Top 5 Endings That Killed Good Video Games

Did they run out of disc space? Were they about to miss a deadline? Did they just run out of ideas? Countless gamers have asked these questions as they say, jaw dropped and took in the spectacularly bad ending of a video game that they enjoyed playing. You may not agree that all of the games on this list were “good” games - but few can argue that their endings made their stomachs turn. In descending order, here are the top 5 (or bottom 5, rather) worst video game endings that could have been incredible.

[Zydake]

LOL @ Lion King

[PRHB HYBRiiD]

@ ur avatar

[Zydake]

That's my Chippy

[Trebius]

Your avatar cracks me up. +bubbles

on topic: The final fight with Scar was the sh!t! I was chuckin him around fracking him up for like an hour one time ... I was young :)

[mastiffchild]

WTF?! Bioshock is IN but there's no Gears2? If ever a great game had an abrupt and underwhelming ending it was Cliffy and Co's second Gears game.

Rarely have I felt so short changed by a last boss encounter and ending as I did with the feeble last throes of that game-couldn't the Lambentised Brumak have given us SOME sort of fight? I know the HoD is an awesome weapon but why make it so amazingly strong that it threatens to break the whole game at the last hurdle?

No, Bioshock's ending wasn't perfect but it wasn't bad, it wasn't even poor and as far as games go I'd say it was well above average so to put it in while ignoring Gears2's whimper at the end of one of the most bombastic games in living memory is quite the, daft, achievement, imho.

Obviously there are worse endings to some less than stellar games but as a list for great games with crappy last knockings I fail to recall any much worse than Gears2 which, esp compared to Bioshock, is tremendously underselling what comes before it in a game filled with great set piece after great set piece-or are these the kind of people who cried that the big fishy monster effort was too hard for their ikkle fingers? I was looking forwards to some titanic struggle to top what had come before both in Gears2 AND the first games boss battles but one shot later, one bloody (though lengthy)button press and it was all over! How doesn't that qualify?

I'd go as far as to say that even the weak sauce that is the Fable2 ending isn't as underwhelming as the lack of any challenge at the end of Gears2. It's a similar thing, in all honesty, but given that Gears2 doesn't have Fable2's earlier issues with EVERY fight being a piece of pi55 I end up feeling that the end of G2 is EVEN more feeble than Fable2's! Gears2's ending has all the good fights before it to be compared to, and in my eyes that seals it's fate as just about the most disappointing end to a great game in living memory.

Dishonourable mentions, also,for Halo3's final, weak boss to Batman AA's final,again weak, Joker boss fight and despite it actually having some decent storytelling going n at this point also inFAMOUS for having just about the cheapest last boss of recent times(not that Kessler's THAT difficult, he isn't, but just that if he does get you it'soften because there was NO way of stopping him whatever you did which just harks back to ancient games that had final bosses(or just bosses) that could attack and drain half your life even before you had chance to move or, just as bad, could kill you from off bloody screen! Anyhow the crap ending to good game syndrome is nowhere near as rare as you might imagine when you think about it. They really should have all these in before Bioshock, though, shouldn't they? I'm not even the game's biggest fan and I think t's a bit unfair with so many more weak endings to pick on.

[Tony P]

Shooters always have terrible, unresolved endings. Mostly because the intent is to get you to buy the sequel(s).

[Marquis_de_Sade]

I thought the Gears of War 2 ending was spectacular, especially the events leading up to it, sure the "boss" was a pushover, but the last hour or so of the game was excellent in my opinion.

[Cerberus2125]

Why LOL on the Lion King?.That is the best movie game ever,and it was a great game,people say there is not one good movie game,I call bs because the lion king game was great.

[tdogchristy90]

I just finished bioshock for the first time and let me tell you it was AMAZING just like everyone said. The ending was a little scratch your head style, but all and all it was good. It just leaves me wondering what's to come in 2, 3, ect.

[Zydake]

I loved the 1st Bioshock ending but Bioshock 2's ending pissed me off

[Acquiescence]

I mean seriously, after the brilliantly executed, jaw-dropping twist, that game dive-bombed so hard that it wasn't even funny. The pacing of the game grinded to a halt and I suddenly found myself losing the will to finish a game close to completion. The boss battle was the final nail in the coffin. A last act so poor that it put me off ever playing the sequel. I'd also like to mention Fahrenheit, although in that game's case it wasn't so much the ending but the second half that dived head first into catastrophy.

[jerethdagryphon]

im sorry but the whole twist i saw coming from the first 10 minites bioshock is on my list of lame storys

i absolutly loved the setting and the style but the story iteself i found lacking

[BattleAxe]

I remember when I finished Far Cry 2, my girlfriend was watching, and her reaction was..."thats it?"

[goflyakite]

I hate leaving games unfinished but when I got to the second half I just couldn't do it anymore. I thought I was done..

