There are so many games that let you have the choice between being good or evil, and a great many more that make you the hero of your own story.
However, there aren’t nearly enough games that put you in the shoes of someone who is deliberately evil. Well, there are a few games whose protagonists might hang a bit in the balance, but I wouldn’t really count them as forcing you to be evil.
This list looks at the top eight games where you’re forced to be evil, not a scene that places the main character in an evil light, or a game where you can do a few bad things. The order of the games in this list is according to how evil or immoral you have to be to truly experience the game as it was intended.
8
Hitman Franchise
IO Interactive | A Necessary Evil
The Hitman franchise is on this list because I like to think of Agent 47 as evil in the context of being okay with killing other people, regardless of what he considers right and wrong. However, I also placed it pretty low on the list because I understand that he is a necessary evil.
Throughout the franchise, Agent 47 is tasked with assassinating various people in different ways, oftentimes doing so subtly and discreetly. However, that part can truly be up to the player. If you truly want to take down a target in the most brutal way possible, then go for it. This is especially so in the more recent installments.
However, even if you’re kind in your takedown and do it Tony Soprano-style, without any pain, then I still consider that to be pretty evil.
7
Tyranny
Obsidian Entertainment | A High-Ranking Officer of Death’s Power Structure
Tyranny by Obsidian Entertainment is featured because you are quite literally playing as a ranked officer in an evil conqueror’s power structure. After the overlord Kyros has conquered the world, it’s up to you to go around and help restore order.
Of course, the many places you’ll go and people you’ll encounter won’t take very kindly to your being there. However, your response to them and all decisions made will affect everything from which companions you travel with to what spells and abilities you can choose from.
I also find it incredibly interesting that instead of being a random Joe-Schmo who was asked to go on this journey, you’re an important officer whose presence and authority shake the nerves of those before you.
6
Destroy All Humans Franchise
Pandemic Studios | It’s All in the Name
In Destroy All Humans, you’re, well, destroying all humans. You play as an evil alien who drops onto Earth in the 50s, tasked with taking down the US government and annihilating the humans within. Despite the horror behind the concept, the games have a humorous approach, making the evil much more palatable than some other games listed here.
Sure, you’re pulling people’s brains out of their noses, blowing up buildings, and listening to the blood-curdling screams of humans, but it’s all in the name of ensuring that this insanely aggressive alien species can breed! Wait… maybe I’ve been brainwashed by these otherworldly dudes.
It’s incredibly silly and reminds me a lot of Stubbs the Zombie, making death and destruction less important than how it’s actually executed.
5
Dead By Daylight
Behaviour Interactive | Forces You to Kill
Dead by Daylight by Behaviour Interactive is on this list because you are quite literally playing as a killer. Well, if you’re chosen to play as one for that round.
The game is an asymmetrical multiplayer title that pits survivors against a bloodthirsty killer with the intent of escaping unscathed. At this point in its run, Behaviour Interactive has implemented tons of DLC that put characters from your favorite horror franchises in the heat of the battle.
So, if you don’t think that quite literally putting on Ghostface’s mask or swinging Pyramid Head’s cleaver at a few innocent people isn’t considered evil, then I’m not really sure what is.
4
Grand Theft Auto Franchise
Rockstar | No Moral Choices
While the Grand Theft Auto franchise doesn’t necessarily put you in the position of an evil person, it definitely turns off your sense of morality. In every game, you’re essentially required to kill someone, with various other casualties happening along the way, many of whom are seemingly innocent people.
There was a time in gaming retail when children would tell their parents that they only wanted a Grand Theft Auto game so they could drive the cars and explore the world. But, in reality, we all wanted to rack up a wanted level and pick up a hooker in our downtime. It was the 2000’s, anything went back then.
The games also tend to have various characters that exhibit different sides of what evil can be in the real world, which, personally, is actually pretty terrifying.
3
Carrion
Phobia Game Studio | Consume Those Who Have Wronged You
The description for Carrion quite literally describes it as a reverse horror game where you take on the role of a shapeless thing that is set on attacking those who wronged you. If you were made to be feared and then imprisoned, you’d probably be pretty aggressive as well.
Using 2D pixel graphics and platforming gameplay, you’ll sort of slush around between hallways and rooms as a massive red blob to reach your slimy tentacles out and gorge yourself on the humans you come across.
There is a lot of gore and guts paired with the gameplay, so it might not be up everyone’s alley. However, it does a great job at using this vibe to its advantage, spreading fear in a way that other games haven’t really explored before.
2
Overlord
Triumph Studios | Control Evil Goblin Minions
Approaching the tippy-top of the evil stakes is Overlord by Triumph Studios. As the name suggests, you are quite literally an overlord whose actions impact not just the world but also how corrupt you can truly become.
As an evil overlord, you’ll control minions to try and steal, intimidate, smash, and kill everything in your path. It reminds me a lot of the Fable franchise in its humor and corruption features, but the choices you make are pretty much between evil and eviler.
Despite the choices you make resulting in different possible endings, they all revolve around the theme of ‘evil will always find a way,’ with none of them being good for anyone else aside from you as overlord.
1
Plague Inc: Evolved
Ndemic Creations | Unleash Chaos on the World
What’s more evil than controlling a plague to spread across the world and kill as many people as possible? I mean, it’s not like anything even remotely similar has ever happened in this lifetime…
You are quite literally in a battle against all of humanity, with the main goal of extinguishing them permanently from the face of the Earth. It’s not nearly as gory as Carrion, though Plague Inc: Evolved brings forward the harsh reality of serious public health topics while disguising it as a fun game.
I put Plague Inc at the very top of this list because I feel that there is nothing more evil than playing as an unseen, viral sickness that has the potential of wiping out the whole world.
