10 Video Game Plot Twists That Totally BROKE You

10. The Boss Never Defected - Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

Naked Snake's mission in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater involves, among other things, tracking down and eliminating his former mentor, The Boss, who left Snake for dead and defected to the USSR.

At game's end players defeat The Boss in an epic boss fight, after which they're forced to pull the final trigger themselves to bring her life to an end.

But Snake Eater's epilogue drops an absolute game-changer of a twist, that The Boss never actually defected - she was still working undercover with the U.S. to infiltrate the ranks of Colonel Volgin, recover the mysterious Philosopher's Legacy, and return it to American soil.

More to the point, because Volgin carried out a nuclear strike on Russian soil which implicated the U.S., The Boss was never able to exit her cover, knowingly going to the grave as a faux-traitor to absolve America of any responsibility in the attack.

And so, at game's end just a handful of people other than Snake know the truth of The Boss' heroism - a jaw-dropping revelation which clearly shakes Snake to his core and alters the course of his future.

For all the silliness of the Metal Gear franchise, this is by far its most effective and impactful storytelling coup - a thrilling and heart-rending payoff to the showdown between mentor and student.