What is your favorite game that parodies certain elements in other videogames. My personal favorite is DLC quest, a game that deconstructs microtransactions among other things.
Favorite satire game?
- Thread starter Professor James
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I'll go for the low-hanging fruit:
Spec-Ops: The Line
As a Modern Military Shooter fan, I adored Spec-Ops and the deconstruction of the tropes of the genre that it presented and put on top of it's head. It basically did what "Cabin in the Woods" did to the horror genre: it presented it as a straight-faced item that slowly and insanely pointed out all the fucked up shit about the genre.
Excellent game; if you enjoy the MMS genre and gave it a pass because Spec-Ops has traditionally been a crap series, I would go back and examine it again (though by this point I don't know who on The Escapist DOESN'T know about this game).
Spec-Ops: The Line
As a Modern Military Shooter fan, I adored Spec-Ops and the deconstruction of the tropes of the genre that it presented and put on top of it's head. It basically did what "Cabin in the Woods" did to the horror genre: it presented it as a straight-faced item that slowly and insanely pointed out all the fucked up shit about the genre.
Excellent game; if you enjoy the MMS genre and gave it a pass because Spec-Ops has traditionally been a crap series, I would go back and examine it again (though by this point I don't know who on The Escapist DOESN'T know about this game).
The Bard's Tale - it's a really funny action-adventure RPG that spoofs traditional fantasy RPGs in a lot of ways. It's an old PS2/Xbox game, though they've actually done a decent job porting it to Android as well - I have it on my Nook. Again, I can't overstate how funny this game is.
God Hand is a terrific, affectionate parody of the beat 'em up genre. I love how they keep coming up with ridiculous punk-ish mooks and wild exotic settings like the old sidescrolling beat 'em ups of olde, and how they effortlessly blend everything into the "plot". Viewtiful Joe (also by Clover Studio) did something similar in regards to cinema (specifically tokugatsu movies) but God Hand is even more shameless about itself.
No More Heroes and its sequel.
Now, I probably wouldn't actually be able to play all the way through them, and I followed fuck-all that happened in the ridiculous story, but damn if it's not one hell of a roller-coaster of entertainment to watch.
Also, I like to think 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand is supposed to be a satirical parody of the hyper-macho third-person shooter trend popularized by Gears of War, considering the entire plot is literally "***** took my skull! I gotta get it back!" and Fitty is basically a superhero during gameplay. And there's a button for swearing. Which gives you extra points to your kill combo.
Now, I probably wouldn't actually be able to play all the way through them, and I followed fuck-all that happened in the ridiculous story, but damn if it's not one hell of a roller-coaster of entertainment to watch.
Also, I like to think 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand is supposed to be a satirical parody of the hyper-macho third-person shooter trend popularized by Gears of War, considering the entire plot is literally "***** took my skull! I gotta get it back!" and Fitty is basically a superhero during gameplay. And there's a button for swearing. Which gives you extra points to your kill combo.
I still can't tell if Gears of War is supposed to be a satire of the 'hyper-macho-war-mongering-meathead' thing, or if it's playing it straight...
I enjoy when a parody doesn't at all try to hide that it's ham-fisted as all crikey hell, so with that in mind, I have a lot of positive things to say about Duke Nukem Forever. Its sheer self-aware stupidity is palpable and the newer mechanics it laughably struggles to incorporate are indicative of just how shoehorned most triple-A gaming is. It provides a cute bit of social commentary as well, with Duke basically being a sign held up to the player that says "YES. THIS IS HOW EVERY DICK-SWINGING ALPHA MALE ON THE PLANET SEES HIMSELF."
That game is goddamn hilarious.
That game is goddamn hilarious.
It's like that Jimmy Carr bit: "for all you ladies, that was post-modern misogyny, so don't you worry your pretty little heads about it".Starik20X6 said:
O/T: not sure if this is exactly what you're looking for, but I always liked Secret of Evermore as a kid in how it had that tongue-in-cheek storyline. Some games are just way too serious.
Hmm ... I could go with Tropico or Saints Row here now, but those are a tad bit too straight faced, imho.
Let's see ... Oh, I have one: Progress Quest. That thing is killer, and so bloody true.
Let's see ... Oh, I have one: Progress Quest. That thing is killer, and so bloody true.
With his recent level-headedness, I think I'm gonna give CliffyB credit on this and say "Probably yes." ... God, now I feel dirty.Starik20X6 said:
Gears of War wouldn't know what satire was if it came up and drenched it in it's testosterone fuelled sweat.Starik20X6 said:
Yep, gonna have to throw my vote in for Conker's Bad Fur Day as well.
Of the few I've played, The Stanley Parable.
It parodies linear, story-driven games, which are something I actually don't have much of a problem with. But it does it in such a hilarious way that I love it a lot.
One of the things it parodies is the illusion of choice, which is something that often crops up in those games that I do have a problem with.
It's very short, and it's a Half-Life 2 mod so I don't know if it counts as a "game" in the classic sense. But whether or not people would consider it a game is a silly and pointless discussion. It is brilliant, that's all you need to know.
It parodies linear, story-driven games, which are something I actually don't have much of a problem with. But it does it in such a hilarious way that I love it a lot.
One of the things it parodies is the illusion of choice, which is something that often crops up in those games that I do have a problem with.
It's very short, and it's a Half-Life 2 mod so I don't know if it counts as a "game" in the classic sense. But whether or not people would consider it a game is a silly and pointless discussion. It is brilliant, that's all you need to know.
