Supreme League of Patriots Review (PC)

good
key review info
  • Game: Supreme League of Patriots
  • Platform: PC
  • Show system requirements
  • Gamepad support: No
  • Reviewed on:
Supreme League of Patriots screenshot

Supreme League of Patriots is a three-part indie point-and-click adventure game that is silly and irreverent, full of stereotypes and cheesy humor, just like your own personal sitcom to play through.

The game mixes pop culture, politics, reality television and a ton of other things in what is probably the highest density of zingers and references in modern history.

Supreme League of Patriots offers a unique experience that is part superhero drama and part American television. It fills up a neat niche in the adventure video game genre and isn't afraid to go all-out, even if it means that it has to deliver every poop joke imaginable.

Story

The game puts you in the shoes of Kyle Keever, an aspiring deadbeat actor seeking to win a spot on the newest hit reality TV show America's Got Superpowers. He prepares an original alter-ego, the Perfect Patriot, specially for the occasion, but things go south.

First of all, his suit gets ruined while in the washing machine, getting a distinctive purple hue. Second, he has no superpowers. He has no regular powers either, and he's not too bright either.

The game raises a question that should have been asked a long time ago, "What if Captain America were a xenophobic racist? Also, completely incompetent?"

Enter supporting character Melvin, a Brit with a biting sense of sarcasm who serves as Kyle's sidekick throughout the adventure, as well as a window into the game world, delivering timely advice and insightful commentary on all sorts of events.

Some weird things happen and Kyle ends up actually possessing superpowers, but his personality also gets taken over by the persona of Purple Patriot, the redneck champion of the one percenters.

The game raises a question that should have been asked a long time ago, "What if Captain America were a xenophobic racist? Also, completely incompetent?"

Episode one shows you how Kyle is a lazy but nice guy, the second episode follows the rise of the Purple Patriot persona and how his bigoted ways are interfering with doing good, and the third episode details the superhero's first mission, after going through all the proper bureaucratic channels required to get a license.

This is the general vibe of the game
This is the general vibe of the game

Gameplay

The game starts off pretty slow and generic, but things get pretty wild pretty fast. Supreme League of Patriots is full of satire and isn't afraid to break the fourth wall or even poke fun at the common video game tropes and puzzle designs found in adventure titles.

There is a ton of dialogue and it's all voice-acted, which makes the sheer volume bearable, and it must have been a pain to assemble. Every little line is laden with puns and retorts and a ton of pop culture references to the point of getting saturated.

The game laughs at how random mini-games and puzzles take you out of the game, offer some padding so you don't finish them too quickly, and cover up the fact that the plot is usually pretty thin, but it's not devoid of its own shortcomings.

It's colorful, modern and has a pretty solid soundtrack, but it also has some tedious mechanical issues where you have to do a precise series of interactions in order to achieve progress, even when you have acquired all the necessary pieces.

Most of the time, those interactions consist of talking to people. Sure, you have the usual array of context menu options, examining and picking up stuff, using inventory items and whatnot, but the real meat of the game is in the dialogue.

The game lives or dies by how much you like the main characters. If you find their bickering endearing and are a fan of low-brow humor, then you're pretty much set for the duration of the game.

It's a weird melange of smart and off-the-wall composition, combined with the classic hijinks of adventure games, with crazy antics taking you through a wide array of urban locales, but there's also an equal part of stupidity, cheesiness and stereotypical sitcom banter added to the mix, which gets tiresome after a while.

Reality TV at its best
Reality TV at its best

That being said, you can't help but admire the fact that the onus to carry the game is placed on the plot and on the characters instead of the set of coincidences and contrived circumstances that usually make up such a game's premise.

The adventures themselves are surprising in a sort of deja-vu kind of way, because there is just so much that feels instantly familiar due to the source material and the thinly veiled cover-ups of what the two protagonists are actually talking about.

The superhero angle works pretty well in order to add a bit of excitement to an otherwise pedestrian story about two friends and their mundane day-to-day lives, and the bumbling vigilante versus villain action really makes the whole story feel somehow grounded.

The overly patriotic and borderline absurd ramblings of Purple Patriot mix pretty well with all the other over-the-top characters, and the antihero antics and crass humor work pretty well within the narrative context.

The bright and colorful visuals and the overall laid-back mood of the game make for a relaxing experience, which is a welcome break if you're tired of all the gritty and dark video game stories of late.

However, in spite of all the closet humor, there are also more profound pieces of the story to be found, challenging due to their universal and tragic nature, but not to the point where you're playing a completely different game.

Also, there is a pretty nice feature where you can have Mel work as a sort of in-game aid, providing you with hints regarding your next step, which you can disable if you're looking for a more challenging experience.


The Good

  • Colorful cast of characters
  • A ton of playful banter
  • Interesting story

The Bad

  • Too many pop culture references
  • A lot of sitcom-like stereotypes
  • Some technical issues

Conclusion

Supreme League of Patriots is kind of a mixed bag: you have a decent adventure game that tries to work in a new direction, driven by plot and dialogue more than random puzzles and inconvenient coincidences that force you to play MacGyver or to do random strangers favors and run errands in exchange for items that could have easily been acquired from any department store.

The story starts off slow but gradually builds up to a more satisfying outcome, following the devouring yearning to be famous and its impact on the protagonist.

The gameplay mechanics are a bit clunky at times, but it's nothing that adventure video games fans haven't seen or done before, and things get better after the initial chapter.

The colorful cast of characters and the creativity displayed by developer No Bull Intentions are thoroughly enjoyable, and the general feel-good vibe and comic-style art direction suit the gameplay really well.

story 7
gameplay 7
concept 8
graphics 7
audio 8
multiplayer 0
final rating 7.5
Editor's review
good
 

Supreme League of Patriots screenshots (17 Images)

Supreme League of Patriots screenshotThis is the general vibe of the gameReality TV at its bestAw snap son, another video game referenceSupreme League of Patriots screenshot
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