FPS Games Where You’re the Anti-Hero

When we think of heroes, we rarely picture individuals completely outside the law and morality who do whatever they please to achieve a goal, but video games often point in that direction.

In genres like FPS, where the vast majority of protagonists are powerful individuals who single-handedly wipe out entire armies, we rarely stop to analyze our actions and what they might imply beyond the pixels.

However, some titles are partially aware of this reality, presenting characters who admit, consciously or unconsciously, that they aren't necessarily the good guys in the story, at least not by choice.

Therefore, if you're looking for games that explore the characteristic 'gray area' of morally ambiguous protagonists, I invite you to check out these ten FPS games where you're the anti-hero.

10 Shadow Warrior

Not Everyone Achieves Redemption

As a professional assassin, Lo Wang's history and activities in Shadow Warrior don't need much detail to categorize him as a textbook antihero.

Although life's twists and turns cause his personal struggle to become a benefit to others, his role in bringing about the apocalypse leaves him somewhere between savior and destroyer.

Furthermore, he revels in violence, has a vulgar sense of humor, allies himself with Yakuza and demons… Basically, he does everything a villain would do, though he's the lesser evil because he fights demonic forces that embody absolute depravity.

Of course, Lo Wang has his own backstory that displays his humanity, bringing him a little closer to our species than to the Yokai, but his role in the Shadow Warrior series is as antiheroic as they come.

9 Wolfenstein: The New Order

Desperate Measures for Desperate Times

It's incredibly strange to say that a soldier who eats Nazis out of vocation, hobby, and passion can be an antihero, but the extremely violent behavior of the beloved William “B.J.” Blazkowicz in Wolfenstein: The New Order is difficult to ignore.

However, when you consider the original notion of a hero—figures who do everything possible to do the right thing and minimize any activity considered negative—it becomes clear that this spy doesn't exactly fit the mold.

The sheer number of executions, dismemberments, and internal dissections we experience as Blazkowicz has few precedents or successors in the video game industry, and that's saying something.

From then on, he's a protagonist with a clear sense of good, avoids perpetuating his father's cycle of intra-family hatred, and has such a large tally of Nazi agents killed that it cannot even be counted, although perhaps it is because of all this that Wolfenstein: The New Order is so fun.

Demons Against Demons

Following our global mythology, every title starring a demon starts with an anti-heroic premise, but the reason for including The Unknown from Metal: Hellsinger goes beyond prejudice.

In reality, she's a force of nature driven by such a specific vengeance that she doesn't care about leaving Hell devoid of inhabitants, as long as she can get her voice back.

Certainly, the story's antagonist is clearly worse, since the Red Judge is a tyrant who enslaves and tortures everything in her path, but an entity with such power destined solely for the consummation of a vendetta is precisely what you would expect from an anti-heroine.

Between that and breaking the barriers of dimensions to allow demons to freely travel to other places, added to the purely personal motivation of our rhythmic protagonist, everything necessary to include Metal: Hellsinger in this article becomes evident.

7 RAGE 2

Survival Has No Morality

Talking about morality in post-apocalyptic worlds is always tricky because, in a technical sense, any tacit, civil agreement for the formation of societies is partially destroyed, as seen in RAGE 2.

That said, we have the privilege of analyzing this kind of video game with a social contract still in place (sometimes), which leads to the unequivocal conclusion that what we do as Walker would make even the most seasoned judge shudder.

Revenge repeats as the driving force behind our adventures in the game's barren lands, and to achieve it, we must survive—something that doesn't happen by magic but forces us to do despicable things.

Once again, the bad guys we hunt are undeniably worse, yet this conversation isn't about who has more reason to go to the International Criminal Court in The Hague, but rather whether we have an anti-heroic protagonist… and RAGE 2 fits the description perfectly.

6 Borderlands 2

Interplanetary Greed

Borderlands 2 presents a world where I genuinely believe the word “good” has been eradicated from the dictionary, as there isn't a soul on Pandora with even a shred of kindness in those cel-shaded bodies.

Our protagonists are inevitably part of the equation, all driven by greed to find the Vaults to line their pockets, become famous, and get drunk at Moxxi's Badass Crater Bar until they forget they're in a video game.

