Instead of reading about killing sprees happening across America every other week, why not go on one yourself? With Revived Games and ACID’s Active Shooter, you’ll be able to actively go on shooting sprees, killing civilians in schools, gunning down the media, or taking out the cops as you leave a wake of innocent lives in your bloody path.
Alternatively, you can also choose to play as a S.W.A.T., team member and attempt to hunt down the shooter, or take on the role of a civilian and attempt to survive the shooting spree onslaught in real-time. Heck, you’ll be able to recreate and relive moments as a civilian just like if you were at the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, or the recent Santa Fe High School shooting in Texas.
The game will feature real-life weapons used in actual massacres across the United States, such as the AR-15, along with the weapons that are sometimes used to put down the shooters, such as the MP-5, sniper rifles and shotguns.
You can get a glimpse at what the gameplay is like with the trailer below.
As you can see, there are multiple scenarios where you can play as both the good guy and as the bad guys.
As the active shooter your job will be to kill as many civilians and cops as possible before you bite the dust. As an elite member of the S.W.A.T., team your job will be to kill the active shooter before he kills a set amount of civilians and police officers.
In a way the game plays out very much like the old Rainbow Six games, where the shooting is sparse but intense. We see that kill shots reward players with slow motion deaths, not unlike Tripwire Interactive’s Killing Floor.
The developers have plans on adding a four-player cooperative mode during the first week of release, and a more fleshed out PvP mode as well. Essentially a PvP mode would simply turn Active Shooter into a modern day version of the original Counter-Strike, which used to feature civilian hostages.
Obviously, some people are already up in arms about the game, as reported by IndieWatch, but the developers have made a disclaimer stating that Active Shooter isn’t meant to be taken seriously, and is just a simulation…
“Please do not take any of this seriously. This is only meant to be the simulation and nothing else. If you feel like hurting someone or people around you, please seek help from local psychiatrists or dial 911 (or applicable). Thank you”
Given that America will never fix the issue of mass shootings, and the frequency of said shootings certainly won’t die down anytime soon, it appears some developers are taking advantage of the bi-weekly pop-cultural phenomenon and are turning active shootings in America into a commercialized product.
I’m sure there will be plenty of faux outrage and fist-waving protests from the usual suspects during the game’s release, along with pleas to get the game banned or prohibited from release, but no one will bother making any effort to fix the very issues that the game is based upon.
In fact, I imagine that there will likely be more productivity exercised from certain individuals in attempting to censor or ban Active Shooter from distribution on Steam, than there will be any actual productivity exercised to prevent more active shooters from making their way onto national media broadcasts mere weeks after the game’s launch.
In the wake of the next shooting, too many people will be worried about racking up virtue signal points on social media and making sure they win “gotcha” moments in on-air kerfuffles in order to maintain the timeless debates that keep people distracted and despondent instead of pragmatic and productive.
Nevertheless, you can learn more about Active Shooter ahead of its June 6th launch by visiting the Steam store page.
