Man you don’t know how much i wanted to see that game high up in the comments. It’s definitely punk, the attitude, the game design, the fiction, the characters
I just told someone yesterday that Tony Hawks Pro Skater 2 is probably in no small parts responsible for my love for punk.
Even by today's standards it's a bomb of a soundtrack.
Sammeeeeeee, for me it was Proving Grounds tho. I didn't play the Pro Skater games until a while after I played Proving Grounds, just bc I didn't know enough about Tony Hawk games to ever get into them until I was gifted on for Christmas in 2013, and actually was one of my first video games ever after Devil May Cry 1, 2, and 3 (the originals on PS2) and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.
Skatepunk culture as a whole makes up a lot of punk culture for a lot of people I know. Tony Hawk games exemplify it for me, but all skate culture is very punk imo (hence why skatepunk is such a big part of skate culture, at least in my experience with it).
When I was really young and THPS just came out my brother and I thought the song “cyco vision” by suicidal tendencies was saying psycho pigeon hahahaha. That game shaped my musical taste though for real.
I really love ska studios in that is by far my favorite game from them. It has beer making brawling and a great punk soundtrack written and performed by the makers of the game. So freaking good.
I was going to say this. It even gets more punk when you play on. First you're just a little wannabe punk who has to follow the rules 'or else'. When you get further in the game you learn how to get away with shit. And then it's up to you to decide whether you're a full on anarchopunk fucking up shit just 'cause, or just a regular poppunk lover who misbehaves only occasionally and at appropriate times.
Just do it before 2 am because father time is undefeated.
The most punk video game is when you take a cardboard box and put roaches in it and then throw cheese at them to see... its obviously euro truck simulator
Cyberpunk2077. Filled with moral quandaries and such.
Also, the music in game is on point. The Refused even did the songs for Keanu Reeves' in game band, Samurai.
And there’s a lot of songs that share punk altitudes and ideas yet are wrote in a different way, in a different genre. I love it.
There are also quite a few references and easter eggs to real punk bands.
It’s an amazing game. It really is.
What I thought was really interesting is that the mission titles (mostly) only start following that theme *after* Johnny takes over running your Journal; While Jackie's still running it, the Mission titles are simple and to the point- The Pickup, The Ripperdoc, The Heist...
Yeah, it sure is! I’m not sure whether all are or just most tho, it also varies on language version. It’s certainly fun and there’s some more or less obscure or far reaching references.
My favourites are fight club one in one of the ending missions with the song “Where is my mind” as a title and Dezerter shotgun named after my favourite (Polish) punk band.
As well as many Poland specific Easter eggs, especially in Polish language version, like meme references or Dawid Podsiadło character.
"Suits run when I come undone. Can't kill me. I'm zeros and ones. Add justice to the people's path. Blaze your way down the rebel path."
Absolute bars.
Well, if I had an anarcho-punk living in my head and he told me "oh yeah, this shit is fucked up worse than when I was alive" I'd want to burn it down too.
Y'know? Just for the laughs.
Another reason to like it: while no gaming company is "good" on its own (because capitalism), CD Projekt Red had some good policies that while you can't call punk are at least consumer-friendly. Of course, there is a shitty corporate factor there but they're less bad than others.
>Of course, there is a shitty corporate factor there but they're less bad than others.
They almost killed the game by forcing CDPR to release too early.
At one point, yes. But it's a loooong winding game with multiple quest lines and scenarios that change depending on your choices so you can miss it or skip it.
Oh. Oh hell yes. If it released in the state it is in now then you wouldn't have asked because you would have been beaten over the head with "this iz teh b3st game ever!" From all over the internet.
It truly is an experience of a video game. It's a work of art.
Yeah, as shitty as the release was I really enjoyed it. Had it pre-ordered and installed so I played it day one. I got lucky and only had 1 bug that I had to reset the game. Haven't played in a good while but seen they had a big update that fixed a lot of shit. My biggest problem was how the cops would just appear out of no where but I think that got fixed too.
