While we all tend to root for good people in fiction, there’s an undeniable appeal in the possibility of embodying a protagonist who breaks the mold of the traditional hero.
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However, sometimes the desire to flirt with the dark side goes beyond simply being a morally ambiguous character; it extends to directly becoming one of the story’s villains.
Even in these circumstances, there’s room to debate what it truly means to be the baddie of a plot, partly because it depends on who you ask, yet this lack of certainty in characterizing actions and stances is what makes certain games fascinating.
I don’t enjoy going around snatching lollipops from children or stealing purses from old ladies, though it’s worthwhile to indulge in the occasional antagonistic experience, which is why I invite you to read this list of eight action adventure games where you’re actually the villain.
You will find spoilers of varying degrees for the games listed in this article.
8
Styx: Master of Shadows
You’re Not Even Real
Goblins have popularly been portrayed as these abject, elusive, selfish, and greedy figures who would do anything to save their own skin, but in Styx: Master of Shadows, this is emphasized like never before.
You are a thief and assassin who goes around sowing terror in a kingdom that, it must be said, is just as tyrannical and reprehensible, but our character’s motivations are always purely personal.
However, the reason for his villainy is revealed in a plot twist at the game’s end, where it turns out we’re just another clone of the real Styx, whose identity we end up usurping and, in the process, actively eliminating the tale’s true protagonist.
Although the plot isn’t the game’s strongest point, it’s a great turn that adds value to Styx: Master of Shadows‘ narrative, which helps give its magnificent stealth mechanics a driving force beyond the game’s overall appeal.
7
BioShock
A Naive Slave
The entire BioShock franchise is riddled with moral, ethical, and even ideological dilemmas that permeate its entire narrative and context, and this also applies to protagonists like Jack, just another pawn in a game that overwhelms him.
Although he isn’t the main antagonist (that title belongs to Frank Fontaine), it’s precisely the supposed Atlas who uses us as his weapon to shoot all his adversaries on his path to the top, without us even stopping to think why.
BioShock highlights how easily players obey the rules imposed by video games, and this is reflected in an apathetic Jack who can harvest Little Sisters, eradicate Splicers, and kill humans without a shred of hesitation.
Of course, in the end, you have a chance to redeem yourself depending on the actions you take throughout the campaign, but it’s quite clear that Jack (and, by extension, the player) is anything but a true hero.
6
Singularity
Worsening the Course of History
Games with multiple timelines are incredibly engaging when well-executed, and I think there’s no better adjective to describe the emotional rollercoaster that is Singularity.
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Since our protagonist’s actions shape the course of history, saving the game’s main antagonist at the story’s beginning allowed a despotic regime to be established across the whole world.
The game allows you to fix the timeline by preventing your past self from saving Dr. Demichev, though you also have the option to simply embrace your wrongdoing and rise as the global ruler.
In any case, the player is the one who enabled this possibility, and while they’re also the one who can undo it, this situation wouldn’t exist without their intervention, making Singularity‘s narrative truly alluring.
5
Silent Hill 2
Perpetrator and Victim
Silent Hill 2 is among those games that love to play with characters’ morality, metaphors, and symbolism, encouraging players to form their own interpretations, and this experience certainly does.
Decades have passed since the original’s release, and yet we still discuss good and evil in relation to what happens in this foggy town, always pointing to James Sunderland as the main culprit.
Being both victim and perpetrator, the protagonist embodies both sides under different identities, but ultimately, he’s both the beginning and the end of the plot. The good stems from his responsibility, as does the bad, because it’s himself he must fight.
Therefore, he’s not only a tormented character, as he can be harshly criticized for how he handled his wife’s final moments, but also because he recognizes himself as Silent Hill 2‘s villain. A true marvel of storytelling, without a doubt.
4
Cry of Fear
Who is Hurting Whom?
Following in the footsteps of Konami’s IP, Cry of Fear is one of the last decade’s most acclaimed indie games for its ability to blur the lines between reality and imagination, delicately creating an immersive world.
Simon, much like James, is a mentally troubled protagonist who has retreated into the cavities of his mind to escape the harshness of truth, which could be both his salvation and his downfall.
Throughout the game, the symmetries and analogies between turbulent fantasy and painful reality are evident to a young man plagued by doubts, which he initially projects onto his psychiatrist but which ultimately manifest as his own alter ego.
Conquering his inner battle is the difference between survival and confinement to eternal darkness, making Cry of Fear a far denser and more mature title than you might initially expect upon playing it.
3
Furi
Intergalactic Colonialism
Imagine entering a game marketed as a stylish boss rush with incredible combat, stunning visuals, and a magnificent soundtrack, only to find yourself confronted with the ruthless colonialist and warlike journey Furi presents.
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From your perspective, you’re just an imprisoned warrior seeking freedom, though in reality, you’re a war machine sent by an intergalactic force tasked with draining life from the planets it occupies.
Little by little, the powerful dialogues with the Architect and the bosses you destroy reveal the facts of your forgotten identity, a truth that gradually permeates the gameplay until reaching an inhuman climax where you are consumed as a murderous beast.
As with the rest of this list, the opportunity to surrender appears at the end, but nothing will erase the trail of blood you’ve left behind. Furi is a superb title in that what it offers on the surface is magnificent, but its deeper layers are what reinforce it as a masterpiece.
2
Katana ZERO
A Tool of War
Speaking of being callous instruments who only know how to carry out the dictates of a figure we don’t bother to question, Katana ZERO transforms us into a devastating ronin who doesn’t hesitate to dismember everyone.
As usual, amnesia prevents us from knowing why we do what we do, for whom, and what the consequences are, although it doesn’t stop us from going around carrying out missions without a murmur.
When you discover you’re indeed a war machine who has committed numerous atrocities in the name of the government, believing you have the illusion of choice but in reality you have been perpetrating a state of terror, you realize you’ve always pointed your katana in the wrong direction.
Are we being used throughout the entire process? Of course, like many of these other villains who are unaware of their horrors, but ignorance is no excuse. Katana ZERO puts you in the shoes of a serial killer and you enjoy it, so you have to accept the responsibility in order to play this masterpiece.
1
Hotline Miami
You Enjoy Violence
It’s no coincidence that I talk about accepting the responsibility for the joy of killing pixels right before closing the list with Hotline Miami, a game composed of extremist factions in which, nevertheless, the worst human being is you.
You go down into each apartment to commit increasingly worse affronts to human dignity simply because phone calls tell you to, though the game isn’t even addressing Jacket but rather the player themselves.
Breaking the fourth wall, Hotline Miami looks you in the eye and calls you the villain of this story, and you have nowhere to hide. The first time the masks told me I was enjoying it, I felt a tremendous emptiness because, indeed, it felt good to take out those thugs.
Of course, there are more vile organizations pulling the strings in the game’s world, yet our particular experience isn’t about the grand schemes behind the scenes but about our specific life of murder, and we don’t doubt that for a second.
As one of the greatest and most impactful indie games in history, Hotline Miami is the ultimate embodiment of “you are the villain”, and if this work doesn’t make you rethink our relationship with violence in the interactive medium, nothing will.
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