There are, of course, major spoilers ahead for each of the games featured in this rundown, so skip a section if you want to discover the game’s conclusion for yourself.

Red Dead Redemption 2

Rockstar’s wild west opus has four endings (three as Arthur Morgan, one as John Marston) but owing to your inevitable attachment to Morgan during the 50-hour-or-so campaign none are especially uplifting. The ‘good’ – in inverted commas – ending sees Morgan assisting Marston in a shootout against Dutch’s gang and the Pinkertons. High honour: Arthur succumbs to tuberculosis watching the sunrise; low: he takes a bullet to the head. Abandoning Marston for the bad ending sees Morgan lose a knife fight to Micah Bell. Each ending elevates an already engrossing story, but it sure does suck for Arthur to lose his life no matter what you choose.

Ghost of Tsushima  

Jin’s defence of Tsushima from Mongol invaders culminates in the ultimate moral quandary, and players are divided on which direction is most canonical. On the one hand, killing Lord Shimura – his surrogate father – is most honourable for Shimura but distressing for Jin. Sparing his uncle dishonours the family, spitting in the face of samurai code. Opt for the former to poetically symbolise Jin’s full transition to ghost, severing any remaining connection to the samurai code he once adhered, no matter how much Shimura demanded it. Either way, Jin is left a lone wolf, his heroism reduced to villainy in the eyes of the Shogun.

Shadow of the Colossus

Yeah, you’ve slain sixteen colossi to revitalise your lady love Mono, but at what cost? The scheming Dormin doesn’t reveal their identity as annexed demon until the game’s very end, but by that time it’s too late, the damage is done. Shadow of the Colossus has a way of making you feel sorry for the fierce-now-slain colossi, even though your actions as Wander were in good faith; to be fair to Dormin too, they do uphold their end of the bargain in reviving Mono. Agro the horse survives too, at least.

Limbo

Enigmatic Limbo, the odyssey of a boy in search of his sister. This silent, dark ambient masterwork is open to interpretation, but the presiding theory is that the boy is dead and that the game is an allegorical retelling of his life right up until the moment he checks out. With all the gravitational flailing during the game’s final moments it seems the boy died in a car crash, but the gut punch here is that he clearly doesn’t know he’s already dead. Maybe his sister was never in Limbo? Or maybe she died in the crash too? The two never clap eyes on each other at the end, despite the sister sensing the boy’s presence. Tragic.

Braid

An ending which re-contextualises the narrative, during Braid we play as Tim during his attempts to rescue a princess from an evil monster, although maybe Tim is the monster all along? This blatant switcheroo is not as trivial as it first appears. Tim, as revealed via in-game texts, was instrumental in The Manhattan Project, with the princess being a manifestation of his guilt surrounding his part in the atom bomb’s development. The flip-reverse finale whereby we believe we’re rescuing the princess only for time to switch backwards to reveal she’s running away cements Tim’s legacy as wrongdoer. It’s a beautiful, bittersweet full circle.

SOMA  

Say what you will about SOMA, but it’s got one of the heaviest existential crises in all video games. Uploading consciousness to digital formats is conceptually and morally nebulous; SOMA asks just what it is to be human. Is it someone’s thoughts, personality, memories? If so, is it the same person if you extract these thoughts and implant them in a carbon-copied body? Experiencing this first-hand through the eyes of Simon, we feel a sense of triumph as his fourth iteration is deposited into the ARK before its voyage to interstellar sanctuary, but our eyes stay with Simon3 as he’s left behind in dark, subaquatic abyss, abandoned and alone.

The Last of Us

The pinnacle of moral middle ground, you play the majority of The Last of Us as grief-stricken smuggler Joel, and you’ll endear yourself to him principally due to the tragic loss of his daughter some two decades prior; a heinous tragedy, with unshakeable grief hanging over him like a dark cloud. Ellie is his chance at finally conquering his sorrow, of blowing this dark cloud away, so his actions – as abominable as they are for the rest of humanity – are explainable. There’s no denying his selfishness though; The Last of Us has us believe we play the good guy, but our nobility is shattered at the very end.

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons

A game about working together to overcome insurmountable challenges, little brother Naiee heavily relies on older sibling Naia, until he can’t. Ingeniously exemplified via in-game controls, the loss of thumb-stick functionality for the older brother symbolising the very real loss Naiee experiences when Naia is no longer his guiding light. Together with Naiee, we’re forced to adapt, to learn strength, and live without help. It’s a bittersweet ending to an emotionally charged story.

A Way Out

Two endings are possible in dual-protagonist prison break drama A Way Out, yet the deaths of seasoned criminal Leo or undercover agent Vincent don’t bring any significant gratification to the player. Canonically, Leo killing Vincent makes more sense. After all, he’s the real criminal here despite his final actions motivated by betrayal than bloodlust. Vincent killing Leo is the easier pill to swallow but implies a failure to morally resolve his sting operation. Both share kinship, both have families outside of the drama, there’re no winners at the end of A Way Out.

