7. Prince of Persia (2008)
No, its not here as a f**k you for being a reboot of a series which came frustratingly close to perfection, nor due to the fact that the Prince couldnt actually die throughout the game. Its here because of what happened at the end of the game. Throughout the game, the Prince teams up with a princess Elika to help rid her kingdom of the evil which seems to have taken up residence there. So far, so good theres plenty of fun, some good game mechanics and some witty repartee as befitting a Prince of Persia game. Caught up in the games gorgeous visuals, we enjoyed ourselves, even if our stay in Elikas kingdom was overly brief. Then came the end, and we were confronted with the evil god Ahriman who was behind all the darkness wed fought, and it was revealed that the only way he could be beaten was for Elika to sacrifice herself. Its a gut punch to the player when they find this out, and even more so when she dies, without compromises or twists she doesnt avoid her fate, and is indeed as dead as dead can be. For many players this was already ridiculous, as it was a brutally cruel way to resolve the games main conflict. Yet what made it worse is that it then became the Princes unavoidable destiny to revive her at the cost of everything youd done so far. To revive Elika, the prince had to re-release the evil god, and the last visual we get is of him enveloping the world. It was a bit of a kick in the crotch for any gamer, made worse by making it clear they had just wasted around half a days worth of hours in effort only to find out everything theyd done was completely useless. Thanks, game.