Plot: What’s it about?
Ugly Americans might seem like an odd choice for a video game, but Apocalypsegeddon proves that old drunks, bird genitals, and abuse of authority are great fun in this medium. If you’ve never watched Ugly Americans, the show is chaotic and loaded with questionable content. In other words, it is awesome. This game retains that insane tone, so expect violence, sexual references, profane shouts, and of course, bird genitals. This is a faithful take on the show’s content, with a ton of references for fans that will have them in stitches. Those unfamiliar with the show aren’t left in the cold however, as cut-scenes give us quick introductions and help establish the show’s tone and fiction. If you are easily offended, you will probably shut the game within seconds, but if you enjoy off-color humor, Ugly Americans delivers in rampant doses.
The game follows four characters from the show (Grimes, Callie, Leonard, and Mark) who have to battle through birdmen, demons, and zombies in order to prevent the end of the world. This accomplished in classic twin-stick shooter fashion, so you move with one stick and aim/shoot with the other. The controls are effective in all respects, so moving around and laying waste to the hordes is as smooth as silk. The game sends waves of enemies at you, you burn them down and move to the next pack, until you’ve left a path of blood and carnage in your wake. As usual in this genre, you have fodder enemies that go down fast, mini-bosses that take a lot more damage, and big boss fights that will test your squad in extended combat. Within each group, there are enough variations to ensure combat remains fresh and you are on your toes. The difficulty seems to be scaled with multi-player in mind, as going solo can often be a brutal experience. You’re able to play a local game or on-line co-op however, so you should never be without the chance to add some partners.
While the game is rather short, you’ll have ample reasons to revisit the levels over and again. An experience system rewards you for kills and money collection, which in tun allows you to improve your character’s attributes. You can move faster, do more damage, gain more health, increase critical hit chance, and tweak your special move, so there’s a good deal of room to enhance your death dealing. The characters each have unique stats and while you can improve in all areas, you have to build on that character’s basic performance. In other words, Leonard is always weaker than Grimes, but Leonard can also move much faster than Grimes. So find the character that best fits your style, then ramp up his abilities. You also collect various weapons, which impact your stats and you can also find demon babies to strap on your back. These babies give you a sizable benefit, from added experience gain to a protective ring of fire that surrounds you. As you collect cash in the levels, you can spend it to unlock various goodies. So there is replay value potential and then some here.
The game might not break much new ground in an overcrowded genre, but Ugly Americans: Apocalypsegeddon does more than enough to stand out from the crowd. The basic mechanics are rock solid, the sense of humor is unique, the on-line co-op is great fun, and the upgrade systems add some welcome replay value. As I said above, my main complain is that with only eleven levels, the game feels too short. But each level runs a respectable length and with all of the upgrades, unlocks, and character variation, you won’t just run through this once. The achievements will have you racking up kills, showing restraint with your special move, and tracking down collectibles, all fair demands. You can also unlock a couple of Avatar awards, which is always good news. In the end, Ugly Americans: Apocalypsegeddon is a great addition to the twin-stick shooter genre and unless you’re the thin skinned type, the game is highly recommended.
Video: How does it look?
The visuals might not be bleeding edge, but they capture the spirit of the show in grand fashion. The character designs are faithful and every inch of the visual design feels true to the show. Even with four players in action and a flood of enemies on screen, I detected no slow down whatsoever. That is important of course, since lag when you’re surrounded can lead to certain death. The cut scenes look excellent as well, just like an episode of the show. As I said, this won’t impress graphic whores, but the game looks terrific and brings the spirit of the show to life.
Audio: How does it sound?
The sound design is also faithful to the show, which means the dialogue is…colorful. There is a stream of wild, over the top dialogue throughout the game. I think my favorite bit was playing as Leonard, who informed everyone how aroused he was when he leveled up. If you appreciate the show’s sense of humor, then you’ll love all the insane lines the characters deliver as you unleash death on your enemies.
Supplements: What are the extras?
N/A
