Predator, as a franchise, elicited the noncommittal shrug of its supporters. Three movies and two crossovers later, something borrowed quickly became something boring. Yet, Prey revitalized Predator with a twist on the formula. Rather than veteran soldiers and mercenaries following the alien before it tracks them down, this story is about a Comanche fighter fighting two types of invaders in the 18th century. Using her tomahawk and her knowledge of the environment, the fighter eventually triumphs over the Predator, but not before shredding your fingernails into stumps from the tension.
So I wonder if certain video game series would benefit in the same way from doing the time warp.
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It is clear that there Far Cry Primal, and that concept and setting was met with praise from reviewers. However, opting for the prehistoric era did mean that we lost a lot of the potential humor present in the more recent Far Cry games, as well as the technology to defeat a group of unsuspecting NPCs.
I suggest a Far Cry set at the time of the American Revolution so that you can use muskets, bayonets and rifles, and you can claim territory from the enemies, as usual in Far Cry fare. Just think of how the Boston Tea Party would turn out as a Far Cry mission and tell me it wouldn’t be funny.
At the heart of this series is that slow, hair-raising, skin-prickling feeling that the world is recognisable, but devoid of humanity that gives it the heartbeat that makes it feel like home. It is one of the inspirations for the Upside Down in Weird stuff. So as we turn the hourglass here, we want it to be something that taps into that sense of unreality and reflects the emotions of those affected by the Otherworld.
Imagine a family of settlers who have come to America and are isolated in the cold, unpleasant, oppressive forest (I am essentially describing Robert Eggers’ The witch). Why did they come here? What have they sacrificed? Are there things they don’t tell each other? And God and all that. That was big then.
Oh, that doesn’t make sense, because Watch Dogs is all about technology. Wrong, you stupid, stupid stupid person. What I’m saying is, instead of being contemporary, I’m saying go back to the 90s. Have a Watch Dogs where the whole plot is you stop a Y2K conspiracy. The gameplay mechanics center around older technology that we no longer use, like fat cellphones, dial-up connections, floppy disks, AIM, ThinkPads – damn why don’t we stick wheels on a Furby and that could be our drone.
The whole reason the Umbrella Corporation exists is thanks to Miranda who happened to help a lost Oswell Spencer when he was hiking in Eastern Europe. Not only is she committed to a glamorous smokey eye, she transformed the people in her village with the mold to subject them to further experimentation.
Set a Resident Evil game at that moment when you are one of the surviving villagers trying to evade Miranda and save your family. You’re not a soldier, but your weapon is a bow and arrow you got from your father’s room, and that’s literally all you have. Not only would it be a grueling game, you’d learn a lot more about Miranda, which is what she deserves.
Nathan is, of course, the central character of the series, but he’s hung up his hat and the baton has been passed to Chloe and Nadine, as well as the possibility of Cassie Drake stepping on the board. Naughty Dog, this is what you do. Take out a team of your developers and announce them under a new name. And you’re going to ask them to pitch you a shooter set in the ’60s, where the central character is a historian who has become entangled with a group of opportunistic mercenaries posing as humanitarians to use ancient sites as shortcuts to ambush people.
Stay with me. We manage to get out of that situation, we have learned lessons in both history and pain, and we discover an immense, priceless treasure. Instead of documenting what she saw, she takes one thing with her and then returns home. Then the player finds out that the main character has gone under a pseudonym for her safety and her colleague, Cassandra Morgan, begs her to tell the real story of what happened. Ta da, you played as Evelyn.
These are all mere suggestions, of course, but those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Perhaps, with the latest generation of hardware pushing the boundaries of what’s possible, the most exciting thing these games can do is take a trip down memory lane.
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