Evil will Always Triumph, Because Good is Dumb: Playing the Villain in Videogames

What is it about being evil in videogames that’s so fun? Well, we’re not really allowed to do it in real life. There’s all sorts of consequences for evil deeds and before you know it, everybody’s calling for your head on a platter. Videogames skip all that messy nonsense and just let you enjoy the (Ill-gotten) fruits of your labor. So, you decide you want to be a villain and you go looking through your collection for a good game, but then you realize that playing a compelling villain is almost impossible in most games. What’s a gamer to do?

Look at how much fun he's having! I wanna do that! I'll dress up in black!

What can a game to allow you to be a good villain? What games take (mis)steps on the road towards good villain gameplay?

It seems to me that a compelling villain, a good villain, doesn’t see themselves as the villain. They’re not cartoonish-ly evil, they don’t spout sermons about how they’ll kill everybody, etc. A good villain does evil things for an arguably “just” cause. Ozymandias of Alan Moore’s Watchmen is a great example. He destroys all of New York City, millions of people, to stop the world from destroying itself via nuclear weapons.

This might be the first time a villain has ever planned ahead for this sort of situation. Good on you, Ozy.

He’s a villain that merits discussion and argument, with complex motivations and ideas. Melisandre, the Red Woman, from George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones series is another villain with complex motivations. Games rarely offer you the full package of compelling villainy, but there are some standouts which take steps in the right direction.

Knights of the Old Republic, an RPG by Bio Ware, is an epic tale of discovery, adventure, and weighty decisions. In any Star Wars game, movie, TV show, etc., The Force is divided into two sides: The Light and the Dark. The Light Side of The Force is supposed to be harmonious, compassionate, selfless, and is the tool of the Jedi. The Dark Side of The Force is fueled by “negative” emotions such as anger, hate, rage, and is the tool of the Dark Jedi.

I feel like the Dark Side could use a little makeover. Maybe a bit less red, some more pastels. It would really help with their image.

KOTOR gives you hundreds of choices throughout the game that move you towards The Light or The Dark side. Thematically, going towards The Dark Side makes a lot of sense. The Dark Side is incredibly powerful and faster to achieve mastery in than The Light Side. Choosing the “evil” path over the “right” path makes sense, given what we’re told in the universe. It’s reasonable that you could think that you’re the best person suited to ruling the galaxy and that might is the only way to get there.

See, Darth Vader made the mistake of trying to turn this whole "ruling the galaxy" thing into a family affair. Nepotism is dangerous, my friend. Branch out a little.

However, this does not translate into gameplay in a meaningful way. There are times when you come in the conflict with your companions over your alignment (and have to kill some of them), but the actual mechanics of playing don’t change enough. You still use the same Force powers but now that you’re evil, “light” powers cost more of your energy. I would prefer it if certain powers were closed off to you entirely due to your hate. Another way to go would have been to reduce your health, but increase your damage output the more you slide towards evil. After all, fighting angry is no way to protect yourself.

Fable, an RPG by Lionhead Studios (recently closed), focuses on the Hero’s Journey in a sort of tongue-in-cheek way. You literally go to a “Hero” school where you learn all that’s required to become a protagonist, then you’re off doings quests around the land, discovering more about your past. Every little thing you do in Fable moves you towards “good” or “evil”. Eat some tofu? You get some good points. Slaughter a town of peasants? Bad points.

What happens if I'm just kind of an asshole? Do I just get a greasy comb-over? 

This system really impresses when it comes to the actual gameplay effect of your actions. Your body slowly changes either way you go, with goodness giving you a literal halo and evil causing you to spout horns. The more evil you get, the more the people around you will fear you. Many NPCs will attempt to run away from you and shops will refuse your business. On the combat side of things, mastery of certain kinds of spells were closed off to you, and upgrading opposite alignment spells is way more expensive, XP-wise. There are arguably compelling reasons for some evil actions, like the extra money you can make in arena by killing your partner but a majority of the actions don’t really make sense. If you murder civilians, they’ll close off their shops to you and you won’t be able to buy equipment. Villains should do evil things because they’re trying to do something they think is just, but in Fable there’s no ends to justify.

Mass Effect 3 is the culmination of a space opera the likes of which has never been seen in gaming before. Throughout the game you can make choices that give you Paragon or Renegade points, which align with “good” or “evil” respectively. Mass Effect 3 deserves praise for allowing you to gain both Paragon and Renegade points because few people are totally good or totally evil.

Like this guy. Not a very nice dude, but he did some heroic stuff. Snape is a complex character worth arguing over.

Mass Effect 3 is one of the few games to offer compelling reasons to take “evil” actions. In one instance, you discover an ancient race of insects that ravaged the galaxy a thousand years ago is still alive. They attempt to convince you that they will be peaceful if you let them live now. Exterminating them to preserve galactic safety is a reasonable action to take based on the information you have, even though the doing so is distasteful. In the second game, you have the option to give hyper advanced technology to a pro-human splinter group that you’ve been working for. They’ve been the ones protecting humanity while the Galactic Council sits on their hands, so giving them the tech is a reasonable thing to do even though the group has a dark past. In the third game, you have the option to stop a cure to a disease that causes 999 out of every 1000 stillbirths in a violent race of aliens. You need their help to defeat the Reapers (the seemingly-unstoppable race of machines aiming to destroy the galaxy), but in the past, these aliens have tried to conquer the galaxy themselves. In each of these situations, you undertake an “evil” action for justifiable reasons. The rest of the time, however, Renegade actions amount to “I’m an impatient asshole who just likes waving my gun around.”

Accurate depiction of 99% of Renegade actions. I feel like being nicer will get you more stuff than being a jerk, but maybe that's just me.

