#5 Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare – Nuclear Blast
The Call of Duty franchise is no stranger to over-the-top action sequences and moments. Players take on the role of a soldier who can not only complete objectives through a series of firefights but oftentimes leaves without a scratch. So when playing Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, there came a section of the game where we are racing through a war-torn city fighting off the enemy.
This battle in itself was chaotic and full of nonstop action so once we boarded the getaway helicopter, it seemed like there was nothing more to do but wait until the next mission loaded. That was until we heard confirmation of a nuclear bomb being dropped.
Not only does this bring the helicopter crashing down but left players roaming the area for a brief minute until our leading protagonist finally dies. This twist left us sitting on the edge of our seats during the rest of the game as developers showed that it doesn’t matter how long you’ve been portraying a character in a game, their death is very much in the realm of possibilities at any time.
#4 BioShock – Would You Kindly
You’ve likely already played out BioShock as it became a massive hit when it first released last generation consoles. We could dive into a deep article spanning the narrative, but to save you some time, we’ll just give you a quick recap leading up to the biggest twist of the game.
In BioShock, players take the role of a man named Jack who finds himself in an underwater city undergoing a civil war. To help progress you through danger, players follow the orders of a person named Atlas over a radio. Throughout the game, you’ll build trust with Atlas as he asks you to complete different objectives.
However, the real twist is unveiled that you’ve been brainwashed all this time and undergoing all the biddings made by Atlas. Using a phrase “Would you kindly”, Atlas had players doing everything he desired, leaving you to realize that all of your choices and free will was essentially not your own doing after all.
#3 Red Dead Redemption Ending
In Red Dead Redemption the game narrative focused on a former outlaw by the name of John Marston. Early on in the game, we find our hero is tied up with the government who had kidnapped his family forcing John to find and hunt down his former gang. After leaving his life of crime behind to settle down and become a law-abiding citizen, John must dust off his old six-shooter and begin another adventure that will lead him to interesting characters across a wide open land.
Development studio Rockstar Games had really delivered a fantastic video game that was not only a delight to play but contained a gripping storyline that had us hooked all the way through. The journey by no means was a walk in the park for John Marston so when he finally got to the point where his gang was taken out and his family freed, we thought the conclusion would see John living out his days as he attempts to deal with the horrors of his past.
That was until the government came knocking on his door looking for the final past member, John himself. This was all a sham and while John managed to get his wife and son away it came at the cost of his life. This proved that not all stories have a happy ending.
#2 Silent Hill 2 – Mary
Silent Hill is an iconic survival horror franchise with the earlier titles being very much beloved with a massive following of fans. Arguably, the biggest title within the series is Silent Hill 2 where players take on the role of James Sunderland. In the narrative, James receives a letter from his deceased wife, Mary, asking James to meet her at Silent Hill, a previous vacation destination of theirs.
It’s within Silent Hill that James is taking through a hellish world full of monsters and oddity characters, though despite the hardships our protagonist must overcome, James presses on to find Mary. This journey is full of twists and turns as the story slowly unveils what happened to Mary.
As it turns out, James had actually killed Mary when he was done dealing with a sick wife. His guilt is what led him into Silent Hill where the monsters were manifested as a means to punish James. However, the game also features a number of different endings which are either good or bad which will give the game a bit of replay value while potentially offering more twists for players to cope with.
#1 The Last of Us – Ellie Sacrifice
Naughty Dog sure knows how to make a compelling video game and on the PlayStation 3, they delivered a fantastic hit. In fact, this game was such a big hit that the developers released a remaster on the PlayStation 4, making it a game worth purchasing for either console. Again, much like most of these games on the list, we could get into a massive breakdown of the game narrative, but we’ll save you a bit of reading.
Within The Last of Us, players take on the role of a man named Joel. Early into the game, we find Joel, his brother along with his daughter trying to escape the city when a pandemic begins to turn civilians into a zombie-like creature. Things don’t turn out well for Joel when his daughter ends up biting the dust resulting in the game doing a time jump.
Joel is now a bitter old man who takes risks in order to make it by in the world but he soon finds himself having to take on a job of transporting a young girl by the name of Ellie all the way across the country. At first, this relationship is nothing more than Joel making a package drop, but as time progresses the duo really become a close. Our first twist was when the Joel learns that Ellie is, in fact, immune to the pandemic threat where she is being taken to a resistance of the government organization in order to find a cure of this deadly disease.
Things begin to look up and Joel starts to see Ellie as a daughter figure. So when the real twist is discovered, Joel does not take things very well. Ellie becomes distant in her conversations with Joel as they near the end of their adventure and it’s only when Ellie is taken back for preparation that he discovers the resistance will have to dissect her in order to create a cure.
Luckily Joel manages to break Ellie out and take out the resistance group all while she is unconscious from a sedative. Joel lies to Ellie saying that the group discovered others with the same immunization and didn’t need her after all.
Bonus
Resident Evil – Albert Wesker
Okay so by now you all probably know about Resident Evil. It’s a survival horror franchise that has been around for decades and most recently it’s been a subject of a few remakes released into the market for both veteran players to enjoy along with some newcomers. While there are more than just a few staple characters from the video game franchise, Albert Wesker really stood out as a big surprise for fans that went through the original game or for that matter the remakes or remastered editions.
Throughout the original game, players take on the role of a STARS member, a special task force in Raccoon City and your division goes on a search for a missing team. It’s during your search that you end up in a mansion that houses more than just zombies. Something is clearly going on and with your team scattered about the mansion, players slowly uncover the truth behind this undead virus situation.
With the enemy being Umbrella, a pharmaceutic corporation that has developed a virus that has turned humans into undead creatures, players venture out to stop the company. However, all along with your captain of the team, Albert Wesker was a double agent this whole time working for Umbrella and using the team members as a test to see how the bioweapon can stand against trained agents. Today everyone familiar with the franchise knows that Albert is one of the main villains from the series, but at the time, it was a real shocker.
