Grand Theft Auto has brought players to a fictional Miami, Los Angeles, and New York City. In fact, it has almost exclusively revisited these locales, except for the pit stop in London in 1999. Rockstar has barely scratched the surface when it comes to creating satirical versions of the United States, and Grand Theft Auto 6 is a great opportunity to branch out with new locales. Specifically, Rockstar should look to the Midwest region of the United States for inspiration, as that will let it create a city unique to Grand Theft Auto.
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Grand Theft Auto Has Explored The Same Cities
The first Grand Theft Auto introduced players to the three cities that would become the core of the franchise. The game let players traverse Liberty City, San Andreas, and Vice City, each based on real-life New York, San Francisco, and Miami. Since then, players have visited these places multiple times.
Liberty City was used not only in Grand Theft Auto, but it also made an appearance in Grand Theft Auto 3 and Grand Theft Auto 4. San Andreas appeared in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Grand Theft Auto 5, where it was expanded to be an entire state rather than one city and introduced players to Los Santos - a fictional version of Los Angeles. Vice City is one of the least explored cities in the franchise as it has only appeared in Grand Theft Auto and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, but rumors around Grand Theft Auto 6 may point to it returning again soon. The series’ exploration of London was only an expansion pack for Grand Theft Auto.
These three main cities have provided players expansive playgrounds to cause mayhem; worlds filled with satire and some pretty engaging stories. These cities have become major parts of the gaming industry, and Rockstar will no doubt keep exploring their sandboxes and expanding on them. Yet there comes a time when a series has to shake up its formula, and the best way to do that for Grand Theft Auto is introducing a brand-new city.
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Other Open-World Titles Have Explored Similar Cities
The Grand Theft Auto series is not the only franchise to explore fictional versions of New York, California, and Miami. New York City has been explored by a lot of video games: Tom Clancy’s The Division showed a post-apocalyptic New York, Prototype let players cause mayhem in an infected New York, players swung through the streets as Spider-Man in Marvel’s Spider-Man, and Assassin’s Creed 3 let players see a New York during the American Revolution. New York has even appeared in non-open-world titles like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Metal Gear Solid 2.
Los Angeles and San Francisco have also seen a lot of attention in video games. LA Noire tells a detective story in 1947 Los Angeles, Watch Dogs 2 lets players explore a technically advanced San Francisco, Life is Strange 2 brings players on a road trip across California, and Driver: San Francisco has players drive through the streets of its titular locale. The only city that Grand Theft Auto explores that has not seen a huge number of games is Miami, but even that has been explored by the likes of Hotline Miami and Driver 3.
The Midwest is Untapped by Open-World Games
A lot of video games choose to explore the coasts of the United States, the old west, or New York City. Seldom do video games choose to explore the Midwest, with one of the few to do so in recent years being Watch_Dogs in 2013, which introduced players to a dreary version of Chicago. If Rockstar is looking for a new city to create in Grand Theft Auto, the Midwest has untapped potential.
Grand Theft Auto could choose to follow Watch_Dog’s example and create its own version of Chicago, but that might feel too similar to Liberty City. It could also take inspiration from the Twin Cities and create neighboring areas inspired by Minneapolis and St. Paul. These cities could be filled with lakes, parks, and art, which would make them feel different from the cities it has explored previously. If Minnesota and Illinois are not of interest to Rockstar, it could look to cities like Detroit or St. Louis. Rockstar could even try its hand at creating smaller cities for players to cause mayhem in, inspired by Deadwood, Fargo, or even Wisconsin Dells.
These cities would also offer huge story potential for Rockstar, satirizing brand-new regions. It could craft a world and stories that utilize seasons more effectively, as the Midwest is known for its brutal winters unlike Miami and Los Angeles. These cities are also not short on crime, and Grand Theft Auto 6 would no doubt create some intriguing criminals to follow. The Midwest region of the United States has many stories to tell and cities to explore that are just waiting to be tapped by the gaming industry, and Rockstar could take the first step.
While most rumors point to Grand Theft Auto 6 creating an HD version of Vice City, it would be great if Rockstar attempted to create something wholly new for the franchise. The Midwest offers unique and beautiful cities to explore, and the gaming industry has yet to really tap this potential. Grand Theft Auto should be the franchise that takes the leap, Rockstar just has to be willing to take a risk.
Grand Theft Auto 6 is in development.
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