5. Metal Gear Solid 4 - The End of Solid Snake...?
The Metal Gear Solid series could absolutely have an entire list dedicated to the insane twists and turns the games put the player through, but the conclusion of the sprawling Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots takes the cake. Due to the disintegration of a nanomachine-based cytovirus imbedded in Snake's circulatory system (sound weird? Welcome to Metal Gear!), Snake will basically become a walking weapon of mass destruction in a matter of weeks. Not wanting to contribute to the death and destruction he's fought his entire life to prevent, Snake decides to go out on his own terms. The penultimate scene of the game meant to close the entire series shows Snake saluting the grave of his pseudo-father, and solemnly placing a pistol in his mouth, preparing to end his life. The camera pans up, a shot is heard, and a group of startled birds fly off into the distance. Could Snake, the man who ended the lives of so many soldiers, end his own in the graveyard of his father...? What? No, of course not. Don't be ridiculous. After the player sits through the credits sequence, he or she is treated to one final scene, showing a visibly shaken (but alive) Snake. He is then confronted by his heretofore dead father (no surprise, since death means nothing in this series) and Snake finds out that he's actually fine, and is free to live the rest of his life as he chooses. In a series rife with twists at every turn, the conclusion of Metal Gear Solid 4 is the crowning achievement of Hideo Kojima's epic brainchild.