From Software wasn`t always the renowned developer it is today, but by and large it still produced interesting, worthwhile games in the early PlayStation and Xbox days. The studio`s rich history is absolutely worth exploring, and once you start down that rabbit hole, 2004`s Metal Wolf Chaos is sure to catch your eye. A game starring the fictional President of the United States is an intriguing setup. The fact that he pilots a mech stuffed to the gills with an arsenal of giant weapons is a near-irresistible premise. Metal Wolf Chaos is one big schlocky joke at the US` expense delivered in the form of an action game, and because there aren`t many nations or cultures that are fit to be mocked with such gusto, it feels like a rare opportunity that warrants investigation.Perhaps for obvious reasons, Metal Wolf Chaos never completed its planned journey westward back when Bush was in office and the US-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan put us on more international shitlists than usual. Fifteen years later, amid very different (though arguably worse) political and cultural climates, From Software`s tongue-in-cheek parody of US stereotypes is finally open to widespread interpretation. There are aspects of its bombastic campaign that coincidentally bring to mind the worst of our current predicament, but the Metal Wolf President Michael Wilson, his secretary Jody, and the main villain, Vice President Richard Hawk, never let you forget that this is first and foremost a series of surface-level jokes played up with B-grade voice acting.`Jody: Mr. President, I haven`t been this happy since...Since that supermarket going-out-of-business sale, when I was searching for my favorite candy and...I found the last bar all covered in dust at the back of the rack! And the expiration date was still good!Michael Wilson: I know the feeling, Jody.`Once you dive into missions, any goodwill earned by these ludicrous exchanges--in the face of a coup d`etat--eventually fades. The Metal Wolf mech ...
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