August 4, 2020

10 Ridiculous Video Game Cliff-Hangers That Never Got Resolved

Kevin Thielenhaus / Features / Condemned 2, Conduit 2, Dead Space 3, Freedom Force, Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Mega Man Legends 2, Shenmue 3, The Darkness II, The Force Unleashed 2, XIII /

Multiple Evil Moons [Dead Space 3 DLC]

Dead Space 3 is the kind of game that kills a franchise — an overstuffed, bloated corpse of a game that’s had all the horror surgically removed with a corporate scalpel. The short DLC episodes added after the game’s release attempted to add a few spooks to the game, and even included an all-time ridiculous stinger. How do I even explain this one? I’ll give it a try.

In Dead Space lore, the evil alien menace can spread via moon-sized monsters. You even fight the moon — yes, really — at the end of Dead Space 3. Things get even more ridiculous after completing all the DLC, where the heroes return to Earth, only to find it is surrounded by multiple evil moons. Just the sight of evil moons is laugh-inducing instead of terrifying.

You Still Don’t Fight Lan Di [Shenmue 3]

Some might say cliff-hangers and unresolved endings are the product of extreme hubris — for the creators to just assume there will be a sequel, and to bait us with something that’s unlikely to ever happen. While I don’t think that label is always fair, in the case of Shenmue 3 the cliff-hanger ending might be our greatest example of video game hubris.

A game that was never going to get made, a game that struggled to get funding, a game that fans waiting 18 years for — and you still don’t fight the big bad guy. You’ll have to wait for the sequel that’s even less likely to get made.

After training with kung-fu masters in the secluded hills of mainland China, preparing to do battle with the killer of your father and nemesis, an unstoppable gangster called Lan-Di, our hero Ryo finally confronts the man in a castle. The battle is completely one-sided. It’s hardly a battle at all! Lan-Di doesn’t even have new animations — the entire ending feels rushed, and the battle against our rival in a confrontation fans waited decades to see, is rushed through and completely inconclusive. Ryo ends the game exactly where we left him.

Explore more infamously unresolved cliff-hangers on the next page.