Summary
Few videogame studios have a pedigree as strong asRockstar. The studio is an absolute titan in the gaming space and has been around for a long, long time. There are lots of reasons Rockstar has been so successful. They create almost unrivaled,deeply immersive worldsthat combine excellent gameplay with even better writing.
It used to be that video games weren’t taken seriously as an art form (sadly, sometimes they still aren’t), but Rockstar is one of the studios responsible for slowly helping to change that sentiment. Not only do their games tell entertaining stories,their endings are some of the best of all gaming.Some might say a couple of them are some of the best in any medium.
Grand Theft Auto 3may have set the gaming world on fire when it was released, but its story was just OK. A basic revenge tale, its story mainly served as an excuse for its silent protagonist to cause chaos in Liberty City.Grand Theft Auto:Vice City,on the other hand, was one of Rockstar’s first attempts at telling an actual story.
For the most part, it worked.Vice City’sprotagonist, Tommy Vercetti (voiced by the late Ray Liotta, no less), was an actual character rather than a cardboard cutout. His story is full of betrayals, violence, and power struggles. The game ends with Tommy taking on both friend-turned-enemy Lance Vance anddangerous crime lord Sonny Forelliin scenes heavily inspired by Scarface. It may not be particularly deep, but it is satisfying. Most importantly, it set the stage for things to come by showing Rockstar knew how to write a strong story.
Long before Hogwarts Legacy, there was another open-world game that let players walk around a school and pick on children -Bully. The game was pretty controversial when it was first released (even having to go through a name change), but it’s probably safe to say those complaining had never actually played it.
The game is a redemption story that tells of how a troubled teenager becomes the hero of his school. While most Rockstar games haveincredibly dark endings,Bully’sis really upbeat. Jimmy defeats the real bully, Gary Smith, and gets the detestable Mr. Burton fired. The game ends with Jimmy walking out of the school gates with his newfound friends and even getting a kiss from Zoe. Sometimes the good guy does win in the end.
The evolution of Rockstar’s storytelling continued withGrand Theft Auto:San Andreas. Whereas the previous two games had focused on bad men seeking revenge and power,San Andreaswas led by CJ, a good man dragged back into crime and a life he’d tried to leave behind. The game also has not one, but two of Rockstar’s best villains: Big Smoke and Tenpenny.
Tenpenny is especially vile, and it’s a pleasure to watch him get his comeuppance. While CJ gets to end Smoke himself, Tenpenny is a victim of karma, dying in a car crash. The game ends with CJ saving his neighborhood, and his gang, Grove Street, taking over the city. The ending is pretty bittersweet, however, considering CJ had to kill most of his friends to get there. The whole thing feels a bit more mature than Rockstar’s earlier games, focusing more on storytelling than an all-guns-blazing bloodbath of an ending.
Rockstar may not have developedL.A. Noire, but their DNA is still all over the game. At times, the game feels more like an interactive film than a traditional game, highlighting how seriously Rockstar was taking storytelling by the time 2011 came along.
After everything he’s been put through, protagonist Cole Phelps sacrifices himself in the game’s final mission. As he’s about to die, he utters one last goodbye, before being swept away by a rushing wave of water. The real gut punch comes moments later, though, when fans see the one villain Cole never beat, Roy Earle, giving the hero’s eulogy. It’s clear (to the player, at least) that Earle is gloating, and the ending is one of Rockstar’s darkest for that reason. It’s a classic noir ending, making the game a true genre piece, andone of Rockstar’s best.
After the runaway success ofGTA San Andreas, Rockstar took a slightly smaller, more grounded approach withGrand Theft Auto 4. Gone were some of the more outlandish comedy and cartoon-violence moments, replaced with a gritty, lived-in Liberty City setting. The story was also Rockstar’s most structured and detailed effort yet.
A satirical take on the American Dream,GTA 4follows immigrant Niko Bellic as he arrives in Liberty City, looking to make a name for himself. Niko gradually works his way up the crime ladder until he meets Jimmy Pegorino, who offers him a job. The player gets to decide whether to take it or not. Agree, and Niko’s beloved cousin, Roman, will die on his wedding day. Decline and Niko’s love interest, Kate, will eat a bullet instead. It’s one of thedarkest endings inGrand Theft Autohistory, made even more powerful by the player’s agency in the final outcome (a first for Rockstar at the time).
Grand Theft Auto 5isn’t justthe best-sellingGTAgame, it’s one of the best-selling games of all time. The game was truly innovative, and it’s hard to overstate the impact (both good and bad) it has had on the gaming industry. One of these innovations was the inclusion of three protagonists, who players could swap control of at pretty much any time.
Each one of them arguably had more personality and a deeper backstory than any other previousGTAprotagonist, and watching them become a team was a lot of fun. That is, until the game’s ending, when Franklin is forced to sacrifice himself or betray one of his friends. If players choose to betray either Michael or Trevor, the resulting death scenes are both incredibly violent while also tugging at the heartstrings. Killing either character locked them out of free roam mode following the ending - giving the decision real repercussions.
Red Dead Redemption 2is arguably one of the best video games ever made. Everything, from its vast open world, to the tight gameplay, to the brilliant story, feels almost perfect. It’s the evolution of everything Rockstar learned as a development studio leading up to it. This is reflected in the game’s ending, which combines elements of Rockstar’s best efforts. Rather than hinging on one late-game decision,RDR2’sending depends on an honor system that has kept track of Arthur the whole way through the campaign.
If Arthur has high-enough honor and chooses to help the Marstons, he’ll have one last showdown with Micah and Dutch before peacefully passing away from tuberculosis on a mountaintop. It’s a sad, poignant scene that highlights Arthur’s redemption. The lower honor ending sees Arthur return to camp for the gang’s gold, where he faces a bloodier fate at the hands of Micah in one ofgaming’s bleakest endings. The only thing holding it back from the top spot is the fact that Arthur’s fate seems decided from day one, and the game’s predecessor arguably did it better.
SinceRed Dead Redemptionwas released in 2010, countless opinion pieces have been written about its ending. It’s easy to argue that it was with this game’s ending that Rockstar solidified their reputation as master storytellers. Just as John Marston and his young family think everything is going to be ok, the U.S. government and the Pinkertons turn up on their ranch.
John helps his family escape and then gears up for one final showdown. In most games, this would be one last final boss battle where, against the odds, the hero guns down countless enemies and walks away victorious. Instead, John steps out of his barn, dead eye engages and no matter how many enemies the player manages to kill, John dies. Then the epilogue starts, and the player is put in the shoes of John’s now-adult son, Jack. It’s a brilliant twist that not only lets fans mop up any unfinished side quests, but shows how the life of an outlaw influences their loved ones even after they’re gone. Better yet, Jack can hunt down Edgar Ross and put him down once and for all, getting revenge for what happened to his dad.
