Amputate your arm? Or maybe destroy an entire race? The most difficult decisions in game history (Topic)

To be honest, of all the arts, computer games appeal to me the most. At the same time, I am not a fanatical gamer and fully admit that, on average, the quality of the plot in games is several orders of magnitude lower than in works of literature or cinema. But at the same time, computer games have one important advantage: they do not just tell stories, but allow you to personally participate in them, become the main star of the space epic and, most importantly, make fateful, catchy decisions. These are the 10 most difficult decisions in games that we will talk about today.

To blow up or not blow up a city is the question (Fallout 3)

Variable, violent and full of cynicism quests have always been the hallmark of the Fallout series. The importance of this very moment was well understood at Bethesda, when they got their hands on the rights to the iconic franchise. We will try not to remember such bawdy words as Fallout 76, but concentrate on Fallout 3, in which the quest "Power of the Atom" can be added to the top of the best moments in the series.

The plot of the task is quite simple, but at the same time shockingly cynical. We have a post-apocalyptic town of Megatonna, in the center of which an unexploded nuclear bomb huddles. Many residents of Megaton realize that living near nuclear explosives is not the best option, but for decades the bomb has shown no signs of activity, and the steel walls of the city create the illusion that Megaton is the only safe place in the post-apocalyptic wasteland.

On the other hand, we have the impressive Tempeni Tower skyscraper. Its owner, Alistair Tempeni, is an aristocrat distraught with his own power and impunity. For him, ordinary people are just meaningless waste. Tempeni invites the player to detonate a megaton nuclear bomb with his own hands and turn all residents of the city, innocent families and children into radioactive dust. What for? It’s just, you see, the looming Megaton on the horizon spoils the landscape from the balcony of Alistair Tempeni. It is cynicism and large-scale consequences that make the Power of the Atom quest one of the most difficult decisions in the history of games.

Steal a bus ticket from an innocent family (Detroit Become Human)

Games in the genre of interactive cinema, and especially the creations of David Cage, were created in order to squeeze the maximum of emotions out of the player in all possible ways, put him in complex moral dilemmas and make him feel the whole kaleidoscope of emotions. The best example of this is the hail of decisions at Detroit Become Human. The game heats up the atmosphere with every new minute, crushes with good drama and makes you accept almost a hundred fateful choices.

I remember one of these choices the most, because the life of a young family may depend on your actions. In the city of Detroit, a large-scale war is brewing between androids and humans. State troops are on alert and all Detroit residents are in panic trying to leave the city. But the borders are closed and the only obvious way is to use public transport, which is almost impossible to get to due to the limited number of tickets.

Of course, our main character Kara and her companion Alice do not have any tickets, we can only hope for the mercy of fate or ... Steal tickets from a young family who accidentally dropped them. What will you do? Will you return tickets or put strangers in danger just because you thought your life was more valuable?

The Witcher 2: The Assassins of Kings (The Witcher 2: The Assassins of Kings)

The Witcher trilogy for several hundred hours teaches us in a mentor tone that there is no division into absolute evil or good in the world, there is only such a concept as lesser evil. And it is, in general, subjective and depends on the worldview of each individual person. The best example is the need to choose the side of the sadist and inhuman hater Vernon Roche in The Witcher 2, or go after Iorweth, who has the same qualities in general, but already harbors hatred of the entire human race.

Taking part in the controversial choice between the two categories of lesser evil is by far one of the most difficult decisions in the entire Witcher trilogy. But omitting ethical details, the main difficulty of the choice is not even in the moral overtones, but in the fact that, depending on your decision, the plot of the entire game changes significantly in the first chapter. This is an unprecedented case in modern RPGs, where one of the most important components of RPGs - freedom of choice and impressive non-linearity - has been almost completely forgotten.

It's a pity that the CD Project themselves recognized excessive nonlinearity as an impermissible luxury in the modern world, when tens, or even hundreds of millions of dollars are spent on the development of a game and a huge amount of content remains unnoticed by the majority of the player. You yourself know the outcome of the story - the amazing Witcher 3, which, with all its merits, has lost its former variability of passage. We can only hope for Cyberpunk 2077, which, according to the first gameplay video, offers an order of magnitude more variability than The Witcher 3.

Save or Destroy an Entire Race (Mass Effect 3)

The last part of the Mass Effect trilogy was subjected to deafening criticism, primarily due to the endings and the need to make an important decision at the end of the game. We must admit that the choice between the three endings is really difficult, but not due to moral dilemmas, but due to their meaninglessness, which completely nullify dozens of important decisions that we made throughout all parts of the space opera.

But let's not talk about the sad, because Mass Effect 3 offers to make other decisions that make you feel not just another extra in a video game, but become a real messiah, save or destroy entire races and civilizations. In this regard, I remember most of all the need to determine the fate of the Krogan race - to heal them from the genophage that makes all members of the race sterile, or, on the contrary, doom them to a slow extinction.

The bottom line is that the krogan are a warlike, even barbaric race. A kind of 9th century Vikings from the Mass Effect universe. But at the same time, there are good guys among the krogan, the same partner Rex, who is almost the best character in the entire trilogy. But let's not forget that the krogan have a fair amount of blood from the innocent inhabitants of the galaxy on their hands, and the genophage made them even more embittered. If you refuse to activate the antidote against the genophage, then your faithful comrade Mordin Solus will intervene. You can either persuade him or shoot him in the back. And for such moments we fell in love with Mass Effect - for the emotional intensity and the need to make controversial decisions on a universal scale.

Amputation of the arm (The Walking Dead)

Games Telltale Games, namely The Walking Dead, can be called a budget analogue of interactive cinema from David Cage. But do not turn your nose up unhappily, because even with the most limited production budget and a decade late schedule, The Walking Dead manages the most important thing - to feel you real emotions and seriously think about making this or that choice. The secret is in really talented characters and the need to accept choices that are shocking in their brutality.

The best example is the arm amputation scene in The Walking Dead season 1 finale. The main character Lee Everett was bitten in the hand by one of the walkers, which means it’s only a matter of time until he turns into a brainless and eternally hungry dead man. Of course, the game offers a choice - to saw off the infected hand or continue on your way no matter what. In such situations, the player involuntarily puts himself in the place of the protagonist and is torn between emotions: "Oh Lord, cut off your hand, are you out of your mind !?" and rationalism: "Okay, I am amputating my arm, but where are the guarantees that this step will stop the infection, and the chance of survival in the zombie-infested city will significantly decrease for me."

Indeed, the hardest decision in The Walking Dead. The only problem is that, as in all Telltale Games projects, the choice is mostly cosmetic and the ending of the story is always the same. Of course, the most dramatic and tear-squeezing.

This is where we will finish talking about the most difficult decisions in the history of games. And if you are not afraid of responsibility and are ready to accept even more controversial choices in video games, then we suggest you familiarize yourself with the top of the best modern RPGs.

The Topic of Article: Amputate your arm? Or maybe destroy an entire race? The most difficult decisions in game history.
Author: Jake Pinkman