Bush-Era Rhetoric Ruins Another Great Game Idea.

Usually, I don't rely on ads for my awareness of games. But I confess that before I saw the ad in last month's issue of Game Informer, I'd never heard of Just Cause. The premise is intriguing: a politically-charged GTA. Just Cause is a giant, open-ended world sim where your goal is not to just explore and create havoc but plot and execute the downfall of a government. Set in a fictional South American country, it seems like a great opportunity to combine the mechanics of GTA with some topical, socially complex content. So you can imagine my disappointment when I read the following description on IGN:

In Just Cause, you take on the role of the flamboyant Rico Rodriguez - an undercover CIA operative specialising in regime change - as he tries to overthrow the corrupt government of San Esperito. This rogue South American island is suspected of stockpiling WMDs and it's your job to negate the threat to world peace.

And here I was naive enough to think, even for a moment, that the title "Just Cause" might refer to the injustices of a corrupt government perpetrated on its people. What was I thinking?

It's not as if every game has to bend to my personal politics, but Jesus, how about a little variety? God forbid we'd have a videogame where the excuse for regime change wasn't WMD's and you didn't play some swaggering yank who kicks ass in the name of world stability. What's wrong with playing as a citizen of San Esperito who is tired of being oppressed and decides to fight back? Oh wait, that would suggest violent revolution against your own corrupt government is justifiable... and we wouldn't want that in George Bush's America would we.