Published on June 20th, 2019 | by Bibhuranjan

Black Mirror’s Striking Vipers for Console: is it Possible?

After months of waiting, Netflix’s technology-driven show Black Mirror is out for its fifth season. Episode 1 stands out with some mind-blowing VR-inspired concepts. Titled Striking Vipers, the episode centers on an action VR game in which players strike unusual bonds with their in-game characters.

Initially, Striking Vipers resembles your average VR game. Graphics are next-level impressive. The gameplay is incredible and the characters seem to be having a lot of fun. As the episode goes on, the game charges toward a more immersive story where players get to know each other based on their game avatars.

It reaches a point where the players get hooked so much by the game that it begins to affect their real lives. They kiss, have sex and fall in love with each other. The players, Danny and Karl, later meet up in real life and kisses again to find out if they actually share feelings for each other. They don’t and things get ugly as they’re later arrested for fighting.

Later in the episode, Karl and Danny continue their in-game romance while having different lives in real life. While bizarre, Striking Vipers would probably be a great video game if it happened. But is that possible?

Think of Tekken

For Black Mirror to become an episode, it had to be inspired by something, right? According to series co-creator Charlie Brooker, Tekken was his first inspiration for creating the episode. While speaking to Digital Spy, the showrunner shared a story of how he used to play Tekken in the 1990s.

He replicated his experience into Striking Vipers in a number of ways. At some point, Danny and Karl can be seen playing Striking Vipers in the 1990s through flash scenes. The sex is obvious. If you’ve played Tekken before, you certainly know you can do a lot of things with your game avatar.

Street Fighter Characters

While the sex and flash scenes were inspired by Tekken, many fans noted a striking resemblance between the game’s characters and characters from the classic video game Street Fighters. Entertainment Weekly editors also saw a lot of similarities between the game and Street Fighters.

“Lance’s (Ludi Lin) martial-arts outfit strongly resembles the one worn by Ryu in that franchise, while Roxette delivers speedy kicks like Chun-LI,” said one commentator from the magazine.

When asked if Street Fighters inspired anything in Striking vipers, Brooker admitted the episode was inspired by quite a lot of retro video games and modern experiences. As such, video games similar to Striking Vipers have been created before. They’re just not as impressive as Striking Vipers was.

Of course, Striking Vipers is not a video game in the sense of real video games. It probably wouldn’t be possible anyway, at least not as it appeared on TV.

Sex and Consent

About a decade ago, some video game fans discovered that GTA: San Andreas featured hidden code which if modified allowed game characters to have sex. Although not many people knew about this code, retailers throughout the country threatened to remove San Andreas off stores if Rockstar didn’t know something about it.

The developer quickly removed the problematic code and the game went on to become a global success. If developers released Striking Vipers with its sex features, especially now that characters can have sex with anyone, it would become a disaster.

A game that allows everyone, including kids, to have sex with every other character without consent would definitely not survive. Angry parents would justifiably sue developers into oblivion. The game would probably be shut down before it made any big strides.

Striking Vipers minus the Sex

Remove the sexual aspect of Striking Vipers and you’re left with a gloriously fun action game. Like its inspiration, Tekken, Striking Vipers is loosely based on allowing players to unlock an unlimited number of experiences.

If it were a real game, Striking Vipers would want you to try new things instead of relying on any particular game rules. It would be full of features albeit unpredictable and exciting. In some way, Striking Vipers would resemble the new breed of Paddy Power Casino slots ingrained on technological innovation. The slots are easy to play but they’re thrilling and full of fascinating features.

Incorporating VR into an action game is certainly not impossible, and has already been done before. As to whether we’ll say a developer turn Striking Vipers into a real game for consoles, only time can tell. Striking Vipers is deeply reliant on intimacy and physical interactions.

If developers released a game based on the fictional story without its core story, there would probably be massive hostility. But then again, few developers are willing to risk the hostility and lawsuits that would come with making Striking Vipers exactly as it appeared on TV.

Console VR Games Similar to Striking Vipers

With the right VR goggles, PS4 VR support and a good PC, you’ve got lots of VR gaming options out there for you. Tetris Effect, for example, is a simple classic puzzle game turned into a cocktail of soothing soundtracks and sublime graphics.

At its core, Tetris Effect is a puzzle game in which you form rows and columns using falling blocks. The speed at which the blocks fall increases as the game goes on. Make the mistake of getting distracted and your blocks get ruined.

When VR is enabled, everything that could distract you in real life is eliminated and the game immerses you into a different world. Depending on your level, the game’s background is turned into the beautiful streets of New York City or Outer space.

If you’re looking for action, try Blood and Truth. Set in London, Blood and Truth is woven around conspiracies, murders and all sorts of criminal activities. Everyone has an accent but it’s the action that’s truly absorbing.

To Conclude

Blood Mirror is finally out. And like all previous episodes, season five left people talking about one particular episode: Striking Vipers. Designed to mirror a fictional game, Striking Vipers centers on VR and how it can be used to enhance people’s fantasies.

Of course, the episode also proved that people’s fantasies don’t always reflect what they want in real life. Still, the fictional game would be really good if it was developed for console and PC.

Tags: casino, gaming, online games, vr

About the Author

Bibhuranjan Editorial Officer, technofaq.org I'm an avid tech enthusiast at heart. I like to mug up on new and exciting developments on science and tech and have a deep love for PC gaming. Other hobbies include writing blog posts, music and DIY projects.