Summary
Video games are definitely a way to escape from real-life challenges, but some of them actually bring us back to real-life settings in an attempt to deliver an alternative experience. Many gamers have had fun visiting their hometown in a video game, or just taking a tour of some of the most beautiful cities in the world virtually.
Although depicting a real-life city in a video game does cut the creative process of the development significantly, it also has to deal with the accuracy of the recreations. After all, it’s not possible to bring an entire city with all of its details into a video game that is limited by console hardware. So, it does matter how the developers manage todownsize the map.
This list strictly considers cities. The games that are based on broader regions of a country have been excluded.
The visual aspect ofInfamous Second Sonstill remains inspiring. The game was one of the early titles from Sony’s first-party studios on the PlayStation 4, and the developers doubled down on delivering a realistic environment, which gave even more glory to its depiction of Seattle.
A quick search in the history of open-world video games will reveal that Seattle is not a popular option for game developers, but recreating this gorgeous city in the United States was like a tribute for Sucker Punch developers to pay to their home city.
While the metropolitan area has been downsized, some of the most iconic locations in Seattle have been recreated with utmost loyalty. From the Space Needle to the well-known fish market in the city, there are various points of interest in the Infamous Second Son that will look pretty familiar to any Seattle resident.
Spider-Man and New York City are tightly intertwined with each other. It’s hard to imagineSpider-Manwithout a famous remembring of the skyscrapers in Manhattan, and that’s one big reason why the depiction of the setting is quite important in Spider-Man video games.
Both the first and second iterations ofMarvel’s Spider-Manexcellently recreated the massive scale of New York City and Manhattan, more specifically. Swinging over the streets of Manhattan surrounded by skyscrapers is one of the most satisfying feelings that players can experience in any superhero game.
Aside from the large scale, the developers were quite successful in giving enough depth and density to the city. Just a walk in Central Park will prove that quite easily!
Los Angeles was already a familiar city of Rockstar Games, but before they got back to it withGrand Theft Auto 5, the developers at Team Bondi tried a fresh idea with the city, taking players back to the post-World War 2 version of Los Angeles, and letting them explore some of the darkest criminal activities and homicides back then.
Team Bondi tried to remain as authentic as possible to the real-life version of Los Angeles in 1947, but the massive modernization of the city made it difficult. That being said, there are buildings inL.A. Noirethat still remain intact in the real-life version of the city, including Los Angeles Public Library, Union Station, and more.
It’s an amazing tour for people to see what Los Angeles used to look like back then.
While big-budget games either choose the United States or Japan as their setting,Sleeping Dogswas an excellent example of how refreshing it can be to steer away from the saturated locations and pay a visit to other gorgeous metropolitans around the globe.
Sleeping Dogs' Hong Kong still remains one of the best open-world cities in gaming. Both scale and density were balanced pretty accurately in this game. In one hand the player can explore neon-soaked alleys of Hong Kong where the criminal nests are located, while on the other hand there is a big city overshadowed by tall skyscrapers.
Comparing it to real life Hong Kong,Sleeping Dogsdoesn’t offer a 1:1 recreation, as only four of the city’s districts have been implemented into the game’s world. However, anyone who’s been to Hong Kong can approve the authentic atmosphere of the depiction.
Ubisoft did a phenomenal job with the recreation of Paris inAssassin’s Creed Unity, and the value of this accurate depiction was proved further after the Notre-Dame cathedral caught fire, and the historians offeredAssassin’s Creed Unityas the best example to repair the cathedral.
Assassin’s Creedseriesalways excels at recreating historic cities and buildings, which is why the developers decided to add a tour mode to the game, which disables all core aspects of the gameplay, and lets the players freely explore the map, sightseeing some of the most amazing wonders of the world.
With every entry in theWatch Dogsfranchise, Ubisoft chose a new setting. From the first game’s lovely Chicago to Legion’s perfect depiction of London. Few games have visited Chicago so far, and the originalWatch Dogsproved that game developers need to free themselves from the cycle between New York and Los Angeles, trying other beautiful locations in the United States.
WithWatch Dogs 2, the developers chose another less saturated city in video games: San Francisco. Similar to the first game, the recreation was quite accurate, as the most iconic locations and buildings from modern San Francisco took over the scene inWatch Dogs 2.
Eventually,Watch Dogs Legionis the peak for the series when it comes to creating authentic worlds. TheLondon inWatch Dogs Legionis an inch-perfect recreation of the real-life city. Of course, it’s not a 1:1 depiction, but many points of interest of the city have been accurately placed in the video game, which makes it an enjoyable experience that takes a break from the United States.
When it comes to recreating real-life cities in video games,Grand Theft Autois probably the first name that comes to the minds of many gamers. Probably the only things thatGrand Theft Autogamesare not accurate about their cities are the names.
Even though it was released back in 2013, Grand Theft Auto 5 still delivers the closest experience to living in Los Angeles compared to any other open-world game that has released so far. This is part of the main reason why so many people are anticipatingGrand Theft Auto 6, as they can’t wait to see how world building is supposed to evolve in video games once again, thanks to Rockstar’s accurate depictions.
Even prior toGrand Theft Auto 5, Rockstar nailed it by recreating New York inGrand Theft Auto 4, and the three major cities of Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Las Vegas inGrand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
