Responsible for other politically themed games, Jason Oda recently self-published a zombie shooter on the Web called Tea Party Zombies Must Die. The game puts the player into the role of a survivor of a zombie apocalypse and arms them with weaponry to take out zombified, heavily stereotypical versions of Tea Party supporters as well as popular Tea Party figures such as Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann. Other political figures that have undergone a zombie transformation include Republican presidential candidates Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich as well as Fox News figures like Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity and the recently fired Glenn Beck.
The game is filled with positive Obama facts in between levels as well as negative statements about the Tea party. Within the level design, players will find the Confederate flag, anti-socialism posters equating President Obama to Hilter and incendiary racist comments littering areas like trailer parks. Stereotypes of Tea Party members include such titles as “Generic Pissed Off Old White Guy Zombie” and “Factory Made Blonde Fox News Barbie Zombie”. Oda is also responsible for other politically-divisive games such as 2008’s Kung-Fu Election, a Mortal Kombat style fighting game that pitted political opponents against each other, and Bushgame.com, a game where players fought against creatures inspired by popular figures in the Bush administration.
While conservative bloggers are calling out the game as potentially inspiring violence against the Tea Party, it’s unlikely that many people are enjoying the Flash game or even playing it. The game’s graphical design is reminiscent of an uglier version of Doom, the controls are very unresponsive and the tired gameplay style is extremely dated. With vastly more entertaining, zombie-laden games available like the recently released, well-reviewed Dead Island, the popularity of Tea Party Zombies Must Die within the gaming community will likely die off within days of release due to poor execution.
