In The End The Jokes On You

*This article contains spoilers for Spec Ops: The Line and Mark of The Ninja. 

Let’s play a game. Pretend that while you are reading this post that you are actually asleep. This is a dream….when you woke up this morning you didn’t really wake up. The only way for you to wake from this dream is to punch your co-worker. Now take a second to look at your co-worker. They don’t want you to know that you are actually sleep, that’s why they are looking at you crazy right now. But you know what you need to do.

This is what I was faced with at the end of Spec Ops: The Line and Mark of The Ninja. Both games end with me having to make a choice based on my perception of reality. What you might consider a cool plot twist is actually a “mind f*ck”, geared to question the purchase of the game in the first place. Let’s take a look at both games to understand the strengths and weaknesses with this style of story.

At the end of Spec Ops: The Line your character Walker finally confronts Konrad. Walker is a broken man and his team is dead. With your eyes set on revenge you begin a slow walk through the hotel lobby to the main elevator. You see the last remnants of the 33rd and they tell you that Konrad is upstairs where he as always been. When you finally meet Konrad he is painting a picture from a scene in the game. At this point you think you are going to get justice for what you went through. Instead, you discover that Konrad has been dead for what seems to be months and your conversations and actions in the game where all in your head. It ends with a scene straight out of Fight Club where you have to choose between killing yourself or the Konrad within you.

In Mark of the Ninja you play as a ninja who bears a sacred tattoo that gives you powers, but warps your mind in the process. The game starts out as a simple vengeance mission for revenge and slowly turns into one of betrayal. When you reach the last level, your character is hallucinating. The mercenaries that you kill are actually ninjas from your clan. When you reach your old master, who you think betrayed you, he tells you that your hallucinations are out of control and sacrificing yourself. And like the ones before, you will bring honor to you and the clan. As you walk to your master, the game takes you back through the game giving you a chance to decide whether your actions where your own or just the tattoos working their evil magic. It ends in the same way as Spec Ops: The Line: Kill your “enemy” or yourself.

I am often vexed when I experience this style of storytelling. When you are in the moment the choice can become such a revelation that making a decision is a rush. You try to compile every decision and cut scenes to help you make a choice. Yet, once you make the choice you instantly feel like you made the wrong choice. And this is the inherent flaw. You either feel like you made the wrong decision every time, OR you feel like everything you did up to that point was worthless. It is that sense of worthlessness that kills any game. If everything you did adds up to nothing then ultimately it was a game you could have skipped.

Your co-worker is still waiting on you to decide. Don’t listen to their pleas that you are actually awake because you know the truth. You know that I am right and you are sleep. Go ahead….PUNCH THEM!!!