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 /

The President Has A Heart Attack [Condemned 2]

Condemned 2 is a deeply silly sequel, and in the grand tradition of silly sequels, we have to build to an absurd cliff-hanger. After traveling to a futuristic lair with sound-based devices that spread insanity, the game cuts away to a presidential conference. Yes, this is another president-involved ending! Video games are completely obsessed with presidential cliff-hangers, it seems.

Anyway, the press conference addresses the growing violence spreading across the nation. Mid-speech, an aid delivers a cryptic note, stating that a mysterious “remedy is among us.” This implies multiple very silly things: 1) the President is a member of the evil Oro organization, and 2) a vague message just killed him. This conspiracy goes all the way to the top! But it’s also dead. I guess this is one those rare non-cliff-hangers that both introduces and resolves a conflict.

Entropy Meets The Embodiment Of Energy X [Freedom Force vs. The Third Reich]

This is one that hurts me on a deep, personal level. I absolutely loved the Freedom Forces games — light tactical RPGs where you controlled a team of superheroes. Due to low sales and the breakup of Irrational Games, we’re unlikely to ever see a real sequel, and Freedom Force vs. The Third Reich ends with a doozy.

Despite the title, the true villain of Freedom Force 2 is actually a transformed version of your ally Alchemiss — she becomes the universe-destroying Entropy. Eventually, she tries to stop all the harm she’s caused by erasing herself from existence.

It seems to work, until Alchemiss appears before a glowing figure. It’s the living embodiment of Energy X, the strange stuff that gives all the heroes of Freedom Force their power! That’s such a pure old-school comic book premise, and it is a perfectly ludicrous cliff-hanger. Like lots of great comic books, this is one story that was cancelled before it could get a proper ending.

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