GDC 08: Hail To The Chimp Preview

Oh my God. Oh my God. I can't breathe. I'm still laughing whenever I think about this game. No, really, Hail to the Chimp is really that freaking funny. The game, developed by Wideload Games, is a party game which follows the basic plot involving a political race to take over a newly formed animal republic. You see, the king (a lion) has been dethroned, and the kingdom decides to make itself into a democratic republic. And so, players assume the roles of political candidates who, in turn, beat seven kinds of snot out of each other in an effort to make their way to the presidential office.

Gameplay-wise, things are pretty simple, but in a deceptive sort of way. The actual controls are a bit limited in terms of variety, but things are quickly spiced up by a number of different gameplay modes and levels, not to mention all the various unlockables one can snag during playtime (trust me, the outfits and movies are so funny they're worth it). It turns out there are 16 different play modes which can occur in any of 10 different levels, so things will probably stay interesting for long after you've bought the game. I got to play through three full rounds as a badass octopus who generally got his butt kicked by a platypus.

After playing through a certain number of rounds (anywhere from one to nine), the player who's accrued the most points (clams) is declared the winner and the new president of the republic. The entire journey to political power is narrated by GRR, which is the animal version of Fox News right down to its mean-spirited commentary. Actually, come to think of it, I'm pretty sure we could replace Fox News with GRR and people would respect it more. All of the cutscenes seemed to be really well-animated and voiced, were all incredibly funny (I was particularly entertained by the parody of Oprah entitled "Orcah"), and it turns out that there's going to be over 90 minutes of unlockable footage on the game.

Hail to the Chimp is due out for PS3 and Xbox 360 sometime in May and will retail for $39.99. Personally, I think this would make a splendid addition to the Pink Castle's gaming library.