Racking my brains, I think Halo 2 is definitely the most prominent offender. Most games at least close out their story and leave room for a sequel. Halo 2 just wasn't... Done. It was like the Pirates of the Caribbean 2 of games.
I really can't think of other games with badd cliffhangers or hell, with a cliffhanger at all.
The most recent game that fits somewhat closely I can think of is Gears of War 2? I mean, it ended the story but so many story elements like New Hope and the Sires were left answered
That's probably a shit answer but I can't think of much else.
Hal.. Well I though the Halo 2 ending was good as it helped build up for Halo 3. I 100% expected a trilogy when Bungie made Halo 2, the initial playing time made it more obvious. I guess people wanted bangtastic mother f-ing destruction where it ends there. Sometimes I believe some people who didn't really like the ending are just saying it because someone else said before they finished the games themselves to really have personal judgement.
Better decision in the long run especially with ODST's case.
I vote for Assassins Creed. It's been on the record a number of times that Halo 2's ending was originally not planned to end like that because it was not finished.
In an interview with Edge magazine in January 2007, Jamie Griesemer, one of Halo's design leads, said that the main reason for Halo 2's shortcomings was a lack of "polish" period near the end of the development cycle. Staff member Frank O’Connor admitted the cliffhanger ending was abrupt, noting “we drove off ' Thelma & Louise' style". Nonetheless, in the interview Griesemer promised that they would make Halo 3 a more than worthy successor.
Halo 2 of course. Not so much of a cliffhanger but the first Grandia simply because the story gets wrapped up, you beat the final boss, you wanna' see more and it just ends!
But by far the worst/biggest cliffhanger has to be Shenmue II, it is one of my favourite ever video games and it sucks so much because you spend the entire time of disc 4 (the Dreamcast version) running around a forest and then it ends, setting up the third game. However since you already know while playing endless hours of Shenmue that there isn't going to be a third game, it hurts that little bit more!
Oh and Gears and Gears 2, the bullshit stuff tacked on after the credit.
I can see that Gears wanted to go for a Metal Gear Solid style ending but where in MGS you think "I want more, that was cool", in Gears you just want to know what the fuck Adam Fenix's problem is.
Any game that leaves on the promise of a sequel, without the chance that will actually happen. Halo 2's was abrupt, and a bad way to end the game, but it was Halo, and had at least earned the right to expect us to buy another game to see more of the story anyway. But we have things like Too Human and Beyond Good and Evil were the developers were arrogant enough to leave the story half finished, expecting their games to be a huge sucess. Even Mass Effect, which was made by Bioware and always planned to be a trilogy, had the common courtesy to have a proper ending.
I'm sure there are more prominant examples, but it's too early in the morning for me to think of them.
The most recent prince of persia had a stupid cliffhanger. Honestly ubisoft, walking off into the sunset whilst a dark malevolent god erupts from his prison behind you to begin taking over the world is NOT an ending!
" The most recent prince of persia had a stupid cliffhanger. Honestly ubisoft, walking off into the sunset whilst a dark malevolent god erupts from his prison behind you to begin taking over the world is NOT an ending! "
They did that so you would buy the Epilogue.
I wonder if they'll make more expansions or if they'll get to work on PoP2
Its ending is very anti-climactic. Basically you get shot by the bad guy, go through a weird dream sequence that feels like it's trying to be symbolic, and then go up to the bad guy and hold A, then shoot him once. I am not joking. However, there really isn't much of a cliffhanger element to it, as far as I can remember.
Assassins creed. Halo 2 was bad but it really wasnt as poorly presented as Assassins creed. "What does this all mean?!" the end, at least halo 2 was a good game, Assassins creed was repetitive throughout and the ending was just terrible.
You know, I think there's something wrong with me. I think the Halo 2 ending is really cool!! I seem to be the only person on the planet Earth to think this.
I echo ZoomyRamen with Assassin's Creed. What the hell was all that about?
I can agree with Assassin's Creed as well just because there is no proper closure. Feels like solitary confinement. Although it leads to the obviousness of the sequel, it should have stopped after the credits as opposed to making the game incoherently continue.
I'd say Final Fantasy VII, but that was actually a really good cliffhanger. For a bad cliffhanger, please see Fire Emblem, a game whose ending set itself up for a sequel never released in America.
" I'd say Final Fantasy VII, but that was actually a really good cliffhanger. For a bad cliffhanger, please see Fire Emblem, a game whose ending set itself up for a sequel never released in America. "
Fire Emblem didn't end as a set-up for a sequel. The story was a prequel to the previous game (which, as you rightly state, was never released here). Still, the game can be enjoyed on its own.
I'm aware of all that, but in terms of in-game chronology, Sealed Sword is a sequel. Besides, it'd sound weird to say that it set us up for a prequel that was never released in America.
At the end of Advent Rising, you fight either your brother or your girlfriend (depending on what you did in the one plot choice you were able to make), who had been transformed into a psychic monster by the evil aliens. When you defeat them, their body collapses into what looks like a miniature black hole, and you get sucked in. The last cutscene shows you wandering through a frozen wasteland before passing out, and then an alien you've never seen before finds you, throws a blanket over you, and says something like "You can't die yet, little human. There is still much work to be done."
" But by far the worst/biggest cliffhanger has to be Shenmue II, it is one of my favourite ever video games and it sucks so much because you spend the entire time of disc 4 (the Dreamcast version) running around a forest and then it ends, setting up the third game. However since you already know while playing endless hours of Shenmue that there isn't going to be a third game, it hurts that little bit more! "
Fuck yes! I am sad about that. The sword and the giant mirror's and everything just begs to be concluded. If they're never gonna make a game, how about Yu Suzuki just releasing the script then. I just want some closure dammit!
The ending for the Unreal tournament 3 campaign sucked pretty bad....Cliffhanger....I dont really care about it.....why on earth did I play this, oh god this sucks. Multiplayer is great tho
How about Psi-ops, anyone? Literally ending in "to be continued..." after the guy goes "i remember everything now!!" and they're running away from explosions! Then nope, no sequel ever for ever never!
Its ending is very anti-climactic. Basically you get shot by the bad guy, go through a weird dream sequence that feels like it's trying to be symbolic, and then go up to the bad guy and hold A, then shoot him once. I am not joking. However, there really isn't much of a cliffhanger element to it, as far as I can remember. "
There certainly was a cliffhanger element.
Theresa teleports your 3 companions to the places they wish, and then teleports you out. "And now, hero, it's time for you to leave. You have saved the world, but this tower is mine." or something vaguely along the lines of that quote.
Aww, come on, guys. The Half-Life series has some unbelievable cliffhangers but they are pretty well executed. I would agree with things like Gears and Halo, though, those are less impressive.
I don't think Assassin's Creed's ending can be considered that big of a cliff hangar because if you explore the facility, you can find out what all those markings are.
Half life 2 Episode 2's ending moved me, I thought it was a bit predictable, but that fade to black I thought was the best piece of voice acting I'd ever heard in a game.
F.E.A.R 2's ending on the other hand made me want to eat my controller just so I'd never have to ever see that shit again. Bit of a shame really cos the game wasn't that bad.
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