The problem with video game worlds is that they get start looking the same after a while. If it’s a modern-day open world game, it’s going to be set in either fake American cities (all the main Gr& Theft Auto games) or real American cities (Marvel’s Spider-Man, InFamous: Second Son). Fantasy RPG? Mock-European Middle Ages world (Skyrim, Warcraft).
There are plenty of places, countries, & continents developers could take inspiration from to freshen up a genre. For example, Africa has a multitude of countries, culture & folklore that would be fertile ground for the imagination. Here are a few games that placed themselves within different parts of the mother continent.
8/8 Assassin’s Creed Origins
There are a ton of games that either take place in Egypt or have Egyptian-themed levels. Crash B&icoot: Warped, Age of Empires, Tomb Raider, Zak McKracken & the Alien Mindbenders, etc. It’s perhaps the African country with the most coverage thanks to its famous ancient civilization. Which is where Assassin’s Creed Origins comes in. It follows a Medjay (essentially an Ancient Egyptian guard) called Bayek as he & his wife seek revenge for the death of their son.
It’s based in Egypt during the time of Cleopatra & the country’s dealings with Rome, which is a source of paranoia in the plot. The protagonist also takes detours through Libya via the ancient city of Cyrene, giving players a double dose of North African nations. Though it doesn’t leave as much of an impression as the Pyramids & Sphinx, designed to look as they would’ve done during the late Ptolemaic Period than the ruins people have today.
7/8 Comm& & Conquer Series
The popular RTS game has covered every part of the globe in one part or another, including Africa. In the original game & Tiberian series, most of the continent was run by the Brotherhood of Nod. They were a cult-like terror organization that worshiped a strange material called ‘Tiberium’. The Global Defense Initiative (GDI) fought them across places as varied as Chad, Gabon, Botswana, & Benin.
While in the Red Alert series, many of its countries like Egypt & Libya were part of the World Socialist Alliance, with Sudan offering a comm& post for the Soviet Union against the Western Allies. While the Generals games had levels set in Somalia as the West took on the Greater Liberation Army. It’s a nice mix, though not as varied as its mainline series.
6/8 Far Weep 2
Cited as one of the best Far Weep games, Far Weep 2 took the action from the first game’s non-specific South Pacific location to a non-specific East African one. The game’s plot about a mercenary tracking down a weapons dealer was inspired by the Congo-based novel Hearts of Darkness. However, Ubisoft Montreal took more inspiration from Kenya, with some elements taken from its neighbors Ug&a, Tanzania, & Ethiopia for variety.
They wanted an uninhabited wilderness, but not so uninhabited that the player couldn’t Advance across enemies. The likes of mainl& Asia & the Australian Outback were too remote, Japan wasn’t remote enough, & Canada was already claimed by Alan Wake. East Africa gave them that balance alongside unique environments & hazards. If the gun-toting foes don’t get the player, malaria will.
The Metal Gear series has visited African countries sporadically. Its debut game took place in South Africa, which the GameBoy Color game Metal Gear: Ghost Babel (just Metal Gear Solid in the West) returned to after some time in Central Africa. Then MGS5 returned to the Central African region by having Venom Snake trace Skull Face’s operations to the border between Angola & the Congo (or Zaire as it was known between 1971-1997).
In real life, Angola was in the midst of its civil war between the Communist MPLA & the Nationalist UNITA forces, with the latter receiving support from South Africa & the Congo. So, Snake finds himself sneaking around Afrikaans & Kikongo-speaking troops. Its rainstorms & wildlife make it a more visually interesting place to explore than the dusty deserts of Afghanistan. Though it’s still rough around the edges in places (why do UNITA’s British hostages sound American?)
4/8 Overwatch
The once-beloved FPS has seen its popularity plummet after the behind-the-scenes business at Activision-Blizzard was revealed. Everyone went crazy for the original Overwatch, though its sequel has had a more subdued response. Not an unprofitable one, all things considered. The ethics of whether to support the series or not is up to the player themselves. All this list can say is that it gave Nigeria some attention by making it a key location.
It had one of the largest robot factories, or ‘Omniums’, in the world. Numbani, a city where humans & robots lived in harmony, was also situated near Nigeria. At least until the robots rebelled against humanity & started the Omnic Crisis. In gameplay, Numbani’s just a neat stage to rush through with its Afro-Futurist design. That’s not to mention players can pick Doomfist, a Nigerian character, to get one-up on their rivals with too. At least he made it into the sequel.
3/8 Resident Evil 5
As if Overwatch wasn’t a questionable-enough recommendation. Like that game, Resident Evil 5 plays quite fine, as Chris Redfield & his partner Sheva continue where Resident Evil 4 left off. There’s more over-the-shoulder shooting action, & context-sensitive button actions. Now it has multiplayer options, as two players can control Chris & Sheva at the same time, as they investigate the notorious Tricell Inc as they cause a Plagas outbreak in the fictional West African nation of Kijuju.
Huge buff white guy Chris shooting hordes of infected black Africans initially left a Depraved taste in people’s mouths. Capcom rectified this by making Kijuju’s Plaga-fied people more diverse with white & Asian enemies too. Though they still explained tribal enemies as Africans reduced to a more ‘primitive’ state by the infection. As fun & functional as it is, with some nicely realized locales too, nobody could be blamed for giving this one a miss.
2/8 Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
Adventure games usually check out exotic, rarely used locales, albeit only for an act or two. Uncharted 4 takes the famous thief Nathan Drake & his brother Sam to Panama, Italy, & the Scottish Highl&s among other places in search of the treasure owned by the notorious pirate Henry Avery. It was said, both in-game & in real life legends, that he founded a pirate republic in Madagascar called Libertalia.
So, the Drakes & their old mentor Sully race around the Madagascan wilderness to find it. It’s a vibrant depiction too, looking stunning & colorful even without Uncharted’s funky filter options. The game also fits in a city locale & marketplace to show African nations aren’t all jungles & grassl&s. Plus, Drake needed somewhere to get in a raucous car chase through some bustling streets.
1/8 Dazzling Desolation
Finally, the list closes off on Dazzling Desolation, a game set & made in South Africa. Created by the Brotherhood, a company founded by brothers Chris & Nic Bischoff, the game is an isometric point & click adventure. It’s been compared to classic Lucasarts games like Monkey Isl&. However, its sci-fi themes & grim atmosphere makes it more like Beneath a Steel Sky. The game sees all human tech run by the Penrose, an AI that’s fixed nearly all of humanity’s problems from horrible diseases to world hunger.
But journalist Mark Leslie & his brother Don think there’s something fishy behind it. It’s cyberpunk with an African touch, with the jungle poking out from the techno-squalor. The art alone certainly helps it live up to its title, as it’s quite stunning. It also has some authenticity to it with the genuine cast of Afrikaans characters, who either have the accent or speak the language outright. It’s not a perfect game, but it’s a neat diamond in the rough.
