By Sagnik Choudhary
While games are in theory, supposed to be able to whisk you
away to a different world of their own, how many of them do a good job at it?
If developments in technology, graphics hardware in particular, are anything to
go by, this is one thing that we can expect a lot more from in the future. Of
course this is not to say that this is something games haven’t already achieved
in the past. And we’re just not talking about good graphics; we’re talking
about game-worlds that actually have a life of their own. Let’s take a look at
a few examples shall we?
1. Italy - Assassin’s
Creed 2
When it comes to recreating
Renaissance Italy, Assassin’s Creed is pretty easily the franchise to beat. You
can row gondolas in Venice, ride a horse from Tuscany to Florence, climb
mansions in Forli or free run across rooftops almost anywhere. You can also
explore underground tombs, which might sound a little boring, but is actually
among the most interesting parts of the game. It is hard not to get overwhelmed
with the sheer level of detail that the developers put in, whether it be
shopkeepers sweeping the floor outside their shops, thieves running away with
your purse of gold or minstrels and beggars singing and following you around.
Albeit Rome makes a very brief appearance, you aren’t left wanting as there’s
plenty to see and do. Like watching the sun set over the water from a rooftop
in Venice for example.Delightful.
Though it would probably make
sense to list Assassin’s Creed as one franchise, the Eternal City does deserve
a place of its own. All the more so, because it was well worth the wait
(Brotherhood was released a year after Assassin’s Creed 2). Gameplay is never dull and looks super
always. Escaping from pursuing soldiers for example, could involve climbing to
the top of a Borgia tower or church, jumping down to the back of a waiting
horse and riding away through green pastures till you reach your safe house.
The Vatican, the famed Roman aqueducts, The Colosseum, The Sistine Chapel are
all places you can visit (and scale) in all their full glory. Lairs of
followers of Romulus constitute the equivalent of AC2’s tombs. The music is
very good too and blends with the environment very well, though this is something
that all AC games have prominently featured. There are few games that you can
have fun watching other people play; Brotherhood for sure is one of them.
3. Panau – Just
Cause 2
Though a majority of gameplay in
Just Cause 2 involves creating chaos and blowing stuff up(and this happens in a
million ways), exploring the island of Panau has its own rewards. Unique to
Just Cause is a grapple gun (think Batman’s grapple gun, only more powerful ),
and this is used to reach places otherwise inaccessible. You can also ride
about a hundred different vehicles to get to places, ranging from rickshaws to
boats, military choppers and Airbuses. Panau itself is beautiful and has
regions with dense forestry, to high altitude areas with snow cover. Personal favourites
are the ‘Mile High Club’ a brothel/club suspended from a large gas balloon in
the sky, and a small island in the North that is a reference to the island from
Lost and the Bermuda Triangle. Airports, Military Bases, Communication Stations
to Ancient Ruins, Panau is one island that has it all. The ultimate holiday
destination?
4. Forest?
Limbo? – Limbo
It could be a little tough to
believe that a game that’s just about 100 megabytes in size holds a spot in
this list. But make no mistake; it’s definitely not something undeserved. After
all what could be a more mystifying (and unnerving) environment than one that’s
not explained to you, one that you cannot comprehend or make anything of?
Though the game is in grayscale, this is hardly a downer as some of the effects
more than make up for it. Plus, this adds up to the ghostly look and feel that
Limbo tries to achieve. Not only must you outwit the hostile inhabitants of the
forest, you must escape the plenitude of traps and dangers that lurk in every
shadow and save your sister from a fate both terrible and unknown…
5. Africa – Far
Cry 2.
Far Cry 2 boasts one of the
largest game worlds in the history of gaming, and most of it looks outright
amazing. Gazelles and Wild Buffalos graze peacefully, and run helter-skelter when
they spot you, sunlight streams through holes in the forest canopy, storks
catch fish in lakes, and deserts are prone to random sandstorms. You could
watch forest fires burn everything to cinders, or paraglide from a cliff to
another looking down upon the awesome world that is Far Cry 2’s Africa. As far
as the plot goes, riddled with infighting and power struggles on the other
hand, this is Africa in all its glory all right. All in all, Far Cry 2 has
enough to keep you hooked for quite some time.
And speaking of an authentic
African experience, you happen to catch malaria and have to take pills every
few hours. Authentic enough huh?
6. Middle
Earth – The Battle for Middle Earth 2 and The Rise of the Witch King
It could be surprising to many, that
a strategy game makes it to this list. The people who aren’t all that
surprised, would have played BFME 2. Rendered beautifully with an artist’s eye
for detail, hardly has a Lord of the Rings game done better justice to Middle
earth. Locales like Minas Tirith, Helm’s Deep, Ithilien, Lothlorien look
superb. A personal favourite is Argonath, with huge statues of Isildur and
Anorien on either side of the river Anduin.
7. Empire
City – Mafia 2
While Mafia 2 has been written
off by many as a GTA clone, the fact remains that Mafia’s Empire City is big,
and beautiful. Though not as open a world as GTA’s Liberty City for example,
the game does a pretty good job capturing (correctly at that) various shades of
the 1940’s-50’s era. The music on the radio matches the period; the weather
changes are subtle and affect the environment you interact with in more than
one way. Like for example, snow accumulates on top of the hood of cars, and
this slowly melts away as you drive. The cars you drive too, are of about 20 different
kinds and are a nod to the 50’s. All in all, Mafia 2 is a nice excursion to an
America in the past, definitely worth a play through.
Let’s wrap up with a few notable mentions, the underwater
world of Rapture in Bioshock, Jerusalem and Acre of the middle ages in
Assassin’s Creed 1, Detroit and Singapore
of the future in Deus Ex Human Revolution and of course, Liberty City of
the GTA series.
As far as upcoming games are concerned, the future does look
pretty bright. Do keep an eye out for Far Cry 3, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
and Assassin’s Creed: Revelations in particular
