And what you mean by "gray."

Like you say, pretty much all games with "morality" subsystems reward you for playing an extreme.

However, in games that DON'T have explicit systems like that, you can do whatever you want.

So, like, in the original Deus Ex, you could be a good guy- try to always be nonlethal, pay for stuff, don't be a pervert, and so on. Or, if you wanted, you could be a good guy except when you didn't want to- be nonlethal unless it's a hassle, pay for what you have to and steal everything you can, go in the woman's bathroom.

I just started playing the new Deus Ex, and spent like 20 minutes breaking into about a dozen different offices, ransacking their drawers, and reading their emails. But I'm doing it to find a drug thief! Gray.


Another example would be something like Baldur's Gate II or Arcanum, where your reputation would easily get maxed out just from playing the game and killing evil, so a little shoplifting or petty cruelty now and again doesn't hurt anyone.



I get the impression that's not what you're thinking of, though.