DIGITISER
  • MAIN PAGE
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Game Reviews
  • FAQ

10 VIDEO GAMES SET IN BRITAIN

4/5/2015

18 Comments

 
Picture
One of our most highly anticipated games this year is Everyone's Gone To The Rapture. Due to be released on the PS4 this summer, it's a first-person mystery adventure, in which players have to assemble the story behind a mysterious apocalypse. 

Which is nice and all... but the main reason we're excited about it is because it's set in a fictional Shropshire village. Frankly, games are rarely set in the UK, and if they are - as we discovered while compiling this list - it's usually an alternate UK, and (sorry, everyone in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) it's usually London. 

Still. Who cares about any of those places, right? 

Later this week, we will unite as a country to vote upon which power-hungry, privileged idiot we think will be the least awful choice to govern us for the next half-a-decade. It seemed like a good time for a celebration of British unity, albeit - appropriately - with a London-centric focus. Here are 10 notable Brit-ish games. Pip pip, old chum/och aye the noo/top of the mornin' to ya/there's lovely for you.

10. GRAND THEFT AUTO: LONDON 1969
Picture
This mission pack for the original GTA was influenced by - among other things - real life crims such as The Kray Twins, and movies like The Italian Job. It was much-loved at the time - not least because points were awarded for slaughtering a crowd of Mods - and London continues to be an oft-requested location for a future GTA game. 

Anyone who has actually driven in London will tell you that - if they were to aim for any degree of authenticity - this is a terrible idea, given that driving in London is about as smooth and effortless as forcing a giraffe into a pencil case. 
9. THE GETAWAY
Picture
We're in London again, with yet more gangsters, for this GTA-esque PS2 drive 'em up. For anyone who knows London, part of the fun of The Getaway was seeing how authentic the geography was. On the whole: very authentic. But it's testament to how accurate the game was that we found it somewhat jarring when certain roads were missing or blocked off. Pfft. As if driving in London wasn't stressful enough already.
8. DEAR ESTHER
Picture
From the team behind Everyone's Gone To The Rapture, Dear Esther is another UK-set game, albeit one based on a fictional Hebridean island. Yes: a game actually set in Scotland! We don't know if any satirical or deliberately stereotypical point was being aimed for when the developers decided that the title character should've been killed by a drunk driver, but still... there it is.

From its empty beaches to its abandoned bothies, the eerie atmosphere does a brilliant job of evoking the stark beauty of the Western Isles, and promises great things for that aforementioned Shropshire village. 
7. TOMB RAIDER III
Picture
Tomb Raider is as British as fish n' chips, barbecues in the rain, and binge drinking... except when Lara Croft is being portrayed by the American Angelina Jolie, or the series is being rebooted by a studio based in San Francisco. It's surprising, then, that the franchise has only once properly exploited the UK (well... London, naturally) as a location. 

In Tomb Raider III, Crofty could be seen fannying around the Thames, the abandoned Aldwych tube station (which is very real - and can be visited on selected days throughout the year), a Masonic temple, the City of London, and the Natural History Museum (which, weirdly, is holding an Egyptology exhibit that would, in real life, be rather more at home in the British Museum). 
6. ZOMBI U
Picture
One of the toughest and most frustrating games we've ever played - yet one of the most genuinely terrifying as a result - we've no doubt that part of why we love Zombi U is that because, once again, we recognise a lot of the locations, due to being Londoners. Who hasn't wanted to hit one of the Queen's Foot Guards around the head with a cricket bat to see if he'll crack a smile?
5. RESISTANCE: FALL OF MAN
Picture
And now we reach the part of the list where things start getting a little bit iffy. Though set in an alternate 1950s where aliens have invaded Britain, the game was developed by American studio Insomiac Games, and is a bit light on authenticity. 

That said, there's a set-piece located in a recreation of Manchester Cathedral, which managed to upset the Church of England. Allegedly, it violated the CoE's copyright, and having the player fire guns at aliens was, apparently tantamount to desecration. Sony was forced to apologise for inadvertent offence caused, and even the Prime Minister (a "Tony Blair") stuck his oar in. As a consequence of the massive hoo-hah that ensued, the game leapt up the charts, despite its lacklustre review scores, and Manchester Cathedral saw a jump in visitor numbers.
4. THE ORDER 1886
Picture
We accept that there are plenty of intelligent and culturally aware Americans, but we've also met slightly too many who appear to think that modern London looks exactly like it does in The Order 1886, and that we all sit around talking about King Arthur, while watching Top Blimp on our smog-powdered televisions.

Yeah, alright, America... you might think we look disgusting with our yellowed and buckled teeth, but at least we'd struggle to shoot one another with handguns, however much we might want to.
3. GRAY MATTER
Picture
Gray Matter was a crushingly dull Windows and Xbox 360 point-and-click adventure set in Oxford (with some sequences based - of course - in London). Coming from the mind of Jane Jensen - the brain behind the Gabriel Knight series - it does, inevitably, whiff of patronising, sub-Victorian tweeness, complete with dodgy accents. Hardly a surprise, given that Jensen lives in Pennsylvania. 

