# games where you get to be evil **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [January 17, 2010, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/games-where-you-get-to-be-evil/525316 "2010-01-17T15:03:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pope\_hentai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@pope\_hentai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pope_hentai)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/games-where-you-get-to-be-evil/525316/1 "2010-01-17T15:03:15Z")
was playing “overlord: dark legend” last night ( a game in which you play as an “evil” overlord and defend your kingdom with little goblin minions), and as i defended my populous it dawned on me that the overlord wasn’t really all that evil when it came down to it. there doesn’t seem to be too many games where you are a character that is really evil, aside from possibly “dungeon keeper”, and even then you have to pay minions vs. enslaving them. I guess i’m just wondering… are there any games where you really get to be evil? ---
**Author:** ![tanstaafl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/games-where-you-get-to-be-evil/525316/2 "2010-01-17T15:34:44Z")
[Evil Genius](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evil_Genius_%28video_game%29) maybe? Basically you get to be a James Bond villain. Commit acts of Infamy around the world, build death traps, capture or kill enemy agents, torture prisoners for information, that sort of thing. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/games-where-you-get-to-be-evil/525316/3 "2010-01-17T16:14:22Z")
[Black and White 2?](http://www.amazon.com/Black-White-2-Pc/dp/B0007GBBHI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1263744812&sr=1-1) (and 1) ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/games-where-you-get-to-be-evil/525316/4 "2010-01-17T16:34:48Z")
In Fallout 3 you can choose to be a total shithead. And as already mentioned - Black and White 1 and 2. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/games-where-you-get-to-be-evil/525316/5 "2010-01-17T16:37:12Z")
Saints Row 2 - especially the Brotherhood missions. Even outside of those missions, you’ll soon learn an amusing fact: satchel charges stick to people. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/games-where-you-get-to-be-evil/525316/6 "2010-01-17T17:51:24Z")
_Everquest_ and _Everquest 2_ allowed players to run evil races, and EQ2 had a quest where an evil race could convert to good, or vice versa. WoW doesn’t really have evil races. There are two warring factions, Alliance–humans, dwarves, night elves, gnomes, and the big blue guys vs Horde-Orcs, Trolls, Undead, Blood Elves, and the minotaur-looking guys. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/games-where-you-get-to-be-evil/525316/7 "2010-01-17T18:10:01Z")
Just about any table-top role playing game. (Other players not included.) ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/games-where-you-get-to-be-evil/525316/8 "2010-01-17T19:27:15Z")
I’ve been playing Knights of the Old Republic. The first run through I’m going for the light side, but it’ll be interesting to join the dark side on my next run through. Truthfully though I can’t help wondering if the creators of the game confused “evil” with “nasty”. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/games-where-you-get-to-be-evil/525316/9 "2010-01-17T20:03:18Z")
The Grand Theft Auto series comes to mind. You don’t get more psychopathic than that and you have to play it that way as far as I know. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/games-where-you-get-to-be-evil/525316/10 "2010-01-17T20:14:32Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > The Grand Theft Auto series comes to mind. You don’t get more psychopathic than that and you have to play it that way as far as I know. Well, you don’t _have_ to play it that way, but in _Postal 2_, you can play kickball with severed heads. That you sever yourself. And potentially set on fire. In the middle of the street, surrounded by screaming bystanders. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/games-where-you-get-to-be-evil/525316/11 "2010-01-17T20:37:41Z")
[Fable](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fable_%28video_game%29) and its [sequel](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fable_II). Choosing between making your character good or evil is pretty much the point of the game. There is also The Sims series. It’s more of an “evil deity” that you get to be like in Black and White. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/games-where-you-get-to-be-evil/525316/12 "2010-01-17T22:23:59Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > The Grand Theft Auto series comes to mind. You don’t get more psychopathic than that and you have to play it that way as far as I know. This is one of those games where you just end up casually killing hundreds of people for the heck of it. “Hey, shoot that lady and see what happens?” “That little kid is in the street? Run him over and teach him a lesson…” ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/games-where-you-get-to-be-evil/525316/13 "2010-01-17T22:47:00Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > WoW doesn’t really have evil races. There are two warring factions, Alliance–humans, dwarves, night elves, gnomes, and the big blue guys vs Horde-Orcs, Trolls, Undead, Blood Elves, and the minotaur-looking guys. However, in the death knight origin story, you’re definitely playing evil. Though you sorta repent by the end. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/games-where-you-get-to-be-evil/525316/14 "2010-01-17T23:20:56Z")
_Tropico_- you get to be El Presidente of a small Banana Republic Caribbean island and can either be a nice chap and make everyone happy and have elections and treat everyone well, or you can be a corrupt evil dictator who rigs elections, throws people in prison or assassinates them for disagreeing with you, and siphons the National Treasury to your Swiss bank account. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/games-where-you-get-to-be-evil/525316/15 "2010-01-17T23:34:02Z")
_Star Wars: The Force Unleashed_ … at the end you can take the story the evil way or the good way. Either way you kind of get fucked, but going evil you smoke a Jedi. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/games-where-you-get-to-be-evil/525316/16 "2010-01-17T23:34:32Z")
> [@tanstaafl](#): > > [Evil Genius](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evil_Genius_%28video_game%29) maybe? Basically you get to be a James Bond villain. Commit acts of Infamy around the world, build death traps, capture or kill enemy agents, torture prisoners for information, that sort of thing. Itself a spiritual successor to Dungeon Keeper 1&2, where you get to be something like Sauron. Build an underground lair of evilness, fill it with traps and monsters, torture princesses and obliterate white knights in shiny armor. ---
**Author:** ![My\_Darn\_Snake\_Legs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f14d63/32.png) [@My\_Darn\_Snake\_Legs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/My_Darn_Snake_Legs)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/games-where-you-get-to-be-evil/525316/17 "2010-01-18T00:40:41Z")
> [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#): > > [Fable](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fable_%28video_game%29) and its [sequel](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fable_II). Choosing between making your character good or evil is pretty much the point of the game. Yeah, Fable lets you be pretty darn evil if you want to. If you’re a purist you will want to avoid doing anything that might be construed as “good.” You can murder wantonly, terrorize the populace, price gouge and eat baby chickens. You can kill whole towns full of people if you want to. I kept meaning to replay it as super-evil, but I never got around to it. ---
**Author:** ![statsman1982](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@statsman1982](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/statsman1982)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/games-where-you-get-to-be-evil/525316/18 "2010-01-18T00:48:35Z")
The Hitman series lets you play as a contract killer. Installments 2, 3, and 4 have a system by which you are awarded higher status if you kill only the target and do not harm civilians, but you can also play as a mass murderer and beat the game. Kratos in the God of War series isn’t exactly a nice guy either. ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/games-where-you-get-to-be-evil/525316/19 "2010-01-18T00:51:52Z")
Bioshock’s kinda binary, but you get to play good or evil there. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/games-where-you-get-to-be-evil/525316/20 "2010-01-18T14:05:05Z")
A shout going out for **Manhunt**! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/games-where-you-get-to-be-evil/525316.md?page=2)