By Omar (@siegarettes)

• Developed by: Roll 7
• Published by: Devolver Digital 
• Platform: PC
  

I’ve played quite a bit of Not A Hero lately. It’s a solid game from the people who brought us Olli Olli. It doesn’t hit on as many points as their previous game did, largely due to a sense of level design that chops up the pace of the game, and makes the proceedings a bit more frustrating when you fail. In that way it reminds me a bit of Vanquish, a game that presents an incredible sense of mastery over your hostile environment when it all aligns and you nail it, but can frustrate up until your able to. What struck me more than that, however, was its sense of humour. 

To put it straight, it’s very much a UK game. From the political satire that infuses even the promotional materials for the game, to the spot on voice acting that captures a range of UK dialects. Its sensibilities are clear, and it represents its home in a way outside the typically flattening portrayals of the isles that tend to reduce it to a vaguely “British” mode.

Nowhere is this clearer than in its sense of humour. From the aforementioned voice acting and political aims, to its inexplicable use of bizarre objectives, to the repeated after mission segments that act as a running joke for Bunnylord’s (your employer, and political candidate) over enthusiasm. Aside from a few frankly tired and upsetting caricatures (think “Gay Latino Queen”), it works. Though in another way, this is also where it becomes lost in translation. 

Talking with another writer on Twitter, I found that there was a lot missing due simply to my context of being American. Political targets and systems were missed, and other bits were still foreign to me, even in our freshly connected world. What missed me most however, was the story’s primary conceit. It sets you up as a mercenary working for Bunnylord. His plan to win his bid for political power is simple: reduce crime by murdering criminals in various neighborhoods.

While it can strike as relatively harmless for someone in the UK, where you’re highly unlikely to get shot, it has a certain uncomfortable edge in the US. While the humour of the situation comes from its implausibility, in the US it proves less historically implausible, where policies such as the War on Drugs have led to the one of the worst, if not the outright worst incarceration rate in the world. This is compounded by overzealous policing and a culture of guns that leads to incredible rates of fatal encounters. 

It struck a bit too close to home, and formed a large block to my personal enjoyment of the game. While I can appreciate its aims and efforts, it nonetheless stood as cultural divide.