Sure, they say video games have always been for nerds. But never before has there been a video game whose heroes so closely resemble the geeks playing the games.
Instead of the usual machismo of action stars with big guns, this online computer game — “Emogame” — stars seven musicians who must battle the evil forces of Aerosmith’s Stephen Tyler, who has kidnapped the emo band The Get Up Kids.
Emo, short for emotional, is the catch phrase used to describe the music genre often characterized by pop-punk guitars and superfluously sentimental lyrics, as well as skinny teenagers in threadbare T-shirts, Converse tennis shoes, black horn-rimmed glasses and messenger bags adorned with pins from all their favorite bands.
Created by art school graduate Jason Oda, “Emogame” both idolizes and makes fun of the recent music explosion.
To save The Get Up Kids from the clutches of the Aerosmith frontman, players must first choose their character from the group of rag-tag bleeding hearts, which includes, among others, Chuck Ragan from Hot Water Music, Chris Carrabba from Dashboard Confessional, Conor Oberst from Bright Eyes and Cedrick Bixler from the now defunct At the Drive-In.
To conquer Level 1, players must guide their musician through a yuppie town to The Salvation Army. Inside the store, a dressing room serves as a portal to the magic dimension of Jeremy Enigk, who fronted one of the original emo bands, Sunny Day Real Estate.
Armed only with 7-inch records, the player must fend off Dave Matthews Band listeners, football players, a group of girls in Weezer T-shirts hanging out at the Hot Topic store and even Creed.
Once gamers pass Level 1, they must infiltrate the MTV headquarters to destroy the band Jimmy Eat World, who is upsetting the balance of emo’s semi-underground, semi-mainstream popularity by becoming too commercially successful. But before Oberst, Carrabba or any of the others can reach Jimmy Eat World, they must make it past hordes of Blink-182 fans, boy-band 98 Degrees, Courtney Love, Fred Durst and corporate music executives.
Level 3 continues in much the same way, this time players find themselves in a dungeon battling zombies and Mama Fratelli and her sons (remember “Goonies”?). Eventually all that stands between the heroes and victory is Stephen Tyler — in all his skin-tight animal-print spandex pants glory.
Unfortunately, the game has some sexist and homophobic content — apparently female musicians aren’t able to fight off bad music. However, Oda’s name-dropping and attention to detail makes playing humorous. For example, there is a bonus round in the high school cafeteria of Level 1, where the player, staying true to emo fashion (vegetarianism), can gain extra points collecting fruits and vegetables while avoiding hot dogs and hamburgers — the meat’s not free-range. Although by no means challenging, the game does offer some novel fun.
“Emogame” can be found at the Web site www.emogame.com.