The best thing about Trump’s arcade game is how good it is

This week, three video game consoles decorated with cartoons of Donald Trump and the faces of other government officials suddenly appeared at the DC War Memorial. Looking at the cabinets from a distance, it is easy to understand that Operation Epic Furious: Strait to Hell (which you can play again online) is just Another great joke was set and the DC-based art group, The Secret Handshake. But when I got closer and spent more time playing the new game, it became clear Operation Epic Furious is a horror review that is also a loving tribute to classic RPGs.

In Operation Epic Furiousyou control President Trump as he fights Iran and tries to restore US access to the Strait of Hormuz. The game opens in the White House where you have to control Trump through a series of rooms filled with other famous people who have him as the secretary of defense. Pete HegsethFBI Director Kash Patel, and Health and Human Services Secretary RFK Jr. Operation Epic Furious they feel a lot like early Nintendo Zelda a game that requires you to explore the map in search of treasure and instructions. But instead of rupees for small keys to open doors, Operation Epic Furious offers you the task of finding Kid Rock’s helicopter so you can fly and “ROCK Iran back to the stone ages.”

Skillfully, there is willingness Operation Epic Furious which is to say that The Secret Handshake built this to feel like a real game and not just a glorified joke about the Trump administration. The game has a very clear voice that moves seamlessly from one scene to another as I wander around Iran, stumbling upon enemies like. school children and “weak in crime“Pope Leo XIV. I have NPCs whose conversations speak of the true chaos of leadership. Final Fantasy and Pokemon franchises.

After taking a few test runs, it became clear that no matter how I played, no opponent could knock Trump’s political power (seemingly like a health bar) down to take him down. For all its gags, the game never lets you forget that each of its jokes is a reflection of how the US government has become unstable in recent years.

Epic Furious it pokes fun at Trump and his allies, but its crass humor doesn’t try to downplay the real problems the agency has created. It’s funny when Trump learns new skills like Full Pardon after defeating enemies, but the game immediately follows with a drone strike that destroys parts of the world map.

A love of the game’s dark humor is what inspired Katherine, a nonprofit worker from Massachusetts, to grab her friend and come to the Mall to watch. Operation Epic Furious in man. Like many people, Katherine first heard about the game when pictures of National Guard soldiers playing started spreading on social media. He told me that he likes how the game pokes fun at the Trump administration, but what he likes most is that the game is a testament to the security afforded to US citizens. First Amendment.

“This is a free country where we have freedom of speech and the ability to say what we want,” he said. “This is one of the reasons we left England and became a country – to have the freedom to speak out against religion and politics without worrying that something might happen to us.”

Secret Handshake’s final project, a sculpture Trump and Jeffrey Epstein shake hands while laughingit was briefly displayed near the Capitol Building last fall. Alex, an IT professional in Baltimore, remembers the job well, and it made him want to take action Operation Epic Furious to himself. When I asked Alex how he felt about the macabre energy that was burned in the game, he said that he appreciated how it shows the suffering that the US brings to other countries while trying to keep its citizens in the dark.

“(The violence in this game) is no different than what the US has done throughout history,” Alex said. “If you learn more about the history of America, it is clear that everything we have here has been built because of the suffering of other people.

As the sun was setting, I looked forward to the turnout at the War Memorial Operation Epic Furious less and less, but it was not. Aspiring players continued to show up because they wanted to play before the cabinets were demolished, but it also felt like everyone was there because they wanted to do something. and some people.

To me, that something was being lost in the stupid game that clearly explains how the president has been dragging our country into a new era of chaos and confusion. Operation Epic Furious: Strait to Hell — who were removed from Memorial and moved to Busboys and Poets on 14th Street — will not encourage people to take to the streets and demand change. But it can definitely help us to overcome the dangers.