[DARK WITNESS]

Far Cry 2 was one of the few games I was really, really , really, really glad when I finished it, just because I had so see for myself if the game could end any worse then it played.

It seemed to just go on forever, and ever, and ever and ever.......

and you kept thinking there was going to be a twist... there has got to be a twist.. comon, at least give me some special powers, ok do I die of Malaria then, nope.. ok... oh wait... what when did it end.. was that it ?

[MagicAccent]

There was a twist.
Maybe you were thinking of naked ladies when it happened.

[DARK WITNESS]

lol... maybe..

in fact if I had been thinking of Naked ladies I prob would have found it more fun.

If by twist you mean that pitiful excuse of an ending - or the final section of the game, it was too lame to really be called a twist.

It was more the dev's just not knowing how to finish it.

[ikkokucrisis]

I'd add a few more to this list:

Halo 2
Modern Warfare 2
Assassin's Creed 1 & 2
Rainbow Six: Vegas 1 & 2

[Hideo_Kojima]

I played MW2 and assassins creed 2

I loved both endings.
I thought MW2 was really good but a major cliff hanger I hope there is a 3 because I am one of those people that enjoyed the Cod Campaign.

Assassins Creed 2... well the virtual ending made the hair in my spine raise. But when you come into the real world and use sword technics to fight enemies who could have had taken guns or tazers with them and just shot you... I found it a bit stupid but not too bad.

[GameOn]

RS:V2 had a bad Ending too? I really enjoyed the first but the ending was the worst I ever experienced. Never got round to the second.

[pimpmaster]

the ending in farcry 2 (spoilers!)!!!!!!!was kinda unexplained but it was shocking, i choose the battery option withought really thinking it through then im like WTF! im gonna die!?when the guy cuts the wires then looks at the knife and throws it on the floor then blows himself up. that part was amazing and something ive never seen done in a video game, just the fact he looks at the knife for a second and realizes he wont need it anymore and drops it made me tear up. it was kind of unexplained how this arms dealer all of a sudden has a change of heart and decides to help people.

[Cenobia]

It was extremely stupid and totally unbelievable.
-SPOILERS-

I especially loved the part where all of your "friends" (aka every 'helper' character that you didn't get to put a bullet in) turn on you for absolutely no reason. Then the person who you were supposedly "chasing" the entire game trusts you to kill yourself because of his stupid, totally insane logic. His plan the entire time was apparently to lead the assassin sent to kill him into a trap where he'll explain the situation and hope that he volunteers to off himself...yeah that makes a lot of sense. In the end you have no choice but to do exactly what he says despite the fact that no one would do that, ever. I just found it ironic that the game had me kill myself to end the game, relieving me of it's torturous mediocrity.

That game was terrible. I wouldn't even care if the gameplay was any good, but unfortunately it consisted of driving 30 miles for every mission and passing through checkpoints every 30 seconds, each of which had 3 people that shot at you just for the hell of it. I still don't understand how it scored anything above a 6.

[XactGamer]

FarCry 2 ending was bad, the game was great though accept the whole malaria pill crap.

[pimpmaster]

SPOILERS! well i was talking about just the actual cutscene where he blows himself up, shure the story and how the jackal changed sides made no sencemade no sence storywize but im just talking about the actual cutscene where he blows himself up lol.

[voodoopickle]

You have to add Final Fantasy Tactics to that list. The ending was just telling you how EVERYONE dies. We were just sitting there thinking "What the hell just happend!?"

[Tony P]

It was an historical retrospective... they tell you this at the start of the game.

[Aphe]

Longest loading website for a while...

[chidori666]

heres halo 2 ending?

one of worst ending all times..

[worm2010]

alan wakes ending was so weak!!!!

[MGOelite]

resistance 2 annoyed the flying **** outta me

"this is just the begining"

BOOM HEADSHOT!!

[TooTall19]

Makes the sequel more interesting. Just like Killzone 2's. I don't want everything to have happy endings because then it gets too predictable.

[MGOelite]

theres a difference between having a happy ending and killing the main charactor dead

[TooTall19]

There are plenty of good stories where the main character dies, such as Old Yeller and The Departed.

[kanetheking]

he got that power at the end.and hes got heath regeneration.i think hes going to be the villain think of it res3 u don't see the boss to the end bang it's hale epic fight with hale and the other guy lol.

[Snowb420]

Next time please put a spoiler warning in your post, not everyone has beaten Resistance 2...

[NumeroUno]

Yeah - the Fable II ending really did blow. You didn't even really get a "final battle."

[execution17]

yeah, i was waiting that final battle but nothing, just get 3 lame choices then thats it

[bioshock1221]

I know I loved the whole game but the ending was just stupid. I agree that it probably is one of the most dumbest ending's in video games.

