The ending to the game is incredibly frusterating because it's so dumb

[Fake Name]

I really enjoyed this game right up to the last section, which annoys the crap out of me because it's so spectacularly stupid.


You have two options:

- Don't shoot them, and let them deactivate/kill(?) TOM
- Do shoot them.

The problem is the choice is pointless. Apparently humanity has reached the point we can mount *manned* expeditions to Europa. Does TOM actually think killing this *one* expedition is going to prevent anyone from ever going to Europa again? For that matter, from context, I assume that people on earth know about the team's discovery, which implies that somehow the ISA both knows there's something on Europa that looks a lot like it could lead to immortality, and they're both keeping it completely secret *and* somehow able to block ALL future expeditions there.

Unless the ISA is a completely totalitarian organization that controls EVERYTHING, *someone* is going to notice that the expedition vanished, which will lead to further questions and presumably a second expedition. Additionally with the size of the team on most space-related scientific pursuits, it's completely unreasonable to assume that the ISA would even be *able* to keep something as incredibly important as possible ♥♥♥♥ing immortality secret without the previous complete control of the entire earth.

So basically, your options are let the virus get to earth immediately (because the "scientists" on Europa are idiots and want to return NOW, damn the consequences), or let the virus get to earth in the near future (when follow up missions occur).

Additionally, the game never ♥♥♥♥ing addressed the *interesting* thing it's NAMED AFTER, which is the question of whether TOM is actually sentient. You know, the whole point of the ♥♥♥♥ing Turing test. There wasn't even any *consideration* from anyone on the crew that this AI/MI entity that's managing their expedition sure seems pretty damn sentient. I'd hope that freaking scientists would be willing to consider the possibility of non-human sentience. But Nope, "it's a computer, it's not a person". What do they think people are? People are meat computers.

Gah.

Anyways, ranty rant due to being super frustrated by the ending after finishing the game, and having no non-idiotic options.

[Hemmis]

I agree, I thought the game would focus on the turing test and sentience but it just turns into the trolley problem instead. Even ignoring the fact that the expedition to Europa isn't a completely one off mission that couldn't be done again by someone other than the ISA and the ISA would have to cover up the discovery and lie about what happend to the crew, this isn't even a good example of the trolley problem because it gets simplyfied down to the point of "kill two people or potentially everyone on earth".

The "scientists" are so unsympathetic characters, they don't even consider the potential devistating consequences of brining the virus to earth? They are either the most unprofessional selfish scientists ever or the dumbest people to be sent to space. The senario is just unbelievable. The ISA was the ones that told TOM to make sure the team couldn't return to earth, am I supposed to believe that these scientists would risk killing everyone on earth because the virus maybe could lead to immortality, which would also be very bad for earth? If earths population becomes immortal we are going to have a whole new set of problems relating to overpopulation, like extreme resource scarcity, it's just an incredibly dumb moral dilemma they present.

I shot Ava and Sarah before they even got in the door of the control room.

[Hemmis]

Originally posted by tℨopc:

So that makes two. Can't win them all.

Quite sure many (maybe most) games have endings that someone doesn't like. Some are definitely not likeable, but can't do anything about it. Can't unplay it.

Well, it is just an opinion. Most games I have played with "moral dilemma" choice endings have been with a more even split of pros and cons than I felt The Turing Test had. To me it just seemed vastly in favor of the "shoot them" option, there didn't seem to be any pros in letting them live. The trolley problem is just done so poorly here imo.

[defiler0]

Originally posted by Fake Name:

The problem is the choice is pointless.

Apart from being pointless from plot's perspective, it was pointless from player's perspective. Both endings give you “Congratulations! You have passed the Turing test!”: if you act as a “human” and if you act as a “machine”. In e.g. The Talos Principle, if you obey the “machine”, you get bad ending with “FAILED” message and have to start over again. But here it turns out that in both cases you/TOM was “human”! And this is pushed on TOM by making it act so out of character, that I was flabbergasted. If you do nothing, TOM devolves into a whiny scared kid that just begs for mercy (after telling about how much of infallible authority it is throughout the whole game and holding a lethal weapon in the ending scene); if you act and kill the rebels, TOM devolves into oblivious scared kid, pleading the dead body to wake up (again, after telling about that some crew member is inaccessible because of death — Chinese Room or not, but TOM was clearly intelligent enough to know what death is).

I'm not a senior writer, but I think the ending would be much better, if TOM still acted in character, and the player had to actively pass “the Turing test”. If player took no action, TOM should kill rebels at the moment “control” switches to the gun and only player's input (by switching between different TOM's cameras faster than TOM does or taking other actions that prevented TOM from taking “control” of the gun) would lead to ending where rebels are spared. Being a “human” part of TOM that makes it pass the Turing test would be a fitting culmination for the whole meta-setup.

But what we get in the end is that there was no test. You can't fail. And the whole setup seems wasted because of that.

[Gweihir]

The end was sort-of a disappointment, I agree. But the whole is still a great game.

[Hate Bear]

I find it amusing that people think the THICC atmosphere in the beginning = actually at Europa. It's more likely that the whole thing is some sort of twisted psychology experiment that's ridiculously elaborate or something, and that's over the top of all of the questions you're actually presented with. I give it props for being that deep.

[moshiwakeda]

My ending was different. As soon as I gained control of the weapon I started shooting at the door. It was very obvious to them that I was shooting the door, yet they still chose to walk into the line of fire.
Kind of weird that they would commit suicide but oh well, at least I didn't have to make that choice

[Hexalotte]

Yes the end was not good