Why GTA 2s Location is Just Called Anywhere City

Why GTA 2’s Location is Just Called Anywhere City

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Grand Theft Auto 2’s setting of Anywhere City may seem like a lazy, random name choice, but it actually has an important significance.

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Why GTA 2s Location is Just Called Anywhere City

The setting of Grand Theft Auto 2, Anywhere City, may seem random in comparison to the franchise’s other locations, but there’s a reason the city has such a vague name. Even though Grand Theft Auto 2 hasn’t had as much commercial success as other installments in the franchise, its futuristic setting has an important significance that shouldn’t be overlooked.

GTA 2 was originally released in 1999 by Rockstar Games and DMA Design for both the PlayStation and PC. It was the highly-anticipated sequel to 1997’s Grand Theft Auto, but rather than exploring a fictional counterpart to a real-life American location the installment went a different route with the introduction of Anywhere City. Aside from Grand Theft Auto: London 1969 and London 1961, GTA 2 is one of the only games in the franchise not set within one of the main three cities featured in the original game.

Anywhere City may seem like a perplexing (and lazy) name to give a location, especially since GTA has been known to be very purposeful in the names they choose. For example, it makes perfect sense that Liberty City is the fictional New York City, considering the significance that the Statue of Liberty has in real-life, just as San Andreas being named after the real-life San Andreas Fault matches up. However, there is significance behind Anywhere City’s name, even if it’s not apparent at first glance.

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The Significance Of GTA 2’s Anywhere City

Grand Theft Auto games are usually very specific in their locations. Even though the franchise has always used fake names (save for GTA: London) the developers have never hidden what real-life American cities have been used as their inspiration. GTA has primarily stuck to three fictional cities – Liberty City, Vice City, and Los Santos/San Andreas, based on New York, Miami, and Los Angeles/California, respectively. The first GTA game allowed players to explore all three locations, and since then, most installments have focused primarily on one of those cities. However, Grand Theft Auto 2 stands-out as one of the only games in the franchise to explore a fictional city apart from the main three.

Rather than create a city based on a real-life location, as is typical of the GTA series, the second game did something entirely different by creating a single city that was not representative of any specific location. Rather, the city – which was aptly called Anywhere City – was meant to be a representation of what any American city could look like decades into the future. It’s not just that Anywhere City represents any regular city – it also represents any time in the future, since its exact decade is never specified. It included futuristic elements, like fictional weapons and bold colors, but at the same time the city also had a distinctly retro vibe, specifically thanks to the fact that many of the vehicles reflect models that were popular in the 1960’s. The city looks like a vintage version of the American dream, albeit with a modern twist, a sort of retrofuturism which could be indicative of anywhere in the United States.

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Whereas other GTA games immediately make the player feel as though they’re driving through the streets of L.A. or New York, GTA 2 is special in that it gives the player more imaginative freedom. Since Anywhere City can literally be anywhere, the player is free to imagine what futuristic city they’re driving in and what time period it’s set. Or, players can simply enjoy the vagueness and mystery of Anywhere City without pondering over its real-life counterpart. Grand Theft Auto 2 Anywhere City may seem random, especially in comparison to the other fictional locations the franchise has explored, but the developers decided to pursue this idea to make sure everyone could feel like the city was their own.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/grand-theft-auto-location-setting-anywhere-city-gta2/

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