For a leader you need your people to respect (or fear) you but the Renegade actions in Mass Effect 3 would just make everybody around you think you’re a dick. Your actions also do not change gameplay in any way, which is a wasted opportunity. Maybe darker characters could get higher damage versions of offensive powers, or be able to access illegal technology through the black market.

Everybody likes playing the bad guy once in a while. Lots of games let you indulge in some bad behavior, but few of them offer any sort of compelling villainy. There are definitely a lot of challenges around designing stories that feature a compelling villain, let alone designing a game that lets you play as one. However, we’ve seen that games can take steps in the right direction; all that’s left now is putting them all together.

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Oh, my Knee is Aching. Bet There’s a Level 100 Dragon Coming.

Age is not a subject that gets a lot of discussion in games. It might have something to do with the fact that the people that made games have been young themselves, but that’s been changing with time. Still, while age might be used as a setting (playing as a father in That Dragon, Cancer, for instance), it’s not used as a mechanic very often. Some games mention it, but it really goes underused in general.

Well, except for Snake. He got old in MGS4. Damn planned obsolescence. 

So, how do games use age? What could they do it that they’re not currently doing? Why would it matter?

Fable, a RPG by chronic-over-promsier Peter Molyneux, is the ultimate example of “oh man, this was so close to being the best thing ever.” Fable was billed as the be-all and end-all of role playing games. You could plant a tree and watch it grow throughout the years. You could kill a child’s parents and the child would grow up and hunt you down for your evil deeds. In reality, it ended up being a charming RPG with enjoyable (if exploitable) mechanics, a fun story, and lackluster expansions.

So much promised potential, so little of it actually there.

One of the few unique things Fable had was its aging mechanic. When you defeat an enemy or complete a quest, you get experience which can be spent to level up a particular attribute, or gain a new spell. Every time you “level up”, you character ages. If you upgrade all of your possible stats, your character ends up being about 65. I found this really odd as kid and, I’ll admit, frustrating. I wanted to be young and powerful, not some old fart. It makes sense though. Age and experience tend to go hand in hand.

I hope I look this good at 65. This guy looks like he could bench press a few mobility scooters, riders included.

The best adventurers might not be the young ones, but the grizzled veterans who know their own strengths and weaknesses. Ageing had no effect on your gameplay, though. You got more powerful as you level up, and you end up as this ridiculously buff old man. The more and more I played it (once I got older), I wanted age to have some kind of effect. It seemed like such a missed opportunity. I’m sure there have been games with ageing mechanics that do effect gameplay, but no mainstream ones, certainly.

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind is the opposite of Fable in a lot of ways. It’s serious where Fable is cartoonish, complicated where Fable is simplistic, and open where Fable is linear. Though it doesn’t have any kind of age mechanic, ageing plays a certain part in your story. Whenever you level up, you get a short message before you choose how to upgrade your stats. In the beginning, the messages are very upbeat, and almost inspiring.

“You realize that all your life you have been coasting along as if you were in a dream. Suddenly, facing the trials of the last few days, you have come alive.”

— -Morrowind, 1st level up message

Messages like the above can make you realize exactly how much you’ve learned about the game, the enemies you face, and your own abilities. For the first 14 levels, the quotes are about how you’re learning new things, getting stronger, and becoming better. After that, however, they start to take a slightly depressing turn.

“Today you suddenly realized the life you’ve been living, the punishment your body has taken — there are limits to what the body can do, and perhaps you have reached them. You’ve wondered what it is like to grow old. Well, now you know.”

— Morrowind, 14th level up message

Suddenly, experience becomes something very different. It’s not about getting better anymore; now it’s about clawing to hold onto everything you have learned. There’s a kind of horror that comes with these words, and I think it reflects something very real that people feel about getting older. At some point, you peak. Everything after that is just downhill. No matter how hard you work, struggle, or learn, there will be somebody just as good as your who’s younger. The last unique message you get is at level 20, and it always sends a chill down my spine.

“You’ll never be better than you are today. If you are lucky, by superhuman effort, you can avoid slipping backwards for a while. But sooner or later, you’re going to lose a step, or drop a beat, or miss a detail — and you’ll be gone forever.”

— Morrowind, last unique level up message

Games aren’t supposed to do this! They’re not supposed to remind me of the fact that I’m not a digital, immortal, all-powerful avatar! It’s a huge break from the usual young man’s power fantasy and incredibly unique in that regard. Unfortunately, the one thing that Fable and Morrowind share is the toothless nature of their ageing mechanics. Nothing happens to your character despite these messages. You’re the same at level 1 as you are at level 20. Another missed opportunity from a great game.

I think ageing is a really good area to explore in games. As games have changed, they have moved from simpler tales to more complex ideas, like love, sacrifice, family, and grief. I think it would be great if you had a game that could paint a picture of what it means to grow older. What if you could play a Viking, once greatly renowned in your town for your ferocity in battle and your bravery, who has to deal with the fact that your axe gets harder to pick up each day? Would you still go out on raiding expeditions, knowing that your chances of coming back from each one get smaller and smaller? Would you be able to face the sneers of your village for your “cowardice”, or would you face your death? What about a game that starts you at your adventuring peak, and you decide to open a school to train new adventurers? Could you stomach sending young souls off on dangerous quests without going yourself? Do you have a duty to your own thirst for adventure, or to train the next generation? There’s a lot of territory here to cover, and I’m interested to see if any developers think so as well.

Ageing is a powerful sort of thing, but it’s also interactive in a way. You feel it when you get older. You get new creaks and aches, and things don’t work as well. I think games are a really good area to explore what this is like, because they can put limitations on a player. “No, you can’t do a triple backflip slice with that greatsword anymore. You’re 50. Why don’t you try a sensible slash instead?” We’ll see where things go, but I think age is a fruit ripe for picking.