I Shot JFK - Remembering JFK Reloaded 20 Years On

The mid-2000s were rife with controversy in videogames, and not always from Rockstar Games. JFK Reloaded was one such title, a cheap indie title (that went free-to-play) which saw you recreating the scene of Dallas in 1963 where Lee Harvey Oswald assassinated President John F. Kennedy. It’s been 20 years since it was released, so there are entire generations of people who’ve never heard of it! The game, not the assassination, it’s been 60 years people…

The first time I heard about JFK Reloaded was around the time that I was really into conspiracy theories, so it really intrigued me. Full disclosure, I’m British and as such the murder of an American political leader holds no interest to me unless there’s a mystery surrounding it. So, here was a game boasting realistic physics (always of interest to me), challenging everyone to prove that the fatal bullet came from the Texas Book Depository.

JFK Reloaded puts you in the window with a sniper rifle where Oswald was, and the Presidential motorcade driving down the street towards and past the building. All you have to do to get a perfect recreation is to copy what the 888-page report from the President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy (AKA the Warren Commission) says happened. Three shots were fired, two hit Governor John Connally and President Kennedy, injuring the former and killing the latter.

You receive a score after each attempt showing how accurate you can make it. For instance, you get 400 points for killing the President, injuring the Governor, and not injuring either of their wives. Then, did you start firing early or late? Did each bullet hit the right part of the correct person? As I said, it boasted realistic ballistics physics, so shots would bounce off of things, go into and out of people at weird angles depending on which bones were nearby… It’s all super interesting to me on a technical level due to how detailed it all is; you can hit a hand, finger, or wrist, as well as the major body parts and some organs.

Perhaps predictably, some Americans were angry about the game mostly because of the subject matter, but also partly because it was making money from a presidential assassination. I’m going to assume those people were unaware of the movies, music, documentaries, and the actual musical based on JFK and his murder. Though I suppose the developer did themself no favours by offering a prize for whomever could recreate it most closely.

Honestly, I don’t think that I’d want JFK Reloaded remade today, as at the time it made perfect sense for this indie game to have just the motorcade, street and buildings. An indie title, even a free one, in 2024 would get backlash not because of the 60-years-old subject matter, but because it doesn’t have a crowd gathered along the roadside. If the developer did put in a crowd, then the developer’s claims of realistic accuracy would be derided because you can’t shoot the bystanders.

Games like JFK Reloaded are a good reminder of how the medium is great for experiencing things that you never could in real life. Some games let you farm, but you could be a farmer. Others let you scuba dive, but you could do it on holiday. But only one person got to actually assassinate President Kennedy (depending on your favourite theory), so I appreciate JFK Reloaded for allowing me the opportunity to take a shot. And to developers considering their next title, I paraphrase a great speech: Ask not what your players can do for you, ask what you can do for your players.