If you went back into the '70s and early '80s (the time of arcades and Atari) and told them that someday video games would not only have intricate plots, but also nearly photorealistic graphics, they would have laughed you out of the building.
Gaming has come a long way; no longer is it all about getting a high score or simply killing all enemies on a screen. Now, players expect their game to feature cool characters and complex plotlines that could rival those on the big screen.
Often, a game will throw a big twist the player's way after they have put in hour after hour into completing the way. If the twist is done poorly, gamers can see it coming from a mile away. On the other hand, a twist that comes straight out of left field can also be annoying. The best gaming twists are shocking enough to throw the player off, but have enough subtle foreshadowing to make them realistic.
There are often details in games that were snuck in by the developer to hint at what is to come. Upon your first play through, when you are still oblivious to the twist, chances are you didn't give any of these details a second thought.
Here are 15 Obvious Spoilers You Missed At The Start Of Video Games.
The Joker Has No Skeleton in Detective Mode (Batman: Arkham City)
After the brilliance of Batman: Arkham Asylum, Batfans and gamers alike were pumped when they heard that the sequel Arkham City was going to be a completely open world game with an even more intricate story. Thankfully, the game delivered; most people still consider Arkham City to be the best in the series as well as one of the greatest games of the PS3/360 era.
One of the game's biggest twists comes near the end of the story, when the Caped Crusader discovers that the Joker he had been chasing throughout the game was really just Clayface in disguise. But anyone who had used the Detective Mode during any of Joker's earlier scenes would know that; while in the blue-tinted analytic mode, the Clown Prince of Crime is shown to be missing his skeleton, indicating that there was something not human about the Joker the entire time.
Nobody Recognizes Snake/Big Boss (MGS V: The Phantom Pain)
The big shocker of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is that the character you've been playing as the entire game is not series villain Big Boss at all, but rather a medic who has been given plastic surgery and implanted with Big Boss' memories and skills. The entire twist is given away in the very first mission of the game!
As you make your way through the hospital, you are helped out by a bandaged character also voiced by Kiefer Sutherland (the voice of Big Boss); at the time it seems like just a coincidence. Later on, Ocelot tells you that Eli (Liquid Snake) doesn't share your DNA. Fans of the series know that this isn't possible, as Liquid and Solid are both direct clones of Big Boss.
Foreshadowing Roland's Death (Borderlands 2)
Borderlands is a series that proves that stylized and silly can sometimes be just as enjoyable as photorealistic and gritty. The franchise hit the scene during the last gen, offering a unique RPG/First Person Shooter hybrid with a charming art style on top of a wacky sense of humor. Although there have only been two games in the main series so far, several spinoffs have released and sequels are planned.
The death of ex-soldier Roland in Borderlands 2 was a shocking turn of events for fans that troubles many still to this day. However, developers almost beat us over the head with foreshadowing at the beginning of the game; when you first meet Roland in the sequel, he is sitting inside of a jail cell. Written behind him, in blood no less, are the words "You Die." Kinda on the nose if you ask us!
Curtis Ackers uses a familiar tool (Silent Hill: Homecoming)
Though Silent Hill: Homecoming is generally looked upon as one of the weaker entries in the series, it still offered up enough scares and surreal set pieces to make it a memorable game. The story focuses on Alex Shepherd as he tries to find his missing family and eventually stumbles into the nightmare landscape of Silent Hill. Mechanic/Chop Shop Owner Curtis Ackers acts as one of the game's main villains (though we first meet him as an ally).
Acker's turn is pretty obvious if the player is paying attention: When Alex first encounters Ackers, you can see his signature gas-powered circular saw in his shop. When a group of anonymous villagers captures Alex's mother, one of them is wielding the exact same power tool as the mechanic had in his possession.
