3 Important Videogame Plots That Went Absolutely Nowhere

I enjoy a game with a good story, and honestly, I don't expect a perfect one. These are games we're talking about here. But if there's one thing I can't stand when it comes to game stories, it's loose ends. I hate when something gets brought up in a story that is seemingly important, and then never brought up again.

Surprisingly, this happens pretty often in games these days. Not only are important plot elements being forgotten, but certain characters just flat out vanish without any reason as well. It drives me crazy when it happens, so I thought I'd share just a few instances with you today.

Warning! Mild to moderate spoilers for Uncharted 3, Heavy Rain, and Half-Life: Opposing Force posted below!

--------------

Mad Jack Isn't Telling Nobody Anything About Nothing!

(Heavy Rain)

I bought Heavy Rain when it first released and subsequently knocked out my neighborhood's internet connection to avoid any possible spoilers for the game. My neighbors might have been upset with me, but I felt it was the right thing to do. After finishing the game, I did have a few problems with the story... but the only important problem for this article is with a Mister Mad Jack.

About halfway through the story of Heavy Rain, you're placed in the shoes of Norman Jayden as he investigates a junkyard for any clues about the Origami Killer. Using his magical ARI glove and glasses, he picks up a whole lot of evidence that the Origami Kill had his car painted by Mad Jack.

"Alright, I'll tell you everything!" And then he didn't tell me anything.

Of course, Mad Jack can't have a fancy FBI man snooping around his crime shack, so he puts a gun to Norman's head. A fight ensues, and if you aren't a total nincompoop then you'll end up with a gun pointed at Mad Jack. With enough shooting coercing, Mad Jack admits to painting the Origami Killer's car. This is where things start to go wrong.

As I'm sure you're aware of by now, Norman has a drug problem. While holding Mad Jack at gunpoint, you start to have withdrawals. If you fail this rather complicated series of button presses, then you must fight Mad Jack to the death. Either he dies and you lose your direct link to the killer, or you die.

I don't know about everyone else, but I completed the button prompt on my first try. No fight ensued and I had a man who worked closely with the killer in custody ready to talk. So that should be the end of the game. I win, right? Wrong. Not once after I arrested him was he ever mentioned again. There was never any follow up. It was as if he died either way and never had anything to do with the story.

--------------

Don't Trust Nathan Drake, Or Do. I Don't Really Care.

(Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception)

I very recently got around to playing Uncharted 3. Yes, I know I'm late to the party; the game was pretty awesome and beyond cinematic. While there are plenty of questions that the game left no nicely unanswered, there's only one in particular that left me flabbergasted at the end of the game.

Later into the game's story, Nate, Chloe, Sully and Cutter are escaping Talbot's men while searching for a secret entrance to the city of whatever. Shortly before they find it though, Cutter gets hit with a dart filled with hallucinogens. As he starts to have a bad trip, Talbot leans towards him and whispers into his ear "Don't trust Drake."

He was probably talking about a different Drake. I know like six of em'.

Oh snap, the seeds of doubt have been sowed in Cutter's head! While it would appear this was the setup to some sort of betrayal later in the game or an ultimate showdown once they reached the supposed treasure they were all seeking, it was actually a setup to something much simpler. Nothing!

You lead Cutter through a cave system as he continues to trip balls, he attacks Nate after he tried to force him through a small hole, and Sully puts a gun to his head ready to kill him before he can kill Nate. He comes down off his hallucination and realizes Sully was ready to kill him no questions asked. More seeds of doubt in his head about his team up, right?

Nope. Along with a few other plots brought up in the game, it is simply never mentioned again. And I was ready for it too. I thought for sure that something would happen to break up the team and make them enemies, even if it was only for a short time.

--------------

Adrian Shepard Just Kind Of Stops Existing

(Half-Life: Opposing Force)

There was a lot going on in Black Mesa during the events of Half Life. Aliens were invading, Marines were killing the aliens and scientists, scientists were escaping, black ops was killing everyone, G-Man was pulling all sorts of strings and of course Gordon Freeman was taking care of business.

But tucked away in a far off corner was Adrian Shepard, a U.S Marine sent on the same mission to kill just as everyone else was. But he was destined for greater things. Defusing nuclear bombs, clearing the aliens out so people could escape, briefly visiting Xen while generally being awesome and even having an encounter or two with the G-Man himself.

I feel like I'm... Forgetting something, Mr. Freeman... It is pro-bably... Nothing.

The game ends with Adrian defeating a large alien called the Gene Worm, a monstrous foe that was allowing another alien race to wreak havoc on Black Mesa. Just after defeating it though, Shepard is teleported outside of Black Mesa to a safer area. He is congratulated on his hard work by none other than G-Man. He then drops Shepard into the same stasis as Gordon so he can be "evaluated".

And that, is the end of Adrian Shepard's story. Four Half-Life games later and he's barely even been mentioned except for a keyboard with highlighted keys that may or may not spell out his name (if you rearrange the letters a certain way). While Gordon is off being the hero to the highest bidder, Adrian is just sitting in a room of nothingness, waiting to be woken up. Maybe in Half Life 3?

--------------

I would have loved to write about more games with plots that went nowhere, but I'm just drawing blanks when I try to remember more of them. Why not post a comment below to remind me of some?! As always, thanks for reading.

 
You can follow Jared on Twitter at @PresidentMerkin and watch as he hopelessly tries to make contact with different big publishers, or follow @GamePodunk to get links straight to our articles and many awesome contests!