A Group of Idiots Attempt to Complete a Mission – The Genre
By Gaming Editor Bonny Murphy
As human beings, we like to put art in boxes which we conveniently call genres. This movie is fantasy or that book is sci-fi and so on. However, sometimes what unites a selection of art is not simply setting or historical period, it can be how you feel when experiencing it. This leads me to the unique genre of game I am writing on today: the group of idiots trying to do something vaguely productive. While you may not realise it at first, this is very much a familiar genre to most gamers and has permeated late night discord call madness for many years. Hopefully as I start to list familiar games you will see the trend and realise that once upon a time, you were that idiot attempting to do something productive. This list contains five games, all which fit this wonderful genre. Each is available on Steam and range from recent additions to the gaming space and old guard games from years long gone. Feel free to check any of these games out at your own leisure but be warned, a group of idiots is advised to get the most out of all games listed.
GTFO
The first entrant into this category is GTFO which accurately stands for get the fuck out. This cooperative horror shooter markets itself as an intense hardcore strategic experience. However, when playing with friends you will spend most of the time hating your team’s poor choices, running from violent, fleshy monsters, and screaming “I need an adult” when a security locked door comes into view. The game has a team size of four, when you progress through levels, each some form of overrun facility with monsters aplenty. Darkness and silence are your friend as the monsters are triggered by the slightest light, sound, or movement. Each player is equipped with loadouts of weapons and turrets should the monsters wake up. The aim is to sneakily move through the rooms and dispose of monsters with melee attacks to maintain a quiet peace. When this ultimately fails, the four idiots run for their lives screaming at that one former friend who woke up the monster by turning on a flashlight or knocking something over. As mentioned above, the game has a mechanic that forces you to stand and fight, the security locked doors. These doors cannot be entered until the players complete a sequence of standing in certain red circles while fighting off hordes of monsters. With ammo and health limited in the game, not preparing for the inevitable security locked door spells doom for the team.
Photo from GTFO
Left For Dead 2
The next two games on my list I have recommended before, in my spooky games list, but they are in this list for very different reasons. This first is Left For Dead 2, a longstanding treasure of a game and my own first experience being an idiot trying to achieve something. The game is a classic zombie survival shooter with all you could need to panic and flail about in a game. Each level of the campaign is a new location in which a team of four player must make it to a safe room at the end. Similar to GTFO, all players have a loadouts with a side-arm, main gun, melee weapon and choice items such as health packs. And again, similar to GTFO, the same kind of panic ensues when things inevitably go wrong. I would argue the only strategy in this game is to abandon all your friends and make it into that safe room at all costs. The hordes of zombies seemingly never stop coming and often have unique mutated zombies who spit acid, incapacitate you with a long tongue or are simply too tank-like and charge players. Due to the sheer overwhelming numbers of zombies, friendships are shattered, and vengeances are born from the scars of leaving players behind to be devoured so you can live.
Photo from Left for Dead 2
Phasmophobia
Another game from my spooky list which deserves a well-earned spot here is Phasmophobia. This game is firmly placed in the horror category, an deserves it. You play as paranormal investigators in teams of four, with the goal of entering a haunted area, identifying the vengeful spirit causing harm and death, and leave. Seems simple enough right? Well, as you can probably guess, this game also devolves into madness and panic pretty soon. Each player can buy items to assist them in identifying the spirit and protecting themselves such as crucifixes, cameras, flashlights and thermometers. Each with the function of spotting or eliminating a feature of a certain spirit such as cold temperatures, ghost orbs, fingerprints and so on. The real panic begins when a spirit starts a hunt. This is when it seeks to kill a player for bothering it. Like most monsters, spirits are sensitive to light, movement and sound. This is where abandoning a team member to the spirit comes in. When your buddy is trapped in a room with a deadly spirit it is often best to leave them and cut your losses. But this game does truly ensue panic and madness among the idiots playing.
Photo from Phasmophobia
Lethal Company
The next game I wish to represent on this list is a relatively new hit from last year, Lethal Company. This co-op horror game puts its four-player team in a very unusual position. As a player, you are enlisted by the mysterious ‘company’ to scavenge for scrap on various moons to sell to on to said ‘company’. The horror component comes to light when you begin your search for scrap. There are monsters of varying types scattered among the moons who do not take lightly to ‘company’ members invading their territory. This game was a massive success when it released last October and the shenanigans it caused were impressive. Players fleeing for the lives from monsters and abandoning their team members to the monsters. It is a fun ride where you will most certainly feel like an idiot employee risking your life for the ‘company’.
Photo from Lethal Company
Helldivers 2
My final game to add to this list, is actually the inspiration for this article. With its new shiny release as of February 8, Helldivers 2 has been a roaring success and I have not stopped hearing about it since. The game has a very similar feeling to Left for Dead 2, but with a modern revamp and polished new graphics and models. Another game for a team of four, Helldivers 2 has players dropped onto hostile planets with enemies such as giant bug creatures or evil robots. The players all have unique weapons loadouts which are incredibly varied, even including grenade launchers and flamethrowers. Different missions are available with different planets but like Lethal Company, it is all in service of a galactic war effort with little care for your little life. This game truly signifies the most idiotic aspects of a group trying to complete a goal. Team damage is enabled often and players can shoot, blow up and nuke each other on accident or intentionally to stop hordes of enemies. The game is incredibly chaotic and defiantly worth playing if blowing up you friends is something you have always wanted to do.
Photo from Helldivers 2
I would argue none of these games are really worth playing in solo and some may not even offer solo play. They are group orientated and designed with this in mind. Even more importantly, playing with friends will give you the most out of these games. I hope if you try and of these game out, or even have already played them before, you can relate to the feeling I am aiming to get across. It is a wonderful moment when you realise you are playing a game with a group of idiots who cannot for the life of them, get anything productive done.
