When games are set in real-life locations (like, for example, much of the Assassin's Creed franchise) players can feel much more immersed in the game's world. Games set in real-life locations offer a diverse range of places to take characters. They can even allow gamers to visit areas they've always wanted to, all in the comfort of their home.
One real-life location that appears frequently in games is Chicago, from the hustle and bustle of the busy downtown, to the quiet suburban area, and everything else in between. The great thing about Chicago is that no two games will be the same due to how varied the city is, which can make for great stories and level design. While there are many games set in Chicago, these stand out the most and make roaming around on missions the most enjoyable.
5 Resistance 2
While not exclusively set in Chicago, one of the more entertaining and better missions in Resistance 2 is set in the Windy City. Even though the game is set in an alternate world under attack by an alien enemy, the feel of the city is still the same. Thanks to the 1950s time period, players can still sense the grittiness of that time on top of the destruction of the city.
The city of Chicago has a lot of nooks and crannies, which are great for linear firefights. This is where Resistance 2 shines the most, because when players are in close-quarters, they can see the detail that developers put into recreating the city. It's one of the many reasons why fans want the series to come back. Since the Chicago level is one of the bigger missions in the game, players will get an excellent idea of what the city looked like decades ago, which makes Resistance 2 stand out.
4 Perfect Dark
Considered one of the best games to launch on an Xbox console, players can fight their way through a close future Chicago in Perfect Dark. Even though the graphics are outdated, the game still captures the chaos of Chicago quite well. Being set in the future also makes it somewhat more tangible. Perfect Dark is one of the best games on Metacritic to date, and has quite a legacy behind it. It changed a lot for first-person games, but also got the details of each location right.
In the game, the city is closed and tight, capturing the feeling of Chicago. While it is not an open-world game, Perfect Dark still manages to get players immersed in the world around them. Those closed-off areas are pretty much all around Chicago, especially in the downtown area. The game feels realistic and grounded while set in the future, so using modern influences to recreate a city like Chicago helps the convey the story.
3 Wolfenstein New Colossus
Chicago does not appear in the base game of Wolfenstein New Colossus, but rather in the DLC called The Adventures of Gunslinger Jack. This DLC takes all the best parts of the base game and makes them better. Set in an alternate timeline in which the Nazis won World War II, players jump through buildings in a linear motion. The Adventures of Gunslinger Jack gets the 1940s Chicago aesthetic right, and though it's not a big DLC, players can still enjoy the details and feeling of the city.
Payers can still understand what the city is going through, which makes the story much more interesting for players. The setting itself in The Adventures of Gunslinger Jack helps the story of the whole series, because it carries the same weight as New Orleans in Wolfenstein New Colossus.
2 Hitman Absolution
A huge chunk of Hitman Absolution is set in Chicago, and the game captures the city's energy very well. For starters, it capitalizes on the high population density of the Chicago, with Agent 47 blending in quite well for those missions. Since most of Hitman Absolution takes place in contained spots, the game takes the opportunity to show how each area in Chicago is vastly different from the others. For example, the marketplace has a different vibe than the train station, but both still convey the same underlying themes of Hitman Absolution.
While it might not be the very best Hitman game, Hitman Absolution does a good job at conveying the feeling of the Chicago, helping players to feel more immersed for each mission. It's a lot more fun to play when gamers feel like they're in a real version of Chicago, amongst the citizens, and it all fits for the player.
1 Watch Dogs
This is one of the few games that gets all of Chicago correctly. While Watch Dogs has issues on its own in terms of performance, it portrays everything that Chicago has to offer. Following Ubisoft's mantra of making open-worlds, Watch Dogs shows each area of the city and its uniqueness. And since it rebuilt the full city as well, players could explore all the city's secrets.
Another reason for players to either try out Watch Dogs or revisit it are the distinct areas. Specifically in the downtown area, players will notice how each block is rather different from the other; for example, the business area stands out from the tourists' area. Both are downtown and are in proximity to each other, but they feel really different due to their aesthetics. And the best part of the Watch Dogs setting, like the Assassin's Creed games, is the landmarks. All of this makes for incredible immersion, making Watch Dogs one of the best new IPs of 2014 despite the issues it had.