As a proud American, I have always enjoyed showing my patriotism. Sadly, unless I wanted to hack an Armored Core game to deck myself out in the stars and stripes as I wasted a ton of enemies while singing the Star Spangled Banner, being patriotic while piloting a mecha was beyond me. That is, until the HD release of Metal Wolf Chaos XD, the HD rerelease of a formerly Japan-only game.

Bit of background on Metal Wolf Chaos before I go on. It was released in 2004 for the Xbox. Despite having full English voice acting, it was only released in Japan. Given it was only a few years after 9/11, the developers refrained from a US release because they figured it might be offensive. Ironically, given its over-the-top action crossed with American patriotism on steroids, it actually gained a cult following in the US, whose biggest criticism was the fact you had to import it. In 2019, Devolver Digital finally made Metal Wolf Chaos available internationally. Sporting HD graphics and modern tweaks for 4K resolution, one of the most patriotic mecha games ever was now available without importing it.

The story is that you are Michael Wilson, the U.S. President who was usurped by his corrupt and insane vice president Richard Hawk. Having to escape the White House in his personal mecha armor Metal Wolf, Michael plans to take back his nation, no matter who he has to take on in his personal mobile armor.

Given this game was made by many of the same developers as the Armored Core series, it has a lot of its trappings. You play through a series of episodic levels of third-person shooter style while controlling Metal Wolf. You must use a variety of large and small arms to defeat enemies, rescue hostages, and destroy practically everything you can. In between levels, you can use resources gained in the levels to upgrade your arsenal. You can also replay levels to discover more secrets and earn more resources for the in-between level garage.

It's worth noting that the game score and the resources you earn revolve around how much you destroy. Story aside, you are encouraged to destroy everything that is destroyable, even if it's not necessarily a military target. Given the arcade feel of the gameplay, it at least makes sense in that context, but the fact that you get rewarded for destroying even civilian buildings and cars seems a bit off tone. After all, your main character is fighting for the oppressed civilians.

Graphically, this title, despite the HD upscale, still has the crunchy 2004 contemporary American settings aesthetics. It's more than serviceable for the arcade action, but while it can be upscaled fairly well, this game is still going to look pretty dated.

The sounds and music are pretty fast and upbeat. Generally, most of the music has rock and synth with some funk beats. Not exactly an OST I'd hunt down to replay frequently, but it all kept me pleasantly entertained while playing. The sound effects are a bit muffled, though. Apparently, either the uncompressed assets didn't exist or they just couldn't make them sound better. Voice acting is hilarious B-Movie cheese, with Michael Wilson and his secretary Jodie being a major font of quippy banter. Richard Hawk is no slouch as the villain, chewing the scenery practically every time you see him.

Metal Wolf Chaos can be played with either the keyboard and mouse or any Steam-supported controller. I heavily recommend the controller, an Xbox controller would be ideal. Keys are remappable, but I found the stock control setup to be fairly practical. There is no tutorial option, but the first level is rather easy and is a good place to master the controls.

Stability is pretty solid. This title runs natively on Microsoft Windows and is also Verified for the Steam Deck. It also runs easily on Linux via Steam Proton. It's not overly demanding, so as long as you clear the minimum requirements, it will run nicely.

Morally, this has some concerning elements.

Violence takes place in an arcade shooter style, using Metal Wolf to shoot down enemy soldiers and mobile armored weapons. There are some brief blood flashes when hitting enemy troops. While the game encourages you to save hostages, one can kill them due to carelessness.

Language is fairly mild. A d*mn or h*ll on occasion, with a very rare a** heard at one point. This game has no sexual content worthy of note. This is set in a contemporary sci-fi setting, mostly resembling the contemporary day, just with some robots as well.

Morally, you are the unlawfully usurped US President fighting to take your country back from the Vice President, who seized power via a coup d'etat. Your goal is nothing less than to take back the country, rescue any civilians you can, and quell the uprising.

Overall, this game is a fun and challenging ride. Technically, if you can forgive its more dated looks, it's otherwise fairly solid as an arcade shooter mecha game. Morally, aside from the violence and language, it's fine for any teenager on up. If your definition of patriotism is exercising your right to use a mech to defend your nation, then Metal Wolf Chaos comes with a high recommendation.