It's rare that a videogame has a good ending; even the great ones are tainted a little when there's no more game left to play. But some games have far, far more anti-climactic and all-round garbage conclusions, and with the aid of our trusty notepads we've managed to put a red star next to a few of them.
So in no particular order, these are the games that left us frowning with our joypads, mice and keyboards... (spoilers ahead!)
Fable You can call many areas of Lionhead's much-hyped Xbox RPG anti-climactic, but the ending really is the most rushed and foul-smelling part of all. After one of the easiest final bosses in gaming history, you're awarded the most intimidating and powerful sword in the game. Once you've finished everything. Brilliant.
Perfect Dark Delving a bit further into the past, Rare's first N64 Perfect Dark provided the perfect (chuckle) example for why you shouldn't stick hording alien badguys into a realistic FPS. The latter missions reeked more of Quake than Goldeneye, with random-blasting plasma guns, cookie-cutter corridors and enemies that provided wholey-uninteresting gun fights - and the last boss was no way near as good as Sean Bean.
Medal of Honor: Allied Assault Arguably the best Medal of Honor game to date, a hectic last level building up to what we expected to be an explosive climax with flags, a parade and the lot - and all we get is some bloke shouting on a train and the credits. There are no words.
Shenmue 2 We could give plenty of reasons why Shenmue 2's conclusion left a bitter taste in our mouths - not least because it's been five years and we're still waiting for the next game to turn up - but what bothers us the most is that Sega spent tens of millions creating one of the most realistic and interactive game worlds ever, and then the second game ends with a magic bloody floating sword.
Metal Gear Solid 2 So Raiden got naked and then it was all downhill from there; a plot that requires four science degrees and a Clockwork Orange-style eye device to figure out, Doctor Octopus' Kojima cousin and a cheesy "love the world" message. At least there were no penguins in this one.
Halo 2 This one's so obvious it probably shouldn't even be here. After the fantastic Warthog escape finale of the first game, it's a crime that for the sequel we have to make do with a monkey with a hammer and one the most teasing and anti-climatic cut-scenes ever made - made even worse by the teasing E3 gameplay footage of epic Earth covenant battles.
Knights of the Old Republic II Rather than a plain bad finish, Knights of the Old Republic II's ending is missing entirely. It's a jumbled mess of rushed end-tying and evil mentor-rucking with no relation to the previous game whatsoever.
Super Mario Bros. We know we'll have crowds of Nintendo fanboys hurling stones at our offices (which AREN'T in Baker Street) for this but, after jumping our way through eight worlds of hardcore, turtle-stomping madness and FINALLY saving the Princess' royal arse from Bowser, we didn't much appreciate her simply telling us to do it ALL OVER AGAIN. "Thank you Mario! Your quest is over. We present you a new quest. Push button B to select a world." Cow.
Agree/disagree with any of our selections? Let us know in the comments section below.
