In video games, you're typically on the side of good, and you spend all your time fighting evil forces in the hopes of stopping their devious plans. However, not all games are as simple as that. The morality in some titles is a little bit more complicated.

You can spend plenty of time thinking you're fighting for what's right, only to later discover that you're actually on the side of evil. This doesn't always mean your opposition is pure-hearted, but they're often better than the people you're siding with. Here are some examples of that phenomenon.

Crackdown

In Crackdown, you play as a superpowered agent for a group known as the Agency. The organization has been hired to clean up Pacific City, which has been taken over by various gangs. Throughout the game, you systematically get rid of these gangs by eliminating their main members. By the end, the city is almost crime-free.

Related

10 Great Games That Got Better The Older We Became

With age comes widsom, and a better understanding of these games' complex themes.

Posts By  Ryan Thompson-Bamsey

Yet, this is when you discover that the Agency had secretly supplied all the gangs in the first place and orchestrated the whole thing to allow those groups to take over the city. The Agency set it up so the city's residents would need them to come in and take control. Therefore, even though the gangs aren't morally good by any standard, you worked for the most evil group of all.

Red Dead Redemption

Right from the start of Red Dead Redemption, you're doing the bidding of a few Government agents. They have tasked you, John Marston, with eliminating the remaining members of the outlaw gang that you used to run with.

Since they've taken your family away from you and forced you to work for them, the agents aren't exactly the good guys in this scenario. However, you're playing as a former murderer hunting down other murderers, so they seem the most morally good side by default. They are certainly not, though. This is shown at the end when you've done everything they say, and they still come to your home to kill you. In this moment, they show that they're just as bad, if not worse, than your former gang members.

Haze

Haze is a first-person shooter where you play as a soldier for the Mantel Corporation. You aren't just a basic soldier, either. The Corporation infuses all of you with a supplement called Nectar to enhance your abilities. Now, from this alone, it's fair to assume that you're playing for the bad guys, since it's a corporation giving you drugs. Yet, the game does a decent job of painting the rebels you're fighting as the villains, as they're causing havoc in a region in South America.

For most of the mission to eliminate them, things seem fine. You slowly learn, though, that the Nectar in your body is keeping you from seeing reality. That reality is that you're the monsters doing horrible things, and the rebels aren't actually as bad as they've been represented.

Grand Theft Auto 4

During a stretch of GTA 4's main story, you're working with Mikhail Faustin and Dimitri Rascalov. Mikhail is a short-tempered man who orders you to kill the son of a powerful Russian mobster. Afterward, Dimitri comes to you and reveals that the mobster will spare you if you eliminate Faustin.

So, you do that, but then Dimitri instantly betrays you by revealing that he is actually working with one of Niko's (the protagonist) sworn enemies, Ray Bulgarin. At this point, it becomes clear that siding with Dimitri was a mistake. After all, there were no signs that Faustin was going to betray you, and, from Niko's perspective, pretty much nobody is worse than Bulgarin.

Spec Ops: The Line

Spec Ops: The Line has you leading Delta Squad into Dubai on a recon mission to see what happened to the 33rd Infantry. They were supposed to be evacuating people after a catastrophe, but they never made it out. Once there, you learn that the 33rd have done some morally questionable things during their time in Dubai.

Throughout the game, though, you also do some messed-up things because you're tricked by the leader of the 33rd, Konrad. When you meet up with him, however, he's already dead and has been since before you arrived in Dubai. It turns out you've been hallucinating events, and most of the awful things that happened during the game were because of you, not the 33rd.

Ratchet And Clank: Going Commando

At the start of Ratchet and Clank: Going Commando, you're hired by MegaCorp to track down a thief who has stolen an unusual creature that the company has created. Eventually, you manage to get the experiment off her and hand it over to your MegaCorp boss. It seems like a job well done. However, then the thief tracks you down and reveals she is a former MegaCorp scientist.

The experiment she stole is a threat to the entire galaxy, as it has a habit of turning violent. She took it from MegaCorp to try to save everyone. Therefore, she is the true hero, and your bosses may end up getting everyone killed thanks to you. Thankfully, that doesn't happen.

Assassin's Creed 3

In the early hours of Assassin's Creed 3, you play as a charming man named Haytham Kenway. As him, you go on various missions where you assassinate some people who seem to deserve it. Along the way, you recruit a bunch of men and form a small group. Since this is an AC game, you assume that you're building a little band of Assassins.

That is until Haytham introduces a new member into the crew and calls him a Templar, which are the main rivals of the Assassins. Then, you're put in control of Haytham's son, Ratonhnhake:ton. He actually becomes an Assassin and spends the rest of the game hunting down all the Templars you were tricked into supporting in the first few hours of the adventure.

Portal 2

In the original Portal game, the main villain is an AI that forces you to complete tests in a science facility before trying to kill you. That AI is GlaDOS, who reappears in Portal 2. It's understandable if, after the previous game, you're not such a big fan of the machine that tried to burn you alive.

Subscribe to the newsletter for deeper gaming morality analysis

Unpack why so many games make you fight for the wrong side—subscribe to the newsletter for focused breakdowns of moral reversals, storytelling choices, and standout examples that illuminate game design and player perspective. Get Updates By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

To stop her, you join forces with a little bot named Wheatley. Unfortunately, though, when you remove her from her position of controlling the facility, you hand over the reins to Wheatley. This is an issue because he immediately becomes mad with power. He stops you from leaving and forces you to complete tests like the ones GlaDOS made you do. He is arguably even worse than her.

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons Of Liberty

Early in Metal Gear Solid 2, the heroes and villains seem clearly defined. After all, terrorists have taken over an offshore facility and captured the US President, while you've been sent in there to stop them. However, Metal Gear Solid is never that simple. Deep into the game, you learn that you're actually working for the Patriots. They're a secret organization that runs America and controls the populace. And they do so through unsavory means.

The whole terrorist attack had been created by the Patriots to test and improve their AI's ability to manipulate events and control people. The main person trying to stop them is the game's main antagonist, Solidus Snake. He is not a good guy at all, but he's still not as bad as the Patriots.

Far Cry 4

Far Cry 4 puts you in the role of Ajay, who travels to Kyrat to carry out his mother's final wish by returning her ashes to Lakshmana. The situation there isn't great, and you end up having to join up with The Golden Path in an effort to stop the land's dictator, Pagan Min. Unfortunately, the two leaders of the group, Amita and Sabal, are just as evil as Min.

This is shown if you end up putting either of them in control. Both have horrific plans for the populace. Pagan Min, on the other hand, wanted to lead you to Laskhmana all along because it's actually the name of he and your mother's deceased daughter. Once you place your mom's ashes beside her daughter, Pagan Min allows you to become the new ruler of Kyrat, which is the best outcome for the nation.

Next

The 10 Best Hidden Gems On Game Pass Right Now

There are some underrated gems on Game Pass.

Posts By  Ben Jessey