Many video games play into a fantasy of being the hero, the savior, the one who brings balance to the world and beats the bad guys. But there are also an increasing number of games that give you the opportunity to experience the complete opposite end of that, sometimes to a dizzying degree. There's a reason why many people struggle to complete a Baldur's Gate 3 full evil run, as developers have started adding some pretty dark options into games.
10 Best Open-World Games Focusing on Player Morale and Consequences, Ranked
Many games force players to make difficult decisions, but these open world games are full of difficult moral choices and dire consequences.
Still, one has to respect the games that offer this kind of freedom of choice, especially when the evil paths are well developed, with real consequences and as much depth as the good paths. If you're not afraid to unleash the worst version of yourself, try these open-world games with plenty of room for evil deeds.
Watch Dogs 2
Hero or psychopath, you choose
While Watch Dogs 2 can end with non-lethal combat all the way through, there's a whole other world out there for those who prefer to deviate from the path of a hero and see Marcus turn into a murderous scamp on the loose, as non-canonical as that may seem.
As a hacker, the game has some pretty fun things you can do: hack into people's accounts and steal their money, taze or fatally shoot random civilians, start fistfights, remotely blow up things like water pipes, and so on. And don't worry, if you get caught, you can hack into the emergency call that NPCs make to interrupt them.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2
Let Henry's reputation sink
A bit like the systems seen in Notorious, Fallout: New Vegasand Red Dead Redemption 2Henry's actions and behavior are directly linked to his reputation i Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2. The more you commit crimes, kill innocents and choose negative dialogue options, the lower your reputation will be. And the best part is that these aren't just NPC-specific: people will talk about Henry's behavior, and word of his selfishness will spread.
The best ways to be an absolute threat in the game is to generally act selfishly, either by pressuring NPCs for a little extra pay for a job or by breaking the law. The latter has some cool, different modes, with assassination and theft being the basic chaotic options. That said, you can also run over spectators with your horse to piss them off or attack animals belonging to NPCs. There's a nice depth there, ripe for evil medieval knight roles.
Murderer, cannibal and Nazeem's worst nightmare
Even if Skyrim paints players as the heroic Dragonborn, there are plenty of opportunities to be the exact opposite of that. You can join the Dark Brotherhood and complete contracts, which sometimes have you killing innocent people who simply incur the wrath of another NPC. You can also join the Namira cult in one of the Daedric quests, feasting on the bodies of the dead as a cannibal.
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There are plenty of other hideous choices through various missions, and then there's also the freedom to wreak havoc as you please by simply killing anyone who gets in your way. Tired of Nazeem flapping his mouth? An arrow to his knee is the solution, but be prepared to run from the guards or pay a reward if you're not Thane wherever you commit your crimes.
Rimworld
No need to be a benevolent God
RimWorld has lots of freedom in how players want to proceed. The colony can be a peaceful, happy place that only defends itself, or you can choose something completely hideous and cruel. Just like in The Sims, you can watch your colonists slowly spiral into mental breaks by neglecting their needs and moods.
It gets even worse: you might resort to cannibalism or organ harvesting by kidnapping, just to selfishly keep the best of the best alive? Or maybe it's time to make a few extra bucks and sell some people into slavery. Against brutal raids, players sometimes have to get cruel and creative.
Infamous 1 & 2
Accumulate evil karma
Both Notorious 1 and Notorious 2 has some solid options for unleashing your worst self, and the karmic system shows it. The more horrible actions you perform in the game, the more you accumulate bad karma, which will directly affect Cole's behavior, but also the color of his lightning. NPCs will also react to Cole's presence; the more negative karma you have, so if the idea of being so hated that civilians throw rocks at you sounds appealing, be sure to behave selfishly.
The main way is to forget about minimizing civilian casualties when using your powers, steal shrapnel and make sure all enemies are actually killed, instead of just incapacitated. There are also some specific moments in the games where Cole can be really obnoxious, like bothering innocent street performers who are just trying to do their thing.
Grand Theft Auto 5
Los Santos is your oyster for horrible deeds
GTA 5 is an open-world game that's a lot like a sandbox, and it comes with all the bells and whistles you'd expect from a game like that. Aside from all the horrible things you can do in missions and the main story (like outright torture and betraying your allies), you can crash vehicles, from planes to cars, to your heart's content while taking a few civilian lives in the process.
There's also heists to do, stealing cars in the middle of traffic, fooling around with the police when they catch up to you, and just randomly deciding to open fire or punch someone you don't like the look of. Bonus points for total cruelty if the NPCs happen to be homeless.
Saints Row 2
The more horrible you are, the better
Unlike some other games on this list, Saints Row 2 is built specifically around how awful a player can be. That's the whole point of the game: to cause as much chaos and destruction as possible to gain respect for your gang. In this game, you can go full-on murderous in this game against anyone, and that includes innocent bystanders too, who you can use as literal human shields during your taunts, not just rivals and the police.
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If murdering hobos is too easy for you, don't worry because there are other fun gang activities you can take part in, like robbing businesses or bystanders. The best part is that the world will react accordingly to whatever you choose to do, whether it's crashing a vehicle into civilians on the sidewalk or opening fire in broad daylight.
Red Dead Redemption 2
Be the selfish coyote
Red Dead Redemption 2 weighs the player's actions using an honor system, which affects a lot in the game, from how much loot can be extracted from bodies to vendor prices and even the end of the game. It's a really deep system where you get to shape what kind of man Arthur becomes, and what ultimately happens to the gang.
If you want to be a truly selfish person, be sure not to help any of the game's important characters, such as Sadie Adler or Lenny, during Who the Hell is Leviticus Cornwall? applicant. Just murdering people, stealing, being hostile to random or your own gang members, and even going as far as destroying corpses are great ways to make sure Arthur turns into the most brutal version of himself.
Rust
Everything goes in the name of survival
As a multiplayer game, Rust is the perfect breeding ground for becoming the worst possible version of yourself. Social games always have an extra layer of villainy as real players and their very real progress is destroyed or affected by your actions. There are some truly heinous things you can get up to in this survival game, from tormenting and trapping new players on the server and preventing them from ever moving on to looting peaceful players just for fun.
You can set people back a lot by camping someone or blowing their bases completely to the ground while they're not around. There's even the strategy of playing the long disadvantage of allying with someone, only to turn on them later. Please note that none of this behavior is condoned by GameRant, and may get you banned or banned, depending on the type of server you're on.
Fallout: New Vegas
You are the Mojave Wasteland's Terror
Another great RPG with tons of freedom to do whatever you want with its own karma system, Fallout: New Vegas is a classic open world experience where the sky is the limit. One of the lowest things you can do is side with Caesar's Legion and support slavery to the extent of even selling your companions. This becomes even worse if you have initially been kind to the people of Goodsprings, for example, and then choose to betray them for profit and watch them burn at the hands of raiders.
That's just the tip of the iceberg too. If you seek ultimate power over the entire Mojave Wasteland, you may want to side with the Yes Man and acquire your own army of Securitrons. The sheer chaos and brutality found in the game is truly astounding, and without parallel, and that's without the ability to just outright shoot anyone who gets in the way, steal from others, or even become a cannibal… or call down a deadly, orbital laser, according to a fun mission.
8 Best Open-World Games If You Want to Unleash Chaos, Ranked
If you're looking for a game that lets you wreak havoc and destruction, these open-world titles are perfect options.
