It ain't easy to design games around actual political events or actual political situations. Stardock have tried to create a political simulator with their
Political Machine series, which is due to receive a new game later this year, and there's always the Democracy series, that tries to simulate the way government must deliver on its promises to the people.
But no game has yet captured the tough,
go-for-the-throat attitude necessary in real political battles, no game has managed to clearly simulate the fight for a government position. Well, now the wait for such a game is over as Hail to the Chimp is due for release in May.
The premise is simple. The top political position is vacant and ten candidates have launched campaigns aimed at taking that top position. A famously neutral television channel focused on news and politics is covering the political contest. All the candidates must display skills and resourcefulness in a variety of fields. Sounds a lot like the Presidential election of 2008, doesn't it?
Well, it's not. The top position is king of the animals, the contenders range from Floyd, the walrus that claims to be in contact with hyper intelligent being of pure sonic energy, to Cracker, the monkey with a business sense, and Moxie, the lady yak that's actually a musk ox and not happy about the mix up. The political channel is the deliciously tongue in cheek GRR News, headed by Chumley the Woodchuck. And the campaign events consist of various minigames that mostly feature violence, destruction and over-the-top attacks.
On top of the humor, there are various interesting game mechanics. The life of each character is measured in clams that can be lost and picked up by other animals. There's also the possibility of players forming alliances, which tends to make them more powerful and less prone to losing their clams.
The game is slated for an
Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 release, so look out for the funniest parody of human politics that uses crazy animals in stores on May 27.