I went from Starfield to Cyberpunk months ago and didn't touch Starfiepd again until this last update. They're very different games, but I like Cyberpunk more. And it's punx af
I saw some dude trying to say Cyberpunk 2077 didn’t have anti-capitalist messaging. I went and booted up my save and the first thing that happened was I got a text message from a Punk Rocker talking about blowing up banks to take down to Corpos.
cruelty squad it's about being an assassin and it sucks but you have to so you can have money. Then you buy a house and move to the suburbs but everyone there sucks too
First, I’m clarifying that these are punk by philosophy and not aesthetic necessarily.
Dead cells is so punk. Fuck the main character
Doom is so punk. Fuck Hayden in particular.
Bioshock is so punk. Would you kindly fuck rapture.
Fallout is so punk. Fuck vault-tec, Rob-co, general atomics, and apparently aliens?
Persona 5 Royal is so punk. Fuck those rotten adults.
Horizon forbidden west is so punk. Fuck Ted Faro
Guys it’s really weird how many punk themed games are made by Corperate entities.
Borderlands is so punk. Fuck Hyperion, atlas, Maliwan, tediore, etc.
Megaman,specifically battle network timeline, is so punk. Dude humans go extinct in multiple Megaman timelines how has this series not been rebooted with a cyberpunk aesthetic in the dmc art style?
Speaking of weird lore from Gameboy era franchises. Sonic? Fuck eggman? Bonus points if you watch Sonic underground.
The obviously two are helldivers and cyberpunk. Fuck superearth, and burn Corpo shit
Final fantasy VII literally starts with the main characters blowing up a megacorp reactor.
Superhot but I won’t tell you which version. Fuck you.
Turnip boy commits tax evasion. Just play it
Check out the breadth of indie work that disobeys conventional rules about what a game should be and how it looks. Give itch.io a browse.
To me this question is like asking "what is the most punk zine?" Which is a baffling question because of the sheer about of beautiful underground stuff out there.
This is actually the best direction. Most of the games mentioned are somewhat modern AAA games that will most likely be connected to some of the mega parent companies in the industry (Microsoft, Tencent, Sony, Netease, etc.) The popular indie games are susceptible to affiliation with angel investors and other non-punk funding background (or companies going bad, [the case with ZA/UM](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disco_Elysium#Legal_issues_and_potential_related_works)-Disco Elysium's dev.) So truly independent (self-dev/published) games are the closest to punk games.
[itch.io](http://itch.io) is really an amazing place, and there are so many gems there you can spend days playing some of the wildest and most unique games, a lot of them for free.
I'm currently writing my thesis about punk gamedev, so it's really cool to see this coming up here! Also s/o to u/ChrystalRainbow [comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/punk/comments/1d871mr/comment/l7493h9/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) with a really cool post about it.
I haven't really explored punk video games in depth yet (although I fully intend to since [the topic has interested me](https://cohost.org/nosystemworks/post/4091538-can-video-games-be-p) for a while now) but instinctively I'd say we will find them in the indie section.
Only if you consider punk to be a commoditized aesthetic and not a philosophy.
It's punk to enjoy whatever (video games) you like without needing validation or seeking consensus from strangers on the internet.
I personally am not sure how to square anti-authoritarian ideals with needing to ask people what they think.
No More Heroes, obviously. I'd buy every shirt in those games.
PS. I'm working on a metal themed game soundtrack right now but to be honest a bunch of my songs are closer to punk or post-hardcore.
Oh fucj I didn't even consider this and its my favorite game series lmao
Nocturne is especially punk, and the soundtracks across the games since then have been dope
There used to be a flash game called “Emo Game” where you could be an early 00s lead singer. I remember Rick Ta Life used his dreads as a weapon. Claudio Sanchez was a character. Stray light Run was there too. Pretty funny game
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emogame
Probably not the **most** punk, but I'd make a case for Fallout: New Vegas, at least in theme.
- Living in a world destroyed by imperialistic nations
- Takes inspiration from 1950s culture (I could see a Ska band playing at the Tops)
- Most of the major factions are portrayed as deeply flawed attempts at rebuilding society that end up recreating the mistakes of the old world
- You can kill a functionally immortal tyrannical capitalist
Yea GTA has always had good radio. But I don't remember any other GTA games having a punk radio station
I haven't played the older gtas in a long time tho so I don't remember
Crazy Taxi
Yooooo I’m team THPS, but this a real answer too
Both had Bad Religion songs iirc.
