Going where no game has gone before

[mshcherbatskaya]

No I'm not talking about Star Trek, I'm talking about the locations/settings of game worlds. We've got scads of games set in space, on other planets, or in the future (dystopian or not), fake medieval Europe, fake medieval Japan, World War II, present-day spooky places, etc. You know what I mean.

So where would you like to go in a game that you haven't gone yet?

One of the things I really enjoyed about Jade Empire was that it was set in a world I hadn't seen up until then, the world of (KOTOR if it took place in) classic Chinese kung fu movies. And not only did it go there, it shifted the color and design schemes to reflect the inspiration sources. If you've seen the some of the Shaw Brothers movies, you'll notice the family resemblance.

The place I'd like to see a game go - mythic India. It's practically made for gaming. Hindu mythology has 14 worlds, 7 heavens and 7 hells, so your levels are right there, gods with different types of action - Vishnu the healer/protector, Shiva the warrior/destroyer, Ganesha the Remover of Obstacles (there's your puzzle-level dude), Kali the Demon Killer - and each god is associated with specific weapons and magical attacks. Oh, and the plots of the epic myths are perfect too - the plot of the Ramayana is a classic go-rescue-the-kidnapped-princess story. It's a Mario game in Sanskrit. Well, you do have to get in your hero training and woo the princess first, so it's kind of Fable + Mario in Sanskrit.

It could be a gorgeous game to look at as well, as Indian iconography is very ornate and colorful, full of blazing reds, radiant yellows, and electric blues.

Waaaah, now I want to go buy this game.

 

[Akirasfriend]

Wigan town center on a wet Wednesday night. Or, failing that, Chernobyl.

Waaait...

 

[super_smash_jesus]

a game set entirely in Ireland, where the goal is to get drunk, beat your wife, then hunt those tricky leprechauns...

 

[Terramax]

The locations for Riven, Myst III: Exile and Myst IV: Revelation still take my breath away.

I won't say what's so amazing about them, I'd just advise to download the Revelation demo and explore Atrus' gorgeous house.

Best part about it was with these games the point was to explore these beautiful locations.

I look forward to where we're taken next when Sega decides to make another Jet Set Radio.

 

[mshcherbatskaya]

a game set entirely in Ireland, where the goal is to get drunk, beat your wife, then hunt those tricky leprechauns...

And there'd be the mini-game where you are trying to find an unoccupied space to pee up against a wall without stepping in big pools of vomit.

 

[Lance Icarus]

That game does sound fun, but I doubt someone's going to make it. We have enough Final Fantasy clones out there.

I'd want to see something based on American mythology. We concentrate on these incredibly old stories from ancient Europe and Japan, but America has some good ones itself. Paul Bunyan, Patrick Henry, Pecos Bill, the list goes on. Just a game based on the age of the trans-continental railroad would have the ability to be full of material.

 

[EzraPound]

A Pirates!-style game (so incorporating various types of gameplay) set during the colonial wars in North America that lets you play as the Upper Canadians and hand the Americans their ass in 1812 (again).

...Or you could get involved in the liquor trade, fight with Tecumseh (tac-shooter style), try to root the Spanish out of the southwest as the Americans, etc.

 

[qbert4ever]

Well, a game based off of Journey to the Center of the Earth might prove awesome, after all, who here can honestly say they would not like to do battle with giant iguanas?

 

[Ixus Illwrath]

Fantastic Voyage. Y'know, the shrinkydink sub in the human body. Save some important person from nanobots or some shit. But after seeing what graphics are available to us with games like Bioshock and Crysis, I think it would look pretty sweet.

 

[SpiderLotus]

The hindu mythology one sounds rad. So much source material.

Id love to see a game taking place in a Neil Gaiman style world. Where all Gods of all pantheons converge. Honestly, I think it would be best as an RTS. Kind of like age of mythology but taking into acount everything. American gods (read the book... like now), Native American spirits, Greek/Roman/Norse/Gaelic/Japanese/effin everything mythology. Even alien gods.
If we ever make contact, don't you think those beings would have their own belief systems? Imagine the trippy sheeze you could pull off when you aren't confined to either the physical realm or humanity.

 

[Nerdfury]

Okami already showed us how simple and deep a game based on ancient Japanese mythology can be so I'd like to see other religions. Maybe a great MacGyver game! Or a game based on The A-Team!

 

[Hey Joe]

Places where games haven't gone:

Antarctica - Seriously, it could be an awesome game if the creators don't resort to basing it within research stations. That being said, what would that game be? "Oh no, that ice is melting at an alarming rate!"

The Moon - Could be cool if you discover aliens up there

Heaven - So many games have been set in hell or versions of hell, so why not heaven? Why not base a game where you have to save heaven from an attack from Hell...or the Japanese.

Into the subconscious (Psychonauts being the exception)- This just would allow some crazy level design.

Algiers - Am I the only one who wants to see a game based off the Battle of Algiers, same thing with the Spanish Civil War.

Australia - I may be a bit biased here, but why are there no games utilizing the natural beauty and the harshness of the outback?

The Sky - Just as Bioshock was set under the sea, why not a city in the clouds?

 

[sammyfreak]

My own choice, definitely nothing based off any earth religion... No offense to OP, but nothing good has ever come from religion, and a game based on one can only end up as propaganda or insult. I'd offer sci-fi/fantasy novel religions as an alternate, but even that's not safe now with those Scientology nuts taking the fictional writings of a depraved pedophile as the words of a new messiah.

Grim Fandango is based on Aztec religion and turned out to be one of the greatest games ever. So if someone is up for making a tasteful and interesting game set in a certain religions mythology id be all over it.


What exites me most about FarCry 2 is that its set in rural Africa. Why game developers have mostly avoided the by far most interesting continent does baffle me.

 

[Terramax]

Well, a game based off of Journey to the Center of the Earth might prove awesome

http://www.amazon.co.uk/G2-Games-Journey-Centre-Earth/dp/B00016ZVUW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1202666429&sr=1-1

It's received mixed reviews.

 

[Anton P. Nym]

What exites me most about FarCry 2 is that its set in rural Africa. Why game developers have mostly avoided the by far most interesting continent does baffle me.

At the risk of drawing some of the usual brays, Halo 2 and Halo 3 have lengthy portions set in Kenya; Mt. Kilimanjaro is a prominent landmark in the game's backdrops and in the backstory. I also believe that RE4 takes place in Africa, and drew flak for being "racist" because they dared to put black zombies on the African continent.

To do a complete 180, have any games been set in urban Canada?

-- Steve

 

[pigeon_of_doom]

As for urban Canada, does South Park count?

 

[Calobi]

Id love to see a game taking place in a Neil Gaiman style world. Where all Gods of all pantheons converge. Honestly, I think it would be best as an RTS. Kind of like age of mythology but taking into acount everything. American gods (read the book... like now), Native American spirits, Greek/Roman/Norse/Gaelic/Japanese/effin everything mythology. Even alien gods.

Sounds like the book series Everworld. Good series, even if they are for like 10 year olds in length and difficulty, you should read them.

 

[JakubK666]

A game about the guy who gets sucked into a video game world Nobody else did that, maybe besides Assassin's Creed.

 

[broadband]

A game about the guy who gets sucked into a video game world Nobody else did that, maybe besides Assassin's Creed.

there isnt a anime called hack that was about someone trapped in a mmo?