Best/worst Morality systems in games

[Fallen_Hitokiri]

You know what?
When they release a morality game where you can kill all the god damn children you want without a mod
That will be the best morality system..wait screw that...best game

 

[retlawmay]

Well, most people probably haven't heard of this series because it is an indie game made by Spiderweb Software, but I like the Geneforge series. These games don't so much have a set morality, good and evil come to pass no matter what you do, it depends on your own interpretation of what is "moral". If anyone wants to try them, they have decently large, free demo's on their web site, I would suggest playing either 1 or 2 first because they have better plot than the later ones, even if their engine is worse that the later ones. You can find them at www.spiderwebsoftware.com

 

[lordsandro]

Silent Hill 2. Most subtle I have ever seen, where your morality choices were all determined by how you actually played the game, and not just answering some questions.

Thats the name of the game.

I ended up with the suiside ending, does that tell something about me.(exept that I didn't use the guns )

 

[Herb sewell]

You know what?
When they release a morality game where you can kill all the god damn children you want without a mod
That will be the best morality system..wait screw that...best game

I know what's the point of a morality system if they kneecap you in the truly amoral side of life. I must have repeated the sell bumble quest 8 times just to get back at those immortal cave-brats.

 

[GruntOwner]

GTA or Deus Ex... Oh wait, they didn't have an alignment system, one of them just had varying degrees of compassion and logic, and the other featured a simple "You broke the law, morality be damned a man is dead and you're responsible".

KOTOR: I suppose in the setting it made sense, though that doesn't make the setting right.
Mass Effect: If paragon means following protocol, then the Alliance Brass must be total knuckle draggers. Who else remembers the side quest about getting the man's wife a proper burial? The wife who had been killed by an unknown weapon unlike anything that the alliance had encountered before? If I got infected with some hell virus and my body was the only stable means of studying the virus safely, I would sure as hell hope that regulations would forbid me from going "Feck off, I wanna be buried".
Fallout: It's nice how every one, absoloutely everyone knows that you murdered all those people. Never mind the whole "killing any witnesses" part. And it's nice that folk know and react differently due to you stealing all those things, completely unseen. /sarcasm. It's an awful system that makes Oblivion Guard Omniscience look unperceptive in comparison.
Fable: Let's not go there. Let's just steer well clear of my remarkabley strong titan not getting any protein from his diet inspite of what his bulging physique may suggest.

 

[Kuchinawa212]

Worst has to go to Jedi Knight jedi academy. There was one choice in the whole game. I mean it's a great game and all, but either you kill the guy and become a baby eat'n bad guy or save him and become the savior of the universe.

 

[MajorDooshbag]

I think Yatzhee hit the nail on the head when it came to morality systems in games, too often I feel pigeon-holed and not able to really play the role that I want, i.e. typically some sort of pragmatist.

For example In KOTOR the game gives you the choice between freeing an enslaved twilik dancer or keep her for yourself to make money. I choose the latter thinking I could get on a few days wages out of her and then set her free, sort of her earning the freedom I got for her. A neither good or evil option overall but it turns out you can't do that. It's either pick pure good or evil.

When I play games that have morality systems I want to play as something like a Caudillo, i.e. a harsh but fair leader when leaning towards good or a Saddam Hussien (Modeled on the version of him protrayed in "House of Saddam" on HBO) style dictator, i.e. a power hungry tryant who is smart enough to keep a good image with much of the common man, when leaning towards evil. The latter is a bit more complicated then what I just described but I want to keep this short.

I think the real problem is that video game AI really hasn't improved since the original X-box and PS2 generation so really deep and immersive choices are still out of reach.

I apoligize for bag spelling, my word processor is broke and I can't use spell check.

 

[Skeleon]

Yeah, either perfectly nice or perfectly evil, those are bad.
I don't know any games with a good moral system.
But at least let us have three options, i.e. a third, neutral one!