All I Want by The Offspring is forever associated with this game. "YEAH YEAH YEAH!" to start the opening stage is locked into my core memory.
Yep
Disco elysium probably, idk I just really like it
Sorry dude, ACAB includes Tequila Sunset. (just kidding, that game fucking rules)
Hard mode: ACAB includes Kim
I’ll fucken die first
Night in the Woods is really good too.
Night in the Woods was great. Tried it because of the art, stayed for the story and characters.
The music was so good too! I’m such a sucker for the bass mini game
It's absolutely disco elysium.
The correct answer
HARDCORE TO THE MEGA!
Hobocop is the most punk thing I have ever seen in my entire life
Man you don’t know how much i wanted to see that game high up in the comments. It’s definitely punk, the attitude, the game design, the fiction, the characters
Yo! Taking down Measurehead is a moment that will never not be hype.
"Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2" for attitude and soundtrack.
This is what it’s like when worlds COLLIDE!
Lights out!! Guerrilla radio!!!!
> This is what it’s like when worlds COLLIDE! Still a banger https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsV500W4BHU
I just told someone yesterday that Tony Hawks Pro Skater 2 is probably in no small parts responsible for my love for punk. Even by today's standards it's a bomb of a soundtrack.
Sammeeeeeee, for me it was Proving Grounds tho. I didn't play the Pro Skater games until a while after I played Proving Grounds, just bc I didn't know enough about Tony Hawk games to ever get into them until I was gifted on for Christmas in 2013, and actually was one of my first video games ever after Devil May Cry 1, 2, and 3 (the originals on PS2) and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.
Skatepunk culture as a whole makes up a lot of punk culture for a lot of people I know. Tony Hawk games exemplify it for me, but all skate culture is very punk imo (hence why skatepunk is such a big part of skate culture, at least in my experience with it).
When I was really young and THPS just came out my brother and I thought the song “cyco vision” by suicidal tendencies was saying psycho pigeon hahahaha. That game shaped my musical taste though for real.
came here to say this
Jet Grind Radio should be up there
One of my favorite games, any fan of it should check out Bomb Rush Cyberfunk
I loved it, true spiritual successor.
I came to say this. Classic game
Sunset Overdrive. Hands down one of the most punk and fun games I've ever played.
No joke that game was my introduction to punk music years ago, still want a sequel
If I could get a sequel for sunset Overdrive and Days Gone I would be so fucking content.
One of my favorite games ever. I kinda wanna play it again
Currently downloading it for another playthrough.
YESSSS
was looking through the comments for this. still hoping for a sequel!
The Warriors
This was going to be my choice too
This game was so good, really expanded the universe and a ton of fun.
I was going to say this one - Too bad that it STILL doesn't work properly on PS5
Red Faction's up there.
A bunch of workers rising up against an oppressive corporation that abuses their power and exploits their workers? Textbook punk stuff right there,
NES Skate or Die THPS - soundtrack of the entire series gave punk a fair shake
Or T&C Surf Designs!
>[NES Skate or Die](https://i.imgur.com/tGjIROr.jpeg) Fuck yes, my thoughts exactly (see hyperlink in quote).
[Skate or Die 2 Title Theme](https://youtu.be/X8TmIxHSBcU?si=sRHS_L5jtV0kU_Ju) is pretty punk. “Skate or Die… Die die die die die!”
[удалено]
Way better than world of Warcraft
This game is actually great, I didn't expect that from it
I wish i had an iPhone so i could play it, it's not on Android
Tony Hawk American Wasteland
By far my personal favorite of the series
Same here, also sick soundtrack
Last good Tony Hawk game in my opinion. It was downhill after that.
Flips are flippin fun
Bum Simulator. You get to panhandle, piss on cops and build a house out of trash.
Aka crust punk simulator
Damn this looks dope and on sale for 5 dollars on steam. Just copped
Charlie murder
I really love ska studios in that is by far my favorite game from them. It has beer making brawling and a great punk soundtrack written and performed by the makers of the game. So freaking good.
