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The best real-life cities in game that are FUN.

Which real-life city is best created and is most fun?

  • Manhattan - The Division

    Votes: 40 11.4%

  • Paris - Assassin's Creed Unity

    Votes: 39 11.1%

  • San Francisco - Watch Dogs II

    Votes: 69 19.6%

  • Boston - Fallout 4

    Votes: 17 4.8%

  • New York - Spider-Man

    Votes: 181 51.4%

  • Hong Kong - Sleeping Dogs

    Votes: 132 37.5%

  • Los Angeles - LA Noire

    Votes: 11 3.1%
  • Total voters
    352
MakgSnake

MakgSnake

Member
Dec 18, 2019
608
Canada
Real life cities being recreated in video games isn't something new, some do it well some not so much. Which games do you think have done justice - but it is not about realism but the city being actually fun to be in?

Personally I loved Spider-Man's New York but have to give this crown to Assassin's Creed Unity's Paris.

Please feel free to add any other game you think deserves to be part of this conversation.

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The Division

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Assassin's Creed Unity

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Watch Dogs II

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Fallout 4

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Spider-Man

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Sleeping Dogs
latest

LA Noire

If there is any other game you guys think deserves to be on the spot - Feel free.
 
WillyFive

WillyFive

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
7,100
Obvious first thing that came to mind (based on new York City):

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I also loved Rooftop Run from the Sonic games (based on Siena, Italy):

rooftop-run-modern-sonic.jpg
 
Ryuelli

Ryuelli

Member
Oct 26, 2017
15,209
I want to say New York in Spiderman, but I think you could replace it with literally any other city and it would be just as fun.
 
PlanetSmasher

PlanetSmasher

The Abominable Showman
Member
Oct 25, 2017
122,691
Since Kamurocho/Kabukicho from Yakuza isn't on the list, I picked Spidey's NYC.

I wish Fallout's Boston was more accurate but most of it doesn't feel like Boston at all.
 
Aaron D.

Aaron D.

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,618
NqZ85Cv.jpg


Midtown Madness 3 had maps in both Paris and Washington, DC.

The game itself was a total over-the-top blast. They just don't make arcade racers like this much anymore.

But what got me was that as a DC resident, I just couldn't get over how well they modeled the city. I remember a famous music club in Georgetown (The Bayou) that was in the process of being torn down to make a parking lot. And in the game that location had a construction site. I'll never forget that little detail.
 
hydruxo

hydruxo

▲ Legend ▲
Member
Oct 25, 2017
21,010
I thought they did an excellent job with San Fran in Watch Dogs 2. There was a lot of interactivity with the NPCs and the new hacking tools, and all the online modes. They they also added the 3D printer where you could print guns/tools/etc. I had a lot of fun with WD2, they did a good job of making the open world feel vibrant and interesting.
 
TeenageFBI

TeenageFBI

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,728
Was Crazy Taxi officially set in San Fransisco? I know that they had a level officially based on Vegas BUT THE SAN FRAN LEVEL WAS THE BEST.
 
Enduin

Enduin

You look 40
Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,380
New York
Surprised at NYC winning out. It was somewhat of a let down for me as the game largely used it as a generic backdrop with barely any real interaction or utilization of the city itself. The gameplay was fun, the city itself didn't really factor into it at all.

Even in a game like LA Noire which didn't have much of anything outside of the main events to do in its open world, LA was at least integral to the setting and feel of the game. The landmarks and locations were heavily used and the overall look and DNA of the city was infused with every aspect of it. LA was as much a character in that game as any one else. NYC in Spider-Man was just some tall buildings for Spidey to swing from.
 
Teeth

Teeth

Member
Nov 4, 2017
4,118
I feel like it's more about what your verbs are in a game (and how well they are executed) than what the environment is that makes a game "fun".

Like, you could take the mechanics of Spiderman and put them in the Division's city and it'd be pretty much as "fun" to be in.
 
GringoSuave89

GringoSuave89

The Fallen
Oct 26, 2017
8,432
LA, CA
Sleeping Dogs by far. I've never loved exploring a world more than that game. Driving in the rain at night, Ninja Tune Radio playing. Heaven.
 
OldGamer

OldGamer

Member
Jul 6, 2019
389
Forgot one -- Kamurocho! (not a full city, but still...)

In that case, I choose Sleeping Dogs. They did a pretty good job keeping a sensible size yet making it feel like the whole island.
 
Piggus

Piggus

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,873
Oregon
LA Noir captures the look and feel of LA better than any other game imo. Most games make cities into compact, smaller versions of the real thing. But LA is more of just a chunk of LA at its normal scale, and the real-life brands and landmarks adds a lot to it as well. You can definitely feel the Getaway influence (that game deserves a shoutout too for its realistic version of London).