 

[Syphonz]

I quite liked The Suffering: Ties that Bind morality system. At least it was worth it either way, and even if you were nuetral, it was still balanced. Despite the predecessor still being the better game, the morality system was much better than just a different ending.

 

[wwjdftw]

inFAMOUS, it had absolutley no middle ground, it was either impaling babies on spikes taking their bodies, playinh hokey with them, and finnaly lighting them a flame and smearing them on a wall. OR shooting yourself in the head because your body has to fall on a target and a bullet has to hit a target at exactly the same time to activate the trap door so the little kitten below could have his cupcake bake from the evil tree

 

[AtticusSP]

Any game that doesn't punish you for picking one of the two extremes.
Even better are games are not GOOD VS EVIL, but rather Nice guy vs Asshole.
I like being a dick sometimes, but I don't wanna kill babies. Let me just have the tell them to fuck off option.

 

[thebobmaster_v1legacy]

I must say for good, Mass Effect. Yay for one that isn't just good/evil. Plus, each side has some great lines, though most of the badass ones go to the Renegade side. Like this exchange from the DLC:

Balek: *blahblahblahBS*...So tell me, who's the real terrorist here?!
Shepard: You. But you're dead. *blam*

As for bad, Fable, for already covered reasons.

Most disappointing, though, would be Jade Empire. It could have been like Mass Effect...except that you would always be a selfish jackass if you went Closed Fist, not to mention the fact that you could not be Closed Fist without being evil.

 

[klakkat]

Planescape: Torment had a good moral system; particularly, it added in Order vs Chaos in addition to Good vs Evil, and the Order/Chaos choices actually were fairly significant. The thing I liked the best though, was there was not any especial encouragement towards or away from any one extreme; ok, being a total evil dick could be met with your death, but if you play the clever evil and don't wholesale slaughter everyone you meet, then you can still pull it off.

Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 likewise had more moral choice and a lot more gray area than most games, but they also focused mostly on the good vs evil scale than chaos/order.

Fallout 2 is also mentionable because it largely avoids the extremes. However, baby killing (child kill, technically) really IS an option, and if you do so the game will have people react in a manner befitting your heinous crimes.

Icewind Dale 1 and 2 had the standard D&D moral options, but it was largely a joke. Unlike the Baldur's Gate series, the Icewind series had an entirely linear story, with the morality you choose only affecting your motivations and a couple small details.

 

[pakker]

The problem with so-called morality in games is that its a numerical value depending on you following its parameters to end up either good or evil. And, to be honest, Morality should effect the gameplay more in RPGs, especially games with alot of the "pick what line to say" gameplay, by eiter restricting you from being at 100%evil and then try and change it by being Jesus for 3 quests.. Maybe force you to work your way towards neutral.
Morality is about more than different endings, its about reflecting the person, if a person does not define stealing to be evil but a "nessecary action to stay alive", it shouldn't make him more "evil". Most games gives you X points of evil for stealing an item, but at some point it should stop, because it becomes normal to the charater.

Initial rant over, sorry about that.

Best game have to be.... cant think of any.

Best morality system, World of Darkness' (a pen and paper roleplaying game) is what I would define as close to perfect. Depending on what sin to morality you commit, you roll a number of dices, depending on the roll, either your charater comes to terms with his actions (loses a point of morality, not really caring about what he just did) OR your charater feels sorry for the people he hurt, and try to attone for his sins, or justify them in some way (mass murder CAN be justified by a sick mind) and as your morality drops, lesser sins wont call for a roll, as they are associated with higher levels of morality.. A great concept, as most games have the "you stole a cookie!" and takes you 3 points further into evil.. No matter how evil you already are. I mean, in Fallout3 you could nuke a whole town full of people, just to make some rich guy have a "lovely view" from his tower, and still get hit by the bad/evil stick for stealing a stake..

But well, games are getting there, slowly and steadily.

Ow and I thought of a good morality system.. Neverwinter nights 2.