Xbox burst onto the gaming scene with a steady flow of great video games for everyone to enjoy. Just recently, Xbox acquired Bethesda, detailing their plans for longevity and a long list of plans for exclusives and story-based content. The future of Xbox is bright, but since story games are in the works, it’s no surprise that many of those may include some plot twists.
Video games are no strangers to plot twists. It’s a great narrative form that many fictional pieces can enjoy. From TV to film, books, and video games. It advances the plot and helps audiences to realize things they wouldn’t have before. Xbox has done this more than a few times with some of its great titles.
9 Jorge-052’s Sacrifice – Halo: Reach
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The brave and valiant Noble Team undertook the mission to protect and save Reach. Halo: Reach was somehow a more personal story than Master Chief's. It involved a story of war, friendships, and the ultimate sacrifice. Jorge-052 entrusted Noble Six with his dog tags, before forcing him off of the Covenant Corvette.
Jorge activates the bomb to open a slipspace rupture, to send the enemies into a slipstream with no way out. The success cost Jorge his life, and he died believing he had saved Reach. Sadly, it was all for nothing, as soon after, a Covenant fleet arrived and made Reach succumb to a merciless attack, with the other members of the Noble Team falling.
8 Raiden Is The Protagonist – Metal Gear Solid 2
As fans of the Metal GearSolid franchise eagerly awaited the release of Metal GearSolid2: Sons of Liberty, they were ecstatic to be reunited with Solid Snake. The introduction of Snake has him leap from a bridge, and onto a military vessel to discover the secrets of a new Metal Gear. Only, this mission is the only time players will become Solid Snake in the game.
The protagonist of MGS 2 is revealed to be Raiden, a new operative of FOXHOUND, who acted as an inexperienced agent with virtual reality training guiding him. Raiden soon became a fan-favorite character for the series, and even starred in his spin-off, Metal GearRising: Revengeance, but many saw his inclusion in MGS 2 as a plot twist.
7 Isabela Caused The Outbreak – Dead Rising 3
Isabela was a character introduced in Dead Rising and later returned to Dead Rising 3. She is somewhat of an antagonist in the first game, as she helps her brother infect the population of Willamette, but soon helps Frank to stop him.
In Dead Rising 3, she is searching for the protagonist, Nick Ramos. Nick is naturally immune to the zombie infection, and his wounds would heal, rather than manifest into something darker. During Ending S, it is revealed that Isabela worked to create the outbreak in Los Perdidos, the location of Dead Rising 3. This was done to find Nick, and create a cure, thus, clearing her family’s name. Despite creating a vaccine for the zombie outbreak, it is Isabela’s fault that both Williamette and Los Perdidos fell to a zombie horde.
6 Tartarus’ Betrayal – Halo 2
A chieftain of the Jiralhanae, Tartarus served loyally to the Covenant in Halo2. During the Quarantine Zone mission, Tartarus continues to assist the Arbiter for the Hierarchs. Once Tartarus receives what he wants, he sentences the Arbiter to death, and brags to him about the incompetence of the Arbiter’s race, before shooting him down to a pit.
This chapter was a turning point in Halo2’s narrative, as both the Arbiter and his race had now lost their allegiance to the Covenant, as this attack was not only orchestrated by Tartarus, but by the Hierarchs themselves. This character became the central antagonist and final boss of the game and led the entire Covenant military to purge the Sangheili race in the civil war that had begun.
5 Rash – Killer Instinct
Fighting games are in a league of their own, especially when it comes to guest character representation. Games like Mortal Kombat have always been inclusive of other characters, like Kratos appearing exclusively in PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita versions of Mortal Kombat (2011). This hasn’t stopped games like Injustice 2 from including Hellboy, and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
A major twist came from Xbox’s very own fighting game franchise, Killer Instinct. Season 3 of the game revealed Rash as a guest character, one of the acclaimed Battletoads created by Rareware, the developers of the original Killer Instinct. It was a fun twist in a fighting game to see a gaming character like Rash appear, with a new and realistic look.
4 Shaun Is The Father – Fallout 4
The player-created protagonist of Fallout 4 wakes in a new America, one recovering slowly from a nuclear holocaust. cannot waste any time in mourning the loss of their partner, as Shaun has been taken.
The Sole Survivor of Vault 111 is desperate to find The Institute, and find their baby, Shaun. When they finally do, they find that the elderly man that is dying is their son. Shaun is an old man and in charge of the Institute, a technologically advanced group that creates synthetic humans. It’s a plot twist that makes the player feel hopeless, as their hunt to save their baby is for nothing.
3 Marcus And Dom Find Maria – Gears Of War 2
Maria Santiago was the wife of Corporal Dominic Santiago. After the event that was known as Emergence Day, Maria and Dom’s children were killed, along with Maria’s parents. Maria soon found herself in a spiraled depression that led to her departure from Dom. After 12 long years, Dom finally found his wife in Gears of War 2.
It was a tragic reunion, as Maria was found in a Locust prison camp. She had been tortured, and used by the Locusts to the point where she was almost unrecognizable, and tragically, in a vegetative state. Dom had to say goodbye to the woman he loved and euthanized her to end her suffering. He never recovered from this tragedy and would reunite with Maria after his sacrifice in Gears of War 3.
2 Darth Revan’s True Identity – KOTOR
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic features a story in the Star Wars universe set almost 4,000 years before Luke Skywalker blew up the Death Star in 1977’s Star Wars. The game takes place after the conflict of a Jedi Civil War, led by Darth Revan and Darth Malak. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic features flashbacks that allude to Revan’s fate.
The player protagonist is confused throughout the game and doesn’t have many memories. They are assisted by a Republic soldier, Carth Onasi, and a Jedi, Bastila Shan. The protagonist is strong in the Force and receives training. It is later revealed to the player that they are none other than the Sith Lord, Darth Revan himself, it’s a great and daring plot twist.
1 The Flood – Halo: Combat Evolved
When Bungie Studios came out with the revolutionary first-person sci-fi shooter, Halo: Combat Evolved, none could expect the twists that the game took. Players became Master Chief, the Spartan soldier involved in a great war with the Covenant. After the Fall of Reach, Chief stumbles upon the Forerunner Halo Installation. This gigantic ring could hold the key to ending the fight with the Covenant once and for all.
As it turns out, the halo installation wasn’t a deterrent, but a weapon. The ring housed The Flood, a deadly and parasitic species that assimilate anything it comes into contact with. The game takes a horror turn and becomes a fight for survival. To add fuel to the fire, Chief and Cortana discover a halo ring can wipe out all sentient life in the galaxy, raising the stakes even more so than just getting off the ring alive.