These days, a video game prominently featuring Hillary Clinton sounds like either a bizarre and terrible idea or something that would make a killing among blue check mark Twitter users. However, 1994 was the Wild West of PC gaming, and the Clintons had a lot less baggage between them than today. This must have been why Al Lowe decided he wanted to make Capitol Punishment, the Hillary and Bill Clinton-themed video game that – perhaps luckily – never saw the light of day.
Not much is known about this game – a few early advertisements, screenshots, and interviews that mention the game are all we have to go on. It was ostensibly a political satire, which, since it was designed by the creator of the innuendo-laden adult game series Leisure Suit Larry, would have been handled with the highest level of political commentary.
Actually, as far as can be determined, the game features Hillary and Bill Clinton rafting down a river and avoiding obstacles. These obstacles were often caricatured version of other ‘90s politicians that are often unrecognizable to a modern audience. The gameplay may have had other elements that further focused on the game’s political satire, but there has never been any released build of the game, and three screenshots of the rafting gameplay is the only information available on the gameplay of Capitol Punishment.
So, why did Capitol Punishment drop off the face of the Earth? Al Lowe offers two explanations. In a 1997 interview, he says that the game was ultimately “a better premise than game.” He also explains that the game used a new game engine, one that performed great in tests and less great in a finished game that had things like graphics and sounds. The game “bogged down terribly,” but he does mention that he could possibly make it work in using the far-advanced technology of 1997. However, it seems that Lowe never revisited the game, because there’s not much more the public knows about it.
Of course, if Capitol Punishment had been released in 1994, it probably would have been the biggest missed opportunity of Al Lowe’s life. The generic political caricature that can be seen in the screenshots and ads for the game most likely stem from the fact that Clinton had only been in office for two years, still four years away from the scandal that came to define his presidency – having an affair with Monica Lewinsky, the White House intern who worked under him. For better or for worse, Al Lowe made his name making jokes about horny older men’s ill-fated attempts at having sex with young women. It stands to reason that the satire of the Clintons would be very different in a post-1998 version of Capitol Punishment.
So, perhaps its good that Capitol Punishment was not released in 1994 or, honestly, at all. Then, it must have seemed like a generic political satire, but now a video game featuring Hillary and Bill Clinton sounds like a great way to appeal to none of the political spectrum at once.
Source: Lost Media Wiki
