The open world game that never stood a chance

In 2008, Midway games announced the development of a new game by Surreal Software that was unlike anything that the gaming industry had ever seen before. A sandbox style game set in Las Vegas with a protagonist that isn’t a violent felon with a CVS receipt for a criminal record. Instead he’s just an ordinary dude who’s trying to make some cash and build an empire, all for the good cause of preventing Vegas from turning into a family friendly tourist trap.

This Is Vegas

This Is Vegas would have you hopping around between casinos and clubs, participating in a large variety of activities, including but not limited to:

• Blackjack
• Poker
• Roulette
• Dancing
• Fight Clubs
• Illegal racing

Even though the trailers had a few shots of the protagonist carrying firearms, gunfights weren’t as prominent as in other games. The developers made it clear that the game’s central focus are the aforementioned activities, as seen in the early trailer below.

After racking more than $50m of costs, This Is Vegas was eventually scrapped as Midway, its publisher, suffered through bankruptcy, liquidating the entirety of its assets.

This Is Vegas was set to launch on the PC, the PlayStation 3, and the Xbox 360 in the fourth quarter of 2008 despite being announced in the same year. The release date kept being delayed until eventually Midway filed bankruptcy. To put things into perspective, The Witcher 3’s development costs were only $46m. Both are listed on Wikipedia’s List of Most Expensive Games to Develop.

During its bankruptcy, Midway sold the majority of its assets to Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, including This Is Vegas and its developer, Surreal Software. In August 2010, it was officially canceled by Warner Bros.

What makes This Is Vegas so special?

It was a game so ambitious yet so expensive it bankrupted both Midway and Surreal. Despite never seeing the light of day. At the time, it caught my eye with its focus on delivering the gameplay through the setting, the city of Las Vegas itself, rather than through gang wars, shooting your enemies and an ultra-realistic storyline that revolves around the fragile relationships of trust and betrayal between hardened criminals, similar to those found in most games of that era.

The setting was its selling point, the thing that would differentiate it the most from any other Grand Theft Auto clone. Gameplay footage show your protagonist driving around in a sports car, trying to be “The cool guy at the club” as Alan Patmore, the game’s then Executive producer, puts it.

You can watch all of the released footage down below.

You walk into an empty club that’s devoid of any life sign. You try to revive it and attract more customers by dancing, beating up any drunkards, and by bartending. One particular minigame involved you spraying drunk girls with water to pick a winner for their wet T-shirt contest; it’s as weird and disturbing as it sounds. However, it doesn’t hold a candle to some of the outlandish activities that any Yakuza game has to offer.

An Experience Unlike Any Other:

This Is Vegas was supposed to be extremely over the top and arcade-y. It’s much more similar to the Saint’s row games than Grand Theft Auto; it would’ve been nice to explore a virtual Vegas. It had that advantage since not many games were set in Las Vegas, and I wouldn’t count Fallout New Vegas as one of them.

As previously mentioned, the various gameplay mechanics that This Is Vegas offers are similar to those found in a Yakuza game. There’s a twist to gambling in it though. You get the option to try to cheat at Blackjack without catching the attention of the casino staff by wearing specially made sunglasses that allow you to see the dealer’s cards, because wearing sunglasses indoors in a bright casino doesn’t warrant the attention of the staff at all.

The game had all the elements that made Saint’s Row and Yakuza so enjoyable, with a setting that was rarely explored in the industry. Cruising down past the Bellagio and Luxor Hotels, exploring all the landmarks that Sin City has to offer sounds like a treat.

AAA vs Indie:

It’s a shame that this industry doesn’t grant the developers the ability to unleash their creativity more often. Game development is often bogged down by a number of factors that limit and restrain the visions of the developers.

Such as the most frustrating one, the pursuit of pretty graphics that add nothing of value to the game other than meaningless eye candy. The high budgets needed to animate and design all the intricate and lifelike details such as the ones found in Sony’s most recent games are worth mentioning as well.

You’d think AAA gaming would notice that these absurd budgets and their laser-like focus on making repetitive cookie cutter games that are devoid of any soul is what’s ruining them. You’d think they’d realize this in an industry where the indie developers proved repeatedly that pretty graphics aren’t the main selling point of videogames, but rather the gameplay mechanics. The existence of many pixel based and 2D games that are universally praised and acclaimed by critics and fans alike are proof of that.

I really wish that This Is Vegas wasn’t cancelled the way it did, not because I believe that it would’ve sold well, or that it would’ve turned out to be a great game. Rather simply because it would’ve incentivized more developers and more companies to strive to make the games they wish to make, not the ones that the shareholders think would bring them the biggest margin of profit.

Would you have played This Is Vegas? Does it seem like a cool game to you? What would you have changed about it? Share with us your opinion down below.

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