the atmosphere, allowing it to spread and effectively overrun the United States with zombies.
Left 4 Deadhas a darker story than one might expect from the characters' casual banter. It presents itself as more of an action game than a horror title, and this made it one of the defining multiplayer titles of its console generation. Yet, at its core, it is still a game set during an apocalyptic event. This is driven home by its ending. Throughout the game’s campaigns, the four survivors have always managed to escape, but in the last chapter of the Sacrifice campaign,the group finally suffers a casualty when its oldest member, Bill, dies to give the rest a chance to escape.
The group eventually learns that they are asymptomatic carriers of the Green Flu.
Throughout their odyssey, the group eventually learns that they are asymptomatic carriers of the Green Flu.This means that any group of people that offers them safety will become infected, quickly putting an end to their safe haven. Bill suggests they find an uninhabited island in the Florida Keys, but even if they manage to reach one, things will not go well for them.
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The islands that are uninhabited are like that for a reason, and generally, this means the survivors would have a difficult time gathering the resources they need to survive. This is especially true since the group’s main survivalist died before they had a chance to get to the Keys.This means they will likely be driven to one of the inhabited islands, which would still prove difficult due to the zombie population. Finally, due to being carriers, they will effectively be forced to live a life in exile, as they are a danger to any uninfected people.
In 2007, the Xbox 360-exclusiveBioShockintroduced the world to the objectivist paradise of Rapture. This city was built on the concept of extreme individualism, where people were encouraged to fulfill their potential without concern for government, religion, or morality. Eventually, the city fell, largely due to the incredibly addictive ADAM, a chemical that could alter a person’s genetics. The player travels through the aftermath of Rapture’s civil war.
During their journey, the player will come across several Little Sisters, often escorted byBioShock’siconic Big Daddies. When they do, they will be presented with the choice of saving or harvesting the Little Sisters, and this decision determines the ending forBioShock. If theysave the Little Sisters, the player leaves Rapture with them, eventually living life alongside them. However,harvesting them results in a much darker ending.
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If the player harvests the Little Sisters, the game will end with Rapture coming under the player’s control. The ending cutscene shows a submarine appearing above the city and sifting through salvage in the water. They end up getting more than they bargained for when they are attacked by aggressive splicers, who manage to take over the sub. The final moments of the ending zoom in on the nuclear missiles that have now come under Rapture’s control, implying that the world will soon be subject to nuclear attacks by a rogue state.
The firstMass Effectestablished the setting and the presence of its primary antagonists, the Reapers, but Xbox 360 veterans will know thatMass Effect 2helped popularize the series with a number of improvements. The sequel placed a heavier emphasis on its companions, doubling the number of squad members without sacrificing the quality of those squadmates. There are several reasons the player is encouraged to invest their time and thoughts into these characters, not least of which is the game’s final mission.
The final mission ofMass Effect 2is exceptional because ofhow many characters can permanently die during the mission. Players may have to choose between Ashley or Kaidan on Virmire, but they can lose every squad member, and even Commander Shepard, if they make poor choices before and during the mission. The worst version of this mission plays out if fewer than two squadmates survive to the end of the mission.
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In this scenario, Commander Shepard is not able to make it back to the escapingNormandy, and the only survivor of the mission is the ship’s pilot, Joker.This spells disaster for galactic civilization, as it faces a timeline where the Reapers invade without Shepard. With the commander dead, the sentient races of the galaxy would likely be exterminated, as Commander Shepard was the only one to reach the Conduit inMass Effect 3, to say nothing of their many other contributions in the fight against the Reapers – a truly dark ending for thisXboxgame.
