Crazy Taxi may look like a simple, frenetic dash for fare money, but beneath its high-speed gameplay and colorful, arcade-like surface lies a complex critique of American imperialism, consumer culture, and the unrelenting demands of late-stage capitalism. In fact, Crazy Taxi is to video games what The Shawshank Redemption is to cinema—a cultural cornerstone, a biting satire, and a surprisingly profound commentary on the American way of life.

Let’s start with the premise: you are a taxi driver in a fictional American city, where your only goal is to transport citizens from one destination to another, earning as much cash as possible within a strict time limit. But isn’t this mechanic, at its core, a statement on how American society commodifies every second of our existence? The constant rush, the prioritization of speed and productivity over safety and order—Crazy Taxi shows us how our culture has devolved into a relentless grind, where each of us is but a cog in a larger capitalist machine, hurtling toward some undefined finish line.

As the driver, you’re given no context about who you are, your background, or even why you’re driving this taxi. This anonymity reflects the disposable nature of labor in American society. You’re merely a nameless worker, valued not for your humanity but for the fares you can collect and the speed with which you can do so. In a way, Crazy Taxi mirrors the plight of the American worker, alienated from their labor and driven to exhaustion by a system that offers no reprieve.

Then, there’s the city itself—an exaggerated landscape populated by nothing but consumerism. Every destination in Crazy Taxi is either a fast-food joint, a shopping mall, or an entertainment venue. The game subtly highlights how American cities are structured not for the people who live in them, but for corporations and their interests. Each passenger, desperate to get to their destination, is a satire of our consumeristic tendencies. They don’t want a meaningful destination; they want to go to Pizza Hut, KFC, or a generic shopping center. This relentless drive to consume and spend—portrayed here as a mad dash across a chaotic city—holds up a mirror to our own lives, asking us to question the value of a society built on the constant acquisition of goods.

But Crazy Taxi’s criticism of American imperialism and consumer culture doesn’t end with its satirical depiction of the American cityscape. By making the player crash through pedestrians, destroy public property, and disobey every rule of the road, it comments on the effects of American expansion and interventionism on both individuals and societies. You are a destructive force of nature in the game, representative of a larger system that disregards the well-being of individuals in its quest for profit.

In essence, Crazy Taxi is a parable for a society that has prioritized profit and consumption over humanity, and in doing so, it stands alongside works like The Shawshank Redemption as a generation-defining commentary. Just as Shawshank explores the human spirit’s endurance in the face of institutional oppression, Crazy Taxi explores how the everyday worker—stripped of identity, coerced into a life of relentless productivity, and buried under consumer culture—must still strive for personal freedom and agency, even if that freedom comes in the form of a reckless, exhilarating drive through a city gone mad.

In the end, Crazy Taxi isn’t just a game. It’s a clarion call, urging us to slow down, question the structures around us, and seek something deeper than the next big fare. And if that doesn’t make it one of the most profound pieces of art in gaming, I don’t know what does.

Planetside 2 is a chaotic battlefield of intense sci-fi warfare, but don’t let the explosions and massive firefights distract you—this game is nothing more than a propaganda machine for liberal ideology and imperialist/collectivist brainwashing.

The gameplay itself forces you into giant armies and squads, where the only way to succeed is to work together under strict hierarchies. Apparently, rugged individualism doesn’t fly in Auraxis, and the mods are there to ensure compliance. I was kicked out of 37 matches in a row because I refused to declare that the wage gap/climate change was real and that universal healthcare should apply to cloned soldiers.

Whatever. I pretended to be open minded and agreed eventually so I could play, until an admin named "ApricotDream" started preaching to me the middle of a tense gunfight about how many genders there are. Frustrated by this situation, I called him a liberal and was immediately mass reported and perma banned.

Honestly, a bit crushing to know you can't be a real hero and take on an entire army yourself. This is what the globalists want you to feel.

And let’s talk about the blatant imperialism: the game is all about endlessly colonizing and conquering territory for three warring factions, none of which represent traditional values. Instead, we get corporate overlords (the Terran Republic), anarchists who “just want freedom” (the New Conglomerate), and transhumanist cultists (the Vanu Sovereignty)—all clearly metaphors for modern liberal agendas. The moderators even made me chant pro-globalization slogans before letting me into a server. Refuse? Vote-kicked. Suggest that private ownership of land might improve faction strategy? Kicked again. Planetside 2 isn’t just hard—it’s a dystopian simulator that silences dissent while indoctrinating you into the “greater good.” Avoid at all costs if you value free thought.