I am not nor ever have been that much of a fan of gore and blood in video games. Oh, I thought Doom was delightfully scandalous back in the day (in a very low-rez fashion) and have made allowances for storytelling moments where an element of ultra-violence is needed. But from Mortal Kombat to today, I don’t find much interest or delight in games getting violently murder-happy.
Despite dealing with constant combat, MMOs generally are not bloody affairs. It’s kind of a “PG-13” industry where combat doesn’t leave so much as a scratch on your target and where death literally fades away to nothing. Yet every once in a while we do get MMOs that embrace the bloodletting and don’t shy away from shocking with a fountain of gore every now and then.
Today we’ll be listing 10 of the bloodiest MMOs of all time as either a public service to feed your barbaric nature or to help you avoid a mess on your carpet.
Requiem: Memento Mori
Pretty much anybody knows about Requiem (if they know anything about this MMO at all, that is) is that it’s an insanely gory game. And that’s the beginning, middle, and end of common knowledge on this title. I suppose there are stranger hooks to create for your game, but offering players a splatterfest horror online RPG seems like it might attract certain people — and push away all the rest.
Age of Conan
Funcom’s first entry into the Conanverse didn’t shy away from using the adult themes that were present in the books, including slavery, nudity, and oh yes, savage brutality. For some players, this was a big selling point, that an MMO wasn’t treating them with kids gloves but rather immersing them in a very savage world.
Secret World Legends
Blood magic aside, Secret World Legends’ combat isn’t the bloody part of the game. Rather, Funcom put a lot of gore into certain areas of this horror title. You might go for days without seeing much blood and then get impalements, vampire blood stacks, corpse mounds, and ritualistic slayings. Plus a cute lady who rips out hearts and eats them for fun.
Vindictus
Do you like blood sprays with your combat? If so, then welcome to Vindictus! This darker entry in the Mabinogi franchise delivered more visceral — and eviscerating — combat for players who weren’t satisfied with trading slaps and magical balls of light with foes.
Elder Scrolls Online
As with SWL, Elder Scrolls Online isn’t an overtly gory game, but rather a game that gets bloody when the story or scene calls for it. I know my eyebrows just about shot up off of my face the first time I saw an NPC go all serial killer on a foe with the requisite amount of blood, and there have been more than a few gruesome moments tucked away in this otherwise gorgeous world.
Mortal Online
If you were going to make a case that adult elements such as nudity and blood would boost the appeal and sales of your MMO, you probably shouldn’t use Mortal Online as your prime example. While the PvP title has both of these in spades, the mature rating hasn’t proven to be the crowd-gathering appeal that its developers had hoped.
Hellgate: London
With devs attempting to bring a Diablo-like experience to a demon-filled post-apocalyptic future, it’s no surprise that Hellgate was grim, grimy, and gory right from the start. To be honest, the darker atmosphere was part of the appeal of the game for some, especially since it was offset with gallows humor and weird NPC quirks.
Warframe
The action may go by blindingly fast in this popular online shooter/slasher, but trust us, the blood is there. As some sort of space ninja, the player is constantly slicing and shooting through waves of enemies — and those foes do not want to part with their lives willingly.
Path of Exile
And since we’re in the quasi-MMORPG section of this list, I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out the darker-than-Diablo Path of Exile. True, the characters may not be as large as your typical over-the-shoulder MMO, but that’s only because you wouldn’t be able to stomach the all of the ways that guts are spilled and appendages separated up close and personal.
Dark Eden
Really, it’s very hard to make a family-friendly vampire MMO unless you’re Hotel Transylvania Online or something. So don’t bat an eye — and eye a bat — when you see that this long-running MMO features plenty of the red stuff and more disturbing body horror than any Hellraiser film.
Everyone likes a good list, and we are no different! Perfect Ten takes an MMO topic and divvies it up into 10 delicious, entertaining, and often informative segments for your snacking pleasure. Got a good idea for a list? Email us at justin@massivelyop.com or eliot@massivelyop.com with the subject line “Perfect Ten.”
