Summary
Spoilers ahead from games created by Arkane Studios, Bungie, Bethesda, MachineGames, Irrational Games, Valve, & Infinity Ward
FPSgames present players with a greater level of immersion, as they themselves step into the shoes of the character they are portraying, and develop a bond with the character, whether it’s player-created or otherwise. The bestFPSgames often provide a sense of character through the protagonist, even to those who don’t say much, or anything at all. These connections can however leave a hole in the hearts if they die, which is most unfortunate for the games below.
Whether death is part of the gaming experience or a gut-wrenching part of the narrative, these FPS games feature the main character dying, leaving players feeling rather hollow about the loss of favorite characters, but forever keeping them in their hearts for their sheer memorability.
Deathloopis essentiallyGroundhog Daywith two rival assassins thrown into the mix. When Colt remembers his own name, he slowly begins to remember more about himself, and that he’s trapped in a loop where every time he dies, he wakes up at the same time, on the same beach, to repeat the same day: which is exactly whyhe needs to break the loop.
ThroughoutDeathloop, Colt is going to die and learn from the experience, until eventually he is faced with a choice. Continue living the same day, which is essentially a consequence-free paradise, or break the loop by killing the figureheads of Blackreef, thus making himself mortal again.
The Lone Wanderer is the player protagonist, and one of Bethesda’s best, even if they don’t say anything at all. Leaving the Vault in search of James, the player’s father, the Lone Wanderer will stumble across all sorts of adventures, including the powerful Brotherhood of Steel, who seek tobring the Capitol Wasteland backto its former glory by ridding it of mutants, ghouls, and removing the radiation from the water supply.
Project Purification is the ticket to humanity’s future, but the chamber is flooded with radiation, and only the Lone Wanderer can fix it, despite having a literal Super Mutant companion. The Lone Wanderer can make the ultimate sacrifice, succumbing to radiation poisoning in the chamber that will save the human race. It’s a sad ending, even if it’s omitted thanks to theFallout 3DLC.
Every Guardian that players see, including their own, is a corpse. Dead before the game has even started, yet, immortal, the Guardians ofDestiny 2defend the Last Cityfrom the enemies of humanity and protect the Traveler, the being of Light that provides them with their powers and their Ghosts, which will resurrect them upon death. Guardians can essentially cheat death, risking their lives for humanity, or just to goof off.
Death is essential toDestiny 2, and Guardians will repeatedly die as they try new things and battle harsh enemies, or even test out their skills against each other in The Crucible. Yet, with the rise of the Witness and the Final Shape encroaching to end existence in the universe, could a final death be near?
The iconicCall of Dutyprotagonist fromModern Warfare 2and some ofModern Warfare 3, John “Soap” MacTavish is tragically killed in action, an unexpected death fromCall of Duty, a series where the campaigns would rarely be so bold. Soap’s death haunts players, and it’s one of the most memorable and controversial parts of the game, especially with Captain Price’s shocked and rageful reaction to losing a friend, a brother.
Soap is killed during an explosion after a failed attempt to assassinatethe villainous Vladimir Makarov. Succumbing to his wounds, Soap dies giving Price some information about his companion, Yuri, which just might stop World War 3 from engulfing Earth in nuclear fire.
Known by the Nazi population as Terror Billy, B.J. Blazkowicz is an American force to reckon with, as he wants his country back,built on the foundation of every dead Nazi he can find. Blazkowicz is an icon in the FPS world, and his potential death in Wolfenstein: The New Order left fans scared to see him go. Yet, it was actually the sequel,Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossusthat would kill him off… for just under a minute or so.
In a shocking moment for the game, Blazkowicz is beheaded in a live execution by General Engel. Players have to watch as his head is torn from his shoulders. Thankfully, this isn’t the end for him, as his head was saved by Set and his allies so that he could be revived. Nevertheless, he still dies, but is born anew, inspired thanks to his super soldier body to do what he does best: kill Nazis.
The group of misfits that make up the cast of characters inLeft 4 Deadcome from all different backgrounds, but they all have the common goal tosurvive against the undead hordesthat want to bite them to turn them into flesh-devouring hordes of zombies. Yet, as the game progresses, the pessimistic Bill decides that his allies are his friends, and they’re too young to die here and now.
In The Sacrifice, the survivors are close to escaping, but the generators that are raising the bridge to their freedom give out, and Bill makes the quick decision without pause to jump off the bridge and restart the generators, saving his friends at the cost of his own life.
BioShock Infinite is a tad more confusing than other BioShock games, and the complexity of its protagonist aids in that regard due to the fact that Booker is a speaking protagonist rather than a silent one. A private eye with a dark past, tasked with venturing to the cloud city of Columbia, Booker needs to retrieve an imprisoned girl, only to find out that not all is what it seems, and both past and future are seemingly unwritten across infinite worlds.
Booker discovers that he is actually Comstock, a dreaded tyrant who must be killed. To stop the vast multiverse from having this evil man,Booker accepts his fateand is drowned by multiple versions of Elizabeth and Anna, his daughters across universes, erasing Comstock from the infinite, at the cost of his life.
