10 Most Painful Video Game Cliffhangers EVER
1. Half-Life 2: Episode 2
As it turns out, one of the most beloved video games of all time also has one of the most evil and excruciating cliffhangers ever to grace a work of fiction. Who knew?
The last section of Half-Life 2: Episode Two is set in the Resistance base of White Forest, and it's there that the Combine launch their most vicious attack seen in the series to date. Hunters and Striders pour upon the base, requiring you to use the new Magnussen device to be able to fend them off quickly enough.
When the battle ends and the heroes appear to be victorious, Gordon Freeman accompanies Alyx and Eli Vance to a warehouse, in which Eli is suddenly picked up by a hidden Combine Advisor and stabbed through the back of the head.
The final scene shows Alyx weeping over her father's body as the picture gradually fades away.
Events leading up to this add so much more weight to the abrupt cliffhanger. The Borealis, a lost Aperture Science ship, was bigged up to have an important role in future instalments, and Eli's talk with Gordon about their "mutual friend" gives us more insight into the mysterious G-Man than ever.
What's more, Half-Life: Alyx recently plays with this ending, allowing her to prevent Eli's death - but somehow, this just raises more questions than it answers.
And with Half-Life 3 being the dictionary definition of Development Hell, it's anyone's guess as to whether Valve's epic brainchild will ever see a truly definitive end.
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