17 Video Games Where You Actually Get To Play As The Villain
Vote up the best games where you get to be the bad guy.
- 1708 VOTES
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Rampage is an arcade classic. The concept is simple: You're a giant monkey, lizard, or wolf and your job is to climb buildings and beat them to rubble. Flying helicopters and planes come at you a la King Kong, and the only way to regain strength is to eat humans. Yes, after smushing cop cars into dust and playing ping pong with a commuter train, the only way to keep your path of destruction going is to eat helpless citizens of this terrifying world.
Rampage is a lot darker than you remember it, but it's so much fun.
- Released: Jan 01 1986
- Developer: Midway Games, Bally Midway Manufacturing Co., Inc.
- Platform: Apple II, Atari 7800, Game Boy Advance, TRS-80 Color Computer, Atari ST
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- #500 of 842 onThe 100+ Best Video Games Of All Time, Ranked By Fans
- #17 of 108 onThe Best Classic Arcade Games
- #131 of 157 onThe Best Nintendo Games, Ranked
- 21,093 VOTES
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God of War came along at just the right time for the PS2, breathing life back into the console brawler genre. Kratos, the main character, is sold to players as the anti-hero in a narrative based on pseudo-Greek mythology, but he seems pretty villainous no matter which way you slice it. The franchise squeezed out a bunch of sequels and spin-off games, and PS4 owners are waiting for the new entry with bated breath.
Gamers just can't enough of the visceral joy Kratos provides.
- Released: 2005
- Developer: SCE Santa Monica Studio
- Platform: PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita
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- #21 of 596 onSony PlayStation 2 Games: List of PS2 Console Games
- #12 of 163 onThe Best Video Game Franchises of All Time
- 3715 VOTES
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The entire GTA franchise is centered around pulling off professional hits, robbing stores, and being kind of a jerk. The central characters in the fourth and fifth installment aren't completely bad dudes and are often left with difficult choices. But in GTA III, they didn't fill out the protagonist, Claude, so much as let you write his story. He doesn't speak or make too many noises outside of a wayward grunt here and there whenever he gets run over.
There are specific mission objectives and milestones you need to hit for the game to progress, but every terrible decision you make is your own.
- Released: Nov 01 2003
- Developer: Rockstar North, Rockstar Vienna
- Platform: iPad, PlayStation 2, Microsoft Windows, Xbox, iPhone
More Grand Theft Auto III- #4 of 596 onSony PlayStation 2 Games: List of PS2 Console Games
- #128 of 842 onThe 100+ Best Video Games Of All Time, Ranked By Fans
- #157 of 221 onThe 220+ Most Compelling Video Game Storylines Ever
- 4549 VOTES
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Developer Radical released the open-world action adventure game Prototype in 2009, thinking that a cannibalistic scientist made for a good hero. But, any angry nerd that consumes humans and then shapeshifts into other people like a silly rip-off of John Carpenter's The Thing isn't so much a hero as someone you'd like to stay far away from.
Ultimately, the developers recognized the evil leanings and so Protoype protagonist Alex Mercer played the villain in Prototype 2, by basically acting the exact same way.
- Released: 2009
- Developer: Radical Entertainment
- Platform: Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 4
More Prototype - 5415 VOTES
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The whole series leans into being a bad guy, but Vito Scaletta, the protagonist of Mafia II, is a fully developed villain. The cutscenes and cinematics are the best in the series, and the storytelling is as vibrant as it gets. Sure, Scaletta's backstory is full of familiar tropes, but the action is tight and the cover system combat is really rewarding.
- Released: Aug 24 2010
- Developer: 2K Czech
- Platform: Personal computer, PlayStation 3, Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360
More Mafia II- #43 of 498 onSony PlayStation 3 Games: List of PS3 Console Games
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- 6464 VOTES
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- Saints Row
- Volition
The original Saints Row came out of nowhere, quickly becoming a critical hit and a commercially successful franchise. While the first game focused on pretty standard tropes, the series ultimately found its niche by going completely bonkers and way into the absurd with aliens, over-the-top jokes, and absolute silliness.
But the early Saints releases tried to stay a little closer to grittiness and realism, and the town of Stilwater was a virtual playground for mayhem.
- Released: 2006
- Developer: Volition
- Platform: Xbox 360
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- #87 of 163 onThe Best Video Game Franchises of All Time
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- 7497 VOTES
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Shadow of the Colossus is often considered a prime example of "video games as art" because of its visual style and intense atmospheric ambiance. You play Wander, a boy on a mission to save the love of his life, Mono. Dormin, the evil spirit, tells Wander that he can save Mono if he defeats the 16 Colossi. As the game progresses and each Colossus is wiped out, the game becomes more and more somber in tone and ambiance.
Players never know the true role of each character in the game, but it appears that Wander took out 16 innocent creatures and was responsible for the release of Dormin's evil spirit because he was too busy trying to resurrect a person who already has a "cursed fate." Sorry, Wander, but you're actually the villain.
- Released: 2005
- Developer: Team Ico
- Platform: PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2
- #81 of 842 onThe 100+ Best Video Games Of All Time, Ranked By Fans
- #71 of 314 onEvery Major RPG Video Game, Ranked
- #18 of 209 onThe Best Video Game Soundtracks of All Time
- 8408 VOTES
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Overlord is a third-person action adventure where you play a resurrected warrior called the Overlord (obviously). You are tasked with destroying the seven corrupt ruling powers, the very same people who were responsible for your mentor's demise. Along with your axe and sword-swinging abilities, you have a large group of minions to do your bidding.
