How It Ended: The Definition of Denouement

Written by: Adam "ManKorn" Korenman, CC2K Video Games Editor

Take the Halo series. The first game ends with a pretty satsfying conclusion. There’s no epic boss fight, as the Covenant haven’t deployed some yet unseen foe, but rather a race against the clock to escape certain doom. Master Chief races his Warthog through a sea of monstrous Flood, always aware of the ticking clock that will seal the epic ring world’s doom. In the sequel, the developers cranked up the action to 11 and didn’t look back. It remains one of the most satisfying games to play–alone or with friends–and would be considered one of the best ever if the ending wasn’t such a steaming pile of disappointment.

After a long and difficult journey, Master Chief finds himself back at Earth, hovering over a space battle that just beckons the player. It seems as if this is it, the ultimate moment has finally arrived. You are going to face down the antagonist and save humanity. Cortana, the creepily hot AI companion, asks Chief what he plans to do. 

“Finish the fight.”

F@#! YES we will. You’re sitting their, controller in hand, ready to bring another dimension of pain to the alien invaders, and then it all ends. To be continued.

It was a huge middle finger to the gaming community. Video games cost consumers a pretty tidy some of money, considering they resell for $1 at GameStop. 

Of course, 343 Interactive came back with a fairly solid Halo 3, even if the ending was pretty much just a rehash of the first game. But the damage had been done.