Guinness: Black Ops Has The Best Videogame Ending Ever

February 13, 2012 - 7:15pm

Guinness World Records has compiled a list of the Top 50 Videogame Endings of All Time as voted for by 13,519 gamers.

"The list will cause heated debate among passionate gamers and provide further evidence of the growing sophistication and popularity of videogames," the Guinness organization said in the press release. In fact, most of the games listed don't have especially impactful endings and - to us - the list feels more like a list of favorite games.

Last year's best-selling videogame, Call of Duty: Black Ops, developed by Treyarch, tops the list.
The dramatic finale features a frantic shoot-out inside a submarine and provides the game's hero Mason the chance to take vengeance for a murdered friend. The closing sequence offers a new twist on the classic JFK conspiracy theory.

Second place in the list is 2010's Halo: Reach developed by Bungie. Another First-Person Shooter, Halo: Reach takes place in the year 2552, with humanity locked in a war with the alien Covenant. During the post credits sequence the player's character, Noble Six, makes a final stand against impossible odds. Although he is eventually overwhelmed, his sacrifice ensures that the 'Master Chief' survives.

Over 13 year's old, Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time takes third place in the list. One of the best loved games of all time ends in classic fashion with the hero Link defeating Ganondorf and rescuing Princess Zelda.

It is interesting to note that no classic adventure games such as Monkey Island, Grim Fandango, Broken Sword and Sam and Max made it to the list. There are also a few games that should be in the list but are not. Off the top our heads we can remember Beyond Good and Evil, Indigo Prophecy and Unreal 2 in addition to the original Fallout and the original Half-Life.

The full list reads as follows:

1. Call of Duty: Black Ops

2. Halo: Reach

3. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

4. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

5. God of War

6. Red Dead Redemption

7. Portal

8. Metal Gear Solid 4

9. Final Fantasy VII

10. Heavy Rain

11. Super Mario Bros.

12. Pokemon Black and White

13. Halo 3

14. Halo: Combat Evolved

15. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

16. Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

17. Portal 2

18. Grand Theft Auto IV

19. Mass Effect 2

20. Super Mario Galaxy 2

21. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

22. Kingdom Hearts

23. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

24. Shadow of the Colossus

25. Assassin's Creed

26. Assassin's Creed II

27. Metal Gear Solid

28. Sonic the Hedgehog

29. Super Mario Galaxy

30. Mass Effect

31. Kingdom Hearts II

32. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

33. Sonic Adventure 2

34. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty

35. BioShock

36. Gears of War 2

37. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

38. Fallout 3

39. inFamous

40. New Super Mario Bros. Wii

41. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

42. Super Metroid

43. Half-Life 2: Episode Two

44. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II

45. Call of Duty: World at War

46. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

47. Crysis 2

48. Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time

49. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

50. Resident Evil 4

Comments

Eh?..

Prince of Persia: Sands of time made a better place on the list than Kingdom Hearts II?!! Okay, it was a great game and all, but the ending was anything but epic... This is just for the ending of the game, right?..

it say right up in the first

it say right up in the first paragraph "In fact, most of the games listed don't have especially impactful endings and - to us - the list feels more like a list of favorite games". Although I do agree with some games like KH 1&2, what the holy hell is super Mario, COD and sonic doing on the list? what about FFX, Darksiders, Castlevennia or Final Fantasy: Tactics?

The list

No disrespect to the author but I've played 43 of those game to completion and a lot of those endings really suck. Number 1 should have been Metal Gear Solid 4 :guns of the patriots that is one ending that is just awesome the whole game is. To be honest most of this list is crap, I do respect that people have personal opinions and the this list is compiled off such opinions but seriously? He needs to play more games.

no spec ops

WHY IS SPEC OPS THE LINE NOT IN THIS. I MEAN IT BASICAFLY STARTED A REVOLUTION IN STORY TELLING IN GAMES AND ITS NOT ON THIS LIST. IF MAKES ME SO F***ING ANGRY.