And while you are sold as an anti-hero, you also have something called a "corruption meter" that rates your extra-curricular evil-doing. Depending on how bad you are, different abilities and spells unlock, and it can even change the narrative and outcome of the game ending.
- Released: Jan 01 2007
- Developer: 4J Studios, Triumph Studios
- Platform: Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3
- 9339 VOTES
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The brilliant minds behind Grand Theft Auto also released the purely evil Manhunt. You play James Earl Cash, a prisoner on death row who is forced to participate in grisly films in exchange for his freedom and for the life of his family.
Each "scene" forces you to commit a terrible act, and the difficulty ramps up pretty quickly as the game progresses.
- Released: Nov 18 2003
- Developer: Rockstar North
- Platform: Xbox, PlayStation 2, Microsoft Windows
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- 10217 VOTES
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Wario was the first antagonist after Bowser in the Super Mario series since its inception. Wario first appeared as the main villain in the Gameboy classic SuperMarioLand 2, originally pitched as the Bluto to Mario's Popeye. The folks at Nintendo loved Wario so much that they made him the protagonist of SuperMarioLand 3, where he continued on his quest to have a castle of his own (since he failed in SuperMarioLand 2) in a platforming treasure hunt adventure.
- Released: Jan 01 1998
- Developer: Nintendo, Nintendo Research & Development 1
- Platform: Game Boy, Game Boy Color
- 11194 VOTES
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Command & Conquer is one of the premier franchises in the RTS genre, but never before have they truly leaned into evil the way they did in C&C: Generals. You can choose between three factions to play: The United States, China, and the Global Liberation Army (an obvious nod to Al Qaeda). Disturbingly, the game sort of predicted the birth of ISIS.
- Released: Feb 10 2003
- Developer: EA Los Angeles
- Platform: Nintendo 64, Macintosh, Microsoft Windows
- 12199 VOTES
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Black & White is a god game from the God of god games, Peter Molyneux. He took pieces of his previous games, Populous and Dungeon Keeper, and melded them into this masterpiece. While you play an all-powerful God that's never seen, your personality and behavior are reflected in your animal minion. If you decide to be a malevolent force to the world, your avatar reflects that as it changes in appearance.
The music gets spookier, the temples start filling with spikes, and you are forced to exert your influence through acts like fireball storms and boulders to terrorize your followers into submission.
- Released: Mar 25 2001
- Developer: Lionhead Studios
- Platform: Personal computer, Macintosh, Microsoft Windows
More Black & White- #644 of 842 onThe 100+ Best Video Games Of All Time, Ranked By Fans
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- 13214 VOTES
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The term "going postal" was a favorite in the 1990s, referring to the frequent occurrences of active or formal postal workers going berserk. Developer Running With Scissors thought making a game based on the concept would be a hit with the public, and they were right. You play a schizophrenic who was evicted from his home and believes that the local Air Force base is trying to take out the population.
There's a disturbing school sequence, but, luckily your arms don't work and you wake up in a mental institution. Believe it or not, they made a sequel to this insanity, and Uwe Boll crapped out a terribly forgettable B-movie using the same license.
- Released: 1997
- Developer: Running With Scissors, Inc., RWS, Inc.
- Platform: PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, PC, Macintosh
- 14190 VOTES
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Party Hard is considered a stealth action game, but it's really all about quietly offing people at a party and getting away with it. Pinokl Games created a simple, yet challenging concept, and while the critics were lukewarm on the game as a whole, it has a great sense of humor and is worth the few short hours it takes to complete. Besides tossing cadavers into freezers and dumpsters, you also get sweet power ups and disguises to help throw the cops off the scent. The best part of the game is getting to live out your favorite Scream fantasy, only maybe with a little less Skeet Ulrich.
- 15157 VOTES
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Even though GoldenEye isn't at the top of the James Bond movie list, there's no denying that it's the only Bond entry worth a crap in the video game universe. Sadly, the narrative here is pretty awful - your protagonist's name is GoldenEye because of his, um, golden eye. He is an ex-MI6 agent that double crosses his old mates, becoming a puppet of Auric Goldfinger, tasked with taking out legendary Bond villains like Dr. No and Xenia Onatopp. It's even stupider than it sounds and the critics really didn't like this game all that much, either.
- Released: Nov 22 2004
- Developer: DICE Los Angeles, EA Tiburon, n-Space
- Platform: Nintendo DS, GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox
- 16192 VOTES
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Hatred got a boatload of media attention early in development given its subject matter. In reality, the game is pretty mediocre, and there isn't much of a plot. You'll definitely be feeling the villain vibe, as the developers deliver on their promise of gruesome and disturbing scenes surrounding your character.
- 17159 VOTES
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Braid is one of the most brilliant puzzle platformer games you'll ever play. It really set the whole indie game scene ablaze when it was released in 2008. Underneath the charming art style and confounding time-shifting mechanics lies a pretty dark story about Tim, the protagonist of the game. What appears to be a simple case of a hero trying to save a princess quickly evolves into a monster tale where you're the villain, and your long lost love can't run away from you fast enough.
- Released: Aug 06 2008
- Developer: Hothead Games, Number None, Inc.
- Platform: OS X, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Macintosh, GNU/Linux
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