Sin City is a place where reality can be stranger than fiction. It’s inspired numerous books, movies and songs, but these days, video games are just as important and influential an art form. Here are four of our favourite games that have a Las Vegas connection. How many have you played?
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Vegas
The seventh instalment in the Rainbow Six series, it’s hard to believe this was released on Xbox 360 more than 15 years ago. That was long before the live casino games that are so familiar today, so for many, it provided a first glimpse of what the inside of a casino really looked like! Not that there was much time for cards or roulette, your team’s mission was to rescue the kidnap victims and track down the evil Irena Morales.
It’s one of the classic first person shooters, and while the physics and graphics inevitably look a little clunky by 2022 standards, it’s still a great game that will drag you in from the start. Whether you missed it first time round or you’re just feeling a little nostalgic, it’s well worth picking up from the used games rack!
Fallout: New Vegas
Released in 2010, this is a spin off as opposed to a sequel to the main Fallout series, with the action taking place after the events of Fallout 1, 2 and 3. Las Vegas has become New Vegas in the post-apocalyptic world of 2281, but there are plenty of nods to its history, from its main Strip to the cleverly named Caesar’s Legion gang.
On release, the game was plagued with bugs and glitches that damaged its reputation. Today, however, with these resolved through patches and updates, it is generally considered the best of all the Fallout series. If you abandoned it in frustration a decade ago, now is the time to reappraise it.
Grand Theft Auto San Andreas
Long before there was the Diamond Casino, there was Las Venturas, an area of San Andreas that is Las Vegas in all but name. 19 of the game’s missions take place here, but it’s also a great place to simply hang out. There’s always something happening, and you also have three casinos you can visit to raise funds.
Rockstar are renowned for attention to detail, and visiting Las Venturas for the first time truly takes your breath away. It really is like rolling into Sin City.
Call of Duty: Ghosts
The 10th instalment in the Call of Duty franchise, Ghosts are an elite force that operates behind enemy lines. The plot soon delivers you to a Las Vegas safehouse that does anything but live up to its name. And that’s where the real action gets underway.
Ghosts stands out in the franchise for being the game that introduced Extinction, a four-player co-op mode set in a parallel universe to the main game. The most intriguing aspect of it is that it foreshadowed the coming popularity of tower defence games.
