6 Most Difficult Moral Choices In Games That Really Made Players Choose Sides

It used to be that players didn’t have many choices in video games, and the ones they did have didn’t involve delving into moral ambiguity for entertainment’s sake. Those days are behind us as more titles embrace morality-driven narratives. These often present the player with a choice between doing the right thing and doing the wrong thing, but it’s rarely as simple as that. Most often, games trick you into choosing a path that seems like the right one, only to pull the rug from under your feet with a horrific revelation. These are six of the most difficult moral choices in games, and they certainly gave players a lot to think about.

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1) Fable II – The Three Card Choices

A screenshot from Fable 2, showing the three cards and their moral choices at the end of the game. — Image courtesy of Microsoft Game Studios

The Fable franchise is all about moral choices, as your character leans towards good or evil throughout the game’s progression. This is a core aspect of the games, and in Fable II, players are presented with options that test their morality. At the end of the game, players receive three choices, each represented by a card. “Sacrifice” brings thousands of innocent people back to life, while “Love” brings the player’s family (not to mention the adorable dog) back to life. Finally, “Wealth” gives the player 1 million gold pieces. Do you save thousands, or choose your own family … is money all you want? Whatever you select results in a sense of accomplishment, but it’s the choosing that’s challenging at Fable II’s conclusion.

2) The Walking Dead – Amputation or Infection

A screenshot from The Walking Dead, showing an amputation scene. — Image courtesy of Telltale Games

Telltale Games’ landmark story-driven The Walking Dead adaptation is all about choosing paths, and the game throws a lot of horrific ones your way. In The Walking Dead’s Episode 4 of Season 1, you’re bitten by a Walker and make your way into an abandoned hospital’s morgue, where you find a handy saw. You have options: let the infection kill and turn you, or you can cut off the arm and hope for the best. The choice seems obvious — especially because, as a gamer, you’re not going to literally lose your arm, but there’s more to it than that. Telltale Games loves to torment players through these choices, and no matter which one you select, your fate is already sealed.

3) Heavy Rain – Killing the Drug Dealer

A screenshot from Heavy Rain, showing a drug dealer begging for his life while showing a picture of his children. — Image courtesy of Sony Computer Entertainment

Heavy Rain is no stranger to making tough choices, and the most challenging to get through is one that seems obvious. While searching for your son, you’re presented with a choice: kill a drug dealer or spare him. While the former might seem the obvious option, given the situation, the game doesn’t make it easy for you. The would-be victim pleads for his life, and even shows you pictures of his children. You have to weigh your decision on the concept of killing one life to save another, and you have to make it in the guy’s kids’ room. If you kill him, you gain a clue that leads towards your son’s location, while sparing him eliminates the clue, though you can still find the kid.

4) Spec Ops: The Line – The White Phosphorous Decision

A screenshot from Spec Ops: The Line, showing the aftermath of using white phosphorous on innocent civilians. — Image courtesy of 2K

In war, the ones who suffer the most are often those on the sidelines with nothing to do with the conflict. This is at the core of a decision the player must make in Spec Ops: The Line. You’re presented with the option to take out your enemy with white phosphorous weapons. These are horrific incendiary devices that melt the flesh and kill painfully, but they get the job done. If you don’t use the weapon, you eventually lose the choice altogether, but if you decide to fire the white phosphorus mortars, the result is horrific. You find that they’re incredibly effective, but the bodies are all of innocent civilians, making the whole situation a punch in the proverbial gut.

5) L.A. Noire – The Golden Butterfly

A screenshot from L.A. Noire, showing the player holding a golden butterfly clue. — Image courtesy of Rockstar Games

L.A. Noire is another game all about making choices as you investigate crimes, paying attention to every detail. In one harrowing case, you find a murdered woman and a clue in the form of a golden butterfly. You run through your list of suspects and boil it down to two people: the woman’s husband and a known pedophile. On the one hand, you want to point the finger at the pedophile because he’s … well, he’s a pedophile. On the other hand, the husband becomes the prime suspect as your investigation unfolds, forcing you to choose one of the two. If you follow the law, you convict the husband, but after making your difficult moral choice, you find that both men are innocent.

6) Fallout: New Vegas – Vault 34

A screenshot from Fallout: New Vegas, showing the player facing an operational terminal in Vault 34. — Image courtesy of Bethesda Softworks

The Fallout franchise loves to present players with choices that change the game’s ending, while others leave you responsible for whole communities’ fates in the Wasteland. In Fallout: New Vegas, Vault 34 presents the player with a difficult choice. Vault 34 is leaking radiation into the water table, damaging nearby farms and causing a famine. Meanwhile, the vault is home to a large population of people trapped inside. You have to choose whether or not to deactivate the vault’s reactors to save the farms, dooming the Vault Dwellers, or open the doors to save the vault’s denizens, dooming the farms. Ultimately, it’s a terrible choice either way, and trying to decide between the two is a test of morality most games avoid.

Which moral decision gave you the most agonizing stress? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!