The Aether Foundation and Cosmog (Pokemon Sun and Moon)
The newest additions to the Pokemon franchise, Sun and Moon, are easily the most complex entries in the series. Though past games had a basic story line that players followed, Generation 7 included a handful of huge twists and turns in the main plot! The first comes when you find out that the Aether Foundation (who exist to cure Pokemon) are evil. The other is that the Pokemon that your friend Lillie is carrying (Cosmog) is secretly an early evolution of a legendary Pokemon!
Right off the bat, players are told these two facts. In the title screen of the game we get to hear the battle cry of the game's Legendary; when Cosmog is first seen in battle, it makes a very similar sound. Likewise, the game opens with two members of the Aether Foundation trying to chase down Lillie before she leaves with the Pokemon.
Tetra's Secret Identity (The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker)
The Legend of Zelda game released for the Gamecube, The Wind Waker, was a stark departure from the other entries in the series. Like many before it, it follows the adventures of Link as he travels across Hyrule. Unlike most other entries, The Wind Waker takes place on the high seas, after the land was flooded. And of course, it wouldn't be a Zelda game if the titular princess and Ganon didn't make an appearance.
Zelda appears in this game disguised as a pirate captain named Tetra. However, eagle-eyed players will notice from the beginning that Tetra and Zelda are one in the same. Inside of the captain's quarters, she has hanging on her wall pictures of Princess Zelda and the Triforce. Then there was the UK special edition of the game, which threw all secrets out the window (including Tetra's identity) and slapped a picture of the game's final battle on the cover!
John Marston's Grave site (Red Dead Redemption)
Sadly, it looks like the much-anticipated Red Dead Redemption 2 might get pushed back until a later quarter of 2018 (if not later).
The first (technically second) game in Rockstar's epic open-world Western was a massive hit for the PS3 and Xbox 360, and fans have been waiting with bated breath for a follow up ever since. Of course, it would have to be a prequel considering the protagonist was killed off in a shocking turn of events. But this secret is given away with hints scattered throughout the game
While talking with foreboding character known as the "Strange Man," the hero gets several hints that the man is actually an angel of death; bullets seem to do him no harm and he seems to be omniscient. During one of their encounters, he stops at the sit of Marston's future grave and states "This is a fine place."
Dr. Cossack Doesn't Brand Himself (Megaman 4)
After a decade-long drought, fans of the Blue Bomber are finally getting a new game in the form of next year's Mega Man 11. The series looks to be returning to its roots while also updating itself to stay modern. Mega Man 4 was the first game to break the mold by giving us a new antagonist in Dr. Cossack. But then, of course, it is revealed that Dr. Wily was behind the whole thing all along.
This should come as no surprise to those that paid attention. Every Mega Man villain so far has slapped their logo on everything they own, particularly the Robot Master's doors and their evil castle. Cossack, however, does none of these things. Aside from a logo that appears on the stage select screen, the Doctor shows that he didn't want his name associated with the plot at hand.
NICOLE IS DEAD (Dead Space)
Want to scare yourself out of your mind? Pop in one of the Dead Space games, wear a set of headphones, and turn off all the lights. Though the series has gotten repetitive and more action-oriented lately, the first two are some of the greatest horror games ever made; they followed a simple plot and turned up the scares to 11!
The original game showed Isaac trying to reunite with his girlfriend Nicole as the outbreak unfolds on their ship. The big reveal at the end of the game is that Nicole has been dead since the outbreak began, and that the figure Isaac had been seeing throughout the game was just a hallucination of his unstable mind. This was revealed the second you looked at the titles of the levels; the first letter of each chapter spells out "NICOLE IS DEAD"!
Yatagarasu's Shadow Gives Him Away (Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth)
Oh, the Ace Attorney games... The most famous of these are the Phoenix Wright games for the Nintendo DS that see the player take the role of an attorney trying to solve a case via controls on the touchpad. These games are known for their strange yet charming humor and cinematic gameplay.
