You, Too, Can Plug the BP Oil Spill in New Video Game, 'Crisis in the Gulf'

(June 30) -- Think President Barack Obama has failed to show a commanding presence in stopping the Deepwater Horizon oil spill? It's your turn to show him how it's done.

A new video game on Xbox Live gives players a chance to take unified command over response efforts to plug a gushing oil well owned by a company identified only as "DP."

The game, "Crisis in the Gulf," was designed by independent developer Super Boise Games. It is a "tower defense" game, where players place submarines and bombs in a field above the gushing well in an attempt to destroy the oil before it reaches the surface. Just like the government estimates in real life, the flow of oil increases as the game goes on.

Super Boise Games

"Crisis in the Gulf," a new video game on Xbox Live, gives players the chance to be in charge of the response effort to an oil spill at a well owned by a company called "DP."

Despite the sensitive nature of the topic, Super Boise stresses that this is not a political game.

"We're really not trying to make any statement or anything like that," co-owner Drew Johnson told AOL News. "When people see 24 hours of doom and gloom, we figure they like to have a laugh."

There are five difficulty levels, from "lawn mower leak" to "Exxon Valdez" and finally "Gulf Oil Crisis." Across the top of the screen there's a CNN-style news ticker that runs headlines like "Previous Republican Vice-Presidential Candidate Insists That 'Drill Baby Drill' Is Still a Good Idea."

This week, Super Boise Games will be launching "Great American Hot Dog Race," a Fourth of July-themed game, but it is considering making more games based on current events.

"We were kind of bummed we couldn't make an Icelandic volcano video game," programmer Justin Laclair told AOL News.