Mass Effect 2

Like the old saying goes: "In space, no good deed goes unpunished."

Or maybe I'm mixing my aphorisms. Still, you'd be hard-pressed to come up with a more compact summation of Mass Effect 2's overriding ethos. See, when last I teamed up with Commander Yukiko Shepard of the SSV Normandy, she'd just saved all sentient life in the Milky Way from a vast, intergalactic threat. Thanks to her unflagging sense of ethics, she made the difficult choice to sacrifice human lives and resources and protect the Galactic Council, outer space's xenophobic ruling body. The Council's response? They ignored Shepard's warnings of a greater threat, sent her off to deal with trivial non-issues in far space, and even revoked her credentials once things hit the fan. That's gratitude for you.