Due to not being as story-driven as RPGs, first-person shooters aren’t particularly synonymous with mind-blowing plot twists, or that might seem to be the case if we don’t take a hard look at the genre’s history. Single-player FPS games are actually responsible for the greatest twists in video game history, ones that completely recontextualize their narratives and motivate us to go for another playthrough so we can pick up on all the subtle clues.
To be honest, I don’t generally care about stories or twists in my shooters, as I play these games almost exclusively for their gameplay and nothing else. However, exceptions exist to every rule, and the best ones linger in the mind long after the credits roll. In some cases, they elevate a decent FPS game to greatness; in others, they convert a great title into a legendary one.
I feel this should go without saying, but spoilers will be included throughout the article. I’m not going to include direct spoilers in the headings or images, so jump forward if you don’t want to know a specific game’s twists. That said, I am going to hide some really big spoilers.
Twists in FPS Games
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7
Half-Life: Alyx Pulls Off One Twist That Leads To A Second Twist
Valve Is The Master Of Deception
The most recent release to make the cut, Half-Life: Alyx plays the long con when it comes to its twist. In fact, Valve started laying the seeds before the VR game even launched by simply marketing it as a prequel to Half-Life 2. You play as a young Alyx Vance who is trying to survive City 17’s Quarantine Zone, and the narrative kicks into gear when the Resistance learns that the Combine captured a man who is extremely powerful.
Find the odd one out before the timer hits zero.
Along the way, we automatically assume that person is Gordon Freeman, as we know that he was captured by the G-Man at the end of the original Half-Life. I mean, who else could it be? This reveal would also fit into Half-Life 2 well, setting up Gordon’s return to action. Well, we were wrong. Or, at least, I was wrong.
When Alyx finally opens the containment cell, she finds [SPOILER]G-Man [/SPOILER]. That’s already a massive, massive twist, but Valve took things a step further by directly connecting the end of this prequel to Half-Life 2: Episode Two, allowing Alyx to save her father’s life.
6
F.E.A.R. Takes Lessons From Cinema At Its Scariest
The Family Reunion
Oh, boy, things are about to get twisted in a way typically accomplished only by J-horror films. For most of the campaign, F.E.A.R. plays things relatively “safe,” casting players as the Point Man, a faceless rookie part of a special forces unit tasked with taking out Paxton Fettel while dealing with supernatural threats like a mysterious psychic girl named Alma Wade.
Then, the game drops a massive reveal as it explains exactly what happened during Armacham’s Project Origin, an experiment that involved Alma being imprisoned and tortured for years in an attempt to harness her abilities. Also, scientists inseminated her with her own cloned embryos, because, of course, they did. [SPOILER]Paxton is actually Alma’s second child[/SPOILER]
That’s not actually F.E.A.R.‘s big twist, though. No, we also learn that [SPOILER]Point Man is also Alma’s child[/SPOILER].
5
Prey Starts And Ends With A Twist
A Masterclass In Subverting Expectations
Prey doubles down on its twists, using an early one to power up the second. Famously, the game starts with a fake-out, as Dr. Morgan Yu wakes up in an idyllic San Francisco; however, 20 minutes later, you realize that all of that was a simulation, and you are actually stuck in Talos I, a space station that has seen better days due to the presence of the Typhon.
After that, Prey mostly plays as you would expect a sci-fi horror shooter to play, albeit one that is also an immersive sim. Players make choices that matter and are introduced to two conflicting philosophies, with everything combining to eventually trigger one of three endings. Whatever happens, the screen cuts to black and the credits roll.
Then, Prey pulls the rug from underneath the player’s feet. [SPOILER]Everything was a simulation, and you aren’t even Morgan Yu. No, you are a typhon.[/SPOILER]
4
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption Lives Up To Its Name
With Great Power Comes Great Consequences
Let’s go for something a touch different this time. In pretty much every other FPS game in this article, the twist is narrative-based; however, Metroid Prime 3 integrates its carpet pull directly into the core mechanics. I’m not going to go too much into the story, but Samus ends up infected by Phazon energy, forcing her to use a special Power Suit that lets her tap into Hypermode.
Making her invincible, Hypermode feels absolutely awesome in combat, but you instantly feel like something is not right. This type of power trip doesn’t fit Metroid, and the truth eventually confirms that fear: [SPOILER]Hypermode slowly corrupts Samus.[/SPOILER] The more time players spend in this mode, the worse it gets, and the more she loses herself.
3
Call of Duty: Black Ops Pulls Off An Incredibly Difficult Twist
Don’t Trust Your Memories
Except for one other title that comes later, Call of Duty: Black Ops‘ twist might be the most famous in gaming history, and not solely due to the game’s popularity. Honestly, there’s too much going on here to cover everything in detail, but Black Ops‘ reveal hinges on a rarely well-done storytelling trope: the unreliable narrator.
You play as Alex Mason, an operative who is being interrogated in a dim room. You don’t know your captors as you live through Mason’s memories in the form of missions. During these flashbacks, Mason is regularly accompanied by Viktor Reznov, a seemingly great dude driven by a desire to get revenge on three people.
In the “Revelation” mission, you finally learn the truth. [SPOILER]Mason was brainwashed by the Soviets, and Reznov used that programming to force the agent into getting revenge for him. Also, Reznov died in 1963, meaning Mason hallucinates a ghost in most of his memories[/SPOILER].
2
System Shock 2 Broke That Sacred Bond Between Player And NPC
You Just Cannot Trust Anyone Anymore
We are ending with two twists that come from the same minds: Ken Levine and his team. Video games with great twists predate 1999 by at least a decade, but System Shock 2 stood out because it betrayed the player’s trust in a way that hadn’t really been done, one that came with the bonus of firmly cementing an all-time brilliant villain.
Players wake up in a starship overrun with The Many, a parasite hive mind. You don’t have many resources, nor do you really know what is going on, but you fortunately can rely on the guidance of Dr. Janice Polito, who talks to you through the comms. System Shock 2 is true survival horror that constantly keeps players on the verge of complete desperation; in this situation, Polito’s voice seems like a beacon of hope. She also doesn’t go out of her way to be too nice, making her feel real.
Well, that beacon goes silent when [SPOILER]you find Polito’s corpse, confirming she died before you even woke up. That voice belongs to SHODAN, the mother of the Many that has evil ambitions for you[/SPOILER]
1
BioShock Has The Best Twist In Video Game History
Would You Kindly Give A Standing Ovation?
Roughly a decade later, Irrational Games did it again with BioShock, producing the most famous twist in FPS gaming, if not the entire industry’s history. No other project weaponizes player obedience to this extent. Decades of experience have taught us to generally trust whatever a game tells us to do, to a nearly mindless degree. BioShock manipulates that tendency perfectly.
As we all know, Jack survives a plane crash and arrives in an underwater metropolis called Rapture, a former utopia that now resembles a graveyard filled with people addicted to ADAM. Almost immediately, Jack hears an Irish voice through the radio, which happens to belong to Atlas. A normal dude who was crushed under the philosophical boot of Rapture’s creator, Andrew Ryan, Atlas just wants to rescue his family. You cannot help but like him.
Would you kindly pick up that short-wave radio? – Atlas
Jack also hears Ryan’s voice through the city’s loudspeakers, with his arrogant taunting clearly cementing him as the villain. Eventually, you confront Ryan in his office, only to learn that everything you knew and did was wrong. [SPOILER]Atlas, who is actually Frank Fontaine, has been manipulating Jack the whole time, using the phrase “would you kindly” to control his actions[/SPOILER]. Jack’s whole past is also wildly twisted.
