The Anti-Bush Game (alas, it is only a game)

On Election Night, 2008, I was fortunate enough to stumble upon the Anti-Bush Game , a video game for the truly virulent Bush-basher. It seemed appropriate to explore "serious game" of this nature as a historic election took place in this country. Somehow, the phrase "from the ridiculous to the sublime" kept running through my head as I explored the game.

The game can be viewed from a couple of perspectives; either a educational, albeit depressing journey through the mishaps of the Bush-Cheney regime, or through a violent, expletive-laden video game aimed at destroying the powers of evil. Let's take a look at 

both.

From a education perspective, the game lets the player pick from several issues (Surplus/Deficit, Jobs and Benefits, and God and Terrorism are three of the nine explored within the game) and explore those issues from the point of view of the game's author. Much of the information is quite good, though a bit on the "oh my god, it's a conspiracy" side. (This is to be expected, given the game title.) While investigating the issues, there is no real play, though it appears as though you are in a video game. All one can really do is read the author's harangues about the evils of Bushism

. (Disclosure: I agree with almost all of it.)

From a game play perspective, the game is a simplistic shooter game where the player tries to take down Bush, Cheney, and Voltron, a Transformer-like being representing the loss of America's freedoms and liberties. (The graphics really greatly on previous ideas, such as Transforms and Star Wars. Don't expect

 lots of originality.  You choose to be Hulk Hogan, Mr. T, or some other character to go out and take down Bush and his evil minions. The problem is that each one turns into a powerful monster as you approach, making it difficult to destroy them.  As you proceed through the game, you are given some information about what mistakes Bush-Cheney have made, but most dialogue is more graphic novel-like, and less informational. There is a great deal of inappropriate language unless you had previously experience the Nixon White House. The game itself is simplistic and repetitive, but succeeds in making the author's main point:  Bush headed one of the most morally corrupt, incompetent administrations in American history.