[SPOILER DISCUSSION] Just finished the game...

[Elder Drake]

SPOILER ALERT!

DO NOT READ FURTHER UNLESS YOU WANT TO DISCUSS THE ENDING OF THE GAME



tl;dr version: Great game. Fun to roam the wasteland. Head scratching ending (see below)

I just finished the game and I have to say that overall I enjoyed it and I think it had a true Mad Max ending. Things got monotonous so I ended up not going for 100% but that is not to say I may not after a break. What I have an issue is is with how the story is written. I did not come to play the game for a deep story but I am one of those people that ask questions when I see things just not adding up. That is what I see here to an extent, even though the ending matched the theme of a lost Max that is a loner whom will never know true happiness unless it is in the solitude of the road.

Where things break down for me is Griffa presenting Max as an evolving character. Griffa says a lot of how Max is a good man basically and that "love" is the only salvation basically. I also beleive maybe Griffa was a phantom of some sort as he looks suspiciously like the corpse of the old man that was guardian to Glory. We see Max finally face his inner demons and ressurect the momories he suppressed of his dead wife and daughter. His wifes specter ask him to do it right this time and the chance is there. I think the ending was harsh as it should be for this setting but when you mix the other elements it is shallow in a way. That said I would like to have seen maybe an alternate ending that sees a chance at some form of redemption. 100% completion and tracking how often you help wandering thirsty people. Fully helping all the strongholds and maybe Pink Eye sends you out with another sail ship as guardian and with your new family.

He is the meat of it all. I can't reconcile a Max that goes out giving water, helping people, saving a child, doing the right things, etc to the Max that rams Chumbucket in a flaming car into a truck to maybe kill someone that he should walk up to and put slugs into the brainpan of. Why would Max after being a reluctant but still hero with a good soul decide a car (given all of the above, talks with Griffa, and his flashback) is more important that helping the child he just saved and a woman he can have a future with? My .02 and I still had fun playing the game, just not with how Max evlolved and then devolved.

[Budoshi]

i agree. especially with your last paragraph, some of max decision make no sense, well is mad and all but, come one he acted like a stupid man at the end.

[Arrogant Bandit]

My idea for an ending was to have kept the girl alive.
The rest plays out as it does.
Because that car really is Max's life.
And he does give Chum the chance to get off. But Chum decides to stay.
He gets his Interceptor back, but it's broken and not ready for long distance travel.
We go back to Deep Friah and find the girl there.
After a short conversation about her being captive by the buzzards, Max finds out they taught her the basics of car mechanics.
After the girls loss she has a different look on life and a sort of wierd bond with Max.
Max being Mad decides to take the girl and the dog with him.
The girl learns more about mechanics and becoms adapt at using a mounted harpoon and thundersticks while they scavenge the land for parts to make the Interceptor (the only car body available. only now upgradable), ready for long distance travel.
100% complete you can drive off the map into the nothingness to end the game.

Mad Max 2.

5 years later..

[wiredhands]

From my Pov it made no sense that max used the M O to ram the war rig with in the end..I mean..He had (in my case) 12 fully upgraded thunder sticks left to throw at it still in the car..and even more stupid, it fails to finish it.
Moreover, it felt super silly that he did it considering he worked the ENTIRE game to make the car powerfull enough to go where ever it is he wishes to go, and then he destroyes it and (to our knowledge) the best mechanic in the wasteland with it..why..well because he is mad max, to stupid to use the weapons he still have left to finish the war rig off with...sigh
The end felt 'forced' to me and the same did the death of both hope and glory..I I did figure it would probably pan out like that in the end, but it just felt weird and forced. Especially because I just made such an effort to save the little girl (who in the notes understands how to survive and hide) but fails to hide from Scrotus...
In short, I knew they would probably die, but it felt forced, like they needed and 'end' where they all died so when I finally had everything maxed I would loose it and move on..

[Biohazard]

Poor Chumbucket. Man, he didn't deserved that. :(
I can handle the girl and the woman dying, but Chum, man. WHY?

By the way, what happened to the dog? I didn't saw him in the last scenes. :|

[Dfeeds]

It didn't make much sense, but prior to that he did almost drive off of a cliff to commit suicide. I don't think he picked the car over the girls; I think Max just prefers to be alone because he believes anyone he gets close to will be killed. The irony being that he could have prevented their deaths by not leaving. He already blames himself for the death of his family (shown in the dream where he saw his wife and married Hope), and this just sort of tipped him over the edge. All of his visions clearly show that his mind draws parallels between Hope, Glory, and his family. This realization sends him to nearly drive straight off of a cliff, where his survival instincts prevent him at the last second (read his bio, it'll explain this). So he then projects his hate for himself onto chum and scrotus (chum having sold out hope and glory).

By the end of the fight, he really just wants to wash his hands of the whole thing. Using the MO with chum to kill scrotus is like three birds with one stone. I think this is shown again when he gets into the interceptor and leaves the snow globe on the ground. It's easier to pretend that none of it happened, and remain alone, than come to terms with any of it.

