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Every game, no matter what it's genre has one. An ending, a conclusion, a 20 minute long full motion video movie.
For the most part, gamers play a game to reach the ending. Usually the ending completes the story the gamer has been led through and interacted with all through the game. Even in titles like NHL 2002 and FIFA, the gamer leads their chosen team to that all important winning final. The ending to a game gives a sense of satisfaction and rewards the effort put in by the person who has often sat for hours to reach that point.
But hang on, what kind of an ending do we actually want to see through our bleary "its half past 2 in the morning and I'm half asleep" eyes ?
Metal Gear Solid 2 has an ending that asks more questions that the game itself does. What is reality? Was the mission the player went on all a simulation ? Is Rose real, and most importantly, does it matter if she isn't, if the mission wasn't ? For many this ending was a disaster, but quite a few find it an intriguing puzzle that throws new light on the game itself and encourages replay, and anticipation for the inevitable Metal Gear Solid 3.
Now a trip further back in time....Sonic ! In the days of the Megadrive everyone who had one had Sonic The Hedgehog, and nearly everyone had completed it, despite the six hours required, because "save" was a word only associated with banking in those days. At the end Sonic had defeated Dr Robotnik, saved all the cute furry animals and that was it. Similarly, Super Mario World on the SNES ended with Mario saving Princess Daisy and everyone 'lived happily ever after', at least until the sequel....
Now, straight back to 2002, Ace Combat 4 on the Playstation 2. After a long line of missions the Eurasian super weapon is destroyed by your victorious squadron, but mainly by your aircraft alone. Doing so wins the mythical war that has raged during the game and has saved millions of people - or so the ending tells you. Yet it is easy to feel some satisfaction from this ending because the game successfully built up the feeling of a real war taking place in which you really did make a difference. For instance, in one mission you lead the liberation of an enemy held city and resistance radio messages start coming on over the airwaves, mixed with news reports of the battle. As you approach, hidden in the night, controlling an F117A Stealth Fighter, its hard not to feel some sense of emotion.
So, for an ending to actually be appreciated, the gamer has to have actually felt some sense of emotion towards the storyline, even if that storyline has little to it. The ending of a game is just as important as the beginning of it, more so in many ways.
For the most part, gamers play a game to reach the ending. Usually the ending completes the story the gamer has been led through and interacted with all through the game. Even in titles like NHL 2002 and FIFA, the gamer leads their chosen team to that all important winning final. The ending to a game gives a sense of satisfaction and rewards the effort put in by the person who has often sat for hours to reach that point.
But hang on, what kind of an ending do we actually want to see through our bleary "its half past 2 in the morning and I'm half asleep" eyes ?
Metal Gear Solid 2 has an ending that asks more questions that the game itself does. What is reality? Was the mission the player went on all a simulation ? Is Rose real, and most importantly, does it matter if she isn't, if the mission wasn't ? For many this ending was a disaster, but quite a few find it an intriguing puzzle that throws new light on the game itself and encourages replay, and anticipation for the inevitable Metal Gear Solid 3.
Now a trip further back in time....Sonic ! In the days of the Megadrive everyone who had one had Sonic The Hedgehog, and nearly everyone had completed it, despite the six hours required, because "save" was a word only associated with banking in those days. At the end Sonic had defeated Dr Robotnik, saved all the cute furry animals and that was it. Similarly, Super Mario World on the SNES ended with Mario saving Princess Daisy and everyone 'lived happily ever after', at least until the sequel....
Now, straight back to 2002, Ace Combat 4 on the Playstation 2. After a long line of missions the Eurasian super weapon is destroyed by your victorious squadron, but mainly by your aircraft alone. Doing so wins the mythical war that has raged during the game and has saved millions of people - or so the ending tells you. Yet it is easy to feel some satisfaction from this ending because the game successfully built up the feeling of a real war taking place in which you really did make a difference. For instance, in one mission you lead the liberation of an enemy held city and resistance radio messages start coming on over the airwaves, mixed with news reports of the battle. As you approach, hidden in the night, controlling an F117A Stealth Fighter, its hard not to feel some sense of emotion.