FF 6

Yeah, I'm sorry but FF VI (FF 3 on SNES) has one of the best game endings of all, loved Super Metroid but FF 6 was still in my opinion one of the best if not the RPG games of all time almost tied with Chrono Trigger.

lol nope

you can't have COD on there several times, the endings (besides WAW) are all the same thing. encounter enemy, close to death, partner distracts enemy creating a quick time event, kill enemy, credits.

wow

alot of games on this list have crappy endings.Like skyrim seriously i didnt even beat skyrims story till i was about lv 50 the story was okay and the ending left no impression at all. You even put pokemon on the list pokemon endings are never anything that special. I will admit i did like the revenge part of the modern warfare 2 ending but the other COD games on the list shoud't be there.

Metal Gear Solid

I know a lot of people have taken issue with this list but I have to throw in my two cents. I'm not a big gamer, but since I got the original Metal Gear Solid demo for my PS1, I've had something bordering on obsession with the franchise. Otherwise I generally stick to stealth-action which I think lends itself well to story-telling. I tend to think about the value/effectiveness/techniques of story-telling a lot and this list depresses me because it does not "provide further evidence of the growing sophistication and popularity of videogames." Instead,it demonstrates that despite gaming being an increasingly popular and socially-acceptable passtime, we as a fanbase are not maturing and not sophisticating. The fact that three games from the MGS franchise make this list and fucking MGS4 is the highest ranking is criminal. Most MGS fans consider MGS1 and MGS3 to be the two best games in the series and I cannot, will not, believe that the blatant and non-sensical retconning of the canon which happened in MGS4 can possibly be better than the endings of any other (canon) games in the series, including the mind-screw ending of Sons of Liberty. MGS2, despite the polarizing reaction from fans, belongs ahead of MGS4 due to the sheer ambition of the game. I mean, Kojima effectively deconstructed his career, the series, the genre, and gaming as a whole with that entry. How many horror movie fans stood up and applauded Joss Whedon for what he did to the genre with Cabin in the Woods? Hideo Kojima did the exact same thing in 2001 with Sons of Liberty, but gamers didn't like it. We felt confused,angry, exploited. This list just indicates to me that we still haven't matured in our tastes since that game was released. That it fundamentally acts as an explanation of meme theory for a superconnected generation and inspired some really good introspection, criticism and philosophical analysis from (some of) its fanbase just makes me love the game all the more. MGS3 was released in 2004 and I still refuse to give spoilers because the last scenes are absolutely heart-wrenching. I would argue, especially if you've played the series in order of release beforehand, paid attention to everything going on, and on that weird gamer level connected with the characters, Snake Eater's ending is an emotional experience comparable to what you'll find in any other art-form. I still listen to "Way to Fall" when I'm feeling down eight years after the game's release. I liked Sons of Liberty, but will readily admit at times it could be an absolute mess. Snake Eater did a great job of toning it down and just telling a fucking great story where, oh cool, I also get to shoot bad guys. In my mind, this is clearly the best entry in the series and this poll of 13,519 gamers ranked it behind Guns of the Patriots? I don't get it. I don't think I even have to defend MGS1. It's a classic for a reason. This isn't to say that there aren't modern games with damned good stories, but the oversaturation of current-gen games on this list would be like saying the latest Transformers movie is better than Casablanca, and the rankings of the MGS games are indicative of this. MGS4 was a fun game to play but it had the benefit of being released for the PS3. No way in hell "because... nanomachines" is satisfying enough to make it number eight on this list and it should be considered the worst ending of the series. Yet there it is, according to 13,519 gamers Guns of the Patriots has the eighth best ending of any video game. The fact that this site and the other commenters take so much issue with this list and generally do so in an insightful manner much more refined than "COD is for fags" gives me hope though. Keep up the good fight guys. I'm just going to assume that Guinness used terrible sampling and interrogative techniques in compiling this list. If you haven't played them, I highly, highly recommend going back and playing the games in order of release. MGS1 is available for download on PSN, and 360 and PS3 users can pick up a copy of the HD Collection (which includes MGS2, 3 and Peace Walker [much more enjoyable than it's PSP release] with updated graphics and improved gameplay. The controls, MGS1 and 2 especially, will feel a little stiff, but if you have the time it's definitely a rewarding experience. On a side note, since the argument has been made that this list is based on "what's cool now?" where in the actual fuck is Arkham City? Fun gameplay, great writing, and an absolutely fantastic ending... what else does anybody really want from a video game? Arkham City is on par with any adaptation of Batman and I will stand on Alan Moore's coffee table in Joker paint and repeat that. Guinness should really stick to producing overrated beer and compiling lists of stupid human tricks and avoid subjective questions like "best (insert variable) ever." TL;DR:

