The five toughest moral choices faced by gamers

There was a time when the toughest decision you’d have to deliberate over in a video game would be whether you wanted to hit Rainbow Road as Princess Peach or Yoshi. However, as the industry grew and the games themselves became more complex and sophisticated (no offense, Mario Kart!), the choices involved became much more difficult.

Gone were the days of dancing through colorful worlds defeating baddies and rescuing your friends as developers decided they wanted to see you squirm and wrestle with deep moral conundrums! After all, why should the writers get all the fun when it comes to determining the storyline? 

This week, we’re shining a spotlight on some of the toughest decisions ever placed before the player in a variety of games. Make sure to save before you go down one of the paths below, as the consequences could be very grave indeed...

Contents:

1. GTA IV – money or revenge
2. The Walking Dead – how to go
3. Pokemon Red and Blue – pick your starter
4. Fable – the final decision
5. Mass Effect – Ashley or Kaidan

GTA IV – money or revenge

Debates still whirl about which is the best game in the Grand Theft Auto franchise (the correct answer is IV), but no one can deny that the fourth instalment had the most engaging and best written story. There are plenty of emotional moments along Niko Bellic’s journey through the underbelly of Liberty City, but the one that really gets you in the gut arrives right at the end of the game. 

Essentially, you’re forced to choose between revenge and money, and both decisions require a heavy sacrifice. If you choose to take revenge on Dmitry – the man who betrayed you – your girlfriend Kate takes a bullet intended for you, and if you choose to make the deal with Dmitry and take the cash, it’s your cousin Roman who kicks the bucket. This lose-lose situation hammers home the game’s bleak theme of loss and leaves a bittersweet taste in your mouth whichever way you go.

The Walking Dead – how to go

Telltale Games’ incredible Walking Dead game is packed with choices and decisions, but there’s one that comes at the very end of this heart-rending tale that really takes the biscuit when it comes to applying the pressure to the player. Having watched the bond between Lee and Clementine develop and blossom throughout the game, you are finally driven into a corner with two tragic exits.

When Lee, the game’s protagonist, becomes infected, he is forced to tell his adopted daughter to either shoot him and put him out of his misery, or to leave him to turn into a braindead zombie. You’d be hard-pushed to find anyone who was left with dry eyes after this gut-punch of an ending to the first season, whichever way they chose to go.

Pokémon Red and Blue – pick your starter

You may think the stakes for this pick are considerably lower than the previous choices on this list but ask any 90s Pokémon trainer and they’ll tell you just how wrong you are as the tears start welling up in their eyes.

The world of Pokémon was the fire in which a generation of gamers was forged, and the choice of your starter creature shaped your experience in the world of Kanto. 

Once you’d already made the fateful decision to pick up either the Red or Blue version of the game, early on in your adventure, three cute little monsters would be laid out before you: Squirtle, Bulbasaur, or Charmander. 

Besides being your closest companion for the rest of the game, there is a theory which suggests that your choice here also determined the difficulty level of the early stages, as the gym leaders would pose more or less of a threat depending on your starter. So, choose wisely!

Fable II – the final decision 

The Fable series is another staple for decision and morality-based stories that you the player get to shape, and the choice you’re faced with at the end of the second instalment is a doozy. Your character is granted one wish by Theresa the witch.

You can either resurrect thousands of innocent people but lose your family, bring your family back but leave the innocents to their fate, or… save no one and head home with a mountain of gold coins to cry into. 

There’s no correct choice here, of course, although I think we can all agree that if you went for the money, you’re a terrible person.

Mass Effect – save Ashley or Kaidan

The Mass Effect had plenty of tough decisions dotted throughout, but the one that sticks in many players’ minds as the toughest is dropped onto your plate unceremoniously at the end of the first game, when you have to choose to save either Ashley or Kaidan from death by bomb.

The choice is a toughie not for the reasons you might expect, however. If it came down to picking the better teammate, we’d all have plumped for Kaidan in a heartbeat, but when it comes down to it, Ashley’s just so much more interesting as a character. 

So, it just goes to show, if you want to be picked in a life-or-death situation, make sure you’re the fun option!