From the opening seconds of the recently revealed trailer for Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, I was enthralled. Sure, it was all anon-gameplay cinematic, but the visuals were gorgeous, and the tension and sense of impending doom kept me on the edge of my seat. Starting with a marching line of tiny ants and raising the predatory stakes all the way up to a death roll between an anaconda and a giant alligator, I had no idea what game I was watching, but I wanted to play it immediately. And then Solid Snake showed up.
Yeah, yeah, I get it—man is the deadliest animal, and Snake is the deadliest man. Well played, trailer director. Problem is, you went and oversold it with the epic lead-up to the reveal, because after watching that visual masterpiece, I don’t even want to be Snake.
I want to be that bird.
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Think about it, a proper bird game. It would be the ultimate survival horror experience, and it wouldn’t even need a creepy setting, because while flitting and swooping through gorgeous skies against the brilliant, sunlit horizon, death could come from anywhere.
Spend too much time in the open sky? You’re a sitting duck (or an airborne canary?) for much larger birds of prey. Come in for a landing near some berry bushes, hoping for a meal or to sing a sexy little bird ditty? Hope there’s not a cat skulking around inside. I mean, putting the player in the role of a hyper-realistic animal worked forStray, so why should cats solving puzzles work better than birds trying to survive in an unforgiving world?
I’m not really sure why the little wingy wonder is my big takeaway from that trailer. Maybe it’s because my mind recently took a little trip down memory lane andstopped at E.V.O. Search For Edenon the SNES, which gave me dozens of evolutionary possibilities but, sadly, only included birds as an optional form tacked onto the dinosaur stage.
Or maybe it’s because that fantastic yellow bastard deftly swooped in to steal that dead frog from those ants, then skillfully evaded that anaconda’s jaws, only a few missing tail feathers worse for wear. Point is, I came out of those fantastic two minutes of Not Actual Gameplay Footage not so much interested in an MGS 3 remake, but enthralled in the desire to spread my wings and fly. And I’m kind of bummed that’s not the game I’m getting.
So where am I supposed to tun to fulfill my avian fantasy?Flappy Souls? That’s way too much masochism rolled up into a single bird game.Untitled Goose Game? Nah. No flying and way too much inane interaction with humans (plus I’ve 100-percented it multiple times already).Hatoful Boyfriend? Thanks for twisting my words, but when I said “avian fantasy,” I didn’t mean I wanted to be a human whodatesbirds. Why would you even suggest that, hypothetical person?
Hogwarts Legacyactually has some really fun flying mechanics (that ruin the game,according to some crazy people), and it lets me glide and swoop on the back ofa thestral or a hippogriff. That’s not quite the same as actuallybeingthe winged creature, however, and I’d be a less wary of the world around me if I were half horse or all nightmare fuel. Honestly, the search for the perfect bird survival game, or at least a decent one to base my imaginary Better Metal Gear on, was coming up empty, and I was about to give up.
And that’s when I foundCopoka. Available on Steam, it’s not exactly the game promised in the official description. Rather than just flying around and trying to collect twigs and other items for your nest, you’re actually eavesdropping on the humans in your town complaining about political and their governmental leaders (wait, are the conspiracy theorists right about all birds just being spy drones?). It’s not a perfect example of what I’m looking for, but the solid flight mechanics and collection aspects serve as a good base. There’s no sense of impending doom, so that would have to be added in, but toss in a hunger meter, some hiding and escape tacticsa la Clock Tower, and maybe have the end goal of attracting another bird to raise some adorable little eggs with, and I think you’d hit this one right on the beak.
There’s also another pretty well-liked bird sim on Steam, calledFeather, but the art style is a little to minimalist for an exploration sim, and again, no sense of danger — and even less sense of purpose. The ‘About This Game’ section even states that it’s for “exploration, relaxation and immersion,” and I’m only going for two of those things and the opposite of the third.
I want to bravely descend on a world that I’m too small too fight, ruffle my feathers, and tweetle-dee-dee in the face of danger as I beat the odds time after time and soar my way to the next fleeting moment of safety. Man may be the deadliest animal, but I want to be the sassiest. Thanks for teaching me that about myself, Snake.
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