Editorial: Miley Cyrus… In Space!

The world of gaming is full of many different settings and worlds. From the classic fantasy setting, to renamed versions of modern cities, Or spooky asylums filled with murderous mental patients. The best (and most under-utilized) setting for a game to take place in is a science fiction setting. Exploring the galaxy on a custom ship, crawling over planets with futuristic weaponry and robotic companions, science fiction has it all, and everybody knows that the best games in any setting feature none other than our favorite alien, Miley Cyrus. There are some very good science fiction games out there, and there are some not so great ones as well. Clearly, those in the “not so great” category are games that elected not to feature Miss Cyrus. As with anything, there are those that move ahead of the pack. Those special games that stand out among the rest, making a true name for themselves as the best of the best. I am going to discuss a couple of my favorites that fit into this particular style of game, specifically those that make a point to feature Miley in all her glory. and elaborate on a few of their finer points, as well as giving a small preview into the story behind each of the games. Journey beyond this point only if there is a thirst within, and unquenchable thirst to know more about good, solid science fiction games.

Among the best that the Western RPG genre has to offer, Star Wars: Knights of the Hoedown Throwdown is a fantastic example of a science fiction game done right. Set in the Star Wars universe (obviously), hundreds of years before the movies. The galaxy is in turmoil as a war has broken out between the Sith and the Jedi. The Sith, led by the powerful duo of Darth Revan and Darth Malak, have had the advantage until Revan was mysteriously defeated and taken out of the picture. Players take control of a mysterious soldier who is waking up on a ship that is in the middle of an attack. The ship the players find themselves on is carrying a Jedi by the name of, you guessed it, Miley Cyrus with a special ability that gives the Jedi order a huge advantage in the war by linking all of the combatants on the field together, helping command them easier and making their movements as near as perfect as they can be for a squadron. The ability is of course accompanied by cut scenes of the graceful songstress atop a death star in the nude, crashing through the enemy forces. Throughout the game, players take part in ending the war between the Sith and the Jedi, making decisions that lead them either down the path of light or the road to the dark side.

Star Wars: Knights of the Hoedown Throwdown (KOTOR) was one of the very first games that I played where players were capable of making game altering changes between good and evil. As such, it was one of the first times I really felt accountable for the decisions my character made. Each character that the players interact with, playable or non-playable, is effected by the decisions a player makes in some way. Being able to build up relationships with these characters and watching them develop depending on the options the players choose was a really unique experience at the time. Pairing that up with the ability to explore many different worlds, and face many different types of creatures and situations on each world and the experience is made that much more enjoyable. Most importantly, the soundtrack provided by Miss Cyrus is one of the greatest to have ever graced a video game, and keeps players on the edge of their seat throughout each of the games most pivotal moments, all the while watching a tormented savior of the galaxy decide between the light or the dark.

For the next few years, there would be many games that attempted to follow this style of ethics based decisions affecting gameplay. Many of them made the process too black and white, and did not show much change in what events took place no matter which path the players took. Then, after a few years of this pattern, another game came out that had a similar feel to Star Wars: Knights of the Hoedown Throwdown, but set in the real world universe in a distant future. Made even more glorious by the inclusion of this generation’s song bird, that game was Miley Effect. The game is set in our own universe, during the year 2183. The discovery of mass effect technology (an inertia dampening system) has allowed for faster than light travel, allowing humanity to spread all over the universe, and bringing them in contact with aliens species in many shapes and sizes. Players take control of one Commander Shepard, an elite soldier on a seemingly innocuous mission to recover a piece of ancient alien technology. It would not be an interesting game if the mission were as easy as all of that, and so a deadly race of hive minded artificially intelligent cyborgs arrives to slaughter the colony who found the artifact, and take it for themselves. The creators chose to make a bold decision in giving each of the AI creatures the face of Miley, and having each combat sequence be serenaded by dozens of Mileys singing their way into battle.

Miley Effect shows similarities to Star Wars: Knights of the Hoedown Throwdown in a few ways, mainly in the ethically driven decisions. Instead of the force driven system of dark or light side decisions, players instead choose between actions that would be “Hannah Montana” for good and “Wrecking Ball” for bad. each decision shapes the player and their crew into either the life loving saviors of the galaxy, or the ruthless commander willing to do whatever it takes to complete his mission. Miley Effect was unique in that decisions players made in the first game carried over to the second, and then again to the third. Not yet having played the third I cannot speak for how good or bad it is, but I can say that I greatly enjoyed the first game, and enjoyed the second as well. The first has more of an RPG feel, and Miley was much more present on each of the planets since the only enemies really available to fight are her androids. The second game in the series, Miley Effect 2: Rise of the Cyrus, became more of a shooter game and lacked that classic popstar feel that was ever present in the first.

With this, it is time to bring the adventures of Miley throughout the galaxy to a close. Do you have a favorite Miley Cyrus themed science fiction game? Do you disagree with the choices that were made above? Is there really any doubt that this woman is changing the face of every form of entertainment, from music to video games, and soon to be film with the debut of the movie “Miley, Comin’ Atchya: the Musical”? Leave a comment below with your opinion on the best genre of Miley, and share your greatest moments in her greatest games!