Deus Ex: Human Revolution has four different endings, each of which is extremely well written. These endings aren't specifically governed by the choices you make in the game (those have other consequences which must be dealt with immediately after or very soon after the decision), but are decided with the press of a button. Literally. Here is a video of all the endings, which obviously contains spoilers:
I loved the endings. I'm the kind of gamer who knows to save right before the choice, watch an ending, then load the save and watch all the other ones. The choices show the consequences of the extreme left, the extreme right, the center of the argument, and then a choice that is completely out of bounds. I expected both extremes and the center, but I didn't expect the, "I'll just kill myself" choice. Each choice has major consequences, and have the ability to shape the views of the entire world.
The Truth: Darrow's choice is the unadulterated truth. He wants to tell everyone to know what technology has done, how it has ruined the world. "How often have we chased the dream of progress, only to see that dream perverted? More often than not, haven't the machines we built to improve life shattered the lives of millions?" The point he's trying to make is that if we try to use this technology to better ourselves, we will end up doing the opposite of what we had intended. Technology allowed to progress unhindered is a dangerous thing. "Technology offers us strength, strength enables dominance, and dominance paves the way for abuse." With a mushroom cloud in the background, this quote gains much more power. Technology in the hands of the wrong people can never end in a good way.
The ending of this choice was a bit hard to figure out. The cybernetic arm laying there had me scratching my head. After thinking about it for a while, I've come to the conclusion that the arm signifies technology. The power supply is a symbol for the power of the people, who decide to stop using technology once they see the devastation it has caused. When the arm begins to give off a faint light, I believe it signifies that you can try to stop something, but no matter how hard you try a piece of that something will always live on. Technology, for better or for worse, is with us for the long haul.
The Pro-Science route: "For the first time in history, we have a chance to steal fire from the gods." Through the understanding of science we can do anything. We can go so far beyond what we would ever be capable of with only flesh and blood. The video shows all the good things that can come from a greater understanding of science: cybernetic implants that allow an amputee to be able to have two hands again or run on their own two feet. It's a beautiful thing, but then the choice takes a turn. "No doubt the road to get there will be bumpy, hurting some people along the way. But won't acheiving the dream be worth it." Now it simply becomes an example of "the ends will most certainly justify the means". With this mindset, cloning and human expirementation are an acceptable way to get results.
"We can become the gods we've always been striving to be. We might as well get good at it." Augmented baby. Wow. The first part of the video has you going, "Yeah! Yeah, this is good!" Then by the middle you start to think, "I don't know about all that..." Then, augmented babies. If science is left unchecked, it will corrupt and debase humanity.
The Anti-Science route: Humanity. "I managed to hang on to my humanity -- but the temptation to ignore it was always there."It's essential in a civilized world, and yet over the course of time temptation has stepped in and allowed us to forget about it. "[Taggart is] not afraid of freedom. He's afraid of the chaos that erupts when individuals have nothing but morality to constrain them." Sadly, the world we live in today is a morally depraved wreck, where most people ignore their humanity and morals and instead do whatever they feel like doing. "Absolute freedom is not better than chaos." Without laws and regulations, the world would be in chaos. This applies to everything, not just this game's fictional augmentation regulations.
The "I'll just kill myself" route: The world never finds out about what happened to Jensen or anyone else on that platform out in the middle of nowhere. "Do I trust mankind to save itself?" This is a very powerful question. "But does this mean I have the right to choose for everyone? No. Because it isn't up to me. It isn't up to Darrow, Sarif, or Taggart either." It shouldn't be up to one person to decide the course of human history, it should be up to everyone. "But I do know I'm not about to let anyone on this station, myself included, stand in their way."
I am thoroughly impressed with each and every ending. I don't necessarily agree with all of them, but they were amazingly well written. It's exciting to see great writing in a game when most of the time writing takes a backseat to better graphics. As for which choice I would make... I honestly don't know. I think technology is great and we should definitely work hard to progress technology further. I think it should be regulated, but not so much as to stifle progress almost to a standstill. I for one don't trust mankind to save itself. I've watched as the world's humanity and morals have fallen farther and farther into depravity. I think, that without a government who will enforce good morals (which I don't think we have), humanity will destroy itself. But that's terribly depressing, so I'm going to go play more video games...
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