That one is a hidden gem !
Yoooooo!!!! I felt like I was the only person that knew and liked this game! One of my favorites and highly underrated.
Trying to recommend stuff that not many people know: Umurangi Generation RKGK / Rakugaki
Mario Paint. DIY AF
[Confirmed!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CS2IusuZwZE)
Bully😎
Aw man, I remember that game being really good. It was sort of a minor Rockstar game, but I liked its smaller scope.
I used to prefer the Townies faction over all others because they really looked like punks 😂
Hell yeah börthěř same 💯
I was going to say this. It even gets more punk when you play on. First you're just a little wannabe punk who has to follow the rules 'or else'. When you get further in the game you learn how to get away with shit. And then it's up to you to decide whether you're a full on anarchopunk fucking up shit just 'cause, or just a regular poppunk lover who misbehaves only occasionally and at appropriate times. Just do it before 2 am because father time is undefeated.
whomst among us has not fallen asleep in the street only to wake up with no shoes
Twisted Metal is super old, but I remember it having a good soundtrack.
No More Heroes.
Absolutely. Suda gets it.
Lollipop Chainsaw is also really cool, and has The Runaways playing in the main menu
Tony Hawk Pro Skater is the most punk video game of all time and will never be surpassed.
This is true. And my own personal punk rock catalyst
No one gonna say untitled goose game? Ok then...
Yo! Noid
The most punk video game is when you take a cardboard box and put roaches in it and then throw cheese at them to see... its obviously euro truck simulator
Agree. Trucks and buses are punk. Not bus simulators tho (they're fucking expensive for mostly shit quality)
Cyberpunk2077. Filled with moral quandaries and such. Also, the music in game is on point. The Refused even did the songs for Keanu Reeves' in game band, Samurai.
And there’s a lot of songs that share punk altitudes and ideas yet are wrote in a different way, in a different genre. I love it. There are also quite a few references and easter eggs to real punk bands. It’s an amazing game. It really is.
All the mission titles are song names, which is fun.
What I thought was really interesting is that the mission titles (mostly) only start following that theme *after* Johnny takes over running your Journal; While Jackie's still running it, the Mission titles are simple and to the point- The Pickup, The Ripperdoc, The Heist...
Yeah, it sure is! I’m not sure whether all are or just most tho, it also varies on language version. It’s certainly fun and there’s some more or less obscure or far reaching references. My favourites are fight club one in one of the ending missions with the song “Where is my mind” as a title and Dezerter shotgun named after my favourite (Polish) punk band. As well as many Poland specific Easter eggs, especially in Polish language version, like meme references or Dawid Podsiadło character.
"Suits run when I come undone. Can't kill me. I'm zeros and ones. Add justice to the people's path. Blaze your way down the rebel path." Absolute bars.
If 'Wake up Samurai we got a city to burn'. Isn't an anti authority statement idk what is. Thing is he took it a bit literally, didn't he?
Well, if I had an anarcho-punk living in my head and he told me "oh yeah, this shit is fucked up worse than when I was alive" I'd want to burn it down too. Y'know? Just for the laughs.
“Guess if you wanna save the world, that’s the first step: get fucked in the head.” —Johnny Silverhand
Praise be to the warrior poet.
Not punk but I was pleasantly surprised they have a Tomb Mold song in the game
Plus on pc I modded in my own station blasting all sorts of punk. The cool thing is it also plays on radios in the world
Sometimes it sucks being a console peasant.
Another reason to like it: while no gaming company is "good" on its own (because capitalism), CD Projekt Red had some good policies that while you can't call punk are at least consumer-friendly. Of course, there is a shitty corporate factor there but they're less bad than others.
>Of course, there is a shitty corporate factor there but they're less bad than others. They almost killed the game by forcing CDPR to release too early.
Do you as the character play in the band?
At one point, yes. But it's a loooong winding game with multiple quest lines and scenarios that change depending on your choices so you can miss it or skip it.
Would you recommend it? Currently working through Starfield, which I like, but I'm kinda looking for the next thing
Oh. Oh hell yes. If it released in the state it is in now then you wouldn't have asked because you would have been beaten over the head with "this iz teh b3st game ever!" From all over the internet. It truly is an experience of a video game. It's a work of art.
