Skip to main content
GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+ The Games, Movies, TV & Comics You Love
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
flag of UK
UK
flag of US
US
flag of Canada
Canada
flag of Australia
Australia
  • Games
  • TV
  • Movies
  • Hardware
  • Video
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Guides
  • Deals
  • More
    • PS5
    • Xbox Series X
    • Nintendo Switch
    • Nintendo Switch 2
    • PC
    • Platforms
    • Tabletop Gaming
    • Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • SFX
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
    • Newsletters
    • About us
    • Features
Total Film
Gaming Magazines
Gaming Magazines
Why subscribe?
  • Subscribe from just £3
  • Takes you closer to the games, movies and TV you love
  • Try a single issue or save on a subscription
  • Issues delivered straight to your door or device
From$12
View
Trending
  • Summer Game Fest
  • New games for 2025
  • Upcoming Switch 2 games
  • Switch 2 stock

Recommended reading

Vending Dokan! Kozy Kiosk image showing a woman looking at various vending machines with different drinks and snacks
Games Every new indie game that shadowdropped during Wholesome Direct 2025: From a Sims-like decorating game to a chaotic cooking roguelike
A header image for the GamesRadar+ Best Games of 2025 list, showing Mario Kart World, Blue Prince, The Alters, and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Games The best games to play in 2025, so far
Best LGBTQ+ games -Shadowheart from Baldur's Gate 3
Games The best LGBTQ+ games to make you feel the love
Raz shoes away his old mentor worming his way out of his ear canal in a screenshot from Psychonauts 2.
Platforming Games Super Mario 64, a forgotten Dreamcast JRPG, classic Jet Li films, and more all inspired Tim Schafer while working on Psychonauts
kenshi screenshot showing people around a fire
Survival Games Brutal survival game Kenshi developer says "too many games let the player succeed," which is "mind-numbingly boring"
Toem 2 screnshot showing the photographer climbing up little hillsides with goats roaming
Games Upcoming indie games for 2025 and beyond
Best co op games: a screenshot of Cody and May in the game It Takes Two.
Co-op Games The 25 best co-op games of all time
  1. Games
  2. Action

Games that inspire independence

Features
By Joe Donnelly published 3 July 2015

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Taking a stand

Taking a stand

Independence Day, eh? Its a big deal Stateside, so Im told. Not that us Brits arent aware of this fact, but to be honest most of us associate the holiday and attached convivialities with Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum, fighting aliens, and blowing up the White House.

So the Fourth of July is a day to celebrate independence - its in the name after all. Independence from who, though? Oh, 18th century colonial Britain and its imperialist pseudo monopoly of the world at the time. I see.

With this in mind, let us now come together, stick out our proverbial tongues at our English counterparts (Im actually from Scotland), and take a look at the fictitious worlds whereby virtual independence from the digital establishment is the name of the game.

Page 1 of 8
Page 1 of 8
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Independence from: The Empire

The Great War of 4E 171 may not have run quite as long as the American Revolution, but in its five-year span the Empires Imperial Legion fought the Aldmeri Dominion in an arduous bloodbath that plunged Skyrim into a grueling Civil War thereafter. Thousands died on the battlefield, the Thalmor race now finds itself marginalised, and certain religious practices are outlawed.

Although it must be said that Ulfric Stormcloak is a bit of a dick, by siding with his Stormcloak Rebellion, the Dragonborn has the power to restore peace to the realm in the long-term, and political and socio-political stability in the present. The Thalmors grip seems to be slowly tightening all over Tamriel, and the Empire is essentially under its pointy aggrieved thumb. With this in mind, negotiating peaceful terms with the Thalmor will be the Stormcloaks biggest challenge, but with a serious attempt at peace at stake change is surely needed, Nord heroes.

