The American Dream. Ah…those three words take me back to high school. My English teacher had assigned us a term project to read a book by an American author and then decipher what we thought was their take on what they depicted the American Dream to be in their eyes. Somehow I don’t think if I had read the pamphlet for Samurai Punk’s satirical American Rifle Association and wrote a paper on it that I would have gotten a very good grade. That said developer Samurai Punk does deliver a doozy of a take on it with release of their new VR title, The American Dream, for the PlayStation VR.
I don’t think it’s really a secret that America, as a nation, is one that loves guns and the protected right to use them. While I’m largely in the minority having only fired no more than a handful of actual firearms in my lifetime, I have no real desire to own the real articles. While I’ll stick to their digital counterparts, a lot of real violence has been attributed to their use here in the States of late that it rather disturbing, especially to those unfortunate enough to have been involved. My thoughts go out to all those folks affected.
Samurai Punk, a developer based out of Australia, pulls no punches with its satirical take on gun culture and the politics that surround it here in America. That said, some may find the content, though blown out in ludicrous extremes, to be a bit much when experiencing this on-rails look into the life of an American Patriot during the 1950s. Players are guided along the entire story by a talking golden retriever named Buddy Washington, who is the very embodiment of a 1950s advertising agent. His gun propaganda and voice of assurance feels right at home with the era as you start your path through life right from infancy.
The aim, pun intended, of this trip is one big journey created by respectable gun manufacturers and its fictional American Rifle Association to show the value of using guns by the common man in everyday situations. Despite the absurdity of it all you’ll find yourself asking your neighbor to go out on a date at the carnival, performing a job or two and even eating all with the aid of a variety of firearms. The act of eating a pretzel off the barrel of my pistol was one of many interesting interactions that I encountered.
The bulk of your experience has you riding from one point of your life to another like one of those rail shooters at an amusement park. Utilizing the weapon that suits the situation, you be tasked with mini-games of sorts like a time management assembly line at a diner with pistols to using a submachine gun in a somewhat multi objective tower defense game featuring shrubbery. I have to give the developers some props for some of the gaming references and clever wordplay elements found within. One element comes in the form of your left or right gun, depending on dominant hand, when wielding firearms like a bolt action rifle or shotgun where two hands are needed.
Instead of unrealistically operating a full sized pump action shotgun with one hand, your other hand will wield a “handgun”. This clever device is quite literally a pistol with a hand attached to the side of it, allowing you to eject and load rounds on both the rifle and shotgun. You also use it to grab clips for the submachine gun as well as provide some stability to your aiming. On paper it sounds great, though in execution on the PSVR it was a bit of mixed bag for me. Accuracy wise, the mechanics were moderately okay, though during moments of frantic maneuvering, like when reloading, albeit cool with its slow motion mechanic, or when faced with multiple moving targets things start to suffer.
This largely felt like it had more to do with the tracking of both Move wands simultaneously than actually getting out of the camera’s range, as I experienced the whole thing sitting down. In the case of the bolt action rifle there is a fine interaction point between grabbing the bolt slide or the actual barrel itself causing you to turn the gun towards yourself. For the most part though, any interaction with the immediate area around you felt spot on.
The American Dream is one of those titles that, despite its subject matter and content, many out there that will find it quite enjoyable. I’ll admit there were more than a few instances where I wanted to die laughing from an absurd story mechanic or witty dialogue from Buddy. Seriously though, this title gives a whole new meaning to the term: shotgun wedding. There were also moments of frustration, as outside of gunplay hijinks there were glitches and bugs that made progression impossible without having to quit and reload the story or using the chapter select to reset a stalled scene.
Despite its flaws, The American Dream is an unabashed satirical look into a subject that is seemingly without end out in the real world. As a gamer, I found the experience to be enjoyable mostly for its sheer over-the-top presentation from its gun propaganda in everything from the branding of companies to the literature seen around your environments to Buddy’s slick salesman-like narrative. As a VR title on the PlayStation 4, The American Dream is a functionally decent title that takes one of VR’s most common gameplay choices and incorporates a set piece that delightfully mocks that same choice.
In the end, The American Dream, for the PSVR is enjoyable experience and with a little refinement could be even better. While it’s definitely a unique experience, I will say that it may not be for everyone, as some of its content while satirical in nature, may go too far, even to those that love FPS titles or guns in general. If you’re the type that isn’t easily offended or can handle satirical humor then you just might qualify to experience The American Dream. 
