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All year I’ve found time to gripe and moan about my many disappointments this year, but oddly enough, the strongest points of this year’s greats seems to have been delivering a strong finish. From the dystopian future that isn’t quite what it seems, to a cowboy taking on the world in one final, stunning shootout, some of the most exhilarating endings have been delivered in droves this year. A word of warning, this top 10 list will analyze endings of various Xbox 360 games from the year. If insane amounts of spoilers aren’t your thing or you have a backlog of titles waiting to be finished from this year, you might want to steer clear of this one, at least for now.
10. Splinter Cell: Conviction: What Happened? After having found out that his daughter was still among the living thanks to a fake death staged by Irving Lambert, Sam confronted Tom Reed, current director of Third Echelon inside the confines of the White House. Reed planned to frame Sam for the death of the President in an attempt to prove that Third Echelon was still key to the protection of the US. Sam or series’ veteran Grim take out Reed and Sam lays down the spy tools to live a quiet life with his daughter. The ending flash-forwards to Sam’s friend Victor Coste being interrogated over his dealings with Sam where Victor gives a speech about Sam being like a brother. “Brother. That’s family right?” Reed concludes as the building’s alarms sound and it looks as though Sam has come the aid of an old friend.
Why did it Rock? A final shootout in the White House of all places? A home video implying that Sam killed a lot of people just to free one friend, Victor Coste? The game may not have been one of the best things to happen this year, but it ended with a number of memorable scenes that all display Sam in top form. There is no implied sequel in the final scenes, but hot damn I’ll be damned if I don’t get more.
9. Mafia 2: What Happened? Vito Scaletta and Joe Barbaro rise to power, lose it all, and kill their boss Falcone by the orders of a friend Vito met in jail, Leo Galante. Galante takes Vito to celebrate while Vito’s lifelong pal Joe is taken to celebrate in a separate car. Joe’s car deviates from the road and Galante explains to Vito “Sorry kid. Joe wasn’t part of our deal.” implying that Joe was being carted off to his death.
Why did it Rock? Mafia 2 was one of the most depressing games I’ve touched all year. While it lacked solid gameplay, the narrative was excellent in that it followed Vito’s rise to power and his fall from happiness. As Vito murdered his way to the top, situations and relationships only grew worse for him. Vito’s troubling search for money, only lead to the eventual death of his best friend, Joe, and Vito’s only option is to accept the fact. All the while, rain pours down on Vito’s ride and the sky is the darkest it’s ever been. Every moment in the ending was powerful in that you couldn’t help but feel that Vito had everything he hoped to obtain, but had to trade the joys of life in the process. The end of his trip, was only met with despair and loss.
8. Alan Wake: What Happened? Alan manages to make a return to the cabin where his wife is being held by the Dark Presence. Alan defeats the darkness with the Clicker, and object capable of bringing light to the darkest of places. Even after defeating the Dark Presence, his wife Alice cannot leave the bottom of the lake unless Alan sacrifices himself by becoming trapped in the darkness. Alan sacrifices himself and his wife is seen climbing out of the lake. Alan is last seen tying away on a typewriter, and closes the game with the line “It’s not a lake, it’s an ocean.” Cut to credits and cue David Bowie.
Why did it Rock? I probably shouldn’t repeat the words that came out of my mouth at Alan Wake’s ending, but I found myself watching the scene over and over in an effort to make sense of it. I finally snapped out of it when I realized that Alan had been alluding to the ending the entire game. Alan talks of how “The unanswered mystery is the one that stays with us the longest,” and of how happy endings in horror are “antithetical to the poetry of fear.” There are a few pieces of the ending that can be pieced into logic, but all in all, the mystery of Alan’s fate made for a compelling close. [The DLC delves more into Alan’s stay at the bottom of the lake, but didn’t add enough explanation to be considered an “official” ending for the game.]
This feature top 10 list continues on the next page, please click below to see our next couple choices for the top 10 video game endings of 2010.