Yeah, as shitty as the release was I really enjoyed it. Had it pre-ordered and installed so I played it day one. I got lucky and only had 1 bug that I had to reset the game. Haven't played in a good while but seen they had a big update that fixed a lot of shit. My biggest problem was how the cops would just appear out of no where but I think that got fixed too.
I played it after the 1.2 update and finished it after the 2.1 update and played the DLC. It's absolutely incredible.
Captain kangaroo said it perfectly, the game had a lot of bugs at first but still I played it for a good 6 months lol. Great game!!
I went from Starfield to Cyberpunk months ago and didn't touch Starfiepd again until this last update. They're very different games, but I like Cyberpunk more. And it's punx af
I saw some dude trying to say Cyberpunk 2077 didn’t have anti-capitalist messaging. I went and booted up my save and the first thing that happened was I got a text message from a Punk Rocker talking about blowing up banks to take down to Corpos.
Skate or Die, no argument. Honorable mentions: Renegade and Double Dragon.
still have the music burned into my soul. commodore 64 for life!!
Rad. I played on Nintendo, but it was the same game.
MadWorld on the Wii comes to mind.
Borderlands -All of em
Skull Monkeys
My dad wrote the soundtrack for Skullmonkeys (and The Neverhood, etc)
720
Charlie murder
Skitchin’!
Night in the Woods
Shower with your dad simulator
no thats pop punk
cruelty squad it's about being an assassin and it sucks but you have to so you can have money. Then you buy a house and move to the suburbs but everyone there sucks too
Cruelty Squad easily
disco elysium
Spyro 3 (Fuck moneybags)
Not the most punk game but I think that Fallout has a sort of psychobilly aesthetic approach combined with a "capitalism screwed everything" content
First, I’m clarifying that these are punk by philosophy and not aesthetic necessarily. Dead cells is so punk. Fuck the main character Doom is so punk. Fuck Hayden in particular. Bioshock is so punk. Would you kindly fuck rapture. Fallout is so punk. Fuck vault-tec, Rob-co, general atomics, and apparently aliens? Persona 5 Royal is so punk. Fuck those rotten adults. Horizon forbidden west is so punk. Fuck Ted Faro Guys it’s really weird how many punk themed games are made by Corperate entities. Borderlands is so punk. Fuck Hyperion, atlas, Maliwan, tediore, etc. Megaman,specifically battle network timeline, is so punk. Dude humans go extinct in multiple Megaman timelines how has this series not been rebooted with a cyberpunk aesthetic in the dmc art style? Speaking of weird lore from Gameboy era franchises. Sonic? Fuck eggman? Bonus points if you watch Sonic underground. The obviously two are helldivers and cyberpunk. Fuck superearth, and burn Corpo shit Final fantasy VII literally starts with the main characters blowing up a megacorp reactor. Superhot but I won’t tell you which version. Fuck you. Turnip boy commits tax evasion. Just play it
sharpshooter 3d
No More Heroes 100%
Tonight we riot. It's explicitly anarchist
State of emergency is the only answer.
Check out the breadth of indie work that disobeys conventional rules about what a game should be and how it looks. Give itch.io a browse. To me this question is like asking "what is the most punk zine?" Which is a baffling question because of the sheer about of beautiful underground stuff out there.
This is actually the best direction. Most of the games mentioned are somewhat modern AAA games that will most likely be connected to some of the mega parent companies in the industry (Microsoft, Tencent, Sony, Netease, etc.) The popular indie games are susceptible to affiliation with angel investors and other non-punk funding background (or companies going bad, [the case with ZA/UM](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disco_Elysium#Legal_issues_and_potential_related_works)-Disco Elysium's dev.) So truly independent (self-dev/published) games are the closest to punk games. [itch.io](http://itch.io) is really an amazing place, and there are so many gems there you can spend days playing some of the wildest and most unique games, a lot of them for free. I'm currently writing my thesis about punk gamedev, so it's really cool to see this coming up here! Also s/o to u/ChrystalRainbow [comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/punk/comments/1d871mr/comment/l7493h9/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) with a really cool post about it.
