I always say that a good story must have an even better ending than the story itself, this applies to video games too; a good video game must have a well written ending. The last mission or level in a video game is usually considered the most important level because is the end of the road, and usually the moments that stick to the gamer the most lie in almost every final level.
A bad ending is always really hard to swallow, so today we are ranking the best final levels or missions in video game history, so let’s begin.
10. Mad Max – Paint My Name in Blood
2015’s Mad Max is one of the most underrated open-world action video games out there because it was eclipsed by games like The Witcher 3, Grand Theft Auto 5, and Watch Dogs, but let me tell you, this game is pure gold. The last mission called “Paint my name in blood”, features an epic car chase that will make you remember the iconic chase from amazing Mad Max 2 movie.
This mission is very dynamic and crazy in a good way, and also this is where the real test of your new car begins.
9. Batman: Arkham Origins – Blackgate Prison
Batman: Arkham Origins is usually considered as the weakest game in the critically acclaimed Arkham series, and despite that, Arkham Origins is superior than many other open world video games. Despite being considered the black sheep, the final level named “Blackgate Prison” has been acclaimed as one of the levels in the Arkhamverse.
Here you have to fight your way through the prison, have a nice brawl with Bane and finally battle the Joker. This mission is brilliant and combines everything players have learnt throughout the whole video game; you have to combat and use your stealth tactics to perfection.
8. Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon – I Will Break You
Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon is often considered an amazing expansion and an even better game than Far Cry 4 and Far Cry 6; it pays homage to old action films and also has and epic plot and an even more epic soundtrack.
The last mission called “I will break you” features the protagonist Rex infiltrating the Danko base and killing every single enemy there before finding the Colonel Sloan and killing him and destroying his laboratory. The whole game and plot are a big cliché, but it worked this time with this one.
7. Super Mario Bros – World 8-4
At first sight, the World 8-4 looks like any other Mario level, but it is not like that. This last level is something else, because it brings more intensity than any other level before because you have to find the right pipe to escape down and the severe time limit makes this even more challenging. While this is not a really big challenge, the iconic platformer’s final stage tests everything you have learned throughout the game.
This is one of those final levels that, after you complete it, gives you an incomparable satisfying sigh of relief.
6. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 – Endgame
The second part of the critically acclaimed Modern Warfare trilogy gave us a lot of amazing moments throughout the campaign, but the final mission, “Endgame”, is one of the best final levels a video game could have. Here you have practically one objective, and that is killing General Shepherd before he escapes from Afghanistan.
After Price shoots Shepherd’s chopper down, a fight begins between the three where Soap ends heavily wounded. After they are able to kill Shepherd, Price and a heavily wounded Soap are evacuated by Nikolai, giving us a fantastic “ending”.
5. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – On Thin Ice
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is a videogame that perfected the open-world genre; it was beautiful, immersive, challenging, and unique. Almost every mission or quest felt extremely important to the main plot whether it was secondary or not.
“On thin ice” is the “final” mission of the game and this is where we finally defeat Eredin, the commander of the Wild Hunt. The suspense in this mission is colossal and it was thanks to the collective work of Geralt and his friends that Eredin was finally defeated and even after the battle the suspense is still there.
4. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – End of the Line
If you were a teenager back in 2005, the moment you most looked forward to was seeing both Big Smoke and Tenpenny dead, and this mission gave you that moment. “End of the Line” is the last mission of the ground-breaking Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, and here you have to kill both of them.
In the mission you have to infiltrate to Big Smoke’s crack palace, kill his soldiers and later kill him, and later you have to chase Tenpenny and save Sweet at the same time. This mission was intensely fun.
3. Red Dead Redemption 2 – American Poison
Every Red Dead Redemption 2 player loves Arthur Morgan, he is one of those characters that you would love seeing him succeed in life, and then you have Micah Bell, somebody who radiates hate. So, when somebody hated gets what he deserves, you have a truly satisfying ending.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is what I consider a perfect video game, and the ending of this masterpiece is more than perfect. Rockstar Games are expert in making extremely good games, and to this day, RDR2 is the most perfect game around.
2. Shadow of the Colossus – Malus
Shadow of the Colossus is one of the most influential, unique, and best video games ever made despite using a simple scheme: each boss must be larger than the previous boss. With this in mind, the final boss, “Malus” is huge, and also can throw fireballs to the protagonist. While this is not a mission, this is the final stage of the video game and let me tell you; the fight is exhausting and mind-blowing.
And do not worry, the game doesn’t end there because after the fight you will have a cinematic with an unexpected surprise.
1. Mass Effect 2 – Suicide Mission
The whole campaign of Mass Effect 2 is centered around the build-up to a single mission; this one. 20 hours of preparation and just by this you know that this will be a life-changing experience.
“Suicide Mission” works extremely well because it actually lives up to its provocative title because if you choose the wrong teammates, you don’t make the right preparations, this indeed will be a suicide mission, resulting in the canonical ending where nobody survives after spending 20 hours of your life playing the game.
That is the essence of Mass Effect 2.
