9 Video Game Rewards You Shouldn't Accept

Game devs can be a tricky little bunch. I mean, you'd be feeling a touch vindictive too if your job required you to crunch for weeks on end, draining your mental and physical health away for an uncaring, monolithic corporation, only for all that work to be rewarded with a 65 on Metacritic.

And even before employee abuse was the backbone of the entire industry, sometimes a game studio would mess with its players, just for the hell of it. Few methods of screwing with the player carry more sting than a reward that actively hurts you.

Whether negatively affecting gameplay or your efforts not being reflected in the reward itself, there are some video game unlocks that you're frankly better off without. Some are optional, while others are naturally handed to you throughout the game. Either way, they all suck.

Most players would reject these video game rewards outright... if only they could.

Metal Gear Solid blew everyone away when it first came out, thanks to a revolutionary 3D approach to stealth, an intriguing thriller storyline, and of course, for containing that classic Hideo Kojima trickery.

Everyone remembers the Psycho Mantis fight, where he reads your save file, and you have to plug your controller into the second port to even fight him, but another - more subtle - way Kojima messed with everyone's heads was the part where Snake loses his gear.

You can, of course, get all your gear back, but when you do, well, it would seem you've just randomly exploded! I hate when that happens.

Well, it turns out Snake exploding is due to the game sneaking a bomb into your gear that you need to manually disarm, after retrieving your stuff.

This cheeky bit of tomfoolery on Kojima's part is not only a great subversion of the "hero loses his gear" trope in gaming, but an effective means of keeping the player on their toes.