With so many consoles to choose from today as well as the great advantages of PC, there are plenty of ways to enjoy great video games. What’s even better, if you love London, many games take place in the heart of the UK’s capital or a place based on it. We’ve identified five different games below from over the years that were a ton of fun. Let us know your own favorite London-based games in the comments.
Zombi
After watching 28 Days Later, did you have the desire to play your own zombie survival adventure through an abandoned London? Zombi (also known as ZombiU on the Wii U) gives you just that chance. IN the game, your primary responsibilities are to maintain a safe house for other survivors and help find the cure the zombie plague besetting the city. Plenty of important landmarks are key locations in the game such as Buckingham Palace, St. George’s Church, and the Tower of London. While the game was fairly popular when it came out, it was unprofitable for Ubisoft and a sequel was scrapped.
Grand Theft Auto: London 1969
Way back in 1999 before Grand Theft Auto was the sort of game your parents didn’t want you to play, it was a simple PC game with a map-like look in which the player simply stole cars for money while trying to outrun the police. The original game took place in three US cities based upon New York, Miami, and San Francisco/Los Angeles/Las Vegas. The expansion pack, London 1969, actually took place in London instead of a fictional equivalent and the player received his “missions” by making calls from phone boxes. If you’re looking for a more recent GTA-type game, 2002’s The Getaway is a British gangster console game in the style of Layer Cake, Snatch, and Get Carter.
Pokemon Sword & Shield
The latest installment in the Pokemon franchise, Sword and Shield take place in the fictional land of Galar, which is a very thinly-veiled pastiche of the United Kingdom. Your character starts out in Pokemon’s version of Scotland and makes their way further south until you get to Wynton, the game’s equivalent of London. It’s easily recognizable thanks to its own Pokemon versions of the Palace of Westminster, Elizabeth Tower (aka Big Ben), the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, Wembley Stadium, and the Shard. Gameplay in gym battles is more like what you’d see out of a football match, with large crowds, cheers, and a battle arena that looks pretty close to a football pitch.
Assassin’s Creed Syndicate
Each Assassin’s Creed game takes place in a different era, and for Syndicate, you travel back to Victorian London where your character (either Jacob or Evie Frye) is fighting for the Assassins to take back control of London from the Templars who want to control the city. Speaking of which, the game really lets you get around 19th Century London, letting you experience in ways that most Victorians couldn’t. Plenty of important spots show up throughout the game and its downloadable content such as Tower Bridge. Even places that no longer exist, such as the Alhambra Theater, play a role in the game.
Wolfenstein: The New Order
For a bit more alternate history, fans of the books and series The Man in The High Castle, may enjoy this first-person shooter that posits what London would look like if the Nazis had won World War II. As Wolfenstein protagonist B.J. Blazkowicz, your journey in the game takes you to a London that looks very different from the one you know. What wasn’t bombed out by the Nazis has been replaced with towering structures meant to maintain their power. The London Nautica has replaced the Palace of Westminster, leaving only Big Ben. You even fight the villains’ version of the London Eye, a giant robot meant to monitor and eliminate resistance activity.