History VideoGameCrueltyPotential / WideOpenSandbox

* ''VideoGame/Starbound'' You can find a Gnome village, and destroy it, possibly being able to wear their buildings as hats and being able to throw balls of Gnomes at enemies, complete with screams when they are thrown.

* ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedRogue'', being the series' VillainEpisode, removes the previous games' prohibition on hurting or killing civilians, allowing you to stab them, shoot them, hang them from trees, blow them up with shrapnel grenades, and even [[BrainwashedAndCrazy expose them to berserk gas]] and use them as kamikaze distractions for the guards.

* In ''VideoGame/TheGodfather: The Game'', your character is capable of a wide variety of sadistic acts, including ''throwing people into ovens''. And you get a special bonus, a fairly nice amount of money, for managing to fill out the entire list of execution styles. There are 22 for the original PC, [=PS2=] and Xbox versions, but the ante was upped to 52 for the Wii version. The assassination sub missions also have this, as you gain a great deal more money and points for killing the targets in specific ways.

* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'': Everything from mowing down pedestrians in a high-speed bus to lighting a bunch of Hare Krishna's on fire with a flamethrower - and plenty more besides. Those games may have a central storyline and missions to play through - but we all know that they're basically one big, brutal sandbox.
** A special mention goes to the GOURANGA bonus, which you get by flattening a line of six chanting Hare Krishna without missing any. You'd get an instant four-star rating, but it was oh so worth it.
** Killing people will quickly spawn an ambulance, and setting things on fire will quickly spawn a firetruck - and you didn't really want to go all the way to the hospital/fire station to jack one of those, right?
* In ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'' and ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV'', there are ample opportunities to cinematically execute certain in-game persons using a pistol. Stand there, gun poised and finger on the trigger, listening to them beg for mercy. After hearing everything they had to say...oops, my finger slipped.

** Not to mention that the physics engine itself in has potential all its own, allowing you to push {{NPC}}s down stairways, down steep hills, and off balconies.
** A fun thing to do is to steal a semi truck and drive in the opposite side of the road, crashing into any vehicle that not another semi truck. Watch as your character makes cars fly out of control and crash into walls, with the possibility of an explosion happening. Sometimes, you can even see [=NPCs=] be involuntarily ejected out of their car while you in your big rig won't suffer any damage. Best of all, as long as your don't run over anyone or crash into any cop cars, you won't get a wanted level, even if the cops are just watching you wreak havoc.
** Said physics engine along with the AI also allows for some fun little situations, as most people won't even be bothered (beyond a few 'get out of my way' type sound clips) by you pushing them around or even standing on them... At least in ''GTA IV'' just as long as you don't actually hit the attack button. Even cops can be mercilessly pushed over simply by running up against and around them, and as long as the fall isn't hard enough for them to lose health, they'll happily tolerate a Serbian dude standing on their chest. They also won't mind you walk-pushing someone they just arrested away... Rather, they'll chase HIM down and ignore you.

** Due to some odd AI in ''GTA IV'', police will attempt to get up right next you at all costs... including falling to their deaths. Just watch this [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvK3mZYGjR0 video]]. [[labelnote:Bonus]] Watch for the taxi backing up over the cops.[[/labelnote]]
** Trevor Phillips is the embodiment of this trope. Even when you're not controlling him he'll be doing awful things to people and as a player you can definitely feel the least guilty about dousing an unconscious man with gasoline and setting him alight if Trevor's your active character.

