8 Outstanding Tales Of Vengeance In Video Games

8. Booker DeWitt - Bioshock Infinite

BioShock-Infinite-Box-Art I just warned you about spoilers, but really, if you haven't played Bioshock Infinite and you intend to, skip ahead to the next page. Booker DeWitt has a problem. He's a drunkard, a gambler, and he owes a lot of money to a lot of bad people. The solution: Go to a flying city and bring back some girl. So, he goes to Columbia and meets cult-leader Comstock, a man with a prodigious group of followers and an even more prodigious beard. As Booker learns how Comstock has been mistreating the adorable Elizabeth, he swears vengeance on Comstock. A pretty standard yarn so far, right? Well, anyone who's beaten the game knows about the Manhattan-sized wrench that gets thrown into the works at the end of the story. After a lengthy conversation with Elizabeth about the intricacies of theoretical physics, Booker realizes that he and Comstock are the same person. The prophet responsible for so much death and deceit, the man that Booker has been hunting the whole game, would not exist if not for Booker's own choices. Can you think of another game where you play as someone who tries to exact revenge on himself? Me neither. The fact that Booker is wholly responsible for his own tale of reprisal completely turns the concept of vengeance on its head, and reminds the player that sometimes, your own worst enemy is you.
 
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Eller likes a lot of old video games, and some new video games. Follow him on Twitter (@JordanEller) for updates about articles, but mostly silly jokes.