[Budoshi]

Originally posted by Dfeeds:

It didn't make much sense, but prior to that he did almost drive off of a cliff to commit suicide. I don't think he picked the car over the girls; I think Max just prefers to be alone because he believes anyone he gets close to will be killed. The irony being that he could have prevented their deaths by not leaving. He already blames himself for the death of his family (shown in the dream where he saw his wife and married Hope), and this just sort of tipped him over the edge. All of his visions clearly show that his mind draws parallels between Hope, Glory, and his family. This realization sends him to nearly drive straight off of a cliff, where his survival instincts prevent him at the last second (read his bio, it'll explain this). So he then projects his hate for himself onto chum and scrotus (chum having sold out hope and glory).

By the end of the fight, he really just wants to wash his hands of the whole thing. Using the MO with chum to kill scrotus is like three birds with one stone. I think this is shown again when he gets into the interceptor and leaves the snow globe on the ground. It's easier to pretend that none of it happened, and remain alone, than come to terms with any of it.

well said that in short what the devs wanted for a ending , they clearly didnt wanted an happy ening so thats the best they came out with, but its still boring ending ,you thought someone would jump on the chance that a beautiful women in the whole wastland wants you for some reasons, but no, not max , that and a little girl want you as family right soon after you lost your own and just dont care..? that would be mad well i guess he hes mad after all at any rate... But the only possible fix for hes internal sorrow and madness would be just that those two to fix what he lost, hes dead wive even said it in hes dream and he chosed to ignore it letting it go...for a crappy ending that felt very much bad writing. but that s my opinion some may thing it was brilliant although i failed to see why anyone would.

[Fr0zZy]

I think, if we for deeper, we can find some interesting answers. I like that parallel between griffa and glory guardian. Also, why you forget about max vision, where man with dinki id's head (anubis?) married max and hope?
Personally, I was disappointed about story missions. Ok, I'm here, in gastown, rdy to wreck everyone for holy "V8" grail... But no, go, drive around the map few times, before the game let you to. My point is: story need some more missions in other areas, before arriving to gastown.
And in the end you get iconic jacket (which is good) and iconic shotgun, which is pretty useless: 2 barrels, low power - what the point of it?

[milllo]

I thought the ending was epic. The photo he put on the dashboard was so touching. The girl and her child were a possibility, yes, but even they were killed. At the end, all he has are the memories of his family.

[Elder Drake]

Thinking more on it I see the ending as a shock value hit. They build up the promise of Max and a better future with Griffa giving pep talks on salvation, his wife telling him to get it right, a beautiful woman and child wanting him, a choice to save said child or leave but opting to save her and then...bam, insta dead.

The abruptness is a shock move and all I see is a quick nonsensical setup to lead into a low blow to make you feel Max's pain all the more. Instead it comes off as cheap and shallow which is a shame because I had fun playing the game. I would have been happier with Max simply saying "nope, not for me. I go it alone" to the woman and girl and driving off than this half baked killing to get a cheap emotional rise.

I think also that games have the potential to break movie molds. We see games leaning more and more to making your decisions have an impact. You play their story but you also play your own version of that person within it. Give two options, a typical Mad Max ending and a hard to get variation that reflect your choices. Not this mess but...again my last .02 on it.

[Syntax Error]

This story supposedly comes before Fury Road so it sort of felt cheap, as though they knew they'd have to reboot at the end -- Max starts Fury Road alone with the Interceptor, no Chumbucket, no Hope or glory, etc. He even leaves the snowglobe behind. It's like they had to wipe the slate clean to set up for the film.

I knew that Max couldn't end the game by settling down or anything but the way they did it felt forced and, as mentioned, nonsensical in places. Max could have just as easily ditched Hope & Glory and lost the MO in some final battle where he reclaims the Interceptor and thus had reason to leave Chum (who stays behind to rebuild the MO or something). I can't say I was too attached to any of the characters but the way of ending it felt gratuitous.

[The doctor is in]

the ending is just like the ending in all the movies

mad max either does not make it or walks away

else its over and it cant be over while they are still raking in the money making movies and selling games

want a different ending, go watch the postman

this on the other hand is mad max, and there is reason why they call him mad max, he's out of his mind, no cure, only death will set him free of what drives him insane. he's sort of wounded hunted soul who roams the wastelands trying to run away from his past.

[Kain]

The only problem is how Chum got killed, it was so out of character it didn't even make any sense, even for a character that is mad, no Max of any movie would have done that. But then again ,the game had terrible writting from the start, the whole story was rubbish, the gameplay was the only good part.

[The doctor is in]

good point they could have killed off chum or had him part ways with max in other ways. that sure was giant mistake, way out of character.

[Thipp]

The game ends where Fury Road begins. Max alone with his interceptor. No Chumbucket, no Hope and Glory, no dog, no Magnum Opus. The game is set shortly before Fury Road and takes place in the same region, anyone who expected a happy ending where Max either settled down or took his companions with him has obviously never seen a Mad Max film and especially not seen Fury Road.

[Kain]

No one expected a happy ending, at least I didn't, my problem is with the inconsistencies with the character actions. Hell, I stole from old people in This Was of Mine, so I can handle sadness. Bad writing that's another thing entirely.