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And now, I do know. But I refuse to tarnish that moment with a do-over. Because I’m not sure I’ve ever felt so strongly about a videogame in my entire life.
Mass Effect 2 expands on this by allowing for quick moments of Paragon/Renegade action – or, often more importantly, inaction. Hesitate just long enough on stopping that gung-ho Quarian captain from going out in a blaze of glory and it’s too late. Then your stomach sinks, and you’re hit with the always slobber-knocking one-two combo of guilt and regret.
Too many games, I think, subscribe to the idea that there’s a “right” and “wrong” way of experiencing their stories.
Take BioShock, for instance. If you harvested a Little Sister early on – because, let’s face it, Rapture’s a kill-or-be-killed kind of place, and it was either you or her – you were locked out of the “good” ending. But that panicked “I have to harvest her or else I’m fish food” mentality and the mistake that arose from it are what makes the whole encounter so interesting. Your back was against the wall, so you lashed out. Later, once you got your footing (and a Plasmid or three), you decided to repent for your sins by freeing every brittle, barefooted Little Sister you laid eyes on.
In the above hypothetical playthrough, then, your early flirtations with the “wrong” path eventually strengthened your commitment to the “right” path. You made a mistake and you felt awful about it. The game, however, saw things differently. The second the game’s own excellent atmosphere and scene-setting drove you to whip up some delicious, nutritious Little Sister soufflé, you were judged guilty. Your actions after that initial mistake simply didn’t matter. “Bang, bang,” slammed the gavel. And just like that, you were either mostly evil, or mustachio-twirlingly, cape-sportingly evil. No middle ground.
Whereas Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age make these sorts of internal struggles viable, BioShock and many other big-name games brusquely shove them out of the way as they barrel toward the finish line. Videogames are interactive. Our actions within them should mean something. I say it’s time to finally make good on that particular promise.
Comments are closed on this article
hun23
March 10, 2010 at 5:25pm
The only game that I have ever felt remorse for at the end was The Witcher. The choices that you made many hours earlier that you thought were minor choices ended up having a huge impact at the end. By siding with a certain side, I pretty much assisted in the massacre of a city.
There was no way to quickly reload and change things because your choices happened roughly 4 hours before the event. By the end of the game, what I thought had been a clear choice had been a very grey one.
nekollx
March 10, 2010 at 5:47pm
see fallout 3:
Megaton Nuke
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Coming soon to Lulu.com --Tokusatsu Heroes--
Five teenagers, one alien ghost, a robot, and the fate of the world.
Sebie Kay
February 17, 2010 at 10:53am
Yep, it's official... we are bad. The reason? We are getting philosophical over video games!
Nothing wrong with that when you're a maximum PC reader... but to the rest of the world... we need help.
In reality, it is the rest of the world that needs help! :-D
-=Do unto others... THEN RUN!!=-
QuadraQ
February 12, 2010 at 8:43pm
I think this was a wonderful piece, and just wanted to note, that Bioware's future MMO games will make these choices even more meaningful because they will be PERMANENT. You won't be able to make changes even if you wanted to. I really believe this simple fact is one of the reasons Bioware MMOs will be head and shoulders above the others out there.
fry
February 12, 2010 at 11:05am
Is it bad if you reloaded your save because a party member you really wanted dead didn't die?
Ha, ok. I didn't actually do that. But I came close. The nice thing about ME2 is it's such a good game, I'm eager to play it through again just to try out different decisions.
jaypers
February 12, 2010 at 9:38am
The end of Dragon Age was the only game that has ever moved me to tears. Especially when you have to split your team up and the people who are NOT coming with you, walk by to say their farewells. I got a little choked up and wanted them to come. We'd been through HELL together and they deserved to come.
hammer6556
February 12, 2010 at 6:01am
i was amazed by the ending, all i can say is ALL of your upgrades count. my favorite game up to this point was a tie between Fallout3 and Bioshock, but Mass Effect 2 is now my fav by far.
Who
February 12, 2010 at 5:00am
I'm kinda annoyed they only die through cutscenes of your predetermined actions. It would've felt more natural if your actions helped you in the final battle, and it was you in command of what was happening, and if they happened to die then, after you are in charge of them and ordering them around, then it really was your fault, not the developer's preconceived idea of what should happen at that point.
nekollx
February 12, 2010 at 10:20am
gotta agree, it's hard for me to really get into games because you know when your going to die, or a companion is, it's a big set piece.
Think of how much more Riviting Fallout 3 would be if you let dogmeat die and then way at the end of the game you get a little cutscene where you are visiting his grave stone. Or hell what if you used the Mesmetron to sell Red (and others) to the Slavers and then come back and kill everyone and free Red it would be nice if the game acknolged you seeding enemies into the ranks to destroy Pradise Hills from within and give Big Town a NEW camp to use.
------------------------------
Coming soon to Lulu.com --Tokusatsu Heroes--
Five teenagers, one alien ghost, a robot, and the fate of the world.
CTskifreak
February 12, 2010 at 8:39am
The ship upgrades do count. My roommate played through with the Normandy maxxed out, and then again with like nothing, and the cut scene is different, and one of your members dies if it isn't upgrade. The armor counts, and the laser cannon counts. Also, you have to have their loyalty for people to not die, and a really good weapon equipped.
ThermoGel
February 12, 2010 at 8:31am
In the final battle you have to select party members to do certian tasks and if you pick a party member who doesn't have the right skills it could lead to the death of that member or maybe another.
