Multiple Endings
Just found this nice little look at multiple endings and just how pointless they tend to be. They’re certainly a great idea that’s still yet to be done particularly well. Not that it’s easy, mind.
The method of reaching each different ending tends to be too obscure, or mostly based on decisions near the end of the game (as in Blade Runner and Fahrenheit) or based on a blatant good/bad swingometer. None of these methods are ideal. Deus Ex came closest by giving you a clear, varied choice (albeit at the end again) - I took forever making my first choice of ending, it seemed so important.
I finished The Getaway: Black Monday and only found out about the multiple endings afterwards. The ending I reached was astonishingly weak and I couldn’t even tell you what the turning point was. I have no idea if the other conclusions were better and I find my self not caring either.
How about two or even three critical moments in the game where the story branches based on clear but difficult choices. I’m not talking about branching into entirely different places and scenes (which would waste a lot of dev time and shorten the overall experience), rather changing character reactions and situations based on your earlier decision.
Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines altered how you were perceived right from the beginning based on which clan you picked - that’s a start. Deus Ex: Invisible War also did a nice job of basing faction reactions on your past treatment of them. Gamers love choice. The earlier we get to make worthwhile decisions during play the better, and if they have a tangible and clear impact on the ending of the game, perfect. Pipe dream? Possibly. Maybe I’m just somewhat tired of the formulaic and linear.
October 26th, 2005 at 10:06 pm
Did you ever play the original Fallout game? The ending depended on how good/bad you had acted through-out the game and it showed a bit about what happened to the characters and world afterwards, again based on how you had interacted with them.
Neat stuff.
October 27th, 2005 at 11:10 am
A blush at mentioning this but the original Jedi Knight game (well, Dark Forces 2 as it were) gave you multiple endings and even different boss enemies to face depending on your actions and choices. It was very simplistic but you could veer towards light/dark depending on your choice of powers and (allegedly) whether you randomly slaughtered all the civilians. But the final choice was made about 2/3 of the way through the game.
I found with DX:IW that the faction reactions was poorly implemented. Even if you slaughtered half of a particular faction, they’d still deal with you and accept you as one of their own in a later level. Nowhere near as good as the original.
October 27th, 2005 at 8:23 pm
Never did play much of either Fallout, much to my shame. :) I tried the second one but just couldn’t get into the turn based combat and weird map system mostly.
I also still need to finish Jedi Knight 2 - great game but I lost my save 2/3 through and never went back.
As for DX:IW… I personally rate it higher than most based on one simple detail - you can complete the whole thing without shooting a single person, without even being seen once by an enemy. I love that kind of freedom, however broken the rest of the ideas were. :)