[kindi_boy]

Ya what the hell was that about

[mastiffchild]

I agree but combat throughout the game wasn;'t EVER that hard so even if that was one of the weakest boss encounters EVER(which it was) it still, to me, doesn't compare to the let down I felt from that last shot in Gears2. That game(which I love)had some great boss battles and set pieces but that ending that followed was just way too easy, way too short and is still the most anticlimactic ending this gen for me and it's nowhere to be seen!

I think Fable2 deserves a place for it's sheer weakness in this respect but it's not as good a game as Gears2 and doesn't have the same chasm in difficulty between the easy last boss and the rest of the game that Gears2 and it's dead in one shot last battle has. Even if a lot of what I mean has to do with the fact ALL of Fable2's fighting was pi55 easy the point still stands that previous battles in Gears had left me expecting a lot more from it's ending than the combat in Fable2 EVER did!

I dunno if I'm dreaming this but I seem to remember doing the end of Gears2 once after deliberately dropping the HoD to see if you could make the ending harder but only finding that the game just puts it back in your mitts anyway! Yes, it's an impressive bang but it would be nice to feel you'd earned it by some other means than the least well balanced weapon in gaming history! Goes close to undoing all that great work(and even if people still call it Gears1.5 I don't are-it's still an adrenaline rush of a TPS and about my favourite 360 exclusive-played the first on PC)battling through to that point, really. Amazes me it isn't on this list.

[NumeroUno]

Yeah the only real "boss battle" that I encountered was the first time I fought a troll. Not only was I like WHOAMG! but I didn't really know what to do with my swordfighter.

[JaeKuro]

And here I was thinking I was the only one who ended up staring at my dog at the dock wanting to kill him...If I'd known I would have nothing to do at the end I would have just took the money just to piss people off.

[dizzleK]

wake me....when you need some quick cash. *duh duh dan uh duh duh dan uh*

that ending sent shivers up my cock.

[FuckinUsername]

Bioshock? lol u mad

[TooTall19]

Hitman endings are usually good. An ending I thought was kind of funny was Demon's Souls.

[CommonCent]

Aww Hitman, You can't keep a good man down. :)

[omi25p]

Red Dead Redemption Deserve's To Be On This List.
The Actual Ending Was Brilliant Its Just The Game After The Ending Is Just Terrible.

It's Hard To Explain Without Spoilers

[BYE]

I know, it somehow kills the motivation to keep playing for 100% after the ending.

[CommonCent]

Oh come on, you seriously didn't think it was good? I thought it was brilliant. It kinda sucks not putting spoilers up, even with a tag some people just seem to forget what it means before they read it anyway....

[Figboy]

and me and my wife are both disappointed in the ending. i mean, if it was a movie, that ending would have been BRILLIANT. but as an ending to an open world game, in which you continue playing well after the story is complete, it felt a little strange. such a brilliant game anyway though. the best GTA game i've played since San Andreas.

i'm still going for 100% completion, but i really don't feel too compelled to do so now.

i really hope that was vague enough to not spoil the ending for those that haven't beat it.

[Alcon Caper]

I beat it last night. Yes, definitely an unexpected continuation of the game. But after the single player is over, there really isn't a whole lot to do or play. Even considering selling it (wasn't a fan of the multiplayer).

[MadMan00]

So...Fable II because it's actually realistic? The main guy was just a normal guy...It's actually quite original.

And who said he was actually DEAD? More assumptions...yes?

[ozlacs]

SPOILERS*

The end of GOW3 pissed me off. Kratos, the most badass character of video game history shoots hot hope into the world and makes it a better place like its some coca cola commercial where the kid cracks open a can and everyone holds hands and dances. I much preferred David Jaffes way of ending it by making Kratos the harbinger of death killing off other mythologies(Norse..roman, egypt, aztec etc etc.)I hope the GOW3 EPilogue DLC will clear this up

[huntsman1230]

The many endings I imagined in my head were SO much better than the official ending; imagine this...

I was hoping that you temporarily side with your father, Zeus, and you team up to take down Gaia (remember having to take her down and Zeus at the same time? Gaia could have been an amazing boss battle sequence with Zeus at your aid, think another BIG Titan sequence) and THEN, as he extends his hand to you in apologetic fashion, Kratos is basically like, just kidding bitch. So you kill Zeus, while this corruptive power overcomes Athena and you have to take her out which leaves Kratos with some line such as "I have accomplished my vengeance" where he then takes a shit on both their bodies and, I dunno, jumps off a cliff or something or rule over the chaotic earth himself it doesnt really matter.

But to just DIE like that, yech, no thanks. Kratos is too BA to release hope on the world... lame.