Page 2 of 8
Page 2 of 8
Fallout: New Vegas

Fallout: New Vegas

Independence from: The NCR / Mr. House / Caesars Legion

Similar to Skyrims Empire/Thalmor/Stormcloak trifecta, New Vegas power groups comprise an equally ambiguous and unscrupulous lot in Mr House, the New California Republic (NCR), and Caesar's Legion. Deciding who you, The Courier, deem fit to take charge of the Desert Wasteland significantly alters the games outcome - theres even the option to screw them all and take hold of things on your lonesome with some less than subtle aid from Yes Man.

Although the NCR are the most obvious good guys, theyre far from perfect, meaning The Couriers choices become far less obvious the longer he spends roaming the Mojave, mingling with its conflicting gangs, crews and factions.

Perhaps the saddest thing about being offered such choice in a video game is that, ultimately, The Wasteland seems fucked whichever way you go, meaning Fallout: New Vegas is arguably a stark reflection of modern day politics in reality, even given its fantastical premise.

Page 3 of 8
Page 3 of 8
Suikoden 2

Suikoden 2

Independence from: The Highland Army

Under the instruction of the abhorrent Luca Blight, the duplicitous Highland Army slaughters its junior brigade whilst disguised as neighbouring Jowston State soldiers during a routine exercise. The active peace treaty is unsurprisingly terminated and Highland now has carte blanche to wage war with the state.

But to Highlands dismay, you, the hero of the story, and best mate Jowy Atreides escape the onslaught. You get separated but agree beforehand the importance of sharing the Highland Armys atrocities with the world - a duty which drives you to eventually form the Dunan Unification army; a band of like-minded rebels who wish to overthrow the corrupt and nefarious Highland establishment. And you thought the Boston Tea Party was divisive...

Youll face Luca Blight and Jowy Atreides again further down the line, but will the politics of war have shifted your outlook, not to mention the way you all view and deal with each other?

Page 4 of 8
Page 4 of 8
Half-Life 2

Half-Life 2

Independence from: The Combine

Gordon Freeman is the modern age Gary Cooper - the strong silent type, as Tony Soprano often recounted. Given that our Gordon doesnt utter a word throughout his journey across the crumbling dystopian City 17, its all the more astounding how much social change he manages to enact.

With the help of Eli, Alex, D0g, Barney Calhoun, and the rest of Lambda Resistance, Freeman ultimately fells the totalitarian Combine regime after invading the venerable Nova Prospekt prison, and then by recapturing the city streets which have become the last bastion of the Resistances defence.

Whereas scenarios like New Vegas offer little in the way of certainty and conclusive right or wrong, the Combine versus Lambda is pretty clear cut. Theyre implacable, merciless dictators hell-bent on destroying the human race. Theyre bastards, really. And who could forget the unrelenting force wrought by electrified truncheon and used on Gordon for missing the bin with an empty can of soda? This clean up duty set piece still haunts me to this day.

Page 5 of 8
Page 5 of 8
BioShock

BioShock

Independence from: Andrew Ryan

In politics and in warfare - and in political warfare - deception and lies are as powerful as guns, tanks and boardroom malice. So when Rapture, Andrew Ryans once-thriving-now-decaying underwater city, is full to the brim with untrusting and untrustworthy characters, it makes protagonist Jacks time in the crumbling dystopia all the more difficult.

According to some, Andrew Ryans screwing everyone over. Hes keeping all the ADAM to himself. But what about that Frank Fontaine? Is he really better in charge of things down here? Youd think Steinman would be reliable - after all, hes a doctor - but I get the impression hes spending a bit too much time cosied up in that laboratory of his. Peach Wilkins is in cahoots with Fontaine but I think I trust him less than that whacko Sander Cohen. Tennenbaum seems okay, but with all those weird Little Sisters hanging around her, and those awful Big Daddies, I dont know what to think.

Urgh, siding with Atlas seems like the only viable option here, but I cant be sure. What do you say? Would you kindly share your thoughts?

Page 6 of 8
Page 6 of 8
Final Fantasy 7

Final Fantasy 7

Independence from: Shinra Inc.

