The 5 Most American Games of All Time
JOLIET, IL - SEPTEMBER 18: The American Flag is flown in during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400 at Chicagoland Speedway on September 18, 2016 in Joliet, Illinois. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images
To celebrate the independence of the USA, Checkpoint XP wants to take you on a patriotic journey for this year’s 4th of July holiday!
Honorable Mention: Red Dead Redemption (series)
- Cowboys are arguably the most recognizable American identity in the world. Red Dead Redemption is a love letter to the Wild West era, but it doesn’t shy away from the fact it was a savage, racist, sexist time where men killed for sport and authority was actively rejected.
5. Bad Dudes
- Never before has a game prefaced you with one of the most important questions known to gaming. “Are you a bad enough dude to save the President?” The answer is “Yes, yes I am a Bad Dude”. In this 1989 beat ’em up you play as Blade or Striker and fight your way through hordes of ninjas and other 80’s tropes.
4. Freedom Fighters
- Post 9/11 games leaned really hard into pro-American imagery (as most pop culture did as well). In 2003, this IO Interactive third person stealth shooter had a New York plumber lead a resistance group against Soviet invaders. It was a charming shooter that embraced not only the setting but the times.
3. Medal of Honor (series)
- I know most people would expect Call of Duty in this slot. But I always felt that Medal of Honor was a much more American-centric experience. The run of MoH games from 1999 to 2003 focused on the European theater of World War II (outside of Rising Sun) and follows various Americans and their journey through the most devastating conflict in human history.
2. Assassin’s Creed 3
- It doesn’t get much more Red, White & Blue than the war that spawned forth the American Experiment. The Assassin’s Creed series is rooted in historical fiction, but the third mainline installment is the first to take place in the USA. Set during the American Revolution, you play as a half-Native, half-British Assassin who plays a part in some of the most pivotal moments of America’s founding.
1. Grand Theft Auto (series)
- There is no game that is more honest about the pathologies of American culture than the GTA series. Every game from GTA III and beyond is a snapshot in time examining the norms of the time and turning them on their heads. Vice City had its Scarface laden references, GTA V its Yoga Latte passivity. San Andreas IS early 90’s America in a miniature. Every GTA reaches into an era and extracts the touchstones that define it. And no series can do it better.
Check out what the Checkpoint XP crew considers the BEST 4th of July BBQ foods ever are on this episode of Checkpoint XP Daily!
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