Why London should never become a GTA city.
By BraindeadRacr 10 Comments
...Or any other sandbox action game city for that matter.
Yeah, I see you thinking.
"He's gonna bash London, the vile yank bastard".
Wrong. So let's get this out of the way quick;
I haven't got anything against Brits, London, the United Kingdom itself, the Royal Family, Bedford and Winchester Crackers.
There, so please, don't go "YOU BLOODY YANK!" on me. Cause, I haven't even insulted London yet.
Alright, back to the topic.
Why London shouldn't be a GTA city...
First off all, London isn't a crime riddled city.
Hah, you're as clear as glass. Again; I just smell the hatred... "ITS FULL OF FUCKIN CRIME!"
- Technically, that's right... But what kind of crime has London been dealing with over the past 20 years? Pot-dealers, car theft and the illigal holding of pocket knifes.
You feeling me on this one? PETTY crimes. "So, whadda'ya got in mind to take this bastard out?" - "I'll nick myself a Peugeot, smoke some dope and shank the motherfucker..."
Hell, the murder statistics have gone down like a falling brick(which is good ofcourse), only 400-something gun-felonies were recorded and 155 people have been murdered since 2007. (link)
Though, I gotta say - The fact that London is getting ALOT safer's only good. But for the sake of setting a violent video game in this city... It's not gonna work. New York City itself currenty hasn't got the massive crime figures of a noteworthy fucked up city, but underground crime by which the Mafia isn't excluded has never left this city. What underground crime does London have of which you could form a storyline of?
The Yardies. Dope pushers and loan sharkers. You gotta admit, that ain't much.
Alright, there's no denying that doing what The Getaway did could work out well - Creating a fictional mob that's everything the current Mafia is today, but then in British fashion. Hell, in fiction anything can be done well.
The second, and final point is geography.
The beautifull thing about just about any American city, is it's layout. It's a very simple layout of cross-road pattern blocks, with a major highway outlining it.
The negative thing about London, and alot of other European cities; Is trying to find out of how the hell you're supposed to get from A-to-B.
Most American cities have two or three major streets that go from the most southern tip of the city, to the most northern tip. I've been in London, twice. And my parents always ended up taking back the rental car and all throwing us into one of them black cabbies - Cause we didn't know where the hell we were supposed to go. There's not a straight line on the map to be found aside of the road going around Hyde Park.
Central London
Downtown Manhattan
See the difference in navigation?
Aside from the fact that finding your way around town might be a challenge not worth going for; It's not the most interesting city.
DAMN! I SAID IT!
Yes, in real life - A four day vacation to London is all worth the money, hell I'd even suggest you'd go there right now.
In video games - Why the hell would you wanna go and visit The Big Ben, in a game? Why would you wanna go and visit the Tower Bridge, just to get stuck in AI traffic?
There's no true experience to visiting monuments, other than in real life.
Sure, like GTA:IV managed to pull off - The feel. But other than six, or seven London sight-seeing-spots, it's nothing more than medium-sized financial buildings.
Alright, it's hard to contest the matter of London being a very interesting city. And if The Getaway didn't feel so rigid, it could've been a great game. But there's several things about London that would be too much of a hassle even trying to figure out how it could be adapted into working gameplay.
(Oh, and all of this is opinion - Suck on that.)
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