With that said though, the most "fun" I would say is Hong Kong in Sleeping Dogs. Even though it's not a super realistic portrayal of HK, it's still fun to explore and has a lot of little details that add to it. Love the chime when you enter convenience stores for example (GTA does that too).
 
BrickArts295

BrickArts295

GOTY Tracking Thread Master
Member
Oct 26, 2017
14,583
Sleeping Dogs opened my eyes at the beauty of open worlds outside of the usual US centric open worlds. It definetly led me to try out games like Yakuza and Shenmue.
 
IMCaprica

IMCaprica

Member
Aug 1, 2019
10,142
New York (Spider-Man) all day. I still think about jumping back in and I got the platinum and completed the DLC. It's just so fun to swing around that city.
 
Lukemia SL

Lukemia SL

Member
Jan 30, 2018
9,434
Spider-Man's New York and you can also see the whole city from top to bottom vertically and horizontally.
 
GravaGravity

GravaGravity

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,374
You've got to put Driver: San Francisco up there too, it's in the name for crying out loud!

I found that version of sanfran really fun to race and drift around in, shame it never got a sequel.
 
bishoptl

bishoptl

Remember
Member
Oct 26, 2017
711
Vancouver
Aaron D. said:
NqZ85Cv.jpg


Midtown Madness 3 had maps in both Paris and Washington, DC.

The game itself was a total over-the-top blast. They just don't make arcade racers like this much anymore.

But what got me was that as a DC resident, I just couldn't get over how well they modeled the city. I remember a famous music club in Georgetown (The Bayou) that was in the process of being torn down to make a parking lot. And in the game that location had a construction site. I'll never forget that little detail.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
God, I remember playing this with the old forum crew for hours upon hours back in the day. I don't know DC, but I certainly felt like I did for a while afterwards.
 
Starlatine

Starlatine

533.489 paid youtubers cant be wrong
Banned
Oct 28, 2017
31,107
Fallout 4 Boston is neither accurate to the real life city nor fun
 
deathsaber

deathsaber

Member
Nov 2, 2017
3,156
In terms of sightseeing- Spiderman's Manhatten- pretty accurate, even if scaled down some, but you can find most every major NYC landmark exactly where you would find it, plus with Marvel centric destinations around too to find- Avengers tower, the Raft, Sanctum Santorum, Fisk tower, etc.
 

Deleted member 4247

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
8,896
Few things are more fun than swinging through NYC in SM PS4. I never fast-traveled in that game, except to unlock the trophy for it, because the traversal was so much fun.
 
laxu

laxu

Member
Nov 26, 2017
2,897
To me where Spiderman fails is that there is pretty much nothing of real interest down at street level and only reason to go down there is that a mission requires it. Flinging through it is a lot of fun though but it doesn't feel like a living city as much as it could.

My favorites are Yakuza's downtown Osaka and Tokyo's Kabukicho. Silver award goes to Watch Dog 2's San Francisco, I think they captured the vibe really well.
 
IIFloodyII

IIFloodyII

Member
Oct 26, 2017
25,446
Yeah, my vote also goes to Kamurocho (Kabukicho in real life) Tokyo from the Yakuza series. Just packed with so much stuff.
 
ffvorax

ffvorax

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,855
New York Spiderman is really fun to explore, walk around with people noticing you, etc...
Also Yakuza games: Kabukicho & Osaka & all the other city in the game. When I visited them in real life was incredible how much details were respectful in the games! I enjoy them even more now when I play a Yakuza game set there.
 
shadowman16

shadowman16

Member
Oct 25, 2017
35,059
Yakkuza got this tied up with ease. Kamurocho/Tokyo is always a joy to explore but for the sake of something newer, I'm throwing Yokohama/Ijincho from Yakuza 7 into the mix - aside from having all the normal Yakuza trappings it also has Mario Yakuza Kart and several other new mini games to enjoy (I'm still early in the game, just starting to unlock more fun stuff now). And if you'd rather be in Tokyo or Osaka the game includes both those cities as well.
Yakuza 5 has 5 cities to explore all of which are real Japan locations but 3/5 are fairly small and the acitivities are sorta stretched out between all 5 locations so I still find 7 better in that regard.

Or Shenmue 1's Yokosuka - its a small map compared to most but I loved the level of detail and personality in every shop, NPC and activity you can participate in. Then again I know Shenmue 1 is an acquired taste especially in the fun department. But its one of the few maps I still enjoy exploring and interacting with to this day, and that's despite how small it is.
 
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