Open-World Games Where Your Allies Can Betray You

Open-world games are some of the most immersive gaming experiences that a gamer can enjoy. They often feature large game worlds and loads of unique interactions and characters, giving the player the freedom to explore and engage with the game world like it were a real one.

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It can often be a joyful experience to come across interesting characters and have them support the player’s character during their quests and missions. That said, it can be an even more immersive (albeit heartbreaking) when some characters who appear to be trustworthy go on to betray the main character. To make matters worse, there are quite a few open-world games that feature characters who can betray the player.

8

Star Wars Outlaws

Plenty Of Traitors Exist In The Galaxy’s Treacherous Underworld

Open-World

Action-Adventure

Systems

Released

August 30, 2024

OpenCritic Rating

Strong

Star Wars Outlaws is an engaging open-world game that follows the story of Kay Vess, an up-and-coming smuggler who indulges in shady dealings with treacherous crime syndicates across the galaxy in the Star Wars universe.

Considering such a setting, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that players will come across quite a few characters who are sketchy and untrustworthy. Throughout Kay Vess’ journey to pull off the heist of a lifetime, she interacts with and ends up trusting characters who go on to betray her.

7

Middle-Earth: Shadow Of War

It Turns Out That Orcs Don’t Make Trustworthy Soldiers

Systems

Released

October 10, 2017

OpenCritic Rating

Strong

Middle-Earth: Shadow of War is among the most popular games to come from the Lord of the Rings franchise, and that’s for good reason. It notably expands the iconic Nemesis System that was popularized by its predecessor, Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor. While players can brand and recruit orcs in that game, they also can do the same in this one, in addition to initiating power struggles among the orc armies and building their own army of orcs.

What makes this system more interesting is that such power struggles can take place even in the player’s own army, and quite a few orcs can betray the player if they’re not careful. On top of that, these betrayals have consequences on the game world.

6

Mafia 3

Become A Mob Leader Of Ambitious Lieutenants

Systems

The Mafia series is set in fictionalized versions of the criminal underworld, with each being created and controlled by the Mafia in the USA, and Mafia 3 is the best example of such a game. The reason this game stands out in comparison to its predecessors is that it gives the player a chance to run their own Mafia organization.

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A major part of running Lincoln Clay’s mob is keeping his lieutenants satisfied by giving them the right set of territories. In the event that they aren’t satisfied, odds are they’ll betray Lincoln, leading to a mission where players will have to kill them.

5

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

Probably Among The Greatest Betrayal Stories In Gaming

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas may be over two decades old at this point, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s one of the best open-world sandbox games of all time. It follows the story of Carl “CJ” Johnson, a man who moves back home to the city of San Andreas and ends up attempting to rebuild the Grove Street Gang.

Among the most pivotal aspects of the story is betrayal. CJ’s naivete tends to make him trust some treacherous people, and this results in a heartbreaking experience that sees CJ’s world being turned upside down.

4

Red Dead Redemption 2

Arthur Morgan’s Journey To Redemption Is Riddled With Betrayal

Red Dead Redemption 2 is widely regarded as one of the greatest video games of all time. Its incredibly realistic and immersive open-world is full of interesting encounters and fleshed out NPCs to meet who have their own routines and live their own lives. But Arthur Morgan, the main character, and the rest of the Van Der Linde gang, led by the charismatic Dutch Van Der Linde, is where the heart of the story lies.

The manner in which Rockstar Games approaches the game’s narrative, with Arthur starting out as a ruthless outlaw who slowly begins to realize the truth about his mentor, is where the story shines. Of course, this approach eventually leads to some of the most iconic scenes of betrayal in gaming.

There’s Betrayal In Almost Every Questline

Back in 2011, when The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim released, it quickly set the benchmark for open-world RPGs and was among the most critically acclaimed video games to release that year. It’s pretty much the complete RPG experience, allowing players to create their own character from across a diverse selection of races.

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What’s more, exploring the open-world allows the player to join plenty of guilds and questlines, and the best part of this is that almost every questline in the game features a betrayal in some way or other. Skyrim is full of betrayals, so players will have to watch their back when they play it.

2

Cyberpunk 2077

The Only Way To Survive In Night City Is To Trust No One

CD Projekt Red are absolutely masterful at the art of storytelling and world-building, and this shines through in Cyberpunk 2077. Since the 2.0 update released, the game has completed its turnaround and successfully bounced back from its sketchy launch, which was marred by technical issues, glitches, and bugs.

And what a turnaround it has been. The world of Cyberpunk 2077 is essentially a gorgeously cutthroat dystopa that’s filled with life-threatening crimes and treachery. Players will come across plenty of characters in Cyberpunk 2077 who will betray them, and some of these could even be V’s closest friends and allies.

1

Assassin’s Creed: The Ezio Trilogy

The Betrayal From The Character’s Closest Friends Can Really Hurt

When it comes to the Assassin’s Creed franchise, the fandom pretty much unanimously rates The Ezio Trilogy as the greatest games in the series, and that’s for good reason. These games have everything, from great gameplay to an excellent story set in detailed open worlds and historical locations.

On top of that, Ezio’s tale in the series, which coincides with Desmond’s journey in the present day timeline, is by far the most memorable Assassin’s Creed story. From growing up as a young whippersnapper, whose family gets betrayed by their closest allies, to becoming a mature and capable leader of the Brotherhood of Assassins, these three games are a must-play for any fan of betrayals in video games.

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