Over the years, as technology has progressed more and more developers have managed to recreate increasingly complex, ambitious and immersive game worlds, taking us to fantastic and wonderful places, rich in detail and realism.
But, alongside imaginary places like le lande di Skyrim o la Hyrule di The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, many teams have chosen to set their teams in real cities, and to do it with such a wealth of detail as to bring the levels of their games closer to real virtual tours of famous cities such as London, New York or Paris.
So follow us on this short and curious tour of the world through five games that in their own way they managed to tell us about the cities in which they are set.
Ready?
Let's start!
The Last of Us Parte II – Seattle
The Last of Us Part II it is certainly not an open world, but a list based on games with the best recreations of real cities inside can only host it.
In addition to the compliments for his technical realization and those for the epochal narrative, Naughty Dog's latest work was also praised for its perfect reconstruction of the city of Seattle, in which it is set for a good part.
It is not just the faithful reconstruction of some central places of the city skyline, such as la Seattle Great Wheel (the Ferris Wheel that stands out on the city's waterfront) or the Space Needle, but of entire streets faithfully recreated, good enough to make many players of those parts speechless.
A really good result, don't you think?
Assassin's Creed II - Florence and Venice
Let's take a quick leap into the past (both in the history of gaming and in that of man) to enter a game capable of digitally transposing cities that many of us know well, such as Florence or Venice: Assassin's Creed II.
Although they are certainly not 100% faithful reconstructions, the two main cities of art depicted in AC II manage to restore all the charm of the Renaissance era accounts and, above all, to do justice to some of the most important urban architectural works of all time, such as Piazza San Marco or Ponte Vecchio in Florence.
Wandering through the alleys and streets of the city, looking for new assignments, you come across small but beautiful glimpses capable of striking for the depth of detail and for the impression of being really in the center of a great city of the Spanish Renaissance.
Even today, a living world to be discovered.
The Saboteur - Paris
The surprise of this ranking is undoubtedly The Saboteur, small but very original open-world action by Pandemic Studios which in 2009 took us to the Paris of 1940 through an interesting combination of war game, stealth and comedy.
In the role of Sean Devlin, an Irishman transplanted to Paris to pursue dreams of glory and love and ended up in the German grip, the players were called to move in a city that, if due to technological limitations, certainly could not simulate the real vastness of a contemporary metropolis, from an artistic point of view, on the other hand, he managed to restore the romantic atmosphere of Paris in the 40s, as well as giving us the opportunity to explore and climb monuments such as the Eiffel Tower and Montmatre.
Today The Saboteur appears a slightly aged title and certainly not in step with other games of the genre, but if at least once in your life you have stopped to look at a photo of the French capital with love in your heart, then the Pandemic game might be for you.
Marvel's Spider-Man - Dentro la Grande Mela
One of the main elements of the Spider-Man comic is undoubtedly the Marvel superhero's bond with his city, New York City.
For sure for this reason, Marvel's Spider-Man di Insomniac (2018) may fail an excellent reconstruction of the City that Never Sleeps recreated in every detail, also as regards its urban geography and obviously the “sense of wonder” that it can offer.
The fact of being able to jump from one building to another in the city, as well as being able to climb them by elevating ourselves for meters and meters, only increases the immersion of a game that, like the paper Spider-Man, it is almost a tribute to one of the most fascinating cities in the world. If we also add to this a living game map and quite capable of recreating the chaos of a megalopolis, then perhaps we are faced with one of the most beautiful cities ever seen in a video game.
Watch Dogs: Legion – Londra
Despite being set in a dystopian future (albeit not very distant), like Marvel's Spider-Man too Watch Dogs: Legion it has been defined as one of the latest generation titles better able to give the idea of wandering around a lively and pulsating city.
In the London of 2026 represented in the game, the heroes are not only confronted with a frightening technodictatorial apparatus, but also with a reproduction of the English capital in which you can breathe its typical atmosphere, as well as the heavy post-Brexit atmosphere, with very little effort.
Well, these are our five picks on what we think they are the games that have managed to recreate real cities with greater skill.
Well aware that the list may still be very long, we invite you to try them all. If you have been to one of the cities that we have mentioned and have played the title that spoke about it, then tell us how much the work of the developers has managed to return the "mood" of the setting.
In the meantime, have a good game and a good virtual trip to everyone.
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