10 Most Shocking Video Game Plot Twists Of 2018
9. Edward Richthofen's Death - Call Of Duty: Black Ops 4
The plot surrounding what is now known as the Aether storyline in Black Ops’ Zombies has become so dense and impenetrable over the past decade that it could rival a Tolstoy novel. What started as a narratively bereft horde mode has evolved into something so lore-rich that only the most dedicated of fans can claim to truly understand it.
Though it had its fair share of twists and turns in the past, the Aether storyline received its most eye-opening plotpoint at the end of Black Ops 4’s Blood of the Dead on-disc map. Following a relentlessly complex easter egg which is par for the course for Treyarch, series staple and plot puppet master Edward Richtofen sacrificed himself so his allies to escape Alcatraz Island.
That’s not all there is to it, of course. That wasn’t the only version of Richthofen floating around, and nothing is ever set in stone in CoD Zombies, but this was still a devastating conclusion for those who have stuck with the character and his trials over the past ten years.
Call of Duty’s Zombies went from debuting as a throw-away extra to a marquee feature presentation, and we wouldn't have it any other way.