With the release of Ubisoft’s Far Cry 5, bad guy cults are officially back in style. While we have seen many a video game cult, Joseph Seed’s Project at Eden’s Gate is relatively grounded compared to what we’ve seen in the past. While cults are a horrifyingly real thing that cut people off from the rest of society and warp victims’ perception of the world, video game cults allow players to see these dynamics at work in a fantastical context that strips away much of the real-life horror. In the spirit of taking down villainous religious extremists, here are the five video game cults we’d avoid drinking Kool-Aid with.
Covenant (Halo)
Easily one of the most recognizable and highly-populated Cults in games, The Covenant is an alliance of Alien races who worship a precursor race “The Forerunners”. The first aliens to form the cult, the San’Shyuum, believed themselves to be the natural inheritors of Forerunner technology such as the Halo Arrays. Covenant society is singularly focused on obtaining this ancient tech and activating the Halo installations in order to transcend the physical world and become divine, this was known as the Great Journey. However, this transcendence also meant the extinction of sentient life, but hey, Death Cults aren’t the most reasonable groups out there.
This post was originally authored by Colin Regan.
Children of Atom (Fallout)
Radiation will rot your brain and no group knows that better than the Children of Atom. The cult subscribes to the popular hypothesis that entire universes exist within single atoms and that the “Great War” that destroyed Earth was a creation event. Death is also regarded as a celebrated unification with Atom through “The Glow”. Ghouls (Fallout’s highly irradiated denizens) are seen as Atom’s forsaken and being denied unification. In Fallout 4 the player can even ally themselves with the Children during Far Harbor and conquer the town, similar to how Far Cry 5’s narrative is set up.
Player’s Cult (The Shrouded Isle)
Didn’t expect that, did you? One of my favorite roles to play in games is that of a dastardly villain and getting to lead diabolical forces against all that is righteous and good (i.e. Overlord, Evil Genius). The Shrouded Isle puts you in the shoes of the leader of a cult bent on resurrecting old vengeful god Chernobog, and it’s up to you to weed out the sinners so you will be allowed to ascend. Along the way, you will make choices on who to sacrifice, whose unborn baby will be raised by the clergy, and how to keep your flock ignorant and faithful. The power to be a repugnant leader of helpless people is in YOUR hands!
Los Iluminados (Resident Evil 4)
Or “The Enlightened” for those who didn’t take high school Spanish, these guys served as the main antagonists of Resident Evil 4. The cult is devoted to the power of “Las Plagas”, mind-controlling parasites that have taken over the townsfolk and animals. They believed these organisms were the key to true happiness and were controlled by an “Alpha Parasite” embedded in the Cult’s leader. So, they hatched a plan to kidnap the U.S. President’s daughter and infect her with the parasite in hopes that it would spread to her father. Not only do these parasites produce zombie-like symptoms in their hosts, they can also grow to enormous size and act as catalysts to create human/animal hybrids. These mutated humanoids and creatures act as bosses in the game and are some of the most horrifying monster designs ever seen in the series.
The Mythic Dawn (Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion)
The Mythic Dawn is one of the baddest cults around and nearly brought Tamriel to complete and utter subjugation under the demonic visage of Mehrunes Dagon. The cult was founded by Mankar Camaron after he was given a tome to open a “Paradise” realm in which his followers could live once they’ve ascended. The group’s main prerogative was to eradicate the royal Septim bloodline and summoning the Mehrunes Dagon to unite Tamriel and Oblivion into one realm. They make an immediate impression by killing Patrick Stewart-voiced Emperor Uriel Septim and throwing you immediately into a quest to find his heir and thwart the Cult’s scheme. The player becomes quite familiar with the hellish Oblivion realm after closing various Oblivion gates and fighting vicious Daedra within, so it goes without saying this plan is bad news for everyone in Tamriel.
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