London Bridge is Burning Down (Into Cyberspace): What If London Was A Computer Game?

The virtual world has become as enticing as the real one and many of us spend our leisure time engaged in social media, watching videos, chancing our luck in online casinos and simply playing games.

Londoners are no different, the capital is a living, breathing metropolis, a city that overwhelms the senses with adventures around every corner; a playground that begs to be explored and to be enjoyed irrespective of how you play the game. But can you imagine a London with levels and challenges, a virtual London under your control?

Virtual worlds are the cornerstone of gaming and offer glimpses of places that seem familiar without being constrained by physicality. Games such as World of Warcraft, Grand Theft Auto and BioShock exist as snapshots of an alternative reality, while sports games allow the player to become a superstar athlete, and online casino games offer rewards from the comfort of your own chair.

Of course, for every Liberty City or Azeroth, there are also games that are set in real global cities. New York, Sydney and Paris have all been driven through at high speed, Call of Duty uses actual locations to stage missions and the latest game from Rockstar, L.A. Noire, takes centre stage in 1940s Los Angeles.

London has already been featured in many games. Tomb Raider 3 saw Lara Croft visiting St. Paulís Cathedral and Aldwych tube station, The Getaway (PS2) was set in the capital and Gangs of London (PSP) speaks for itself. Even the humble London cab driver has been pixilated in London Taxi: Rush Hour (Wii), which encourages players to do ëwhat it takes to get your passengers to their destinations on time ñ no matter how much chaos it causes!í

But a free-roaming game based on London itself, with the player needing more than just an Oyster card to make any progress through the city, could be an entirely new experience.

Obviously the first decision would be whether to make this a first person shooter or a MMORPG. Guns are frowned upon in the city so it could focus on conversation rather than confrontation; this itself could be part of the game play as Londoners are notoriously tight-lipped when it comes to conversing with strangers in public places.

Gamers could choose to start in either Camden Town on a Sunday (avoiding the tourists and the enticing smells coming from Camden Lock), or at the end of the Northern Line on a Monday morning with a giant commute across the sprawling town to navigate. Game play could include such challenges as trying to find a seat on the Tube, ignoring the requests to purchase The Big Issue and not purchasing any food from street vendors on Oxford Street.

Travel around the city would be down to the player. The beauty of a free-roaming game is exactly that; it allows the player to make the choices that will enhance the game, allow new levels to be discovered and encourage hours of endless, and sometimes pointless, exploring. Buses, tubes, taxis and the Thames Clipper would all be available but there could be a level where the player would have to cycle through the streets with, or even against, Boris Johnson, taking care not to stop at any traffic lights.

Landmarks will need to be checked off and at locations such as the Tower of London (the player may need to rescue Beefeaters from the ravens before being allowed to leave), while Trafalgar Square will see the player surrounded by pigeons and the only way out will be to take a dip in the fountains without being arrested.

Dr Johnson famously stated that when you are bored of London, youíre bored of life. If London were a virtual playground, the chances would be that this would be a game that offered something new every time you pressed play. Exactly like the real version./p> © offtolondon.com  All rights reserved.