The Most 'MURICAN Games for the Most 'MURICAN Day

Happy Independence Day! Today is the day where the greatest country in the world (that would be the United States of America) beat up some other country that I forgot about and proceeded to bring freedom to the rest of the world. That's how it works. Eat a cheeseburger to celebrate.

If you're not content with just eating your mandatory celebration cheeseburger and want to show how much you love this country through video games, then you're going to need something to play. Thankfully, I talked to other writers and got some thoughts on what the most 'MURICAN video games are.

Broforce

By Jason Ashman

When you think ‘MURICA!, it’s hard to go past Free Lives’s Broforce. After all, what is more American then liberating countries, rescuing captured prisoners of war, and destroying the evil red devil? Doing it with your bros of course! Broforce is a sidescrolling 2D action platformer where you need to liberate some poor 'MURICA-less county. With no respect for the landscape, the natives, or even your own life, you and your bros need to smash through the fully destructible landscape and plant your flag, for the good of the country. Each landscape you liberate helps you celebrate with an explosion of corpses, fireworks, and a face melting guitar solo that would make Old Glory cry. With such bro’s as Brodell Walker, a take on Walker Texas Ranger, Rambro, and the Brominator, each with their own patriotic powers which can turn a man into a 'MURICAN. Rescuing a POW will net you a new bro to tame the jungle with, and with over 40 bros to rescue and destroy with, just like with America, your patriotism will never end. But don’t just take my word for it, your 19 thousand new bros on Steam seem to think this game is 10/10 patriotic ‘MURICAN stars—the best stars of course.

Metal Wolf Chaos

By Andrew Stretch

Today is all about America and all of its freedom, so what would be better than the token Australian talking about what he thinks is the most American game that also happens to be a Japanese-only title developed and published by FromSoftware, Metal Wolf Chaos. In Metal Wolf Chaos you play as Michael Wilson, the President of the United States of America, having to travel across America in your suit of power armor, the titular Metal Wolf. After being usurped by the Vice President, you need to quell his rebellions that are rising up all across the states by showing up and blasting away anyone who opposes you. The only thing that might be better than the over the top mech action in this game might be the over the top voice acting, none of which was done by Japanese voice actors. You can take your mech to the next level not only upgrading its weapons, such as 4th of July Fireworks, but also a complete star spangled paint job. If that doesn't make you want to stand and salute, I don't know what will.

Metal Gear Solid Series

By Nick Maillet

Nothing says "America, fuck yeah!" like flying into a soviet occupied base in a helicopter blasting '80s pop. The Metal Gear Solid series as a whole has always had a very patriotic overtone, whether its battling the former President of the United States on the steps of The Capitol with a sword, liberating political prisoners from a Cuban base run by a skeleton man in a cowboy hat, or raising a dog (not a wolf) while taking time to vape the day away. Metal Gear Solid has always been a wacky example of how pop culture glorifies our soldiers and what they have to do to protect liberty ... even if its biggest threat is usually the government itself. If anything, the protagonist's hairstyles are a true example of American exceptionalism and that's why it's definitely one of the most 'murican game series available.

Saints Row IV

By Alex Santa Maria

Fallout 1 & 2

By Don Parsons

While the obvious connection for many people may be the Michael Bayized Fallout 3 with the giant Liberty Prime, I'd argue that the original two games of Fallout do a great job of showing America, for the good and the bad. Fallout 1 and 2 show a romanticized and villainized America with the '50s aesthetic and clean values portrayed along with the classic science fiction feel that many works of that time used. They also show some of the harsher sides in places like New Reno in Fallout 2 and the Enclave, which is an almost cartoonish caricature of American politics at times with them being evil and all about themselves (and would become cartoonish in their appearance in Fallout 3).

Fallout speaks a lot to the human condition in many ways with its stories and peoples, but there are many more direct ties in the games to the American world where its set and even to things like the old west and the American dream. The story of the New California Republic told from its beginnings of the town of Shady Sands through Fallout 2 and Fallout: New Vegas tell an authentic story of the frontier, even in the patently impossible world of Fallout.

Red Dead Redemption

By Robert Grosso

One might not think of Red Dead Redemption as a game about America, but westerns are as Americana as you get when it comes to themes and folklore. Westerns are baked into American values of hard work, perseverance, romanticism, and more. The Wild West is America's version of Medieval England, a time period of legend and, more importantly, a crossroads in our history.

Red Dead Redemption is no exception to this, evoking all the grandeur and hardships of the West. It is also a somber story, focusing on the tale of John Marston, a veteran outlaw looking to redeem his dark past to preserve his future for his family. It is a tale of the "taming" of the West as much as it is vengeance, the passage of time leading to the civilization of the open land and lawless outlaws. In this way, Red Dead Redemption is stark in what it emulates; a game that perfectly apes the tropes of the western while bringing a dose of haunting reality to what really happened in the west.

Duke Nukem Series

By Luigi Savinelli

We are all familiar with Duke Nukem, epitome of machismo and one of the reasons we had to play video games hidden from our parents during childhood. The bubble-gum chewing, ass kicking, unstoppable alien destroyer carved his name in the legend of video games by sheer force of badassery. One of the contributing factors of its character, though, is that the Duke is a beast made in the U. S. of goddamn A.

While the “plot” of all the Duke Nukem games have always been more about shooting aliens than exporting the American way, the character itself wears its nationality on his sleeve. The character, including his famous one-liners and overflowing attitude, is created by taking all the American action movie heroes of the time, fusing them together, and then cranking it up to 11.

Duke Nukem is the embodiment of the USA as seen by many Americans. In each of his games, he’s doing his best to just relax, enjoy the company of his numerous famous fans, and generally minding his own badass business. Inevitably, some aliens of sort decide that the home planet of the person that stopped countless invasions single-handledly would be the perfect target so our hero is forced to take up the arms again and kick the teeth (or tentacles or whatever) of the uninvited guests because apparently no one else will do so. As I said, just as many Americans see their nation.

God bless Duke Nukem.

Saints Row IV (again)

By Robert N. Adams

Mafia III

By Samuel Guglielmo

There's a lot of things that define this wonderful country known only as 'MURICA. One of the biggest is that day we rose up and punched Britain in the face for thinking they owned us. Nobody owns us, and nobody also owns Lincoln Clay. When someone tries to pull one over on Vietnam War veteran Lincoln Clay, then there's Hell to pay. There's nothing more 'MURICAN than the underdog coming out on top while fighting against an injustice.

Just think about all American boxing movies like Rocky or Cinderella Man. Much like how those movies are about underdogs fighting their way to the top, Mafia III is the same. This time the reason Clay is the underdog is because of the color of his skin. While there's many great things about America, that time period when we segregated and abused people of different races is not one of them. While Mafia III may be reminding us that America wasn't always perfect, it sure lets you try your hand at fixing the problem.

So we got an underdog story about fixing America's problems, we got a a Vietnam War veteran using his skills to get back at criminals for killing his family, and we got a whole lot of guns. This 'MURICA day you should do your country proud and play Mafia III. Or any of these other games I guess.

Got a video game that's more 'MURICAN than any of the ones we listed? You're a liar, but let us know what it is anyway.