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The 9 best plot twists in PC gamesFlipping the script
Flipping the script
Hello, it’s the list goblin. Every month I bring fun lists to share. My hideous goblin features and desperate hunger for SEO crumbs hide a generous heart. People don’t expect kindness from a creature such as I. But life is full of twists, and so are video games.
Remember whenBioShockpulled the rug from beneath you so hard you cracked your head on the wet tiles? Remember when the dragon scales fell from your eyes during The Elder Scrolls:Skyrim? Here’s the 10 best plot twists in PC games. (I’ve limited it to games that are at least a couple of years old, still, don’t be sad if you read spoilers.)
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The assassin’s error - The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Would You Kindly - BioShock
BioShock’s late-game turnaround is fondly remembered, and results in the most violent golf minigame in FPS history. It turns out Atlas, the family man with the nice brogue who has been guiding you through the game as a classic radio voiceover, is actually elusive baddie Fontaine. And he’s been commanding your every move with the control phrase “would you kindly”. I still don’t know how 2K managed to hypnotise every player back in 2007. Player manipulation has evolved a lot since then. But it was impressive technology for the time.
The truth of war - Spec Ops: The Line
Jester - Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
It’s not your house! - Gone Home
Some of us know the intense embarrassment of spacing out on the walk home, and realising as you struggle to fit your key in the lock (why won’t it go in?) that actually, oh no, this is not your front door. Hold onto that cringing feeling for a moment.Gone Homeis a game about coming home to suburbia after a long time away. But the house is empty. As you flip through your old belongings, knock over canisters of ‘Ape Rule Fuel’ in the garage, and look lovingly over photos of your family, you begin to have certain doubts. Was your father always moustached? Did they renovate the kitchen? It all comes to a head when you reach the loft and realise, hang on. This isn’t your creepy multimillion-dollar manor! Your mansion has corpses in the attic! How mortifying. You’d better leave.
The real killer - Return of the Obra Dinn
Image credit:3909
Scurvy. Plain old scurvy finished off the whole crew, who’d have thought it? The sailors just didn’t have enough lemons. Excellent twist.
A seasonal reveal - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Image credit:Microsoft
You are an orc - Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor
This was such a shock. You were an orc all along. It explains why you could be such good friends with them all. Still, you know what they say: “better an orc than a… goblin”. A goblin…. Hm. Goblin. Lists. Something isn’t… something isn’t right here…
The goblin’s true identity - Rock Paper Shotgun
April 1st.
It was all a lie. You hear the distant laughter of a goblin, long gone now, impossible to trace. Not the creature of lists you know and cherish. But another monstrosity altogether, that foul thing, lord of the shitpost. This is not the work of the List Goblin. This was…
The Twist Goblin.
One Off The List from… the small NPCs who became big
Last time we gathered up9 minor NPCs who became major characters. But one of them veered too far out of their lane. It’s…Dr Kleiner from Half-Life 2.
“I’d say Kleiner should be removed,” says digital human purger ‘Saravis’ with cold logic. “While the roles of Eli and Barney become more significant to the story, Kleiner’s is pretty much the same from the first game. He’s still just a side character that you cross paths with, he opens some doors and tells you to go someplace.”
Release the man-hacks. Judgement has been passed. I will see you all next time, goblin fans. I promise to be sensible.