[house]

your ending and story ending was just stupid i think the ending to gow3 was just great and perfect, the reason they did that was to show that kratos forgave him self for the things he did and was willing to finally let go

[TacoBurrito]

farcry 2 ending was the worst EVER. But i played it!!
Seriously Assasins Creed 2, when i saw the ending i said WTF,

[Nihilism]

I liked the farcry 2 ending, the Jackal was an awesome character, he may have been an arms dealer but he had the idea of leveling the field, and he expressed contempt the the militia groups, but from the sounds of his recordings he would rather everyone be armed that U.N weapons find their way to one faction, which leads to the oppresion of all.

Kind of twisted logic, but he was a good guy in the end, the U.S ( presumably those who sent your character ) wanted him out of the way so they could trade weapons to war torn countries furthering the problem in peace, but the jackal ain't going out like that, some people see militia groups in foreign countries as being evil ( some are ) but they are just protecting their interests from foreign influence, the jackal was one of these protectors.

The character you play also realises that simply getting rid of the competition is not going to solve the problem of conflict in Africa as long as foreign arms keep pouring in... a nice little bit of politics and reality in gaming, it's a shame so many people hated it because you didn't drive off in a Warthog into the sunset...

My 2c AUS ( U.S 1.85c )

[MagicAccent]

Yes, I completely agree. I really liked that ending.
Sure, the story might have been nonexistant up to that final level. But then, everything is turned upside down and makes sense: your friends betray you, and the one you've been chasing all along turns out to be the only one who actually cares for the country and it's people.

Epic ending, imo. Just a shame that it was lost on so many ppl.

[raztad]

Is Far Cry 2 worth a shoot? game is in the bargain bin but still I dont know if it's worth my time. I ready missions are extremely repetitive and you spent a lot of time travelling. Isn't there a way to Fast Travel?

[Nihilism]

wtf double post

[tmoss726]

Fable 2 ending was a complete let down. I liked the dog though. Renting Fable 3 this time however....

[kasasensei]

Well
Halo1, 2 or 3 have stupid endings, like gears of war 1 and 2, like assassins creed 1, like lost planet 1, like kz2, like infamous.... such a lot of games with crappy endings...

[ThaOutKast]

I thought inFAMOUS' ending was great. Totally unexpected.

[cobraagent]

Assassins Creed 1 &2 had the worst endings in the history Why did they have to implement magic????????????????????????? ?

[Bobbie001]

Fallout 3 was the worst if you ask me.
You had to die a hero or let someone else die instead of you because of the radiation. But they forgot one thing.. There was some big ass mutant who joined you all the time who could whitstand every type of radiation. Why didnt some smart ass send him in to flip that switch.
Its just stupid

[NumeroUno]

The worst thing about the Fallout 3 endings were that they were only different from the last 5 minutes of gameplay. Either be hero and see a different cutscene or don't sacrifice yourself and...simply see a different cutscene.

[Heisenberg]

Such a huge wonderful game, and then the ending was a complete cop out. I was lead to believe there were different endings, a bunch of em... Turned out there were just slight variances in a cutscene. Huge let down.

[vTuro24]

Rico ****ed everything up...

[Nathsies]

Far Cry 2 had a great ending; and perfectly showed that a sacrifice had to be made in such times. It's practically one of the most greatest non-linear games of all time and I think the ending was a brave step.

Bioshock's last 30% was very disappointing, and the whole SUPER CHARGED NINJA didn't fit into Fontaine's character.

[AusWarrior]

I think Borderlands had the worst ending. No vault? I played for 30 hours trying to find a vault then it closes up?! **** YOU!

[Kahvipannu]

Personally I agree with Fable 2's ending, it was bad. Just Cause 2 was terrible also, I can't remember when was the last time I wanted to just shoot all characters in the game, and not in good way. That games story/voice acting is a really bad joke, and the las missions were just so bad...

[wenaldy]

I swear Far Cry 2 is the most repetitive game ever (well IMO)... The ending kinda sucked too... I regret bought this game for my PS3.. :(

[TakingChances]

Man, I wish the list was more expansive, but there were probably too many to count for. I've got to agree on Fable II. It's hard to just play without wondering what's the point of doing so. You need things to do in a game that is so open ended (and with some purpose).

[PS360PCROCKS]

What no Gears 2?! The last hour was tight but the last boss was the dumbest thing ever. Bioshock had an awesome ending, I thought it was really really good actually. Plus Far Cry 2!? Hahaha that game had an ending? I never would of known I couldn't get through the repetitive crap fest that was Far Cry 2. "Heres your mission: now drive, drive and drive some more, ok you're here, kill this guy. Oops you died by the guy in the bushes who blends in perfectly who you can't see, please start over and do that 25 minute driving section again"

[kesvalk]

after mass effect 1(and 2) ending... a lot of endings become bad endings...

[PS360PCROCKS]

ME is AWE-mazing!

[Kahvipannu]

100% agree with you guys.

[dragonhearts]

the game was awesome but the ending was unsatisfying...

Edit..
somoene already said it lol ^