Tourism simulators?

[Stella Brando]

Anything similar to exploring the Crusade-era Middle East or Renaissance Italy in Assassin's Creed?

I never bothered with Assassins Creed III, Freedom! vs. Brits seems so overdone and boring.

The Old West in Red Dead Redemption was nice.

I guess there's also the Grand Theft Auto series.

And the maligned Fallout 3, to its credit, at least made me more aware of how DC is laid out. Seeing the Washington monument and the like in Hollywood movies has some more context to me now.

Any other ideas?

 

[Astral Rag]

Midtown Madness, Driver and LA Noire spring to mind.

Also California Games and The Duel: Test Drive II

 

[Luka-boy]

http://store.steampowered.com/app/251870/



I am sorry. It had to be done.

 

[Stella Brando]

 

[Talby]

The Saboteur for Nazi-occupied France, maybe.

 

[Baron Dupek]

Deep Shadows games (Boiling Point, Xenus 2 White Gold and Precursors).

Games are helluva big, you can talk to anyone and do whatever you want. Or just be tourist and visit jungle.
Extreme version - with double barrel shotgun, fistful of buckshots and no meds or antivenom.

Third one is biggest. You can visit any planet, see strange thing that no western studios even dare to make in their games.

 

[baturinsky]

Prototype, but it has only Manhattan.
Also take a look at racing games. Such as Driver:San Francisco. Or Euro Truck Simulator.
Hitman has some interesting place, but none real world landmark, AFAIK.

Edit: Hong Kong in Sleeping Dogs is great.

 

[ghostdog]

This is probably a good Georgia simulator :

 

[Explorerbc]

Actually you might want to reconsider Assassin's Creed III. From a tourism perspective the world is pretty cool, I especially enjoyed the wilderness. It has a different vibe from the cities of previous games, but it still is an environment and era you don't see in many games.

Also, the plot is not as Muricah! as people think. Your character doesn't really care for the revolution that much, Washington is presented as incompetent and a madman in the dlc , americans own slaves and kill natives so they are considered not much better than the Brits, even templars help them etc. They are still presented as the good faction but it was definitely less ... "patriotic" than I expected.

 

[baturinsky]

Also, the plot is not as Muricah! as people think. Your character doesn't really care for the revolution that much, Washington is presented as incompetent and a madman in the dlc , americans own slaves and kill natives so they are considered not much better than the Brits, even templars help them etc. They are still presented as the good faction but it was definitely less ... "patriotic" than I expected.

If you want tourism game with simplistic, but refreshingly accurate depiction of Muricah!, there is Just Cause 2. Destroy infrastructure of third world country and work for terrorists, all to get some oil for homeland.

 

[taxalot]

If you are into driving across Europe, you are going to love Euro Truck Simulator 2.

 

[Genma:TheDestroyer]

http://store.steampowered.com/app/251870/



I am sorry. It had to be done.

Saw that title and immediately went to get a link.


Beaten to it

 

[vonAchdorf]

Seems that Ubisoft got their priorities right with Unity. They just announced that it took them two years to recreate Notre Dame for their game, so it withstand the discerning looks from the tourist gamers.

I always saw Darklands as some early tourism game for Medieval Germany (the codex review / interview mentions a similar trait when the guy strived to follow his travels to Southern Germany in his current play through).

 

[Stella Brando]

Actually you might want to reconsider Assassin's Creed III.

Maybe I'll give it a try. Although it isn't sheer wish-fulfilment like seeing the beautiful Italian architecture in Assassins Creed II, or camping out amongst saguaro cacti or joshua trees while the sun sets in Red Dead Redemption.

If it were I making Assassins Creed, I would have combined the 18th Century from III with the nautical theme from IV. That way I could imagine I was Nelson or Captain Cook or Fletcher Christian.

With the settings they chose it just seems like AC II: The Patriot and AC IV: Pirates of the Carribean.

I also like the idea of exploring France around the same time. You could re-enact the famous Dead Guy in Bathtub picture. That guy was killed by a female assassin.

I guess my desires are too specific to be met by a game aimed at pop-a-molers. The makers of Assassin Creed II probably thought it was the height of culture in video games, I just thought it was a good start.

 

[Outlander]

Mafia if you're interested in 30s Murica (and it's a fucking great game in its own right, you should play it if you haven't). And to a lesser extent, Mafia 2.

 

[chestburster]

If you are into driving across Europe, you are going to love Euro Truck Simulator 2.

In the same vein, Need for Speed: The Run. Driving across 'murica.

 

[taxalot]

Is that a good game ? All the criticism I heard was about the game very short.

 

[Zarniwoop]

Tourism simulators?

maps.google.com

Most major cities in anywhere you'd ever actually WANT to visit are nicely represented. Have fun.

 

[chestburster]

Is that a good game ? All the criticism I heard was about the game very short.

I don't play racing games often so I can't judge the quality. But the scenery is breathtaking. I played it right after I had a trip driving across half the country from DC to Chicago. The game captured that feel of cross-country driving very well.

 

[Telengard]

Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?

Also notable:
Where in the US is Carmen Sandiego?
Where in Europe is Carmen Sandiego?
Where in US History is Carmen Sandiego?

Microsoft Flight Simulator

 

[taxalot]

Isn't X-Plane supposed to be a much better game than Flight Simulator these days?

 

[Telengard]

Game-wise, throwing a lead brick through the air is better than a Microsoft product. But we're talking virtual tourism. You just can't beat the old MS + its mod scene for number of locations and anal-level attention to detail.

 

[Modron]

Saw that title and immediately went to get a link.


Beaten to it

Should have one upped him with http://store.steampowered.com/app/333980

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Saw that title and immediately went to get a link.


Beaten to it

Should have one upped him with http://store.steampowered.com/app/333980

Thread created: Oct 7 2014

Genma's post created: Oct 8 2014

Game in Modron's link released: May 26 2015

 

[Modron]

Thread created: Oct 7 2014

Genma's post created: Oct 8 2014

Game in Modron's link released: May 26 2015

You know how it is, clicked a link in another thread didn't notice was necroing.