Generally speaking, they're mercenaries who would have a bounty on their heads in games with more traditional heroes, but here they're the ones preventing the tyranny of the magnificent Handsome Jack, who wants to commit genocides by decree.

Occasionally, you do favors that make people happy, but all of Borderlands 2 is a chain of selfish individuals seeking personal gain, so it's tough to say if there's any truly selfless action in the entire game.

5 Dishonored

Dunwall Doesn't Accept Heroes

Morality systems in video games leave me indifferent because they tend to be too dichotomous and artificial, which is precisely what Dishonored is not.

Through its silent protagonist, the player speaks through their actions, not just simple dialogue choices, profoundly impacting Dunwall depending on the course of action we choose.

However, the game strives to make you feel like you're in a city beyond redemption, allowing you to see that every time you make a seemingly good decision, it ends up with a potentially even worse outcome.

No matter how hard Corvo—and the player—tries, evil is rampant in the streets, and our intervention only makes things worse. It's not our intention, of course, though if we consider strictly what we do, even on the pacifist routes, we're definitely not being heroic.

4 BioShock Infinite

Paying Off Debt is Expensive

BioShock Infinite is among the best FPS games in terms of narrative, precisely because of the complexity with which it introduces us to a character like Booker DeWitt.

If we consider his background as a Pinkerton agent, responsible for suppressing protests with extreme violence, and his participation in the Wounded Knee Massacre, we're talking about a completely reprehensible individual.

However, even if we only acknowledge what we see during the game, the situation doesn't get any better: a man mired in misery, alcoholism, gambling, and, still, excessive violence, as it's the only recourse he can use to resolve all the conflicts he faces.

If we then go further and include the game's major plot twist, it's undeniable that Booker DeWitt is a tormented yet compelling figure, with whom we empathize because of the difficulty of his circumstances, but who's definitely not a role model.

3 The Darkness 2

Giving Shelter to the Forces of Evil

Speaking of people who shouldn't be role models for any child, Jackie Estacado from The Darkness 2 is a mobster with supernatural powers, so it's easy to anticipate the reasons for his inclusion here.

Between his personal losses and the siege by The Brotherhood, a secret society that is surprisingly even worse, the protagonist of this underrated shooter literally becomes the host of the Darkness itself.

Manipulated and empowered by an ancient being that feeds on the life force of the souls it consumes, the only reason Jackie isn't the villain of the story is that he's the character we play as, since he has virtually no redeeming qualities.

He's bloodthirsty, self-centered, and possessed by something even worse than himself, so I think the truly difficult thing is finding the 'hero' element in all this anti-heroism.

2 Cyberpunk 2077

Greatness Isn't a Common Good

As much as Cyberpunk 20777 gives you agency to make decisions and become whatever mercenary you want to be, the nature of our existence remains the same: we are outside the bounds of law and morality.

Of course, Night City itself is in the same situation, which forces its inhabitants to adapt in order to survive, resulting in the new normal being precisely what we now find unacceptable.

Theft, murder, extortion, privacy violations, disregard for human life, disrespect for the will of others… If we were to list every reprehensible thing we do as V and sit down to analyze them as if we were in real life, we'd have to shower after every gaming session.

Of course, that's among the great attractions of Cyberpunk 2077, putting you in a dystopian context where humanity has faded, and the empire of corporations has eradicated any trace of it, forcing us to succumb to the rules of the game so that it doesn't eliminate us.

1 Far Cry 3

Violence is Your Hobby

Before Ubisoft lost its way, it was the creator of many of the most exciting open-world games in the industry, and it just so happens that my favorite in its catalog is the most representative of this category: Far Cry 3.

Almost with the soul of an indie game, the French developer embraces a critique of violence, making it the gameplay and narrative epicenter of Jason Brody's adventure, who transforms a traumatic reality into a playground to unleash his sociopathy.

Instead of feeling fear, the need to survive and the corresponding justifications for killing and stealing indiscriminately fuel a young man who gradually becomes a well-oiled machine of violence.

Besides collaborating with morally questionable individuals, saving our friends and escaping the island become excuses for what both the character and the player truly want to do: shoot everything and burn down as many marijuana plantations as possible.

Therefore, violence is not a sacrifice, it's a pastime. Far Cry 3 reveals our toxically positive relationship with immorality in video games, making it a practically perfect game.