Games locations in real life

[insertwackynamehere]

Have you ever played a game that took place in a real part of the world, and later visited the place in real life? I have its a weird feeling.

In Deus Ex, I remembered the Battery Park (NYC) level. Then I went to Battery Park for real, and I was like "Whoa! Thats so creepy!" Then on the same trip we drove down a street which was straight from Tony Hawk's Underground New York level! that was also really weird. Also, in the movie The Rock (about Alcatraz) I recognized one of the parts of Alcatraz from Tony Hawks Pro Skater 4.

So how about you guys?

[MasterOFDeath]

I remember when I played Mt. Erebus in doom, then got sucked into hell and saw Mt. Erebus itself! that was some fucked up shit right there O.o

[Edward]

Well, I learned a bit of European geography from playing Terranigma a few years back.

[Gokuma]

I played Doom episode 3, then I went to a website that has a live webcam on Mt. Erebus which is on an island in an Antarctic gulf.

[Grazza]

I was pretty familiar with Trinity College Cambridge before the wad based on it was made. I can confirm it is very realistic in many respects. Quite a weird and cool feeling to be running around it in Doom.

MoD: The real Mt Erebus is on (or rather, forms a large part of) Ross Island, Antarctica.

[Bucket]

I had kind of the opposite experience.

Playing Tony Hawk 2, I was vaguely familiar with the areas featured in the Philadelphia level. Revisiting it some time later, it just didn't measure up. I think the team took quite a few liberties with the level design (besides the conjunction of two skate parks that are normally miles apart).

[insertwackynamehere]

Numbermind said:

I had kind of the opposite experience.

Playing Tony Hawk 2, I was vaguely familiar with the areas featured in the Philadelphia level. Revisiting it some time later, it just didn't measure up. I think the team took quite a few liberties with the level design (besides the conjunction of two skate parks that are normally miles apart).

haha yeah for that it is recognizable definatly, but around it would be more open, there they had some small streets and buildings. In real life its the Parkway, 16th, JFK, and a bunch of other large streets and big plazas. There are a lot of big buildings surrounding it, but they are spread apart and it feels very open, in the game it felt closed. Also they only had like half of the old circular Information Center :P I heard its gonna become a restaurant or something, but I dunno.

EDIT: also yeah they merged the two parks together. the other one is near the stadiums i think which are on Broad, but like A LONG way south of that.

[Remilia Scarlet]

The first Shenmue sort of did that to me. Not with specific locations, but the same kind of locations overall (except newer, of course). Now it's strange to go back and play the game over and be like, "omg I used to get pop out of vending machines like that!"

[Sharessa]

Fallout 2 has towns named Klamath and Modoc. Klamath Falls is in southern Oregon and Modoc is in northern California. It also has Redding, San Fansisco, and New Reno, though everyone knows where those are. Also, Los Angeles was in the first Fallout. I don't know if any of the other places in the games are real. I've never been to any of these places besides LA(though I have been in southern Oregon), so I don't know if they are accurate at all (doubt they are).

Also, Seattle was in Rush 2...it looked vaguely Seattle-ish from what I remember, though I actualy don't remember that game much aside from the stunt course.

Duke it Out in DC reproduced the Reflectiing Pool area fairly well. It had a ton of other real-life locations as well, though the only one of them I had been in was the Smithsonian, and the level for that looked like none of the museums (the Smithsonian is actualy like a dozen different museums arrayed around the Mall, and they're all pretty big). It's a bit of a shame considering some of the museums (especialy the Air and Space museum) have rather distinctive architecture.

Yeah, otherwise 95% of all games seem to take place in Los Angeles and New York. I was in LA for like a few days and barely remember it and I've never been to New York.

[Chow Yun Thin]

I remember playing True Crime: Streets of LA and driving around the area that I lived in. Wasn't exactly perfect, but I wasn't playing the game to learn about the streets around the neighborhood. Unfortunately, when I got to where my apartment would be in the real world, there was a homicidal maniac there. :(

[kristus]

Err, I prefer to play games that tickle my imagination, rather than recreating the real world (which happens to be better to experience in reality).

[Grazza]

I'd forgotten another one: Copenhagen Central Station. Again it's a place that I had been to several times before I played the wad, and haven't been back to since.

It's a pretty good rendition as far as I remember. I think I would have recognized it just from the layout if it hadn't actually said what it was supposed to represent.

[Lvangundy]

YA what was that game for PS2? Not GTA..

True Crime LA? They had West LA mapped out. I found my work building and some other houses..

[Linguica]

Yeah I found my apartment in True Crime.

I had visited New York before I played Deus Ex so Battery Park was weird in the other direction.

[Gokuma]

Dude! What we're like in a game right now, maaaannnn?

[TheDarkArchon]

The Matrix has you.

[Ralphis]

Numbermind said:

I had kind of the opposite experience.

Playing Tony Hawk 2, I was vaguely familiar with the areas featured in the Philadelphia level. Revisiting it some time later, it just didn't measure up. I think the team took quite a few liberties with the level design (besides the conjunction of two skate parks that are normally miles apart).

It really doesn't look anything like the area

[Jonathan]

Can't really say I've ever experienced this. I really would like to visit the place in Vietnam or Korea or wherever it is that the mountains in the Doom ep1 sky texture are.

[zark]

Project gotham racing 2 has edinburgh in it. It's pretty close to the originasl.