Games where enemies become afraid of you

Important takeaways

• Action games often feature powerful protagonists who cause enemies to react with fear and consternation.
• Games like Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Shadow of War showcase enemies that fear the player's strength.
• Battle Brothers highlights the importance of morale, with enemies fleeing in terror if their morale is low enough.

Whether players are taking down enemies in expansive open-world maps or throwing various pieces of city infrastructure at them in retro beat-em-ups, action is a staple of most video game genres. A lot of the time in action games, especially when the player has reached the mid or late game, players will start to feel stronger and more powerful, stepping through waves of enemies with ease and abandon.

However, many games do not reflect this with their enemies. Hordes of pesky enemies will continue to pounce on the character without a care in the world. However, these games in particular recognize the protagonist as someone of strength and power, having enemies thematically and mechanically that react with fear either at the mere sight of the player alone or through their brutal actions during battle.

5 Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

Humanizes Stormtroopers with fear

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order was a breakout hit upon release, combining masterful lightsaber action with soulful difficulty in an incredibly engaging, tightly focused story. The game was incredibly linear, but it was seen by many as a refreshing change of pace from some of the other standout games of that year that focused more on open worlds with little substance to fill their large maps. the sequel, Jedi survivors, was similarly praised for meeting the high standard set by this title.

IN The Fallen Orderthe stormtroopers are given a strange degree of humanity by the way they react with fear and dismay to Cal Kestis and his uncanny Jedi abilities. While some stormtroopers enter with confidence, many beg for mercy or scream in fear at the sight of Cal's lightsaber and Force abilities.

Enemies will only be aggressive for so long

The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim was a step backwards in some way too Elder scrolls series. While the heavy focus on side quests remained, the game's oversimplification of weapon, magic, and skill systems greatly reduced the variety of builds that previous games were known for. One way it Skyrim But moving forward was the game's graphical and technical fidelity, giving way to much more dynamic NPCs.

If enemies are pushed to their limits during combat, they will crouch and start begging for mercy instead of continuing to fight. This gives the Dragonborn some time to recover if they are low on health, but remember that enemies, even when they are afraid of you, can be provoked again.

3 sleeping dogs

A crime-focused open world title with a twist

sleeping dogs is an underrated title, all things considered. It had the same humor and charm they loved Grand Theft Auto series, albeit in smaller doses to accommodate a completely different story tonally. The setting feels vast and alive, and while this game lets you play as a gangster, there is a very interesting twist in the form of the protagonist being an undercover cop with a personal interest in the unfolding story.

Raising Face XP, one of the three levels players can add experience to, makes the protagonist's movements more brutal and hard-hitting, causing enemies to reel back in fear, instinctively aware of the danger they face.

2 Middle Earth: Shadow Of War

The Light Lord is a fearful figure

Shadow of War takes the inherent mechanics of its predecessor and universally improves upon them all, giving players a deeper nemesis system, better mounting mechanics, more satisfying combat, and a wealth of open-world locations to navigate and explore. The game's satisfying and visceral combat only becomes more so when you see enemies react to Talion's raw strength and speed, acting as the fearsome Bright Lord.

Brutalizing enemies from stealth will cause the uruk to run in fear, but getting particularly brutal finishers on enemies in normal combat or triggering environmental effects like exploding grog barrels or bug nests has a similar effect, overwhelming the Bright Lord's enemies through sheer fear as they all run in terror

1 Battle Brothers

Morale is critical to success

Battle Brothers emerges as a monumentally engaging open-world roguelike, giving players the freedom to develop their band of mercenaries and create legendary fighters through contracts and encounters – or die trying. The game's building system is incredibly expansive and versatile, and a host of innate traits come with each mercenary – or “brother” as they're colloquially called, hired by the player. Some of these traits explicitly affect morale, having brothers who are braver than most or start each battle with confidence, or conversely are more modest than most, and will lose morale faster in battle.

If a player succeeds in combat, cutting through enemies with brutality and taking little damage in the process, enemy units will dynamically reassess the situation and, if their morale is low enough, they will flee in terror from you and your army of terrifying mercenaries.

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