There aint no gettin offa this train we on! cries Barret Wallace, the leader of resistance movement AVALANCHE, at a pivotal moment in Final Fantasy 7. Speaking metaphorically, his words mirror the wider context of rebellion, and highlight the dedication required to topple a corrupt government or government-sponsored conglomerate such as Shinra Incorporated.

Similar to City 17s Combine, Shinra are bastards. As an extreme right wing outfit, Shinra is a corporation that makes the rich mega-richer, and has the poor living beneath the capital city in a slum devoid of wealth, viable commerce, and sunlight - the result of a man-made steel plate that separates the two towns above and below. AVALANCHEs recalcitrant tactics are at times questionable, but always with the greater good in mind.

Its a shame, then, that most of Shinras bad guys and gals ooze charisma and cool, not least the Turks: Elena, Rufus, Tseng, Reno, Rude, and Reeve. Their off-the-charts charm and chic makes taking them to task all that much harder, but with a FF7 remake now on the horizon, I for one cannot wait to do battle with them all over again.

Page 7 of 8
Page 7 of 8
Killzone

Killzone

Independence from: The Helghast

Killzone is an archetypal Independence Day Hollywood blockbuster Us versus Them-type video game franchise. Its the aforementioned Goldblum, its Smith, its... well its not Tom Cruise because he was weak in the 2005 War of the Worlds alongside the brilliant, and quite frankly superior, Dakota Fanning, but you get the picture.

If movies and video games of this ilk have taught us anything, its that interstellar politics always boil down to one thing: killing a shit tonne of aliens - normally ones with big beady black eyes, and oblong heads. The Helghast are a tad more threatening in their appearance with their Gestapo-esque aesthetic, power armour, and menacing orange laser stare, but the core theme is the same throughout the Killzone series: kill em. Every one of em.

Because, frankly, theyll kill you. Be it Templar, or Sev, Garza or Rico, there may not be much in the way of convoluted, engaging narrative in the Killzone series; but theres planets to be saved and bad guys to be slaughtered. To independence!

Page 8 of 8
Page 8 of 8
CATEGORIES
PlayStation PS4 Xbox Xbox One Platforms
PRODUCTS
Fallout: New Vegas Killzone 3 The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Joe Donnelly
Joe Donnelly
Social Links Navigation
Contributor

Joe Donnelly is a sports editor from Glasgow and former features editor at GamesRadar+. A mental health advocate, Joe has written about video games and mental health for The Guardian, New Statesman, VICE, PC Gamer and many more, and believes the interactive nature of video games makes them uniquely placed to educate and inform. His book Checkpoint considers the complex intersections of video games and mental health, and was shortlisted for Scotland's National Book of the Year for non-fiction in 2021. As familiar with the streets of Los Santos as he is the west of Scotland, Joe can often be found living his best and worst lives in GTA Online and its PC role-playing scene.