L.A. Noire

Despite L.A. Noire adhering to the tragic finale trope of film noir, numerous players find the game’s ending dissatisfactory. Centring on Cole Phelps’ humdrum death at game’s end, Phelps’ quest for redemption ending on a damp squib, with little recognition for the man he is, for his uneventful funeral, it’s easy to see this resolution as a rushed job by the developers. Thing is, Phelps spent his life seeking redemption for his failures as a soldier, police officer, and husband. The fact he was on the cusp of reclamation before his untimely death is plain tragic.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

Sure, there are endless clues throughout MGSV: The Phantom Pain that Venom Snake isn’t in fact the real Big Boss, but The Medic whom Zero imparts skills, wisdom, and memories of Big Boss to act as decoy. By the end of the game, it feels like we’ve been playing as a lie. We eliminate the bad guys, but do we feel fulfilled? Aren’t we left with a feeling of emptiness – a Phantom Pain?

Inside

Monochromatic side-scroller Inside plunges a boy into a dangerous world, intriguing, otherworldly, hostile, and mysterious. He’s forging towards something, but that something is totally unexpected. Is the globule mass calling him? That point is up for interpretation, but once he’s enveloped, and the hulking mass escapes from the tight-knit facility all hell breaks loose. We escape, but to where? Was this whole thing orchestrated? One thing worth mentioning: when we reach the grey shoreline come the game’s very end, there’s a sense of tranquility. Of peace. Inside’s a strange one.

It Takes Two

Struggling couple Cody and May are forced to cooperate in It Takes Two, overcoming obstacles together in miniature toy-like form initially as a means to reach their daughter back in their human form, but then growing as a way to save their marriage. However, together they must torture and kill a stuffed elephant toy; a toy that, yes, whilst stuffed and not real is begging for mercy. It’s challenging, disturbing, quease-inducing, but come games end the trio of husband, wife, and daughter have a new perspective on their life and relationship. It’s just that getting there takes monumental challenge – kind of like true life.

Telltale’s The Walking Dead

Yes, an obvious pick for this feature. There’re question marks over saviour Lee’s fate – does he die in both the game’s possible endings? Sure, he’s bitten, so in one ending you shoot him out of sympathy, but in the other you can spare him. The tragedy here is that in saving your bullet you condemn him to becoming a walker. You’re left broken either way, a true example of survival but at what cost.

Gears of War 3

The ending of Gears of War 3 centers on sacrifice. It’s revealed player-character Marcus Fenix’s father Adam infects himself with Lambent cells in order to test his Locust eradicating machine. The machine works, sweeping a shockwave across Sera and completing the mission for Marcus and his team. They’ve won, but of course Marcus has lost his father, and perhaps greater, he mournfully ponders the remnants of humanity – was it all worth saving?

The focus of the new trailer is to showcase the graphical improvements made in Braid: Anniversary Edition over its original 2008 release. The visuals for the game have been “hand-repainted” by artist David Hellman, who worked on the original game as well.

The trailer also showcases other aspects of the game that have been improved for the upcoming release, including improved sounds, as well as mixes of the game’s original soundtrack. Braid: Anniversary Edition will also feature a commentary track, which is set to feature more than 15 hours of developer commentary.

Braid: Anniversary Edition was originally announced all the way back in 2020. The game was originally planned for release in 2021, but has since been delayed quite a bit. The original Braid was a critically-acclaimed title back when it came out, and was one of the games credited for creating an indie boom on consoles since it was originally released on the Xbox 360.

Grand Theft Auto 5

Rockstar Games’ most successful title, Grand Theft Auto 5 redefined how detailed and lifelike open-world games could be. On top of its gorgeous visuals and intricate world, it pushed the boundaries of the franchise’s established formula with three protagonists, heists, activities like sports, hunting and racing, and memorable side stories. The fact that it achieved all of this on seventh-gen console hardware is a feat, that too without considering GTA Online.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Super Smash Bros. Melee served as the series’ watershed moment, providing a near-perfect combination of gameplay, graphics and music. Super Smash Bros. Brawl didn’t win over everyone with some of its changes (hello, tripping) but it was superior in a number of other aspects. Subspace Emissary is an incredible story-driven mode till this day; the base roster was large and grew even further with the addition of non-Nintendo characters like Solid Snake, Sonic the Hedgehog and Cloud Strife; and the Stage Builder was introduced for creating one’s own levels. The Nintendo Wii already had a number of great exclusives but Super Smash Bros. Brawl is definitely one of its finest.

Until Dawn – Everyone Dies

Make all the wrong decisions in Until Dawn and everyone dies. Who would have thought? Most everyone turn into Wendigos and it’s on Sam and Mike to survive by destroying the lodge when a gas leak breaks out. Of course, this can also be botched, causing the two to die in the explosion as well. Even if Josh somehow survives the whole ordeal, he’s seen in the post-credits turning into a Wendigo.

