9 Games to Awaken Your Inner Bald Eagle This Fourth of July

Assassin’s Creed III

Best Games to Celebrate the Fourth of July

The Fourth of July, also known as Independence Day, celebrates the creation of the Declaration of Independence, the document that, quite obviously, declared the Independence of the American colonies from the British Empire. Of course, that document would have been useless had the American Revolution turned out to be a total failure. And what better way to celebrate the Fourth of July than by playing a video game that puts you in the shoes of a man who fought in (an historical fiction version of) the American Revolution?

As much as we like to make fun of the Assassin’s Creed franchise, we cannot deny the underlying pleasure of playing video games that let us wander immaculately detailed recreations of historical cities and interact with key historical figures. And, since Assassin’s Creed III takes place during the American Revolution, players can expect to rub elbows with plenty of the Founding Fathers who made the Declaration of Independence possible, including Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington.

Broforce

Best Games to Celebrate the Fourth of July

Now, the Fourth of July is synonymous with many things, none more so than explosions. While these tend to be just fireworks, they are some of the most visually stunning explosions you will see all year. But there’s always at least one person who wants to set off his or her own explosions, often to spectacular(ly devastating) results. Broforce lets players set off as many explosions as they want within the safety of the digital world.

Broforce not only lets players blow everything up, it wants players to blow everything up. The game is completely destructible and filled to bursting point with characters who embody America’s fascination with power fantasy movies. Because ‘murica. Think of the most “American,” badass movie characters. They’re all in Broforce, and they’re ready to blow the game world up. You can’t get more Ameri-bro than this game.

Bioshock Infinite

Best Games to Celebrate the Fourth of July

The floating city of Columbia from Bioshock Infinite is a dark and twisted version of America and its ideals. Here, American exceptionalism is taken to its most illogical extreme; the Founding Fathers are worshiped as if they were the Greek pantheon, and the city’s jingoistic citizens, for all their zeal and adulation of American culture, epitomize everything the Founding Fathers fought against. And that makes playing Bioshock Infinite a special level of catharsis that gamers should experience this Fourth of July.

America’s political climate may have changed a lot since Bioshock Infinite was released, but its message is as clear and topical as ever: true patriotism is the willingness to fight against oppression, especially when oppression is disguised as patriotism. The war that later embroils Columbia might resemble the Civil War more than the American Revolution, but it still is in the spirit of the Founding Fathers and the sacrifices they made to transform America into a free nation. 

Grand Theft Auto V/Online

Best Games to Celebrate the Fourth of July

Grand Theft Auto V/Online don’t have any special meanings that tie them to American culture. The games are just fun, critically-acclaimed experiences that emphasize, if not glorify, activities gamers normally could never do in real life, i.e. breaking the law and getting away with it. While not for everyone, it’s a specific view of America many people love to experience, and GTA V/Online are worth playing this Fourth of July because of their special, limited-time Fourth of July events.

Every year, Rockstar patches in special Fourth of July content for GTA V/Online, and it consists of the most ‘murican things you can think of. Clothes emblazoned with the American flag. Monster trucks that crush everything in their path, also emblazoned with the American flag. Pistols, rifles, and other weapons painted to look like, you guessed it, the American flag. A huge semi-trailer truck and trailer painted in red, white, and blue with a bald eagle head (a painted one, thank god) bursting out the side. An Uncle Sam outfit dyed to look like the American flag. I could go on, but you get what I’m saying. It’s all overblown in the traditional Rockstar fashion, and it’s coming back for this year’s Fourth of July. Because ‘murica.

Far Cry 5

Best Games to Celebrate the Fourth of July

Religion played a major part in the American Revolution. Many were afraid that Britain would dictate what religions the colonies could and couldn’t practice. That’s why “separation of church and state” is so integral to American culture and why so many are willing to fight tooth and nail against any group that forces its religion on others. The phrase appears in a letter by Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptist Association and is referenced in the Constitution and several of its Amendments. But to Americans, it’s more than just a phrase; it’s a worldview.

Far Cry 5 presents what would happen if a fictional militant religious group decided it knew better than the Founding Fathers and tried to abolish the freedom of religion. Not only is the game a message about the importance of the separation of church and state, but it also displays that message in the most “American” way possible: with explosions, monster trucks, pet bears, and more explosions.

