Have you played Metal Gear Rising recently? The spin-off from the core Metal Gear franchise sees cyborg hero Raiden taking on Senator Steven Armstrong, a candidate for the 2020 US presidential election who just so happened to be an evil son-of-a-gun who used America’s desire for war to his own personal gain. He also used Donald Trump’s infamous campaign slogan two years before the billionaire had decided to run for office, which is freaking everyone out a little bit.
This “prediction” on behalf of developers Platinum Games was most recently brought to light thanks to a playthrough from video game site Giant Bomb, who act suitably surprised when they see Armstrong bellow “they’ll make America great again!” while stomping a hole into Raiden during the final boss fight.
What. The. Hell?https://t.co/3mLk2z9RB4 pic.twitter.com/90f4LpEtgF
— Steve Kim (@Fobwashed) January 18, 2017
Here’s the full dialogue from the scene:
Armstrong: “The weak will be purged and the strongest will thrive… free to live as they see fit, they’ll make America great again!”
Raiden: “What the hell are you talking about?”
Armstrong: “You still don’t get it. I’m using war as a business to get elected!”
In Metal Gear Rising, Armstrong planned to reform the US government in order to allow people to fight for their own beliefs and decisions, before starting up a new “War on Terror” in order to convince people to vote for him. Armstrong is shown to strongly believe in the worst of people, with him operating under the impression that no one would care about his heinous behavior as long as provided a decent scapegoat, or hid away his indecency with truckloads of cash.
Alongside his uttering of Trump’s campaign slogan, his reference to purging the weak also draws comparisons to the president-elect’s comments this week that he would “keep America great,” which was coincidentally exactly the same tagline from horror flick The Purge: Election Year. Either many in the entertainment industry predicted the Trump campaign, or US politics is far too predictable.
