The best cities in video games
As the Earth’s core heats up and we slowly roast to death in the oven of life, it’s time to start thinking about holidays for the summer. If you’re like me, you probably enjoy the beach for about five minutes before turning into Anakin Skywalker and bemoaning the existence of sand while staring out at the horizon beyond the sea and contemplating your impending death. You know, the usual.
City breaks are where it’s at. Things to do. Culture. Shade. Bliss.
Since we’re not a holiday website, we’re going to look at the best cities to visit in video games. That means you don’t even have to leave your house, speak to any real people, or eat airplane food. Ahh.
So shut your curtains and block out the world as we take a tour through the best cities in video games.
Night City - Cyberpunk 2077
A multicultural metropolis sprouting out of the Pacific coast of North America, Night City blurs by in an astigmatic haze of neon, chrome, and glass. From the busy crosswalks of downtown to the abandoned luxury hotels of grimy Pacifica, every inch of this future city buzzes with life.
When you’re done with the bustle of the crime-ridden streets, feel free to take a ride into the Badlands surrounding Night City, where you can rest up in lonely motels and careen over dunes that overlook industrial farming operations. Not the most relaxing break, but perfect for adrenaline junkies and cyber psychos.
City 17 - Half-Life: Alyx
Sure, you can visit City 17 in Half-Life 2, but why not go there in virtual reality instead? Staring up at the Citadel that looms over the city – its electrical cables draped over the Soviet modernism architecture like a spider’s web – is one of the most awe-inspiring things you can experience in a video game.
You’ll spend your entire time here being hunted by the alien combine and the streets are littered with the wrecks of old sedans, but you can always mess about at the local park if you get bored. Failing that, pick up a crowbar and join the resistance.
Kamurocho - Yakuza (series)
Very few virtual cities feel as alive as Kamurocho in the Yakuza series, and that’s as much down to the soundscape as it is the city itself. Walk down any single street here and you’ll hear strange Japanese adverts blasting out of convenience stores one minute, someone crooning from a karaoke machine the next, and the bleeps and bloops of an arcade a few short steps later. If aliens ever pick up audio from Earth, this is what it will sound like.
Another thing that makes Kamurocho special is how it changes. We spend so much time here across different games that we get to see the city grow and evolve as Japan itself changes through the years. If you played the series as the games launched, there’s a good chance that you grew alongside it and you can place those key moments in your life back to this wonderful city.
Venice - Assassin’s Creed 2
If you’ve ever been to Venice in real life – make sure you go before it’s swallowed by God’s wrath! – then you’ll know just how accurate Ubisoft was in its depiction of the lagoon-locked Italian city. All the old buildings and bridges are still there today, and the way of life is eerily similar now to how it was back then (other than people selling overpriced Venetian masks and ice cream to tourists).
Assassin’s Creed 2 offers us a look at a snapshot of Venice in the 15th century when it was the capital and largest city of the Most Serene Republic of Venice. Appropriately for a city known for its famous gondola boats, Assassin’s Creed 2 introduced new means of transportation, too. At this time, Venice’s fate was so intertwined with the sea – through both commerce and warfare – that its citizens worshipped the sea as a deity, and this was sanctioned by the Pope! Maybe video games can teach you stuff.
Saint Denis - Red Dead Redemption 2
Making your way to Saint Denis, the “Jewel of Lemoyne”, feels like a huge moment in Red Dead Redemption 2. By the time the story takes you there, you’ve spent days and days exploring the wilds, camping in forests, and visiting dusty little hamlets. You can almost taste the industrial smoke spewing from the chimneys as you gallop toward it on your horse, and the glow of its street lamps at night is like nothing you’ve seen.
Head into a local tailor and you can dress like a gentleman, before taking the tram to the saloon and taking part in a high-stakes poker game. Once you’re done, get lost down the cobbled streets and dim back alleys, but keep your hand hovering over your holster and your fingers twitching.
Los Santos – GTA 5
Rockstar
No one does cities quite like Rockstar, and Los Santos is easily the best it has ever created. It captures the true essence of LA, from Venice Beach up to the Hollywood Hills and beyond, while cutting out all of the long stretches of nothing in-between. Head up to the observatory in real life and the roads stretch on forever – straight and unending beyond the horizon – but Rockstar condenses it down into its core components and somehow still makes it feel vast.
When you’re cruising down the freeway and listening to a radio host trying to sell you cancer drugs, it’s exactly like the real thing. GTA 5 transports you to one of the world’s most bizarre cities and gives you the tools to be the biggest freak there.
Beauclair - The Witcher 3
If you’re watching The Witcher on Netflix, you probably imagine The Continent as this ragged, wartorn landscape full of things that want to rip you apart. And that’s true! But also, have you seen Beauclair?
The capital city of Toussaint is like something out of a fairy tale, with a ducal palace that sits atop a large hill, its pointy spires visible from almost anywhere in Toussaint. The people who visit this colorful and vibrant city rarely leave – the rumors say it’s a magic spell, but I think it’s the wine from the surrounding vineyards.
Prague - Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
Prague is one of the smallest open-world cities in any video game, but it’s also one of the densest. Almost every door can be hacked open or destroyed. Windows and vents are there to be climbed through. Who needs a key to the city when you’ve got cybernetic augmentations?
Traditional cobblestone streets sit right next to red neon and holographic window dancers. Impoverished citizens wear patchwork, Renaissance-inspired clothing while wealthy citizens blend in with unsaturated colors and corporate insignias. It’s a city of rain and contrasts, blood and carbon fiber, with a skyline dominated by high-tech databanks, reminding those who scurry underneath that they can only ever find shelter under the umbrella of a corporation.
Karnaca - Dishonored 2
Make sure you take your bloodfly shots and stock up on suncream before you head to Karnaca, "The Jewel of the South at the Edge of the World". Featuring Cuban, Spanish, and Greek influences, Karnaca is the perfect city break for those who want to bask in the sun. Just don’t mind all the corpses baking in it.
If you’re anything like me and you feel like you’re about to die whenever direct sunlight hits you, Karnaca is somewhat merciful thanks to its natural winds blowing down from the Shindaerey Peak. These winds are so strong that they power much of Karnaca’s infrastructure through the Wind Corridor, but you’ll also see windbreakers and barriers placed around the city to protect the buildings from sudden gusts. Try not to get blown into the harbor because the fish will murder you, terms and conditions apply.