Animal Crossing
Aka home loan simulator
I haven't really explored punk video games in depth yet (although I fully intend to since [the topic has interested me](https://cohost.org/nosystemworks/post/4091538-can-video-games-be-p) for a while now) but instinctively I'd say we will find them in the indie section.
No More Heroes, Killer 7.
Stardew Valley
Stardew is punk as hell. You overthrow the capitalists, Joja Cola.
Probably Disco Elysium. I mean, you can make your character into a straight up anarchist
Jesus Christ can we PLEASE stop with the “what’s the most punk x” and “is x punk” nonsense. I beg of you.
Especially since we all know the *only* answer is the DS classic “Nintendogs”
Is this the most PUNK response here? 🤔
That was the punkest of swears, mate. Fucking killer job here.
Can I ask you tho—isn’t it inherently punk to question whether something is punk or not?
Only if you consider punk to be a commoditized aesthetic and not a philosophy. It's punk to enjoy whatever (video games) you like without needing validation or seeking consensus from strangers on the internet. I personally am not sure how to square anti-authoritarian ideals with needing to ask people what they think.
This is punk
It’s not, though
Skate or Die for the NES. I like to go old school.
I mean by virtue of how many people got into punk because of it, it has to be the tony hawk series. Hands down.
jet set radio 100%
No More Heroes, obviously. I'd buy every shirt in those games. PS. I'm working on a metal themed game soundtrack right now but to be honest a bunch of my songs are closer to punk or post-hardcore.
Shin Megami Tensei
Oh fucj I didn't even consider this and its my favorite game series lmao Nocturne is especially punk, and the soundtracks across the games since then have been dope
There used to be a flash game called “Emo Game” where you could be an early 00s lead singer. I remember Rick Ta Life used his dreads as a weapon. Claudio Sanchez was a character. Stray light Run was there too. Pretty funny game https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emogame
Probably not the **most** punk, but I'd make a case for Fallout: New Vegas, at least in theme. - Living in a world destroyed by imperialistic nations - Takes inspiration from 1950s culture (I could see a Ska band playing at the Tops) - Most of the major factions are portrayed as deeply flawed attempts at rebuilding society that end up recreating the mistakes of the old world - You can kill a functionally immortal tyrannical capitalist
I would agree that this game is punk, but not for the same reasons at all.
JET SET RADIOOOOOOO!!
Obviously, the Wolfenstein series but I could also argue Bioshock
Road rash
Not really a punk game But GTA 4 and 5 have some amazing punk radio stations
They've had solid radio since 3 as I remember it.
Yea GTA has always had good radio. But I don't remember any other GTA games having a punk radio station I haven't played the older gtas in a long time tho so I don't remember
Cyberpunk 2077
Growing up, the Tony Hawk games helped get me get more deep into punk and hardcore
Snatcher, Shadowrun, Eastward
Postal /s
Road Rash
Watch dogs 2 is pretty punk
Animal crossing new horizons
Prototype
Postal 2.
Can’t believe I had to scroll this far down to see this. The only correct answer
Minecraft
I mean to be fair. Minecraft is literally limetless so it does fall in alot of categories
Duke Nukem
Cat Quest
E.T.
Nothing more punk than crushing an entire industry
Double Dragon 🐉🐉
Cyberpunk 2077 has its own punk rock music. It's setting also consists of a punk rock aesthetic.
Lol I was playing Payday 3 when I read this
Disco elysium
for this subreddit? top skater
the Infamous series
ecco the dolphin defender of the future
Sunset Overdrive is definitely up there
The newer yakuza game
Aladdin SNES
A somewhat new release (2023) is Cookie Cutter. Lots of punk Easter eggs like a knockoff NOFX poster of pump up the valuum.
Earthworm Jim...duh
Top Skater
Sunset Overdrive. Has a 10/10 soundtrack too.
Beavis and Butthead
Sunset Overdrive
Wolfenstein. What’s more punk than murdering Nazis? 😏
Original Tony Hawk underground 🤘
Punk video game = oxymoron
Thug
Watchdogs series
Tony Hawk Underground 2