While many games feature hostiles who must be dispatched lethally, it’s hardly sporting to allow players to just kill anyone they want to. Certain genres, such as RPGs, necessitate the presence of friendly Non-Playable-Characters who give players the tasks and hints required to progress through the main story. However, some players wish those rules could be bent just a bit to indulge their fantasies.
The old saying goes, “be careful what you wish for,” and while some titles do give gamers the option to break the sixth commandment, there’s often a heavy price that comes with shedding the blood of the innocents indiscriminately.
10 Dead Rising Lets Survivors Cut Loose In Sandbox Mode
Capcom’s Dead Rising series took a much more comedic spin on the zombie apocalypse genre than Resident Evil by juxtaposing the undead horde in lively and colorful locations such as a shopping mall or a casino.
Players who managed to get through the main campaign in one piece were rewarded with the sandbox mode, which allowed them to just do whatever they wanted and stay alive for as long as they could. The stakes were raised as players had to constantly eat to stave off their depleting health bar while previously friendly NPCs became hostiles.
9 Ultima VII: The Black Gate Allows Players To Bring About Armageddon
In what would become part of a series tradition in the Ultima games, players can once again purchase an ability that has the power to vanquish all life on Britannia – the Armageddon spell. This dark incantation is exactly what it says on the tin as every enemy, plot important character, and NPC all fall dead aside from the Avatar and Lord British. The King laments that the player would do something so foolish, but tries to take solace in the fact that not even the Guardian would want to control Britannia in this state.
8 Friday The 13th: The Game Is The First Jason Content In Years
Originally conceived as an original property that paid homage to 80s slasher flicks, the game managed to get a hold of the rights to the Friday the 13th license during development. When it was first released in 2017, it was the first bit of content that fans had seen since the 2009 reboot. Players take control either of teenagers who try to flee the camp with their lives intact or the many incarnations of Jason Vorhees as they try to off as many campers as possible. Unfortunately, rights disputes have put the kibosh on any future DLC.
7 Hitman Gives Players The Freedom On How To Approach A Target
From the second game onwards, the Hitman titles basically give players a huge area populated with civilians, guards, and a single target with complete freedom on how to proceed with the mission and make their escape. The game heavily encourages players to stay their hand when it comes to the innocent, going as far as to deduct points in the results screen should they fail to do so. That being said, Agent 47 has the freedom to garrote some poor soul, steal their clothes, and utilize their mastery of disguise to get close enough to his targets.
Twisted Metal is a vehicular combat franchise where players take on the role of several warped contestants with their own suitably ostentatious mode of transportation. Each character is armed with machine guns and a specific special attack while heavier artillery lies on the battle torn streets. Matches end when there’s only one driver left alive in the arena. Players are not just limited to enemy combatants, as pedestrians, referees, and even mimes are fair game for vehicular mayhem. Players who make it to the end are rewarded with a cutscene that shows their chosen combatant having their wish granted (or receiving their karmic comeuppance) by the host Calypso.
5 Morrowind Allows Players To Proceed In A Doomed World
In contrast to later entries such as Skyrim, Morrowind allows players to essentially kill anyone. However, this act doesn’t come without its consequences. Certain characters are required for player to progress in the game’s main story, so once players snuff them out, they’re presented with a message that reads, “the thread of prophecy is severed,” and given an ultimatum: “restore the wave of fate, or persist in the doomed world you have created.” Players can continue if they’re so inclined, but they’ll be forever barred from reaching the game’s proper conclusion.
4 Killing Is Part Of The Souls Games’ Relentless Atmosphere
From Software’s Souls games are renowned for their unrelenting difficulty, dark atmosphere, and morally complex cast of characters. Death is a huge part of the grim undertone that permeates the Souls titles as seemingly benevolent side characters can prove to be hostile while players can end the lives of enemies, shopkeepers, and friendly NPCs alike. Once players kill someone, be they good, hollowed, infected, or otherwise, that life is gone forever. NPCs are very crucial in Souls entries as players will benefit from the goods they can purchase and services they provide, so players must be careful not to kill someone they might need.
3 Kratos’ Bloodlust Is Taken To Absurd Extremes In God Of War III
In the third numerical entry of Sony Santa Monica’s brutally violent take on Greek mythology, Kratos wages war against all of Olympus. The former god never really had any reservations with killing before, but it’s taken to absolute absurd extremes in this installment. Kratos doesn’t just stop at the deities who actively threaten him – he goes as far as to kill the ones who make a snide remark towards him, mildly inconvenience him, or even have the gall to offer him some assistance. This relentless bloodlust in God of War III actually comes off as downright comedic at times.
2 Genocide Runners Are In For A Bad Time In Undertale
Billed as “the friendly RPG where nobody has to die,” Undertale gave players a choice between besting their enemies lethally or conversing with them to appeal to their better angels. These decisions have wildly varying effects on characters and their attitude towards the protagonist. Should players give in to the “kill or be killed” mindset, all the fun and humor is jettisoned out of the adventure for a dark social commentary on the blind pursuit towards 100 percent completion. Players don’t just get to kill everyone in this route; they absolutely HAVE to. In addition, fights end up being insultingly easy or literally soul-crushingly hard with nothing in between.
1 Mortal Kombat’s Violence Brought About The Ratings System
Midway’s answer to Street Fighter II turned heads and decapitated them just as quickly in its initial 1992 release. The feature that set it apart from other fighters and provoked outrage from parents and politicians alike was the ability to deliver an elaborate lethal finishing blow to a dazed opponent which the game called a “fatality.” These digitized actors tearing the hearts, spinal cords, and arms from their opponents was one of the contributing factors to the creation of the ESRB ratings system in 1994. While the fatalities became more outlandish and over the top, some entries allowed players to finish with a gesture of friendship.
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