It’s one of the most politically divisive presidential elections ever, but for those who can’t get enough of the personal attacks, a mobile game developer has taken it to the next level.
RV Entertainment Center, an independent mobile games studio, has released a free satirical fighting game for Android phones and iPhones called “U.S. Political Fighting.”
The nonpartisan smartphone game parodies the Mortal Kombat series that pitted a player against another player. U.S. Political Fighting features well-known politicians battling each other, but it is not graphic in nature, unlike Mortal Kombat, which was as gory as it was fun.
The latter featured signature kill moves in which each of the particular combatants were urged to “Finish him!” and polish off their opponents in deadly fashion. The victor would vanquish his or her opponent in a particularly gruesome manner, such as ripping the other’s spine out.
In contrast, U.S. Political Fighting aims to take some of the real-life hostility between supporters of popular Democratic and Republican elected officials such as Speaker of House Nancy Pelosi and President Donald Trump, respectively, and channel it into something relatively harmless.
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“It was released shortly before the fateful 59th U.S. presidential election in the U.S.,” said Erika Miller, an RV Entertainment Center spokesperson.
There are 19 different politicians in the mobile game U.S. Political Fighting that players can choose from, each with their own unique or special skill. Trump throws tweets, for example, at his opponent while Pelosi hits whomever she is engaged in combat with using a gavel.
Players of the game might choose to be former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, whose special “weapon” is the emails that Trump used to discredit her during the 2016 presidential campaign. And as Clinton, she can take on Sen. Ted Cruz as he screams “We shall never surrender.”
Audio phrases of the real politicians are played during gameplay. For example, “Our revolution continues!” is uttered by two-time Democratic presidential candidate Bernie “Feel the burn” Sanders, who has since thrown his support behind Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.
You can also hear Biden in the game also utter real-life mano a mano declarations of bravado and bluster, such as this one against Trump: “The press always asks me ‘Don’t I wish I were debating him.’ No, I wish we were in high school. I could take him behind the gym.”
U.S. Political Fighting has two campaigns— Republican and Democratic — and players can run for the House of Representatives to the Senate and eventually become the president of the United States.
“For this, the main politicians of the opposing party must be defeated in battle,” Miller said.
The characters’ movements in the game are almost puppet-like and cartoonish, which may have been an intentional choice by the game’s developer to de-escalate the very real animosity that some American voters have for politicians who perhaps belong to an opposing political party.
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The action-oriented game is rated acceptable for everyone ages 10 and older. Like many free mobile games, it contains ads and offers in-app purchases. The game can be downloaded for Android or iPhones from Google Play or the App Store, respectively.
U.S. Political Fighting is part of a series of satirical fighting games adapted to various countries such as Russia, Poland, Venezuela, Hungary, Italy, Japan and more with its “fantasy violence” in various gaming locations, such as the grounds of the White House.
“The U.S. Political Fighting is a perfect game for nervous relaxation where you can both win a political battle for your favorites and stuff the faces of nasty annoying politicians,” said Miller, head of design at RV Entertainment Center.
RV Entertainment Center was founded in 2017 when its team of developers decided to make its first satirical game on topics such as Ukrainian politics.
FRANK LEE may be reached at 218-855-5863 or at frank.lee@brainerddispatch.com . Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/DispatchFL .