Haunted – Pokemon Snap

Take it as just another urban legend or the stuff of truth but one unfortunate player apparently found a haunted copy of Pokemon Snap. The N64 title saw players on-rails, taking pictures of Pokemon on Pokemon Island. It’s a generally happy game but this particular copy had odd purple streaks throughout. Professor Oak’s eyes were replaced with pitch-black voids and many of the lovable pocket monsters looked downright unsettling (according to the person in question that is). At some point, visiting the volcano stage would result in Pokemon screaming. Soon enough, the player saw himself submerged in lava. That’s several degrees of “yikes” right there.

]]> https://gamingbolt.com/14-urban-legends-in-games-you-likely-believed/feed 0 380206 https://gamingbolt.com/15-of-the-best-xbox-360-games-of-all-time https://gamingbolt.com/15-of-the-best-xbox-360-games-of-all-time#respond Mon, 31 Dec 2018 15:49:09 +0000 https://gamingbolt.com/?p=333028 The Xbox 360 took the world by storm back in 2005. If you were a gamer back in the early 2000s and didn’t have PlayStation 3 console, you probably had an Xbox 360. Microsoft’s almost perfect moves back then invited a lot of great developers and in the process a lot of franchises ditched their PlayStation exclusivity. With that out of the way, enjoy GamingBolt’s picks for 15 of the best Xbox 360 games of all time.

Please note that due to sheer number of games on the Xbox 360, it’s impossible to make everyone of you happy! But please note that this is our list so there is a good chance your favorite game may not be present here.

Dead Space

Dead Space puts the player on a spaceship that is infested with grotesque monsters known as Necromorphs. You were sent with a team of engineers to repair the USG Ishimura, a mining flagship that had sent out a distress signal. The player was put in the shoes of Isaac Clarke, an engineer for the CEC, a trade organization forefronting deep space and solar mining. The game was made to be a psychological horror shooting game and it hit its mark fairly well. It was the kind of game you knew something was coming if it got too quiet.  It didn’t help that air vents were the main path for the monsters to jump out and scare the living daylights out of you. The game was critically acclaimed for its  writing, polished level design and incredible atmosphere. 

]]> https://gamingbolt.com/15-of-the-best-xbox-360-games-of-all-time/feed 0 333028 https://gamingbolt.com/15-games-so-amazing-that-they-dont-need-difficulty-options https://gamingbolt.com/15-games-so-amazing-that-they-dont-need-difficulty-options#respond Mon, 23 Jul 2018 15:39:41 +0000 https://gamingbolt.com/?p=347700 You run home on the launch day of a brand new game, thrilled that the launch has finally come. Pop the disk into your system and settle in for a nice long session. But before any of that, there’s a lot of the time you have a choice to make. What’s your difficulty setting? While somewhat accepted today, the very idea of the player selecting their own difficulty is kind of strange, isn’t it? Before playing even a little bit of the game, you’re asking the player to make a major decision that could impact their entire experience. The problems with difficulty modes are numerous, but there’s a growing number of titles who have found creative ways around this, which we’re here to discuss today. Make sure to share your favourites in the comments below!

Super Meat Boy

As an early indy hit, Super Meat Boy had to earn all of the praise it got to show that smaller teams could be worth just as much attention. Super Meat Boy then had a lot of confidence in the mechanics surrounding the super tight platforming gameplay to not offer players a way to just cruise to the credits. Losing the idea of lives lives and allowing the player to restart the small stages roughly 12 times per second until the proverbial brick wall was beaten down allowed many to find their groove and not really even notice death.

The Order: 1886

The Order: 1886 had a fantastic premise when it was first announced, and if the entire thing wasn’t over in a totally linear 6 hours, perhaps it would have been better received. Just as the story gets going with the hero Galahad, who learns the terrible truth that the head of his order has known the truth of the Lycans all along and harboured one as his own son, forced to be a martyr to keep the order stable, the game just cuts out into lame sequel bait and we’re left asking where the last 6 hours of our lives went.

A new list of Xbox 360 games that will be backwards compatible on the Xbox One has been revealed by Microsoft. Though games like The Witcher 2 and Red Dead Redemption still haven’t been confirmed, there are still a healthy number of titles to look forward.

Prominent among those is Halo: Reach, Braid, Deus Ex: Human Evolution and Portal: Still Alive. Other games include Doritos Crash Course, Hydro Thunder, Kane & Lynch 2, Iron Brigade, Ms. Pac Man, Spelunky, Splosion Man, Ticket to Ride, Zuma’s Revenge, Peggle and Motocross Madness. That makes for a total of 16 titles. Microsoft has promised to regularly reveal Xbox 360 titles that will receive the backwards compatible treatment so don’t worry – your favourite game is bound to pop up sooner than later.

A specific release date for the support on these games hasn’t been revealed so stay tuned for more information. Let us know what you think of this list of games in the comments.