State of Emergency (video game)

Plot

In 2023, the United States government has been weakened by an economic crisis. In response, the American Trade Organization, also known as "The Corporation", builds a paramilitaristic force and overthrows the government, establishing a police state. An underground resistance known as "Freedom" began a campaign of terrorism and soon sparked national riot. The Corporation declares a state of emergency. The game takes place in the fictional Capital City. The player joins Freedom in an attempt to overthrow The Corporation; they must play as one of a selection of five characters who each have their own unique backgrounds.

Characters

The player is given the choice of choosing their characters to play as, however can only choose two and others need to be unlocked.

Roy Macneil AKA "Mack" is a former police officer who served under The Corporation and now a lieutenant for Freedom. He was fired due to him refusing to open fire on Looters robbing a Corporation owned store when his colleagues begin to protest the decision. The Corporation loss control of The Police Department and had replaced it with its security firm. Roy and his colleagues discovered that The Corporation had been bribing criminal outfits such as the 3rd Street Killaz to harass non-Corporation assets for their own gain. They were discovered and Roy's colleagues began to be Assassinated one by one. Roy went into hiding.

Anna Price AKA "Libra" was a disgraced lawyer out for vengeance after The Corporation killed her family after she refused to falsify evidence against political prisoners.

Hector Soldado AKA "Spanky" a gang member and a driving force behind Freedom who is against The Corporation for their oppression.

Ricky Thang AKA "Freak" or "Phreak" a hacker and a Phone phreak was an orphan in High School after his parents where arrested and never seen again, he escaped and was later recruited into Freedom and now is out for vengeance.

Edward Raymonds AKA "The Bull" a former war veteran and professional football player who refused to participate in match fixing and was framed for drug use and sentenced to five years in prison. He managed to escape prison by the help of Freedom and trains recruits with his knowledge while he was formerly in The United States Armed Forces.

Reception

State of Emergency received "mixed or average" reviews on all platforms according to video game review aggregator Metacritic. The game's strengths were considered to be the value for money as a budget title, the simplistic fun offered, the technical achievement of having hundreds of people running around on a modest system, and the satirical sense of humor. Weaknesses cited include gameplay that might be considered too simple, and a poor multiplayer mode on the PC.

FHM gave the PS2 version a score of four stars out of five and called it "Manic, frenzied and violent gaming at its gripping best." The Cincinnati Enquirer also gave the same version four stars out of five and stated that "This new 'bad boy' of the video game industry is extremely fun to play — for those old enough and mature enough to purchase it — as a campy stress releaser at the end of a bad day." However, Maxim gave the same version a score of six out of ten and said, "Such virtual destruction may once have seemed innocent, but these days the whole thing hits a little close to home." Entertainment Weekly gave said version a C, saying, "Four levels are too few to stay interesting for all 175-plus missions, which are too bloody repetitive." The Village Voice gave the Xbox version a similar score of five out of ten and said, "In 'Revolution' mode—a series of nearly identical, frustrating mini-missions—the jackbooted thugs, now armed with pistols, make life much tougher. (Deeply flawed camera views don't help.) What's the point if you can't steal your family some diapers?"

Before its release, the game was denounced by Washington state politicians for its similarity to the real-life 1999 World Trade Organization riots and protests in Seattle which caused $3 million in damages. The game features the fictional "American Trade Organization" as the antagonistic establishment.

Sequel

A sequel, State of Emergency 2, was released in 2006. This game was again developed by VIS Entertainment ltd although after they became insolvent and went into administration the game was completed by DC Studios and was released by SouthPeak Games.