Top 10 Huge Video Game Plot Holes That Make No Sense
Come on, did you think we wouldn’t notice? Welcome to WatchMojo and today we’re counting down our picks for the Top 10 Video Game Plot Holes That Made No Sense
To be clear, these are not plot twists that didn’t work or missed the mark somehow, but rather gaps in logic, ambiguous details and outright confusing moments in games that just don’t make any sense. And, yes, this list will include spoilers, obviously.
#10: Elena Can Find Nate Anywhere
“Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune” & “Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End” (2007/16)
There’s a lot of hidden skills that Elena has that isn’t disclosed in the games, one is that she has a habit of stealing jeeps, the other is that she seems to always know where Nate is. In the first game, Elena is abandoned by Nate & Sully in Panama, with no indication of where they’re going. Yet she’s able to find Nate in the middle of the Amazon, no specification on whereabouts in this 5.5 million square km Rainforest he is, just: “The Amazon”. But if that sounds absurd, she does it again in Uncharted 4. This time finding him in the middle of the jungle on an island he shipwrecked on, that just so happens to hold a lost ancient city. Does she have a “Nate tracker” app or something?
#9: Snake, Why Did It Have To Be Snake?
The 10 Most Badass Solid Snake Moments In Metal Gear Solid Games
“Metal Gear Solid IV: Guns of the Patriots” (2008)
The climax of MGS4 has Snake being forced to enter a hallway full of microwaves, all while his allies are fighting for their lives outside, as the badly injured soldier slowly makes his way to the other side. It’s powerful, it’s dramatic, but it was also unnecessary. Raiden was also about to enter the room as he has a mechanical body, thus could have withstood the heat. Yet the excuse that’s written up of why it has to be Snake is … [“Your Heart is still human” “You still have your youth”]. That’s weak! Raiden can run extremely fast so any exposure he’d endure would be minimal, and recoverable. Otocon’s mini Metal Gear also goes in the room, so putting metal in there clearly isn’t an issue either. So all of this extra fighting is for one man’s honor? Bit selfish don’t you think?
#8: Paititi Civil War
“Shadow of the Tomb Raider” (2018)
Deposed Queen Unuratu is leading a rebellion, except she is doing it right out in the open and none of the bad guys seem to care. Except suddenly, when it's convenient for the plot they do take notice and arrest her son. Meanwhile the main villain Dominguez' motives also make no sense, but they had to tie it into this game somehow, so we learn that he became leader of Trinity to protect his village from the outside world... by remaking all of reality? Huh? That’s a bit excessive don’t you think?
#7: Future Technology
Ghost Recon: Future Soldier - Ubisoft Preview
“Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes & The Phantom Pain” (2014/15)
Despite taking place in the 1980s – The world seems to have some pretty cutting edge technology that far surpassed what was on offer decades later during the Shadow Moses Incident in 2005. Just look at the Fulton Extraction System or the upright Metal Gear Sahelanthropus that Liquid Snake stole. Surely these would have shown up in later adventures, and – yet – they were nowhere to be found. Oh and let’s not forget the holographic “iDroid”. Just so named with a lowercase “i” two whole decades before Apple made that trend a thing. Yes, we’re being nitpicky here, but in terms of narrative, it just doesn’t make any sense.
#6: Song of Storms Time Paradox
The Best Song From Every Zelda Game
“The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time” (1998)
Honestly, we’re not trying to shoot holes in your childhood. But we feel its our duty to point out that learning the Song of Storms in the N64’s “Ocarina of Time” made absolutely no sense. Going by the game’s narrative, An older Link learns the song from Guru-Guru at the Windmill in Kakariko Village, who tells him that some kid played the song and caused the windmill to go berserk. That later turns out to be you, as later a Younger Version of Link was the one who taught Guro-Guro the song. But then where did the song come from to begin with? Did it literally just manifest out of thin air?
#5: Not Recognizing Makarov
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“Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2” (2009)
It’s no secret that airport security was dramatically beefed up after the 9/11 Attacks. And Makarov’s plan is to frame the United States for killing innocent civilians to ignite a war with Russia, and then shoot an undercover American Agent to use as a fall guy. So, how did a game that’s released in 2009 – that takes place in 2016 – have the world’s most feared and well-known terrorist walk into a heavily monitored airport, massacre hundreds of people and STILL remain unnoticed after the deed was done?? Surely, one out of the thousands of security cameras had to have captured footage of Makarov’s uncovered face. Plus its not like the concept of undercover agents is unheard of, this is an insane reach in logic.
#4: Is Canada Actually Safer for Androids?
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“Detroit: Become Human” (2018)
In an obvious historical nod to the Underground Railroad, where American slaves escaped to freedom in Canada, “Detroit: Become Human” has androids Kara and Alice attempting to flee to Canada to avoid repressive android laws in the United States. BUUUUT! The game also states that androids are illegal in Canada, and even shows an android trying to pass Canadian customs being shot on sight, in a public building no less. With a shoot on site policy, how would Canada be safer than the USA? The childlike android Alice not growing up would make her easily noticeable. Also, this whole story about Canada having highly repressive immigration laws makes no sense, because Canada has historically had one of the most liberal immigration policies in the world, even under conservative leaders.
#3: Ethan’s Blackouts
“Heavy Rain” (2010)
We’d forgive you for thinking that Ethan was the Origami Killer all along, seeing as he suffers from unexplainable blackouts throughout the game and then comes to holding origami figures. But it turns out this was a red herring. So when it’s revealed that he’s not the killer, surely the game would explain why he was blacking out all along right? Nope. That explanation was cut from the game and only appears in a “making of” documentary. Originally Ethan has some sort of paranormal connection to the killer, but the developers wanted to set their game more firmly in reality… So they cut this entire story arch from the game and left the reason for Ethan’s blackouts as … well … nothing.
#2: Unneeded Sacrifice
“Fallout 3” (2008)
At the end of the game, you’re left with a choice: enter a chamber filled with radiation in order to fix a vital water purifier, or send Sarah Lyons in. Either way, all that radiation signals certain death for whoever goes in. There’s just one catch however: One companion, the super-mutant Fawkes is immune to radiation, and thus any death can be avoided. But just like the microwave hall, Fawkes refuses this very simple task for a weak reason, all for the sake of making the game more dramatic. This undermines everything up to this point; the player is left feeling that they just spent a ton of hours working towards a completely unnecessary heroic sacrifice. This hole was so big Bethesda released DLC to fix it.
#1: Once Bitten - Not Turned
Yet Another Top 10 Video Game Logic That Make No Sense!
“Resident Evil” and “Dead Rising” series (1996-)
It’s pretty common pop culture knowledge that once you’re bitten by a zombie, you’ll eventually turn into one. Yet when we think of “Resident Evil” or “Dead Rising” by the time we reach the end credits in these games, we’ve been bitten so many times we’ve lost count! In these games we just pop some herbs or food into our character like it’s some kind of cutting-edge zombie vaccine. Other zombie franchises like “Left 4 Dead” or “Dead Island” establish that the heroes are naturally immune to the zombie virus, but this is never explained in any of Capcom’s titles. Still let’s be real here, if zombie bites were contagious; these games would be over after just one bite. Does that sound fun?