Wait.. Call of Duty had a

Wait.. Call of Duty had a story to begin with? Huh... I thought it was Call of Duty Multiplayer.. Oh! and a campaign that is literally EVERYWHERE but makes no sense. Halo.. Eh, I think Halo 3 should have been 2nd instead of Reach. But seriously.. Who is the moron who wrote this?

wat the hell

the list is crap blops had a terrible ending Halo reach had a decent ending not 2nd placde(coming from a massive halo fan) to be honest all of reach was an ending but where is Halo 3 ODST that had a class ending

Personally, I would've

Personally, I would've included Dishonored, a Splinter Cell, Morrowind, and Half Life 2. I also wouldn't have based the list off of the most popular games, as chosen by a bunch of ten year olds.

I love the Uncharted series

I love the Uncharted series and think it is beautifully made, but there endings are always not quite as good as all the little twists you encounter while playing the game. On the other hand, inFamous and inFamous 2 have some of the absolutely best endings to any video game series I have ever seen.

wtf is this commercial

wtf is this commercial bullshit ? Deus Ex, Hitman Blood Money, Skyrim, Mass Effect You could fill list easily with better endings and u choose BO as no1 ? you're a fucking joke who acts like a gamer you're a FAKE!

well the problem is that

well the problem is that besides the poll group was way too small many people tend to favor only 2 or 3 kinds of games and stick to those even if those genres are full of the crappiest games ever : / i was born in the nintendo 64 period and even now i'm playing a crapload of games which i generally try to complete. I admit i have dislikes to certain genres ( sportsgames in my case) but i still play and own sega games even though they were from before my time. But there is 1 thing i find necessary for a person to do: play at least a game from every genre once. sure things may turn out such as yourself finding it a waste of time but you could compare this to taking a vacation to another country. stay in your country ( game, genre, console,..) and be oblivious of the world or go somewhere and see the sights and learn the differences ; ) anyways still would've liked zelda to score higher since i grew up with it but i certainly do see other games up here of which i feel they deserved it. only other too bad would be the fact that most of these games aren't that old while i feel some older 1s should've been here too. (loved the duke nukem 3d and and resident evil 1 ending when i was younger) anyways have fun debating.

wat

So Guiness has played every game ever? How does not, say To the Moon's ending beat every game on here? Why is Sonic even on the list? It's basically a "you win" screen.

Ithink

I think they meant the one for PS3/Xbox 360. I agree with them, it had a pretty good story and ending. Gameplay was oh so terreble though.

Mass Effect 3 ending

The reason it wasn't top of the list is because many gamers felt like it was not quite enough of a testament to the actions of the player. I personally played through the entire trilogy, got to the end of mass effect three and when presented with two choices, chose to destroy the reapers. The way this played out felt like the game had lied to me or tricked me as the Catalyst said that the reapers, the geth and any other form of synthetic life would be destroyed. He also stated that even you are partially synthetic which is made out to sound like he means shepard only, when in reality the crucible destroys all life within range of the crucible or any mass relay. I felt like this was a terrible way to farewell the character who I had spent at least 100 hours making my own. The devs evidently agreed as they released a patch that made the ending much more satisfying.

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