** In ''San Andreas'', they added the ability to swim to the player, the girlfriends and some other {{NPC}}s. Note that cops are not on the list.
** ''San Andreas'' has just dozens of examples; heck the cops and pedestrians will sometimes just kill the hell out of each other with no player involvement.
** In most of the ''[=GTA3=]'' spin-offs, the police will always spawn on roads, coming at you at high speeds. There are plenty of places to stand where you are close to the roads but not easily reached. Get yourself a 4-6 star rating, find one of these perches, and just sit and watch various police units damage their cars (ramming objects, ramming each other, jumping their cars through the air with no regard as to where they land...) to the point of exploding as they spaz out trying to reach you. You'll need a weapon to fend off the helicopters in later games, but in ''[=GTA3=]'' one can keep a "chase" going forever just by finding the right spot to sit while the police repeatedly kill themselves trying to get at you.
*** San Andreas gives the player the option to do burglaries as a side mission. While the only mandatory burglary enforces stealth, the typical sidequest burglary goes like this: Enter house, kill the occupants in their sleep and then just sweep the apartment clean. Repeat a few times each night, reap the profits, and enjoy the infinite sprint reward.
** Sometimes, hitting a pedestrian in the car would not be enough to kill em. You could just park ''over'' them instead and watch the blood flow from underneath your car...
** China Town Wars introduced the tazer as a melee weapon. The in game manual introduces it as a non-lethal repellent to allow the protoganist run away. Developers anticipated that few players would be that peaceful, so that continued tazering would set the victims on fire. It earns you one immediate wanted level.

** ''VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird'' adds {{Groin Attack}}s and running takedowns into the mix, the latter of which features a variety of wrestling moves. So yes, you can run right up to a couple of innocent passerbys, bodyslam one into the pavement and then kick the other in his manhood.
*** For obvious reasons, the crotch attacks are pretty effective in combat, so you might find yourself using it ''a lot''. Outnumbered and low on health? Just duck into a corner, wait for a goon to come around and belt 'em below the belt. Rinse and repeat, and before you know it the room's cleared!
** Your own avatar during the "Insurance Fraud" missions. Throwing yourself at speeding vehicles to get flung into the sky and bounce into a ragdolled sprawl is addictive fun. Catch the front-end of a semi to gain the most air, and if you're lucky you can guide your plummeting descent into the grill of yet another.

** ''VideoGame/SaintsRowIV'' adds alien weaponry and superpowers to the mix, allowing you to use telekinesis to pick up cars or pedestrians and throw it at one another, among other things.

* ''So'' much in ''VideoGame/{{Prototype}}'' (Well, it is the SpiritualSuccessor to the aforementionned ''Hulk: Ultimate Destruction''...). Some of the "consume" animations are obscenely vicious, and there's a lot of nasty things you can do to enemies or innocent bystanders even beyond that. Actually justified, for a change -- one of the nodes you can unlock in the "Web of Intrigue" notes that the protagonist is a SociopathicHero, very nearly in so many words.

** Escort a ship full of immigrants to a new city, boosting it's wealth. [[BaitTheDog Then sack it]].

*** Space Stage essentialy transforms most players into ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' warlords... or worse.

* In ''Just Cause 2'', your grappling hook allows you to fasten ''any'' two objects together. While this is commonly used to climb areas or as a fast method of transport, you can also tie an NPC to the back of a truck and take them for a wild drag...

* You can ransack and pillage handfuls of towns in ''VideoGame/SidMeiersPirates''.

*** San Andreas gives the player the option to do burglaries as a side mission. While the only mandatory burglary enforces stealth, the typical sidequest burglary goes like this: Enter house, kill the occupants in their sleep and then just sweep the apartment clean. Repeat a few times each night.

** Since rewards are given for taunting after shooting an enemy, it's actually beneficial to shoot to wound. Oh yes, we mustn't forget how Tony's hired guns can kill whomever they want.

** There's also the fact that [[spoiler: he's not even human, but instead an avatar of the Blacklight Virus.]]

** The sequel adds many more karma events, and thus many more possibilities for this trope. One good example is the random bombs that will be stuck to walls. Cole's electricity makes these defusable with ease. Alternatively, you can fire at them at a distance, thus setting them off prematurely and killing anyone in the area (sometimes upwards of a dozen people). Then there's casting bio-leech on the wounded, dying civilians instead of healing them, "saving" a mugging victim by throwing a truck at them, and many more.

* ''VideoGame/{{Terraria}}'' has the Guide VoodooDoll, which will allow you to harm the guide. However, he respawns after you kill him.
** Not if you [[spoiler:drop him in lava in the underworld]], he don't. But then you have [[ThatOneBoss another problem]]...

