Highlights
- Dark endings in games can be risky but impactful, like in Assassin's Creed Rogue, Splinter Cell: Double Agent, and Ghost Recon Wildlands.
- Players are faced with tough choices and unexpected consequences in Ubisoft games like Far Cry 4 and Assassin's Creed Brotherhood.
- Joseph's apocalyptic visions lead to a chilling end in Far Cry 5, showing that not all game endings are happy.
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.
8 Darkest Endings In The Metal Gear Games, Ranked
The Metal Gear series often has dark endings, showcasing that no matter the Snake, it's just hard for them to get the happy ending they deserve.
A lot of Ubisoft's games 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.
This article contains major spoilers for some popular Ubisoft titles!
6 Assassin's Creed Rogue
Players Are Forced To Join The Templars Or Meet Their Fate
Assassin's Creed Rogue is 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, but Rogue does an excellent job of showcasing how, at times, the Assassins themselves can be just as bad. This is something the 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 of Assassin'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 a senior Templar who 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 the screen fades to black, there's no indication as to the protagonist's fate, but it's still a very unexpected and creepy ending nonetheless.
5 Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent
Despite His Heroic Efforts, Sam Is Labeled A Dangerous Criminal
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent
- Platform(s)
- GameCube , PC , PS2 , PS3 , Wii , Xbox (Original) , Xbox One , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S
- Released
- October 17, 2006
- Developer(s)
- Ubisoft Shanghai , Ubisoft Montreal , Ubisoft Annecy , Ubisoft Milan
- Genre(s)
- Stealth
There are three possible endings players can achieve in Splinter 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 the middle ending, which sees Sam being arrested and charged with murder, along with being labeled a terrorist. Even though he pleads "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.
Splinter Cell Games Tier List
The Splinter Cell franchise has changed a lot throughout the years, but some of the earliest efforts still emphasize the series at its best.
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 up escaping 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.
4 Ghost Recon Wildlands
El Sueno Uses His Power And Influence To Avoid Paying For Any Of His Sins
El Sueno plays the role of the main villain in Ghost 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 than willing to manipulate and abuse those around him to 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 that El Sueno himself will start a brand-new cartel at some point in the future once he escapes, restarting the cycle all over again, and making it seem like this grand escapade was a tiny part of a much bigger problem.
3 Far Cry 4 (Amita Ending)
Leaving Kyrat In The Hands Of Amita Might Not Have Been A Great Idea After All
While players take the fight to Pagan Min throughout the story of Far Cry 4, they must also decide who they want to rule the country once the evil dictator has been taken down for good. The two options are either Sabal, a traditionalist who seeks to restore Kyrat to its former glory before Pagan took control, and Amita, who has big dreams of modernizing 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.
Far Cry Setting Tier List
The Far Cry franchise has explored a huge range of settings over the years, with some clearly suiting the IP's themes much more than others.
Amita's ambitious goals of modernizing Kyrat end up making it a pretty horrible place to live.
Amita keeps her cards close to her chest for 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 an authoritarian drug state where 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.
2 Assassin's Creed Brotherhood
Desmond Is Forced To Kill One Of His Closest Friends Without Having A Say In The Matter
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, Desmond used the Animus to re-live Ezio's memories to uncover the 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 has Shaun, Rebecca, and Lucy helping him out. With the three building such a strong relationship, it, therefore, comes as a huge shock when they are forced 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 as Juno emerges, who begins controlling Desmond's movements. After revealing Lucy was not who she was claiming to be, Juno forces Desmond to stab his friend in the chest with his Hidden Blade, resulting in both of them falling to the floor and Desmond ending up in a coma after realizing what he had just done.
1 Far Cry 5
Joseph's Predictions About Doomsday And The Apocalypse Become A Horrifying Reality
Far Cry 5
- Released
- March 27, 2018
- Developer(s)
- Ubisoft Montreal , Ubisoft Toronto
- Genre(s)
- FPS , Open-World
Joseph Seed initially comes off as nothing more than a violent madman who 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 in Far Cry 5, capturing outposts and defeating Joseph's subordinates as they go, there are subtle hints that the world is spiraling into chaos as 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 come face to face with Joseph at the end of their journey, it's revealed this is actually true. With a nuclear blast going 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 the protagonist will be a part of his new family, resulting in a horrifying ending that no one could have ever seen coming.
6 Darkest Endings In Survival Horror Games, Ranked
Most survival horror games end on somewhat of a high note to reward the player for their efforts, but these games are the exceptions.
