Gameology 2.0

GamePolitics and other news outlets are reporting on an inflammatory game being distributed on Islamist forums which allows the player to shoot and kill armed soldiers that look like President Bush. The game is called "Quest for Bush" or "The Night of Bush Capturing."

According to CNN's story, the game may be a mod of the 2003 game, Quest for Saddam. I'll update this story when I've played both, but I'll be interested if it is in fact a straightforward inversion. If so, its being represented as jihadist in nature casts a different light on the apparently parodic original.

At any rate, the fact that screenshots and trailers are materializing probably indicates that this isn't another case of misidentification. And if it's true that this game is an adaptation/inversion of Quest for Saddam, it would appear that this constitutes something like the kind of back-and-forth of games between Kuma War Games' Assault on Iran and The Students Islamic Association response.

Update:
Having now played both, I can confirm that Quest for Bush/The Night of Bush Capturing is definitely an adaptation of Quest for Saddam. The level design, interface, and menus are identical, with only a few textures exchanged to reverse the targets of the original from Saddam Hussein caricatures to George W. Bush. As usual, I'm interested in the weird or inexplicable parts that didn't get inverted, so I'll try to post a full review with screenshots later today.