We'd love to repay the favour by coming up with some hilarious jokes based upon what scant, un-researched information we've absorbed about Pennsylvania during our lives, but to be honest, we don't think we know a single thing about Pennsylvania, except that it's where Dracula comes from.
2. FABLE
Picture
Alright, the Fable series is set in "Albion" - not Britain - but it sort of feels British, in an old-fashioned sort of way. Being cosmopolitan, urban types, we do tend to forget that much of the rest of the country is still a fantasy realm ruled by feudal lords, and populated by whimsical bards and adventurers. Still, at least in the real British countryside you can plant an acorn, and it'll probably grow into an oak tree...
1. SIR, YOU ARE BEING HUNTED
Picture
Developed by Essex-based Big Robot, Sir, You Are Being Hunted is a first-person stealth and survival game set in a stylised, and procedurally-generated, depiction of the British countryside. Basically, every time you start up a new game, the landscape is entirely unique. Big Robot founder Jim Rossignol stated that he had "a vision to take what was kind of bleak and frightening about the British landscape and put it into a game". 

Unfortunately, it has a touch of steampunk about it - further fuelling the belief of all foreigners that British people drive around in coal-powered cars, and still all own a pocket watch - but we cannot deny that there is something bleak and frightening about the British landscape. Especially Dartmoor, where Digitiser2000's Mr Biffo was once bitten by a horse. Horses are scum.


FROM THE ARCHIVE:
  • WHATEVER HAPPENED TO XBOX TV SHOWS?
  • MAN DIARY: UKIP
  • 5 FORGOTTEN VIDEO GAME MAGS

18 Comments
lilock3
4/5/2015 12:48:58 pm

I actually do own a pocket watch, with an image of the Flying Scotsman on it no less - how's that for steampunk! So I s'pose I just need the coal-powered car to complete the image... Anybody seen any good deals lately?

Reply
Mr Biffo
4/5/2015 01:24:25 pm

Do you also own a top hat and some goggles?

Reply
lilock3
5/5/2015 04:02:49 am

No top hat, damn it! Looks like I'd better make a visit to the finest hatter in Old London Town. I wonder if The Man is going to open a shop on Savile Row?

kelvingreen link
4/5/2015 01:20:12 pm

Skool Daze
The Chaos Engine

A new GTA: London would be great. They could put Jason Statham and Michael Caine in it and you could have a Boris Bike chase.

Reply
Mr Biffo
4/5/2015 01:23:16 pm

Skool Daze was originally in the list... but we took it out to make way for Dear Esther, alas.

Reply
@Alexpletives
4/5/2015 02:26:09 pm

What about Kevin Toms (+beard) Football Manager and Match Point of the Spectrum? If that's not Wimbledon I'm someone other than I had previously assumed I was.
Match Point C64 was obviously on clay so doesn't count ground coverings fans.

Reply
Mr Biffo
4/5/2015 02:49:40 pm

Yeah, there were tons of ones from the classic era of bedroom coding that I wanted to include, but I made the choice to include more recent games. Also: no sports games. I might do a follow up with the likes of Skool Daze, Monty Mole, Everyone's A Wally etc... Also, we might be doing something on Kevin Toms and Football Manager very soon...

Reply
Mr Smith
5/5/2015 01:50:58 am

Trashman was set in Bath wasn't it? Loads of Speccy games were set in the British Isles presumably because many were by teenagers living in britain.

CrispyF
5/5/2015 03:51:19 pm

Buttocks are clenched pending the arrival of the fantastical Floating Head of Kevin Toms.

Chris link
4/5/2015 02:44:49 pm

I can't speak for a anyone else, but certainly round these parts there's a bard in every pub, and you can't get to the bar for all the adventurers.

Reply
Simon
5/5/2015 01:48:47 am

You missed out MSR on the Dreamcast. Loved that game

Reply
Dan link
5/5/2015 06:01:12 am

I recall having extended conversations in the uni lecture hall about how no video games were ever set in Liverpool. But one guy I spoke to said his mate was modelling Manchester city centre for some game I forgot the name of. Apparently it was awful.

Still waiting for Grand Theft Auto: Wigan, though.

Reply
Marty link
5/5/2015 09:15:31 am

The correct term for a "horse" is "Thunder Cow".

Reply
Jabberwoc
6/5/2015 08:13:07 am

"THUNDER.....THUNDER....THUNDER-COOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWW!!!!"

Reply
Marty link
6/5/2015 10:24:58 am

EXACTLY.

lordmitz
8/5/2015 05:27:28 am

I'M THE MONKEY, YOU'RE THE CHEESEGRATER

Reply
Jebden Crock
8/6/2015 02:26:43 pm

The grey PlayStation had Koudelka, a Japanese-made horror RPG set in 19th century Aberystwyth with the kind of terrifyingly inaccurate accents you might expect.

Reply
Alex link
8/6/2015 02:35:25 pm

That sounds too good to miss! Runs to ebay...

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    This section will not be visible in live published website. Below are your current settings:


    Current Number Of Columns are = 2

    Expand Posts Area =

    Gap/Space Between Posts = 12px

    Blog Post Style = card

    Use of custom card colors instead of default colors = 1

    Blog Post Card Background Color = current color

    Blog Post Card Shadow Color = current color

    Blog Post Card Border Color = current color

    Publish the website and visit your blog page to see the results

    Picture
    Support Me on Ko-fi
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    RSS Feed Widget
    Picture

    Picture
    Tweets by @mrbiffo
    Picture
    Follow us on The Facebook

    Picture

    Archives

    December 2022
    May 2022
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    November 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014


    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • MAIN PAGE
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Game Reviews
  • FAQ