Metal Gear Solid/Rising

Best Games to Celebrate the Fourth of July

The Metal Gear Solid franchise is mostly known for portraying the message of “war is hell” in the most batshit insane way possible. Players have witnessed everything from psychics to ghosts, mechs to nanomachines, and everything in between. For the most part, Metal Gear Solid’s message is universal and can apply to almost any country. Nuclear weapons are bad, child soldiers are bad, and so on. However, sometimes one particular MGS game tries to say something about a specific country or demographic. And yes, America is one of those countries.

By now, it should be no secret that the big bads of Metal Gear Solid 2 and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance are the (fictional) President of the United States and the (likewise fictional) Senator of Colorado, respectively. Both were guilty of conspiracies that involved impossibly long trails of bodies, all for the sake of pursuing their own twisted definitions of freedom. And, for the sake of everyone else’s freedom and safety, they had to be killed. By Raiden.

While not quite as overblown or explosion-heavy as other games, these games show how the noble pursuit of freedom can be twisted into something decidedly ignoble and that those who pursue freedom justly should expect a fight. An inglorious, gritty, bloody battle that will end without fanfare or recognition. War isn’t glorious, and neither was the American Revolution, even though it was necessary.

Saints Row IV

Best Games to Celebrate the Fourth of July

What many Americans see as normal others view as over the top. Well, the developers at Volition were aware of this when they envisioned Saints Row 4 and dialed the ludicrous levels of Americanism up well past the breaking point and kept going. Normally, I would say there is no deeper meaning in the game, and it is all about the sheer spectacle, but let’s face facts: half the point of Americanism is spectacle. The rest is justifying the spectacle.

Saints Row 4 might be about fighting against an evil alien overlord (who is the lovechild of Tim Curry and Vincent Price) while inside the Matrix, but it does so with the most ‘murican paint job since, well, I’ll get to that game in a bit. First, in Saints Row 4, you play as the President of the United States. Second, some of the most notable pieces of your arsenal in the game (if you buy the DLC) are an Uncle Sam costume, a jet that transforms into a giant robot eagle of death, and a hodgepodge of a gun that launches bullets, rockets, fire, and the Marines’ Hymn. The only way Saints Row 4 could have been more ‘murican is if the developers let players pilot a giant Statue of Liberty mech.

Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus

Best Games to Celebrate the Fourth of July

“What if the Nazis won WWII?” is a fun, if overused, thought experiment that serves as the basis for plenty of alternate history fiction. Some of the more notable entries in that trope are Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle (and the show based on the book), the Justice League episodes The Savage Time Parts I-III, and MachineGames’ Wolfenstein reboot. Each story provides its own take on the same answer: after they win WWII, Nazis take over the world, including America.

Unlike Wolfenstein: The New Order, which is a journey that sends players across the globe (and to the moon), Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus is, in a nutshell, the second American Revolution that asks players to lead a small group of guerrilla freedom fighters to victory against the Nazi occupiers and their KKK collaborators. The game might not be as grand as the previous Wolfenstein’s globe-trotting, but it still provides a visceral experience that is sure to make any red-blooded American gag at how the Nazis have, both figuratively and literally, pillaged the United States.

Oh, and did I mention that, in Wolfenstein 2, the Nazi government was going to force everyone to start speaking German on July 4th? Wolfenstein 2 is a must-play for anyone who wishes to honor the freedoms that are celebrated on the Fourth of July.

Metal Wolf Chaos

Best Games to Celebrate the Fourth of July

Metal Wolf Chaos might currently be a Japanese exclusive, but it is probably the most ‘murican game on this list. As with Saints Row 4, this game places players in the shoes of the President of the United States, only this time he has a giant mech equipped with every weapon anyone could ever want or imagine. And players get to blow everything up as they stop a coup spearheaded by the Vice President. It’s this kind of insanity that made developer FromSoftware the household name it is today. Well, that and Dark Souls.

Unlike the other games on this list, Metal Wolf Chaos is hard to come by, but that’s what happens when a game is only available in Japan. While most of us probably won’t be able to play Metal Wolf Chaos this Fourth of July, Devolver Digital has managed to secure the rights to publish the game stateside, and the company is set to release it later this year. So, if nothing else, we will be able to celebrate the Fourth of July in 2019 with Metal Wolf Chaos XD. Unless Devolver Digital wants to make this Fourth of July one to remember by releasing the game on July 4. We can only hope.