In light of The Darkness 2’s release next week, we decided to take a look back and discuss some video games that are excessively violent. Granted, a lot of video games use graphic violence these days, so to cut down our list from 10,000 to 10, we’re only focusing on the games that use violence as a focal point, not a byproduct of the title’s story or action.
Essentially, these are the titles that keep Jack Thompson up at night.
As an added note, we’re not including horror games simply because they’re mostly all gory and violent. We hope those guidelines make sense, and now let’s get to the blood and guts...
MadWorld
Platform: Wii
Commercially, MadWorld was pretty much a failure. Sega built an incredibly violent game for the Wii and delivered a mature experience that was fun, stylistic and well designed... too bad it flopped. In this black and white world, blood is viciously red. Players are encouraged to kill with style throughout the experience, and the game just keeps getting more and more violent as it rolls on.
Twisted Metal
Platform: PlayStation
The original Twisted Metal was build with the ‘90s death metal kid in mind. The game is all about destroying everything around you in a destruction derby-type of event where missiles, chain guns, mines and other weapons are the norm. There are no sentimental moments here, but did you really expect that when the game’s mascot is a creepy looking clown? Yea, we didn’t think so.
God of War
Platform: PlayStation 2
Creator David Jaffe and Sony Santa Monica took Greek mythology and turned it on its head with the original God of War, a title that twisted the beauty and majesty of the Greek gods into back-stabbing abominations who not only accepted violence, but advocated it. Granted, God of War told a pretty spectacular story amidst all the chaos, but there’s no denying that a large draw for the game was showcasing excessive violence against a Greek backdrop.
Mortal Kombat
Platform: Arcade
The main reason the original Mortal Kombat was so popular was because you could rip your opponent’s spine right out of his/her body. Face it, Mortal Kombat didn’t get the attention it did because it was a mechanically perfect 2D fighter. Mortal Kombat will forever be known as one of the first games that made parents nervous their children were playing video games. That speaks volumes about how dependent MK was on the violence it championed.
Manhunt
Platforms: PlayStation 2, Xbox , PC
Manhunt was a game created by Rockstar in 2003. It was built entirely on principles of stealth, over-the-top violence and brutal gore. Sure, by today’s standards it might not look like the most enticing game, but nearly 10 years ago it was a damn thriller. It actually managed to stir up controversy with its violence. Heck, it was even connected to a murder in the UK.
