10 Video Game Objectives That Totally Trolled Players

Video games may have come a long way over the decades, but some of the tried-and-tested conventions of the medium are just too damn effective to get rid of.

Case in point: Mission objectives.

Any sufficiently linear, story-driven video game will give players a list of objectives to complete in order to progress through the game, whether written in the top-left corner of the screen at all times, spoken aloud by other characters, or merely implied by the gameplay loop itself.

And while players would do well to follow these instructions if they want to beat the game in a timely fashion, sometimes developers decide to subvert that gameplay formula for their own perverse amusement.

These 10 video game objectives all trolled players by messing with their expectations and deconstructing the very idea of how passively most of us just blindly follow instructions.

Whether ensuring players are doomed either way, presenting them with a tantalising optional objective which has inevitably dire consequences, or forcing them to dive headlong into a no-win scenario at game's end, these objectives left players questioning the very nature of gaming itself...

Ahead of Grand Theft Auto IV's final mission, players are given the option to pursue one of two narrative avenues - take part in a heroin deal with the duplicitous Dimitri Rascalov for which you will be paid $250,000, or stick to your "principles" and take revenge against Dimitri for betraying you earlier in the game.

While players might assume the canon "happy" ending is achieved by seeking revenge against Dimitri and not being bought off, GTA IV's ending is most certainly a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation.

The "deal" ending results in Niko's cousin Roman being killed by Dimitri in a botched hit on Niko, while the "revenge" ending, where Dimitri is dead, culminates in Niko's girlfriend Kate being accidentally killed by Don Jimmy Pegorino when he attempts to murder Niko.

There's no good ending here - just misery and...misery. Thankfully the divisive fan response to these ending options prompted Rockstar to offer up a more definitively satisfying "everyone lives!" ending in Grand Theft Auto V.