Summary
Not all developers are willing to include a dark ending in the final moments of their games. After all, it can be a big risk to end on such a sour note after the player pours hours of their time into reaching the final level. However, when done correctly, these types of finales can be very impactful and memorable, as has been shown with numerous Ubisoft games. Though Ubisoft’s titles are most well-known for their fun and addictive gameplay, they also often feature rich storylines that contain a myriad of twists and turns and, in some cases, a pretty harrowing ending that sticks with the player long after they’ve finished.
A lot ofUbisoft’sgames that feature multiple endings contain ones that are a bit more disturbing than the others, but they’ve also had a few titles that include canon endings, which are also quite dark in how they play out. Either way, these are the endings from Ubisoft games that shook players to their core upon first seeing them because of how unexpected and dark they ended up being.
Assassin’s Creed Rogueis a unique game in this beloved series as, for the first time, it allows players to experience the world through the eyes of a Templar. The Templars have always been portrayed as an evil group of individuals in the mainline games, butRoguedoes an excellent job of showcasing how, at times, theAssassins themselves can be just as bad. This is somethingthe protagonist, Shay, realizes about halfway through the game after witnessing how many lives the group was willing to throw away just to get their hands on an ancient artifact.
Join the Templars or die!
At the end ofAssassin’s Creed Rogue, when the player re-awakens into the modern world after being in the Animus, they are approached by a few shady individuals who have a proposition. One of these characters,Berg, is asenior Templarwho tells the player that what they’ve witnessed is just the beginning, and after pulling out a handgun, he gives them a choice: join the Templars or die. Because thescreen fades to black, there’sno indication as to the protagonist’s fate, but it’s still a very unexpected and creepy ending nonetheless.
There are three possible endings players can achieveinSplinter Cell: Double Agent,depending on whether Sam manages to successfully complete specific objectives in the story. If players fail the Hisham and Lambert missions while also keeping the NSA at above 33%, they will receive themiddle ending, which sees Sam being arrested and charged with murder, along with beinglabeled a terrorist. Even though hepleads “Not guilty,“this doesn’t do much to persuade the opinion of the judge in his trial, with the legendary soldier being made out to be some sort of dangerous criminal.
Sam will likely never be able to escape the law, despite his heroic efforts in the story!
The reason this ending is so depressing is the fact Sam goes above and beyond in the story to intercept the real terrorists who were setting up their plans of global destruction behind the scenes. Thankfully, he does end upescaping his prison cell, but even then, he’s still on the run and will likely never be able to escape the law, despite his heroic efforts in the story.
El Suenoplays the role of the main villaininGhost Recon Wildlands, with the Ghost unit being tasked with hunting him down for the entire game and dismantling his influential drug cartel in the process. The game paints El Sueno as a nasty piece of work, and a man who’s more thanwilling to manipulate and abuse those around himto get what he wants. It’s, therefore, all so satisfying to finally bring him to justice at the end of the game.
El Sueno gets free of all charges, and his horrific crimes are largely ignored.
Once El Sueno is finally captured, though, he reveals he’s willingly given up the names of his rival cartels in exchange for full immunity, meaning he’s free of all charges and his horrific crimes are largely ignored. It’s even implied thatEl Sueno himself will start a brand-new cartelat some point in the future once he escapes, restarting the cycle all over again, and making it seem like thisgrand escapadewas a tiny part of a much bigger problem.
While players take the fight to Pagan Min throughout the story ofFar Cry 4, they must also decide who they want to rule the country oncethe evil dictatorhas been taken down for good. The two options are eitherSabal, a traditionalist who seeks to restore Kyrat to its former glory before Pagan took control, andAmita, who has big dreams ofmodernizing the country through any means necessary. If players decided to follow Sabal, it would result in Kyrat becoming a fundamentalist nation which does have its fair share of problems, but Sabal at least made it clear at several points that this was what he had intended, something which can’t be said for Amita.
Amita’s ambitious goals of modernizing Kyrat end up making it a pretty horrible place to live.
Amita keeps her cards close to her chestfor most of the game, and as a result, her ambitious goals of modernizing Kyrat end up making it a pretty horrible place to live if she takes control by the end of the game. Not only is Kyrat turned into anauthoritarian drug statewhere the villagers are forced to work in the drug fields to stabilize the country’s economy and wealth, but children are also forced into conscription, where they are taught to become deadly soldiers. It admittedly can be argued which of the two endings is worse, but many players expected Amita’s to be a little more hopeful than it is, considering how kindhearted she seems for much of the game.
Though the Ezio trilogy of games focuses on the plucky young Assassin himself, there’s also another character who players get to learn more about as the games go on, Desmond. With Ezio being one of his great ancestors,Desmondused the Animus tore-live Ezio’s memoriesto uncoverthe Apple of Eden, which is said to hold the secrets to defeating the Templars. He’s not alone in this mission, though, as Desmond also hasShaun, Rebecca, and Lucyhelping him out. With the three building such a strong relationship, it, therefore, comes as a huge shock when they areforced to betray one another in the end.
Juno forces Desmond to stab his friend in the chest with his Hidden Blade.
Just as Demond is about to lay his hand on the Apple of Eden, time suddenly freezes around him and a mysterious being only known asJunoemerges, who beginscontrolling Desmond’s movements. After revealing Lucy was not who she was claiming to be,Juno forces Desmond to stab his friendin the chest with hisHidden Blade, resulting in both of them falling to the floor and Desmond ending up in a coma after realizing what he had just done.
Joseph Seed initially comes off as nothing more than aviolent madmanwho uses his status as a “Prophet” purely to gain influence and power, but it turns out there is at least some element of truth to what he’s saying. As players venture across the ever-expansive Hope County inFar Cry 5, capturing outposts and defeating Joseph’s subordinates as they go, there are subtle hints that the world is spiraling into chaosas countries gear up for a nuclear war.
With the land now decimated and everyone killed in the explosion, Joseph promises that the protagonist will be a part of his new family!
It can be easy to miss out on these small and subtle references, but once players comeface to face with Josephat the end of their journey, it’s revealed this is actually true. With anuclear blastgoing off in the distance, the deputy and his allies, along with a tied-up Joseph, try to escape the radius of the explosion in a car. However, after they crash, which kills nearly everyone inside,Joseph drags the player’s body to a nearby bunker. With the land now decimated and everyone killed in the explosion, Joseph promises that theprotagonist will be a part of his new family, resulting in ahorrifying endingthat no one could have ever seen coming.
