Saving the Princess, avenging our parents and freeing the kingdom is fun. Defeating villains with questionable motivations, lackeys with terrible AIs and footsoldiers is fun. Doing it over and over again is still pretty fun, but every once in a while, playing the bad guy is too.
What are the best games to play as a bad guy?
We don’t mean games where on closer inspection you realise that your hero character is in fact more of a villain to his world, but rather the kinds of games where you make no pre-tense about being good, and instead get to be as unabashedly bad as we all know you sometimes want to be.
Here are the best games that let you play as the villain.
1. God of War Series
This one is probably the best example of this genre – and with good reason. Kratos worked his way up to becoming a god through loyal service and then tries to take over Greece. The other gods aren’t having it so he rebels against them and joins up with the Titans to destroy them.
Yes, they had it coming, and yes the story is a little deeper than that, but in a nutshell you are one angry god out for vengeance against those who wronged you. It’s fun and you’re definitely the bad guy – you’re out against Greek gods after all.
2. Any GTA game
While the characters in these aren’t necessarily straight up evil if you consider evil to be the sort that has a lair and a cat, they are the definition of bad guys – there really isn’t a way to mow down innocent people on the roadside while being the good guy.
The morality of pretty much any character in the games can easily be questioned as there are few if any ‘good’ people – that doesn’t make you, the player, any more of a good person though.
3. Dungeon Keeper
This is a lesser known game and an interesting spin on dungeon-RPGs. It’s your job to run and maintain a dungeon while disposing of invading hero forces. They’re after your treasures, trying to kill your employees aka monsters, and to top it off you get to destroy rival dungeons too.
Your goal is simple: To conquer the world. It doesn’t get much more old-school evil than that, and we love it – along with our protagonist’s strong chin.
4. Manhunt
Generally, it isn’t girl-scouts that end up on Death Row (not even the ones that don’t sell thin mints), so right off the bat we know our guy isn’t the best of people. Specifically, he’s about to receive the lethal injection when he’s offered a way out – he takes it, and in exchange for life has to go on a murder spree.
As you cut your way through gangs, you eventually learn that the guy who helped you out still manages to one-up you when it comes to (relative evilness) – he murders your family. What a bad guy.
5. Overlord Series
As far as we remember, this was one of the first games that really embraced evilness without making excuses for it. You’re an evil overlord, completely with chaotic minions, mounts and a Glorious Empire to smash. The games are a few years old already, but they’re still a great example of the genre – evil laughter included.
6. Evil Genius
While this game isn’t exactly a graphic revolution, it’s pretty fun. You are the titular evil genius and in this game that calls itself a world domination simulator, you try to achieve just that. In addition to the fun conquering you also have to deal with the everyday tasks of evil – don’t worry though, there is evil-base building and super-weapon developing to balance it out.
You get to train minions in things like heavy weapon usage and international sabotage – what’s not to love?
7. Black & White
Here you have the option to be good or evil, and one is definitely a little more fun than the other. If you decide to be good, you do your very best to please your people who in return do little but nag…if, however, instead you decide to be evil, you can strike fear into their hearts and force them to sacrifice themselves to you out of fear.
It’s an easy choice really. Your creature and the hand you use to play change appearance (not your real hand, don’t worry) depending on your moral choices – after all, to be evil you have to look the part.
8. Prototype
Prototype’s Alex Mercer is a powerful shape-shifter that wakes up with no memories in New York – shape-shifter bits aside, we’ve had weekends like that. As you use your amazing powers to mow down your opponents, the city is also devastated by the Blacklight plague.
Three guesses as to who spread that in the first place? That’s right, Alex Mercer. Innocent bystanders and plague victims alike are all part of the death toll that you rack up – for one of the most evil protagonists we’ve seen, he’s still pretty sure he’s the hero of his story.
As they say, every villain is a hero in his own mind. Even him. Somehow.
They also say being the bad guy is more fun…