Top 5 Occupy Wall Street Riot Games

As 2012 and Armageddon draws closer, there have been sudden lapses of social control throughout the world lately. Canadians have shown us that coming in second from an entire league is reason enough to start a city wide tirade and the UK even did one better. In August this year, London and subsequently other cities fell into chaos over alleged disgruntlement with the government. But in reality, most of the carnage was due to the fact that humans are animals when given the chance; without any concrete complaint. It is in this similar ‘plot device’ that people are now massively taking to the streets in the Occupy Wall Street movement; with a wagging finger towards the capitalism that has brought prosperity to the entire Western world.

It is exactly at this time that some capitalist heroes would do well to take advantage of this occurrence, for their own personal gain, but also to champion their beloved policy. Especially since it is these groups which own more resources for putting out games that there should’ve been a surge of topical smartphone and/or tablet games by now. Such games are easily fabricated and often enough they consist of mere clones from popular titles. And if we know a few schemes without a degree in economics, it’s that using hype together with an established brand will equal popularity and profit, no matter how shallow the attempt.

Well, since there have been successful attempts at doing these knock-offs before and we can’t always wait for an Osama to die, here are some great uprising ideas. Games such as the recent Deus Ex have shown the power of human revolution, but this needs a more hands-on approach. These games could lend a hand at leeching one’s way to success, with some simple modifications or twists. But let this be an official statement: As the original inventor of the idea, I hereby declare to wanting my share of the profits. Let’s say 5% of all sales and possible merchandise and royalties.

5) Gangland

This refers to the turn of the century PC game and not some other seedy thing you might have heard of. In reality, the mobster theme is oddly recurring in this piece and many titles could’ve been picked, but Gangland offers little bits of every game style, giving it an edge. The main appeal this game could bring is the sensation of taking over things, as the crime caravan moves to town. Players can take over shops, bars and all sorts of places where the common man is being oppressed. Rather than using it for personal gain however, in this case the legions could be used to start a sort of ‘Fight Club.’ For those unaware, the movie revolves around an underground movement that globalizes the entire world’s working force into a deadly squad of malcontents. If one group basically runs every cog of the world, then removing those cogs would be devastating to those owning the machine.

In practice, the game would have to be somewhat more specific on running the combat engine, but with all characters against the corporations, man.  In real-time strategy fashion, the loyal masses can take to the streets and gradually make their way to Wall Street. There could take place the final uprising of overtaking the stock market and liberating the funds for the trodden down. Gangland rarely made use of vehicles, so it would be an ideal choice for adaptation. Just put in a lot of generic rebels, pack on stats and then march to the goal.

4) Republic: The Revolution

This is purely mentioned because of the ambitious scope this game once had. It vowed to change the face of political games and was led by wunderkind Demis Hassabis. But a long development period and practical issues cut this game short. Still, the core mechanic of a faction rising up and assuming control for the ‘communal’ good is what matters here. Players could try and gradually conquer parts of town by using their propaganda, in this case protests. From spot to spot, the numbers would grow and would meet with resistance that needs to be squashed for the common people to prevail.

This would be best served as a sort of turn-based meets simulator or perhaps a more deeply rooted strategy game, like the Europa Universalis series, for instance. The great part is that the 3D engine would allow watching the progression take place, even if the interaction with the environment was rather lacking. After prompting certain actions, players could watch the revolution take place first hand, as protestors gain ground with their solid ideas and heavy-handed beliefs. Politically important targets could be scoped out and dealt with appropriately in a set of actions, perhaps even won in debate. Who says protestors always need to turn violent? Of course, there were also options present for a coup, so why take that out in this instance. In the end however, the game would still be best geared as a sort of capitalism versus other ideals. But what a great simulation of the future that would be!

3) Constructor

This title is strategy gold. While originally a PC game, I personally played it on the tragically flawed Playstation version. Still, the sheer magnitude and entertainment level of this developing business is nearly unmatched to this day. Though, it’s not so much the deep and immersive construction and society development that should be pinpointed in this title, even it’s nice to also keep it in. The real fun part here comes from making life a living hell for the opposition, trying to suppress your happy little suburban life. 

By building specialized, ‘undesirable’ residential areas, you could attract any sort of ‘freethinkers’ such as hooligans, Mafioso and filthy hippies. As the opponent tries to choke out your breathing space, you could use these rebels to rise up and solve your problems. More so, you could annex enemy property. And that’s what it’s really all about, isn’t it? Taking over for a better, brighter of your ideals can be done in a number of ways. Sure, hooligans could harass the hell out of people and your mobsters could downright whack people, but for once, let’s use hippies to do some good. These smelly bastards can use their protests or squatting power for freedom. Just imagine squatting Wall Street! And if that wasn’t enough, your workmen could simply usurp by strength in numbers. Workmen, freedom, strength in numbers; it’s sounding very red in here again. Just make sure to watch out for those pesky cops protecting the standards of social control!

2) State of Emergency

Is there a title more fitting of the current state of affairs than State of Emergency? The prime villains in this game are even called ‘The Corporation’. Basically, you could just slap a new sticker on this one and call it done. It’s got everything from looting, smashing things, causing a ton of havoc and taking down the man! Also, the amount of people present on the screen at one time was quite impressive for the day.  It is more on a singular basis however, revolving on one hero at a time, but at least it gives different characters to identify with. This makes it an ideal candidate when it comes to experiencing the revolt chaos firsthand.

While the game is extremely fast-paced and more based on an arcade experience, perhaps in our feeble attempt in being serious, this could be toned down ever so slightly. We could keep the sandbox feel and the total carnage factor, but perhaps adding the goal to liberate citizens from tyranny wouldn’t be a bad idea. Then again, we do still need a perspective in which just to lash out in. But what is certain is that State of Emergency is the perfect game for getting a feel of what social revolution feels like down in the trenches. Grab a weapon, hunt down the oppressors and just explode everything until it’s all gone and rebuild from there. Destruction is also a form of creation, you know.

1) Syndicate Wars

As the game literally follows a small group of agents rising up against the establishment, because the establishment is rapidly destroying things, it was an easy number one. What’s more is that this game is already well dated and so simple yet ingenious that it would perfectly be adaptable instantly. In trend of games like Shadowrun and many more, the game follows the oppressive universe of Blade Runner, where corporate interests rule the globe. By freeing the local population of their mind shackles, they would join the resistance and march towards freedom and victory. This militia would stop at nothing to fight for justice, not even armed combat.

Just imagine the solidarity of rising up as one and taking down the man by force, but for the greater good. There’s really nothing that needs to be adapted at all, as this game already had the future pegged. It has a dark overarching theme of oppression, a large scale of establishment versus rebellion and the social aspects and violence that came with it. Perhaps we could tone down the futuristic aspect of cyborgs and enhancements though, because we need a revolution today! Ok, so there aren’t peaceful resolutions available in this game, but doesn’t the end justify the means? As an added plus, the game’s visuals also depicted the mass of civilians as one generic-looking entity. And isn’t that really what we all are? One faceless mass fighting as one against tyranny; Wall Street would never know what hit them.

Daav Valentaten, NoobFeed. (@Daavpuke)