See more Playstation Features
Read more
Vending Dokan! Kozy Kiosk image showing a woman looking at various vending machines with different drinks and snacks
Every new indie game that shadowdropped during Wholesome Direct 2025: From a Sims-like decorating game to a chaotic cooking roguelike
A header image for the GamesRadar+ Best Games of 2025 list, showing Mario Kart World, Blue Prince, The Alters, and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
The best games to play in 2025, so far
Best LGBTQ+ games -Shadowheart from Baldur's Gate 3
The best LGBTQ+ games to make you feel the love
Raz shoes away his old mentor worming his way out of his ear canal in a screenshot from Psychonauts 2.
Super Mario 64, a forgotten Dreamcast JRPG, classic Jet Li films, and more all inspired Tim Schafer while working on Psychonauts
kenshi screenshot showing people around a fire
Brutal survival game Kenshi developer says "too many games let the player succeed," which is "mind-numbingly boring"
Toem 2 screnshot showing the photographer climbing up little hillsides with goats roaming
Upcoming indie games for 2025 and beyond
Latest in Action
Death Stranding 2 Episodes Sam talking to Fragile in Episode 1
How many Episodes are in Death Stranding 2?
Death Stranding 2 PS5 screenshot of Sam on a futuristic motorcycle
Death Stranding 2 is taking its On the Beach subtitle seriously as players think its map screen could be making some PS5s overheat
Death Stranding 2
Hideo Kojima admits references to himself in Death Stranding 2 are all his own doing, even if it "might cause certain people to cringe hard"
Death Stranding 2 best unlocks
All the best unlocks in Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
lea seydoux as fragile smoking a cigarette
Hideo Kojima altered certain Death Stranding 2 characters to better match their actors, which is why why Cliff and Fragile smoke and Higgs plays guitar
Death Stranding
You may not like it, but peak Death Stranding performance is this incredible road that took 5 hours to make
Latest in Features
Sean Gunn as Maxwell Lord in Peacemaker season 2 trailer
Maxwell Lord - The comic history of the villain who mind-controlled Superman and almost destroyed the Justice League
Hades 2 announcement trailer
70 hours later and with a full launch imminent, I already miss Hades 2 being in Early Access
Toothless, Miles Morales' Mask, Battle Droid with STAP, and Nike Dunk sets divided from each other by white lines, with a 'GamesRadar+ New Lego' badge in the middle
New Lego sets for July 2025, including the perfect gift I think fans will go nuts for
Jan sadly presses a hand on a screen that says 'deceased' in The Alters
The Alters has changed the way I play games for the better, and after 18 years I can finally finish Mass Effect
Sam balances across a ladder high up in the mountains in Death Stranding 2
Death Stranding 2 is my favorite online game this year, even though you never directly see any other players
Lee Jung-jae as Gi-hun in Squid Game season 3
The Squid Game season 3 finale is a crushing but ultimately hopeful conclusion – and I wouldn't have it any other way
  1. Sam fires at the ghost mech squid boss in Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
    1
    Death Stranding 2: On the Beach review: "This tarpunk delivery epic is more Metal Gear Solid than ever, for better and worse"
  2. 2
    Rematch review: "As with Rocket League, the just-one-more-game pull is magnetic"
  3. 3
    Tron: Catalyst review: "Disc slinging is a thrill in this gorgeous rendition of the series, but I'm let down by a time-loop story that falls flat"
  4. 4
    FBC: Firebreak review: "A disappointingly bland multiplayer FPS that's missing far too much of what made Control special"
  5. 5
    Dune: Awakening review: "Both extremely compelling and extraordinarily boring, sometimes at the same time – yet still a true Dune love letter"
  1. A T-rex in Jurassic World Rebirth
    1
    Jurassic World Rebirth Review: "An unscary sequel that needed a little more time in amber"
  2. 2
    M3GAN 2.0 review: "A bold sequel with a slightly underwhelming conclusion"
  3. 3
    28 Years Later Review: "Enough terror, splatter and suspense to satisfy”
  4. 4
    Predator: Killer of Killers review: "Great characters, thrilling action, and gorgeous Arcane-esque animation"
  5. 5
    From the World of John Wick: Ballerina review: "Brilliant action, even if the plot gives you a sense of déjà vu"
  1. Lee Jung-jae as Gi-hun in Squid Game season 3
    1
    Squid Game season 3 review: "A staggeringly excellent final season wraps up one of the greatest Netflix shows ever"
  2. 2
    Ironheart review: "A relic of Marvel's content-at-all-costs era"
  3. 3
    Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 review: "The show's most assured run of episodes to date"
  4. 4
    Doctor Who season 2, episode 8 spoiler review: 'The Reality War' is "a mix of the good, the bad, and the truly baffling"
  5. 5
    Doctor Who season 2, episode 7 spoiler review: 'Wish World' is "an exciting and ambitious" start to the season finale, with hints of WandaVision

GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Review guidelines
  • Write for us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...