*** ...Which doesn't prevent you from confining all the villagers inside a tiny space, then building a special trap within the Iron Golems' spawning radius that kills them and allows you to harvest the iron they leave behind.

*** Except, not since Iron golems, that protect the villagers, defend them when you attack them.

* If you don't mind sacrificing some points on the KarmaMeter, ''VideoGame/WatchDogs'' lets you get away with some fun "pranks" with your phone[[note]]This also leads to some GameplayAndStorySegregation because theoretically no one should know you did any of it since no one knows about Aiden's ability to control the system and thus shouldn't hurt his standing with the populace[[/note]]. The simplest is to hack any traffic light you come across. The AI will ''always'' drive into the intersection if you hack the lights and cause a big accident (usually with something blowing up and annihilating everything in the vicinity). You can also blow up transformers and take out random citizens who happen to be nearby. And of course, since EverythingIsOnline and connected to the [=ctOS=], invariably you'll run across poor saps who have their bank account info tied into the system and you can simply steal their money by hacking them (bonus points if you steal money from someone who was in debt or a victim of fraud according to their profile).

* If you don't mind sacrificing some points on the KarmaMeter, ''VideoGame/WatchDogs'' lets you get away with some fun "pranks" with your phone. The simplest is to hack any traffic light you come across. The AI will ''always'' drive into the intersection if you hack the lights and cause a big accident (usually with something blowing up and annihilating everything in the vicinity). You can also blow up transformers and take out random citizens who happen to be nearby. And of course, since EverythingIsOnline and connected to the [=ctOS=], invariably you'll run across poor saps who have their bank account info tied into the system and you can simply steal their money by hacking them (bonus points if you steal money from someone who was in debt or a victim of fraud according to their profile).

* You know those incredibly annoying kids who have lost their balloons in ''VideoGame/{{Spiderman 2}}''? Well, grab the lost balloon, walk right up close to the kid... and then decide that you'd rather keep the balloon yourself and go swinging round the city. Nothing is more satisfying.

** Pffft? That's all? Amateur. Tell the local natives/pirates to attack that huge, heavily defended colonial stronghold. Sit back, watch them get massacred, and then overwhelm the weakened defenders. Alternatively, the moment their raiding ship leaves port, turn on them and increase your standing with all surrounding governors in the process. ''[[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder Suckers]]''.

* You can ransack and pillage handfuls of towns in ''VideoGame/SidMeiersPirates''

* You know those incredibly annoying kids who have lost their balloons in ''VideoGame/SpidermanTwo''? Well, grab the lost balloon, walk right up close to the kid... and then decide that you'd rather keep the balloon yourself and go swinging round the city. Nothing is more satisfying.

* You know those incredibly annoying kids who have lost their balloons in ''VideoGame/{{Spiderman2}}''? Well, grab the lost balloon, walk right up close to the kid... and then decide that you'd rather keep the balloon yourself and go swinging round the city. Nothing is more satisfying.

* You know those incredibly annoying kids who have lost their balloons in ''VideoGame/Spiderman2''? Well, grab the lost balloon, walk right up close to the kid... and then decide that you'd rather keep the balloon yourself and go swinging round the city. Nothing is more satisfying.

* ''VideoGame/{{Gun}}'' lets you buy a scalping knife very early in the game, but using it accomplishes absolutely nothing other than hearing an already permanently incapacitated enemy scream in pain and beg for mercy. It's rumored the game originally was to feature a KarmaMeter and scalping was a means to push you towards evil.

* ''Franchise/GrandTheftAuto'': Everything from mowing down pedestrians in a high-speed bus to lighting a bunch of Hare Krishna's on fire with a flamethrower - and plenty more besides. Those games may have a central storyline and missions to play through - but we all know that they're basically one big, brutal sandbox.

