Society has laws for a reason, yet humans still seem to find a strange fascination with those who break them. Criminals have long been a popular subject of literature, movies, television, and of course video games. When it comes to the latter, one of the biggest developers in the crime genre isRockstar Games. The company has become known for its detailed open worlds and compelling stories, as well as the chaotic online modes released with its more recent games.
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Many of their stories center around stories of crime and punishment, featuring morally ambiguous anti-heroes struggling to navigate a treacherous world where the line between right and wrong blurs.Grand Theft Autosituates throws players into the modern criminal underworld;Red Dead: Redemption1and2follow outlaws trying to survive in the Wild West;LA Noireputs players in the midst of corruption in 1940s Lost Angeles.Rockstarhas shown a talent for making games about crime, and a willingness to experiment with different settings. There are several such settings it hasn’t touched on, which could make for great crime games in the future.
5Medieval Thieves
If Rockstar is going to make games about thieves, Robin Hood is a great candidate. The famous outlaw who robbed from the rich and gave to the poor is a great story that has told been many times. Sometimes he is a romantic hero, sometimes he’s a goofy one, some have attempted a darker, grittier take on him. But the core myth remains the same.
Rockstar is no stranger to tearing apart myths to expose their less glamorous side, and the Robin Hood myth would be great material for this approach. Players could follow a Robin Hood-esque group of outlaws as they try to rob from the rich to give to the poor, only to realize that it is not as simple or clear-cut as it may sound in theory, and can have unexpected consequences. The medieval setting could also allow for new combat mechanics, necessitating reliance on melee or archery.
4Highwaymen
While most of Rockstar’s titles have been set in America (albeit often in fictional towns and states), the general themes of hopelessness and corruption in their games are hardly restricted to one country. There are always unique brands of criminals elsewhere in the world. One such example would be the land-based cousin to the pirate: the Highwayman, who robbed travelers along the roads of England during the 18th century.
In terms of gameplay, there would be room for Rockstar to channel some of their experience with theRed Dead Redemptionseries. A game like this could bring back horse-riding mechanics and create a similar open world inspired by 18th century England. Still, there would be some modifications as well. Highwaymen relied on flintlock pistols, which can only fire one shot — meaning that shootouts would have to play out quite differently from the revolvers inRed Dead Redemptionor the automatic weapons inGrand Theft Auto.
3Prohibition-Era Gangsters
Rising out of the well-intentioned but poorly executed mess that was prohibition, gangsters likeAl Caponehad a strange way of capturing public attention and fascination. Gangster films were made as early as the 1930s, and they have already been the subject ofpopular video game franchises like theMafiaseries. The closest Rockstar Games has come to this era isL.A Noire, which takes place in 1947.
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ButLA Noirebreaks from Rockstar’s other games by focusing on the police. A game set on the other side of the law would allow players to explore the intricacies and challenges of mob life, as a gangster who has to navigate a treacherous world where it is hard to know who to trust. This would not even have to be released as a standalone game. Rockstar could easily brand it as aGrand Theft Autospin-off, especially since the playerwould probably be committing a lot of the same crimesthat they would in anyGrand Theft Autogame.
2Gangs of New York
For something slightly different, Rockstar could look at crime in the mid-19th century, before the famous outlaws of the wild west. This was a very different world populated by a unique brand of gangster, made famous byMartin Scorsese’s 2002 epicGangs of New York. The influence of Scorsese’s film can certainly be seen in a few video games, such as the bottle street gang ofDishonoredas well as the blighter and rook gangs ofAssassin’s Creed: Syndicate.
For aGangs of New York-style approach, players would probably be committing some familiar crimes: theft, extortion, armed robbery, maybe hijacking the odd carriage. However, it would come with some changes in gameplay. There would be more brawling instead of shootouts, and players would likely have to rely less on firearms and more on improvised weapons.
1Pirates
Technically, pirates have existed as long as water-based travel has existed. However, most people associate the term “pirate"with the Golden Age of Piracy, a period in the 17th and 18th centuries. Pirates are iconic in their own right and have managed to capture imaginations for a long time, almost as much as the Wild West. Thepast success of pirate-themed classicssuch as theMonkey Islandseries,Sid Meier’s Pirates,Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag, andSea of Thieveswould seem to indicate that there is definitely a market for a swashbuckling adventure on the high seas.
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For a company known for its games about morally ambiguous heroes, piracy should be an obvious choice. Players would get a compelling open world to explore, now with the twist that they have to rely more on ships to get around. There could even be some options to steal different types of ships in trueGTAfashion.
Furthermore, Rockstar could experiment with some interesting story directions; for example, by incorporating some of the less glamorous parts of being a pirate. A game like this could explore a lot of the problems that came with the job, similar to howRed Dead: Redemptionexplored the difficulties of being a western outlaw. It could even be made part of the gameplay: players having to keep their ship maintained, crew morale up, and even deal with some basic self-care. Imagine a mechanic where the player has to prevent themselves from contracting scurvy in between swashbuckling swordfights.