So, for an ending to actually be appreciated, the gamer has to have actually felt some sense of emotion towards the storyline, even if that storyline has little to it. The ending of a game is just as important as the beginning of it, more so in many ways.
A 20 minute ending ? If only ! Of course certain games like MGS2 have that, but Fifa games and 20 minute endings far from go together in the same sentance.
I hate the dire endings that last like 30 seconds after you've spent hours of time playing through it. Football games tend to be the worst when it comes to endings. You'll claw your way to the top of the league and win it and what do you get ? A couple of players running round and maybe a team photo moment. Even the commentator sounds really uninterested. I've lost count of the amount of times I've won the World Cup with England only to hear "so....England have won the world cup......hope you enjoyed the match.....see you next time."
Wooooooooooow, so exciting ! Such atmosphere !!! My god the passion is just oozing outta that comment !!!!
Games like Desert Strike didn't particularly make me feel rewarded either. After ages of frustration and playing for ages, I finished the game. I was rewarded with ::drum rolls:: a scene of the President with his hand on my shoulder shaking me and the dog next to my legs waged its tail. After that the credits rolled, although not as much as my eyes and the cartridge soon after.
The most recent game to "reward" me this much was Twisted Metal Black on PS2. Basically as many others know, it was censored to hell and not only did this cut game scenes out, but also all the endings. Everytime you completed it with a character, you were rewarded with them driving up the road and the credits. That really got my back up because to censor it is one thing, to have the cheek to still slap a £40 price tag on a game that ended up looking incomplete just really rubbed salt in the wound.
Of course the main things with games is how they play and not the endings. But at the same time you want a purpose to the game. Something that rewards you for your time.
MGS2 might have been long winded, but at least it showed thought. I'd rather have a long ending than a crappy 30 second one or worse still nothing but the credits.
I hate the dire endings that last like 30 seconds after you've spent hours of time playing through it. Football games tend to be the worst when it comes to endings. You'll claw your way to the top of the league and win it and what do you get ? A couple of players running round and maybe a team photo moment. Even the commentator sounds really uninterested. I've lost count of the amount of times I've won the World Cup with England only to hear "so....England have won the world cup......hope you enjoyed the match.....see you next time."
Wooooooooooow, so exciting ! Such atmosphere !!! My god the passion is just oozing outta that comment !!!!
Games like Desert Strike didn't particularly make me feel rewarded either. After ages of frustration and playing for ages, I finished the game. I was rewarded with ::drum rolls:: a scene of the President with his hand on my shoulder shaking me and the dog next to my legs waged its tail. After that the credits rolled, although not as much as my eyes and the cartridge soon after.
The most recent game to "reward" me this much was Twisted Metal Black on PS2. Basically as many others know, it was censored to hell and not only did this cut game scenes out, but also all the endings. Everytime you completed it with a character, you were rewarded with them driving up the road and the credits. That really got my back up because to censor it is one thing, to have the cheek to still slap a £40 price tag on a game that ended up looking incomplete just really rubbed salt in the wound.
Of course the main things with games is how they play and not the endings. But at the same time you want a purpose to the game. Something that rewards you for your time.
MGS2 might have been long winded, but at least it showed thought. I'd rather have a long ending than a crappy 30 second one or worse still nothing but the credits.
Every game, no matter what it's genre has one. An ending, a conclusion, a 20 minute long full motion video movie.
For the most part, gamers play a game to reach the ending. Usually the ending completes the story the gamer has been led through and interacted with all through the game. Even in titles like NHL 2002 and FIFA, the gamer leads their chosen team to that all important winning final. The ending to a game gives a sense of satisfaction and rewards the effort put in by the person who has often sat for hours to reach that point.
