Landscape in Computer Games—The Examples of GTA V and Watch Dogs 2

Abstract

In view of the present and still ongoing virtual gaming boom, it seems appropriate to focus on the recent understanding of landscape. Based on observations of physical landscapes in ‘real’ life (in contrast to the virtual one), artificial landscapes are produced in order to make computer games as realistic as possible. Virtual effects in combination to a sophisticated storytelling (which is typical for the postmodern times) favor escapism and bring landscaping up to a new level. The chosen examples of GTA V and Watchdogs 2 are representative for computer games having an accent on the landscaping part. The simulations of Los Angeles and San Francisco show how urban landscape is perceived and in what way it can be manipulated in order to fulfill several actions in the game. From a scientific point of view, the active creation (and designing) of landscape goes back to the social constructivist approach pronating that landscape has to be understood as a dynamic sociocultural product. Social constructivism is rather a contemporary phenomenon rooted in the paradigm shift towards postmodernity.