10 Video Games That Punish You For Being Smart
4. Stalker: Shadow Of Chernobyl's Greedy Ending
While I may not be a supporter of wealth hoarding in real life, in video games, it's usually a smart move to be frugal with your resources. Whether you're playing a survival horror game or an RPG, you don't want to blow all your cash on weapons you're never gonna use or expend precious shotgun shells when there could be a boss around the corner. You never know what's coming up next, and it's usually smart to be as well prepared as possible.
As such, players are used to searching every nook and cranny, picking up items and saving them for future encounters. It's intelligent play, especially considering fans used to get games like Resident Evil: Code Veronica, where a lack of resources can have you reloading saves from hours ago to better prepare for a boss or, even worse, restarting the game entirely.
However, Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl, will actually punish players with a bad ending for completing the game with too many resources still in their inventory. Specifically, if the player has 50,000-plus RU in their locker by the end of the game, they'll be hit with the 'greedy ending' where their character is actually killed when their wish for wealth backfires.
This is a cruel twist of fate for trying to get through a game as punishing as Stalker in the most efficient way possible.