When the Puritans began settling down in North America during the early 17th century, they didn’t practice cosplay. Those were dark days - dark, costume-less days, filled with famine, toil, and a depressingly short supply of free candy. It would take nearly 200 years for Americans and Canadians to finally embrace Halloween as a mainstream event - and it was mostly thanks to a flood of Irish and Scottish immigrants in the late 19th century, who brought their version of the pagan holiday with them. We’ve come a long way since those dreadful, treat-less Octobers. Thankfully, Halloween, and all the trick or treating and costumes that come with it, are here to stay.

Above: To your left are two fine specimens of un-fun Puritans. To your right is a very authentic representation of an average Irish man 

As you may have noticed, it’s Halloweek at GamesRadar. So we’re paying tribute to some of our favorite costume-related moments in games. Some of the outfits found in these pages are purely for show. But we also wanted to give special nods to the disguises that helped you beat the game, save the world, and in one very special instance, enter a brothel.

Solid Snake taught gamers to think inside the box when it came to stealth. Sure, camouflage may have had its uses in the jungles of the poorly-named Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, but his infamous cardboard box was – and will always be – the best way to sneak past security forces.

Above: GET IT?!?!

Above: In MGS4, Snake made a bold move by adding a barrel to his list of ingenious disguises 

Niko Bellic is a man with eclectic tastes when it comes to fashion. He feels right at home in a finely tailored Perseus suit and ski mask when he robs the Liberty City bank with the McKreary gang. But Niko isn’t above donning a pair of proletarian boots and some stained overalls when he needs to pass himself off as an employee of the Liberty City Sanitation Department to steal diamonds from the garbage in a smelly Trashmaster.

Above: If you’re going to rob a bank, it’s always best to look like the gang in Heat 

Above: See the epic The Three Leaf Clover mission in its entirety 

Still, after looking over Niko Bellic’s impressive wardrobe, we think his hospital scrubs made for the most dangerous disguise in the game. In the Flatliner mission, Niko learns that Jimmy Pegorino needs to have his bodyguard, Anthony whacked. The rat bastard’s recovering from a heart attack in the hospital, so Niko helps himself to some scrubs to sneak past the cops keeping an eye on Anthony. The doctor of death throws the Hippocratic Oath to the wind and disconnects the life support. Of course, your wanted level immediately shoots through the roof, but a band of roaming cop cars are no match for Niko’s reckless driving as he tears through the streets and alleyways of Liberty City.

Above: Oh, are they?