American McGee's inability to make Bad Day LA fun masks over any satirical messages he may have wished to convey.
Bad Day LA’s supposed driving force is a ridiculing of USA’s paranoia. What we’re left with is a bare-bones arcade game that is, it seems, so desperate to reinforce that satirical point of view that it strips away anything that could distract you from this point.___
I say “supposed” since the satire is neither deep nor particularly funny. While it would be acceptable as an accompanying facet to a meaty first-person shooter or a third-person action-adventure scripted tight as a drum, Bad Day LA has a jarringly aimless feel about it.___
Not that you’re given freedom; instead, Enlight’s adherence to prehistoric game design pulls you down one pre-conceived path after another. You end up questioning your motives for struggling through the set of shakily weaved missions.___
More than anything else, Bad Day LA smacks of a rush job. It’s an exercise in repetition as you’re forced to clear out one set of nefarious wrongdoers before moving on to the next. You have to clear out every last one, too. You’re left to scour the terrain for the final target (like you’re playing a cumbersome RTS and wading through the fog of war) wasting minutes of your time in a homage to the dark days of gaming.___
Bad Day La’s aversion to modern convention is astounding at times. It could be a joke on the parts of McGee and co., but it’s a joke they’re sharing between themselves. Wanton heights of frustration are forced upon you, your ears reduced to rubble as NPCs utter the same cries of help over and over again. It’s stagnant game design at its most glaring; game design Enlight should have recognized as boring.___
The game defies typical review convention with a shambling grace, at least. It’s visually messy, sure, but charm abounds. But for all the appeal of the visuals, the opening level does its best to erase that allure. It’s a crammed, dastardly enjoyable mess that serves as precursor to the repetitive and wearing path that Bad Day LA runs. It’s not a long game, but you’ll feel strained by its dénouement.___
You might persevere (despite your inner pleases for sanctity) to sample the subliminal messages. But you’ll realize how they were masked by gaming restriction. Ironically, despite the adult themes (swearing and satirical pokes), even children will grow quickly bored.___
In fact, it may round up staples of American culture and whack them around the head with an irony stick, be fueled with boundless cheek and a desire to be unique, but Bad Day LA is reduced to nothing more than a wholly unmemorable arcade game (one that fails to get its message across on all accounts) by its aversion to the first rule of gaming: Make it fun first.