** This also works in RedFaction.
** For added fun: Set people alight with the flamethrower. Blow a train off its tracks with a well placed rocket. Throw grenades into crowded clubs. Mow down entire crowds of people in a pick-up truck. Use the pimp-slap weapon to send people flying through the air. Take some people hostage and drive the car straight into the sea.
*** Or drown pedestrians in a stream of raw sewage. This won't always kill them, but would you seriously ''want'' to survive something so disgusting?
*** ''VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird'' adds [[GroinAttack Groin Attacks]] and running takedowns into the mix, the latter of which features a variety of wrestling moves. So yes, you can run right up to a couple of innocent passerbys, bodyslam one into the pavement and then kick the other in his manhood.
**** For obvious reasons, the crotch attacks are [[AwesomeYetPractical pretty effective in combat]], so you might find yourself using it ''a lot''. Outnumbered and low on health? Just duck into a corner, wait for a goon to come around and belt 'em below the belt. Rinse and repeat, and before you know it the room's cleared!
*** Your own avatar during the 'Insurance Fraud' missions. Throwing yourself at speeding vehicles to get flung into the sky and bounce into a ragdolled sprawl is addictive fun. Catch the front-end of a semi to gain the most air, and if you're lucky you can guide your plummeting descent into the grill of yet another.
*** Really want to be sick? Shoot up a hospital, like in GTA 4. ''You can [[MoralEventHorizon shoot up a hospital]]''. Filled with the doctors and nurses who ''[[TheFarmerAndTheViper may have just patched you up after your last rampage.]]''
*** Grab an innocent civilian or cop as a human shield, watch them struggle futiley in your grasp, and listen to them try to convince you to let them go. The kicker? There's no way to do so without killing them, be it by snapping their necks, a headshot, or throwing them a ridiculous distance. Some of what they say is pretty funny, but some sound clips cross over into [[IHaveAFamily legitimate]] TearJerker territory, so much so you may be tempted to revive them with the shock paddles to soothe your guilty conscience.
**** Speaking of the Shock Paddles, you can use them to electrocute someone to death, bring them back to life, then ''kill them again.'' And you can do this for as long as you want.
*** This is lampshaded by one of the six voices you can choose for your character. In a TakeThat against YOU, one of the voices, when drunk on 4 beer bottles, might say "I ONLY HURT PEOPLE CUZ I'M CRYIN ON THE INSIDE!" Yup. That's you they're talking about, you angry video game nerd.

** Not if you [[spoiler:drop him in lava]], he don't. But then you have [[ThatOneBoss another problem]]...

** [[spoiler: At the end of the game when players control a grown-up Jack seeking to avenge his father's death, several fans were so pissed at Edgar Ross that they not only kill him, but murder his family memebers as well.]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpqXT9Akx7s Here's]] a particular look at just how brutal you can be enacting vengeance.

* In ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'' there are ample opportunities to cinematically execute certain in-game persons using a pistol. Stand there, gun poised and finger on the trigger, listening to them beg for mercy. After hearing everything they had to say...oops, my finger slipped.

** A fun thing to do in ''[=GTA4=]'' is to run around pushing as many people as you can, getting a mob on your hands... And then running around them until someone hits someone else, and seeing how big a brawl you can start.
** Not to mention that the physics engine itself in ''GTA IV'' has potential all its own, allowing you to push {{NPC}}s down stairways, down steep hills, and off balconies.
** Said physics engine along with the AI also allows for some fun little situations, as most people won't even be bothered (beyond a few 'get out of my way' type sound clips) by you pushing them around or even standing on them... Just as long as you don't actually hit the attack button. Even cops can be mercilessly pushed over simply by running up against and around them, and as long as the fall isn't hard enough for them to lose health, they'll happily tolerate a Serbian dude standing on their chest. They also won't mind you walk-pushing someone they just arrested away... Rather, they'll chase HIM down and ignore you.
** Police can't get around proverbial [[InsurmountableWaistHeightFence waist-high fences]] -- vehicles you leave parked in inconvenient spots, such as stairwells and doorways. This means having free rein to engage in some truly disturbing behavior, like visiting a TW@ during the busy hours, and not leaving until everyone inside has *ahem* ''logged off.''
** Due to some odd AI, police will attempt to get up right next you at all costs... including falling to their deaths. Just watch this [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvK3mZYGjR0 video]].
*** Bonus: Watch for the taxi backing up over the cops.