Most video games these days feature you playing as a heroic savior who must do whatever it takes to save the day and do the right thing. Game developers believe that’s the kind of role players enjoy. However, every so often, we see a game appearing out of nowhere that lets the hate flow through you and lets you embrace the role of being bad.
Even though these titles flip the entire hero narrative, they’re just as fun, if not even more. So, let’s take a look at 10 video games that prove that playing as a villain is incredibly fun!
10. Carrion
Carrion. (Image via Devolver Digital)
Let’s start our list with Carrion. This is a game where, instead of running from the monster, you’re actually the monster. You play as a red blob who has tentacles and must do whatever it takes to escape any facility.
Whoever tries to stop you, including the likes of soldiers, scientists, and security, will really regret their actions. Carrion is called “reverse” horror because you’re the fear that everyone is terrified of. You’re not some noble creature but a mindless human hunting beast.
9. InFamous Second Son
InFamous Second Son. (Image via PlayStation)
Next up on the list is InFamous Second Son. Throughout this action-adventure game, you might think that your decisions will shape whether you become good or evil.
However, the truth is that whether you take the good route or full chaos, you’re still a menace who is wreaking havoc on the streets of Seattle and taking matters into your own hands. Most games don’t make it clear if you’re taking a dark path, but in InFamous Second Son, there’s really no question.
8. Hitman Series
Hitman: World of Assassination. (Image via IO Interactive)
Do we even need to explain why the Hitman series belongs on this list? You play as Agent 47, who has been engineered to be an emotionless assassin whose entire life goal is to slip in, eliminate a target, and disappear.
Even when you’re going out against world-ending threats, it doesn’t change the fact that you are a cold killer. Agent 47 murders for money, follows his orders without thinking twice, and takes out countries from the inside. He isn’t the guy who saves the world, but still makes for fun games.
7. Assassin’s Creed Rogue
Assassin’s Creed Rogue. (Image via Ubisoft)
If you’ve played Assassin’s Creed for years, you already know about the formula. It’s the Assassins against the Templars. The Assassins are always painted on the right side of things, except in Assassin’s Creed Rogue. Here, you’re on the other side as you play as the Templar.
You play as Shay Patrick Cormac, who was once a part of the Templars, but now he’s a defector. The game explains how he fights against his former allies, and why the Templars were right all along. You’re still a cryptic, suit-wearing, cult-like figure who operates outside the law.
6. Destroy All Humans! 2 Reprobed
Destroy All Humans! 2 Reprobed. (Image via THQ Nordic)
Destroy All Humans! 2 Reprobed is another one of those games where you’re celebrated as a villain. You play as an alien invader whose only goal is to cause chaos, obliterate humans, and turn Earth into your very own playground.
Although things are a bit calmer in the remake, as you travel to multiple locations across the globe while fighting against the KGB, you’re still a force of evil. You have tons of weapons and abilities to destroy those humans.
5. Mafia II
Mafia II. (Image via 2k)
Mafia II is a great example of a game that slowly puts you into the life of a villain. It doesn’t automatically portray Vito Scaletta as a ruthless criminal, but instead shows his gradual descent into the world of organized crime.
You see his start as a World War II soldier who isn’t evil but is trying to survive. However, everything turns once he returns home. Eventually, he becomes committed to a life of crime and does whatever it takes to rise to the top. His journey becomes dark, and his choices lead him down a path of becoming a mobster.
4. Prototype 2
Prototype 2. (Image via Firstplays HD)
In the Prototype game, you play as a hero. However, things change in the sequel altogether. You become U.S Marine Sergeant James Heller, a man who is entirely consumed by revenge because he loses his family to the deadly virus that our old protagonist, Alex Mercer, kicked off.
Heller genuinely doesn’t care about anything; he wants blood and wants to bring down Mercer, doing whatever it takes to bring this madness to fruition.
3. Untitled Goose Game
Untitled Goose Game. (Image via Panic)
Now, Untitled Goose Game isn’t your typical villain game. There’s no blood, no violence, and nobody dies. However, there’s something truly evil about everything you do. You’re not a mobster or an assassin, you’re just a small goose who is doing whatever it takes to terrorize their neighborhood.
Sure, it might seem like harmless pranks at first, but trapping a kid in a phone booth or sabotaging other people’s day makes you a villain. You’re not helping anything but causing mayhem for the sake of it.
2. God of War series
God of War. (Image via Sony)
Let’s be honest, while Kratos in God of War (2018) and Ragnarok is portrayed as a man seeking redemption, the earlier games tell a very different story. In the original titles, Kratos isn’t some kind of hero; he’s a force of rage who rips through armies and slaughters everything that stands in his way.
Before the 2018 game, Kratos was a clear villain and bad news. He protected people wherever he went, but by the midpoint of the first game, he started cutting through everything for vengeance.
1. The Last of Us Part II
The Last of Us Part II. (Image via PlayStation)
And finally, there’s The Last of Us Part II, especially the part you play as Abby. First, you play as Ellie, who is haunted by vengeance and must break her way through soldiers and survivors in a world where morality has long since ceased to exist.
The WLF is framed as your enemy, which is violent and must be taken down. However, halfway through the game, you step into the shoes of Abby, who is another WLF member, and fight the people who are Ellie’s friends. Instead of fighting the primary antagonistic force, you all of a sudden become a part of it, and kill people who are Ellie’s friends.
With that said, what’s your favorite game where you play as a villain? Let us know in the comments below.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
