The Best Open-World Games For Feeling Truly Evil

Summary

• Evil in open-world games is about indulgence, not traditional villain arcs – embrace chaos.
• Games like Saints Row 4 enable players to be gleefully evil with no real consequences.
• Open-world titles like Red Dead Redemption 2 and Grand Theft Auto 5 showcase impactful evil choices.

Not every sandbox has to be a playground for noble intentions. Sometimes, the most memorable open-world experiences come from throwing morality out the window and embracing pure chaos, cruelty, or selfishness, not because of a story beat, but because the systems give players the tools to be as awful as they want to be. This isn’t about traditional villain arcs or mustache-twirling bad guys. These are open worlds where feeling evil is not only allowed but actively enabled.

To be clear, this isn’t about random NPC carnage for the sake of it. It’s about titles that make players question just how far they’re willing to go when there’s no one holding them back.

6

Saints Row 4

Absolute Power Does Not Need Restraint

By the time Saints Row 4 rolls around, the franchise has left grounded crime drama behind and leaped face-first into superhero absurdity. The player is now the President of the United States, stuck in an alien simulation, wielding telekinesis, super speed, and the ability to shatter reality. This means that open-world chaos has never been easier, or more absurd. Players can body slam pedestrians with a dubstep gun while flying through the air in a banana suit.

What gives Saints Row 4 its uniquely evil flavor is how gleeful it all is. The world isn’t begging to be saved. It’s a toybox full of destructible playthings, and the player’s powers make restraint feel like a mistake. There are consequences, technically, but none that ever matter. It’s the kind of power trip where destroying everything is often the fastest path forward, and the writing dares players to keep escalating. Evil here is less about hate and more about indulgence. Delicious, reckless indulgence.

5

Destroy All Humans! (2020)

Evil, But In A Flying Saucer

Sometimes, evil is less about torment and more about turning humanity into a cosmic punchline. Destroy All Humans! gives players control of Crypto-137, a small, sarcastic alien with a big appetite for destruction and brain stems. Earth is his playground, and everyone on it is either cannon fodder or psychic juice for upgrading weapons that can melt cows, fry tanks, or forcibly extract information through less-than-consensual means.

The 2020 remake keeps the original’s tone intact while polishing its world and mechanics. It’s a world that begs to be ruined, where the most logical next step is usually the most hilariously cruel. Electrocuting a farmer, body-snatching a mayor, vaporizing a convoy, all of it feels cartoonishly over-the-top, but that doesn’t make it any less evil. Crypto isn’t conquering Earth; he’s laughing at it while setting it on fire.

4

Red Dead Redemption 2

Evil Wears A Cowboy Hat

Few open worlds feel as alive as Red Dead Redemption 2’s version of the American frontier, and that’s exactly what makes going full villain so impactful. Players can rob, cheat, kill, or blow up half the countryside, but it’s the slow reactions that sting. A farmer begging for his cattle back or strangers whispering about Arthur Morgan in towns he hasn’t visited in weeks.

What separates this from casual chaos is the way actions ripple across the world. Kill a shopkeeper and their store might close. Threaten someone and they might remember. Let a witness go and there’s a real chance they’ll come back with the law. Rockstar built a simulation that remembers, and punishes, in quiet, devastating ways. Somehow, that makes turning into an outlaw feel even worse… and even more tempting.

3

Grand Theft Auto 5

When Chaos Is Part Of The Culture

Few games let players be evil in quite as many flavors as Grand Theft Auto 5. Whether it’s Trevor’s unhinged rampages, Michael’s ice-cold criminal precision, or Franklin’s moral slide into power, the story already explores different shades of villainy. However, it’s in the open world that things really fall apart. Los Santos is a city built for exploitation. Players can rob armored trucks, manipulate the stock market, mow down civilians, and get away with all of it if they’re fast enough.

There’s a reason GTA Online is so chaotic. The systems reward mayhem. The pedestrians react with believable fear. The police chase harder the longer players push. Even the random strangers scattered across the map can become part of a violent improvisation. Evil doesn’t feel like a story choice here. It feels like the natural consequence of understanding the rules and realizing they can be broken in style.

2

Infamous Second Son

Let The City Burn, You’re Busy Glowing

Karma systems in games tend to feel like afterthoughts, binary good-or-evil choices with barely a ripple, but Infamous: Second Son tries to make it sting. Delsin Rowe’s powers aren’t subtle. He sucks neon out of signs, smoke from chimneys, and life force out of enemies. If players decide to lean into the darker path, those powers evolve into something far more violent, and far more visually satisfying.

Civilian casualties aren’t just possible, they’re efficient. The story bends around the player’s cruelty, with characters reacting in fear or disgust as Delsin trades his charm for raw aggression. Neon missiles and corrupted angel drones make it clear that power has a price, and evil Delsin doesn’t mind paying it; especially when the explosions look this good.

1

Prototype

Being A Monster Is Just So Much Easier

There are power fantasies, and then there’s Prototype, a game that lets players sprint up skyscrapers, slice tanks in half, and body-check helicopters out of the sky with their face. Alex Mercer doesn’t just fight enemies, he devours them. Literally. Absorbing people isn’t a finishing move, it’s a core mechanic. Need a disguise? Eat a civilian. Low on health? Eat a soldier. Want to disappear into the crowd after reducing Times Square to rubble? Well, you get the idea.

What makes it feel properly evil is how normal it becomes. After a while, players stop even seeing the people, and start seeing resources with legs. There’s no morality system, no slap on the wrist; just ice-cold freedom to do what works, and what works is usually horrifying. Manhattan becomes less of a city and more of a feeding ground, where strength is measured by how much of it is left standing after Mercer’s done experimenting.