Given the current climate of gun control in the US, you have to be pretty brave to make a game about obsessing over weapons. Samurai Punk is braver still for making that game in VR.
The developer has this week revealed The American Dream, a new title coming to major VR platforms in which guns are literally the answer to everything. It’s a warped experience that imitates the lovable cheesy rides of a 50’s Worlds Fair taking people on a tour of ‘the future’, only instead getting you to picture a world in which guns are used to carry out everyday tasks. The ride itself is constructed by gun manufacturers, getting you to see the world through their eyes.
You can see what that might look like in the trailer above. Though this first appears to be just like any other Vive shooter, The American Dream separates itself with what you’re actually using your guns for. There are no zombie hordes to take care of here. Instead, you use two pistols to shoot the correct answers in math tests, pick up doughnuts for chowing down (a nod to The Simpsons, no doubt), and even help drive your car. Other weapons like rifles and shotguns will also feature, though we dread to think what uses Samurai Punk is cooking up for them.
The American Dream could go one of two ways, then. Its developer, which worked on the similarly comical Screencheat, could simply be providing a satirical experience that points and laughs at obsession with weapons, or its work could make a deeper statement; we really don’t know what it’s planning yet. The game’s going to be on display at PAX West this weekend, though, so hopefully we’ll be able to tell you ourselves.
Samurai Punk hasn’t yet confirmed a release date for The American Dream, though it is planning to launch it sometime in 2017. Platforms aren’t announced though it’s on display on the Oculus Rift at PAX using Oculus Touch controllers, and we’d guess HTC Vive and PlayStation VR versions aren’t beyond the realms of possibility.