In the spinoff Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth, the titular character is investigating a case involving the legendary Yatagarasu Thief. A witness present during the criminal's latest appearance claims to have seen his silhouette, but upon further investigation by the attorneys it turns out the shadow was created by five different statues in the garden. Later, it is revealed that the Yatagarasu Thief was actually a group of five people each committing crimes with the same name. Talk about foreshadowing.
Dream Enemies (The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening)
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening was the very first handheld version of the series. Despite being made for the Game Boy, Link's Awakening is actually considered just as good as the games made for home consoles. It was actually one of the first games to push the boundaries of what a handheld could do.
Of course, everyone knows that at the end of the story it is revealed that all transpired events were nothing more than a dream that Link had. Looking back, the developers were trying to tell you from the beginning- Link is shown sleeping (and then being "awakened") at various points during the story. Shy Guy and Wart (two enemies from Super Mario Bros. 2) appear alongside Kirby - all of these characters are taken from games in which the story took place in a dream.
Skyrim's HUD Gives Away a Big Twist (Skyrim)
There are people who are still discovering the secrets of Skyrim to this day; publisher Bethesda is known for making massive open-world video games that players are able to put hundreds of hours into without finishing. Packed to the brim with side-quests, deep lore, and hidden areas, Skyrim is about as immersive of a game as you can get!
But the biggest reveal of the game literally happens during its opening. Fans are no doubt familiar with Alduin, the dragon who is seen as the harbinger of the apocalypse in The Elder Scrolls series. It turns out that Alduin is the dragon that saves the Dragonborn in the beginning cinematic of the story. Though this is not revealed until later in the game, if you get close enough to the creature while trying to escape the castle, the HUD labels it as "Alduin."
The Boss Repeatedly Tells You She's Not a Traitor (MGS 3: Snake Eater)
The third Metal Gear Solid game gave us many new features, such as the camouflage and medic systems that have become staples in the series as well as a cast of characters that each had their own unique abilities. Plus cool boss battles! In the end, it is shown that the game's main villain is not really a villain at all; she was a double agent for the U.S. Government the entire time. Sadly, to keep her cover, Snake is forced to kill her.
But the Boss told us from the beginning that she wasn't really evil. When Snake asks her why she defected from the United States, she simply says "I didn't." Likewise, she tells Snake that there are no friends on the battlefield just before she refers to the rest of the villains as "my friends."
Jack Has Genetic Access to the Bathyspheres (Bioshock)
Almost a decade later and Bioshock is still one of the greatest video games ever made. Though branded as a First Person Shooter, the first game in the series mixed survival horror elements with those of a typical shooter on top of a steampunk aesthetic. Even those who have never played the game are surely familiar with the "Would you kindly?" twist at the game's end in which Jack is revealed to be the son of Rapture founder Andrew Ryan.
If you are a completist, you probably already found the spoiler early in the game: Jack has access to Rapture's main method of transport, the Bathyspheres. However, a collectible audio file near the beginning claims that these things are supposed to only be accessible by Ryan, who locked them for anyone who doesn't have his DNA.
Hints at General Shepherd's Betrayal (COD: Modern Warfare 2)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare completely revolutionized the FPS genre. Instead of historical eras, the entry in the hit franchise asked "What if World War 3 happened with modern technology?" The sequel, Modern Warfare 2, completely upped the ante with some controversial set pieces and an even greater story. Nobody saw General Shepherd's betrayal coming, which made it all the more satisfying to land the killing blow at the game's end.
There are hints abound that Shepherd is going to betray you from the beginning: During the first training tutorial he ominously claims that "...[I] can't give you your freedom...but I can teach you to acquire it for yourself" (referencing Russia's invasion). Perhaps the most damning evidence, however, is the fact that the first mission of MW2 shows that there is a single Enemy Intel Laptop located in your base (implying that it was owned by Shepherd).
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Did you catch these spoilers when they appeared? Did we miss any big ones? Let us know in the comments!