The Dark Knight Rises – Could It Change How People Want Games To End?

If you consider how the upcoming movie The Dark Knight Rises it is a distinct possibility that Batman could die.  This isn’t really much of a spoiler.  You can look up any of the Batman vs. Bane battles and see that Bane actually breaks Batman’s back.  This isn’t really meant to be a rundown of Batman’s comic history however.

Could this movie change the entire landscape of entertainment if Batman either dies or ends up eating through a straw?

It should be known that the target audience for the new Batman movie is also the same target audience that many gaming companies push their products to as well.  As much as fans of the Dark Knight series seem to worship the story and characters involved with Christopher Nolan’s epic trilogy they don’t really question the story – they enjoy the movie for what it is and go on to buy it on blu ray and tell everyone how great it is/was.

This drives us to wonder what will happen if Batman either dies or ends up like Christopher Reeve… Will fans keep their unwavering support?  That question then branches into a new direction.  If people love the ending of The Dark Knight Trilogy with Batman either dead or a vegetable – how can they keep getting annoyed with games like Mass Effect 3 when they pretty much end in tragedy as well?

The point is that we have turned into a society (especially in gaming and film) that demands for the hero to save the day, kill the bad guy or simply wait for the credits to end for some hope that we will get to follow the trailers to yet another sequel.

Is it a cop out for people to write a story that ends with a brief glimmer of hope after the credits?  Is it considered a failed story about a heroic journey if the hero dies in the process of saving everyone?  That strategy seems to work well for The Bible (the best selling book of all time) and even The Matrix (check out a nice rundown of that series over at The Cool Ship) or does it simply not translate to games?

Without spoiling anything (too much) we will leave this as an open discussion but also provide you with some games that have some of the best endings.


Red Dead Redemption Game of the Year
– One of the best games available on this generation of consoles.  The story is well written, the voice acting is top notch and the side-quests are numerous enough to keep you playing forever.  Without spoiling the ending we can tell you that it is pretty much perfectly scripted in every way a western can be.


Batman: Arkham City (Game of the Year Edition)

– It is hard to tell you that any game is the best you will ever play, but in the spirit of Batman… this is hard to pass up.  The game plays smoothly and the story and voice acting is amazing.  With the likes of The Joker, Harley-Quinn, Two Face and others it is a game that demands your time.