But hang on, what kind of an ending do we actually want to see through our bleary "its half past 2 in the morning and I'm half asleep" eyes ?
Metal Gear Solid 2 has an ending that asks more questions that the game itself does. What is reality? Was the mission the player went on all a simulation ? Is Rose real, and most importantly, does it matter if she isn't, if the mission wasn't ? For many this ending was a disaster, but quite a few find it an intriguing puzzle that throws new light on the game itself and encourages replay, and anticipation for the inevitable Metal Gear Solid 3.
Now a trip further back in time....Sonic ! In the days of the Megadrive everyone who had one had Sonic The Hedgehog, and nearly everyone had completed it, despite the six hours required, because "save" was a word only associated with banking in those days. At the end Sonic had defeated Dr Robotnik, saved all the cute furry animals and that was it. Similarly, Super Mario World on the SNES ended with Mario saving Princess Daisy and everyone 'lived happily ever after', at least until the sequel....
Now, straight back to 2002, Ace Combat 4 on the Playstation 2. After a long line of missions the Eurasian super weapon is destroyed by your victorious squadron, but mainly by your aircraft alone. Doing so wins the mythical war that has raged during the game and has saved millions of people - or so the ending tells you. Yet it is easy to feel some satisfaction from this ending because the game successfully built up the feeling of a real war taking place in which you really did make a difference. For instance, in one mission you lead the liberation of an enemy held city and resistance radio messages start coming on over the airwaves, mixed with news reports of the battle. As you approach, hidden in the night, controlling an F117A Stealth Fighter, its hard not to feel some sense of emotion.
So, for an ending to actually be appreciated, the gamer has to have actually felt some sense of emotion towards the storyline, even if that storyline has little to it. The ending of a game is just as important as the beginning of it, more so in many ways.
For the most part, gamers play a game to reach the ending. Usually the ending completes the story the gamer has been led through and interacted with all through the game. Even in titles like NHL 2002 and FIFA, the gamer leads their chosen team to that all important winning final. The ending to a game gives a sense of satisfaction and rewards the effort put in by the person who has often sat for hours to reach that point.
But hang on, what kind of an ending do we actually want to see through our bleary "its half past 2 in the morning and I'm half asleep" eyes ?
Metal Gear Solid 2 has an ending that asks more questions that the game itself does. What is reality? Was the mission the player went on all a simulation ? Is Rose real, and most importantly, does it matter if she isn't, if the mission wasn't ? For many this ending was a disaster, but quite a few find it an intriguing puzzle that throws new light on the game itself and encourages replay, and anticipation for the inevitable Metal Gear Solid 3.
Now a trip further back in time....Sonic ! In the days of the Megadrive everyone who had one had Sonic The Hedgehog, and nearly everyone had completed it, despite the six hours required, because "save" was a word only associated with banking in those days. At the end Sonic had defeated Dr Robotnik, saved all the cute furry animals and that was it. Similarly, Super Mario World on the SNES ended with Mario saving Princess Daisy and everyone 'lived happily ever after', at least until the sequel....
Now, straight back to 2002, Ace Combat 4 on the Playstation 2. After a long line of missions the Eurasian super weapon is destroyed by your victorious squadron, but mainly by your aircraft alone. Doing so wins the mythical war that has raged during the game and has saved millions of people - or so the ending tells you. Yet it is easy to feel some satisfaction from this ending because the game successfully built up the feeling of a real war taking place in which you really did make a difference. For instance, in one mission you lead the liberation of an enemy held city and resistance radio messages start coming on over the airwaves, mixed with news reports of the battle. As you approach, hidden in the night, controlling an F117A Stealth Fighter, its hard not to feel some sense of emotion.
So, for an ending to actually be appreciated, the gamer has to have actually felt some sense of emotion towards the storyline, even if that storyline has little to it. The ending of a game is just as important as the beginning of it, more so in many ways.