1. Captain Martin Walker (Spec Ops: The Line)
Its not that often that a game makes you feel like a despicable villain. Sure, there are games like Dungeon Keeper and Overlord where you play the bad guy. But those games are drenched in zany black humor that makes actions like torturing imps or pillaging a village seem not so horrible. Spec Ops lacks this sense of humor and makes no efforts to form a wall between you and the monstrous deeds youre committing. Walker, along with the rest of his squad, enter sandstorm ravaged Dubai with the best of intentions: to find out what happened to the Battalion that had been sent into help relieve the citys inhabitants. But you know what they say about the best of intentions. Before the game is over, you (as Walker) will have listened to the death throes of a hundred soldiers murdered by your hand; you will lead your men in the open arms of insanity and death; and, perhaps worst of all, you will rain down white phosphorous on innocent civilians. And the one thing that Walker had to do to prevent all of this was turn around half-way through the first level. But Walker, like the tragic character Oedipus, is doomed by his unrelenting pursuit of the truth: what happened to the battalion and its leader, Konrad? Brendan Keogh, in his excellent book length critical reading of the game (
Killing is Harmless), pinpoints the reason why Walker is such a compelling character: The Line isnt about Nathan Drake going insane; its about how Nathan Drake was always insane to begin with. But is Walker the villain of the game? Can the protagonist of the game be the villain, too? Someone could make the case that Walker is an antihero, except he doesnt lack the typical Western heroic qualities. In fact, its those qualitieshis bravery, his persistence, his resourcefulness, his need to know the truth at whatever the costthat ultimately lead to his moral collapse. Couple this with the fact that the supposed villain (Konrad) youre pursuing turns out to be nothing more than Walkers guilty subconscious manifesting itself as Konrad, and youve got a pretty good case for Walker being both the protagonist and the villain. What were some of your favorite villains from 2012? Let us know in the comments section below!