Ever since they laid their eyes on the first trailer for His Majesty GTA 6, many have started to consider 2024 video game like a passing yearbefore entering the next one which, barring unexpected delays, should give us the new criminal adventure from Rockstar Games (here is our preview of GTA 6).
While we wait to see new material on the blockbuster set (also) in Vice City, we want to dive headlong into the realm of speculation, to try to answer a question: what could Rockstar Games’ game set in the Middle Ages be like? No, we’re not talking about Rustlerthe GTA at the time of the knights of Jutsu Games, but of a rumored production from the house of Red Dead Redemption (here is Rustler’s review).
What do we know?
Nothing certain is known about this elusive Project Medieval. The first mention of the project was made on Reddit in 2019 by a self-styled insider, and subsequently was the user of X Budzcario, which has a page dedicated to Rockstar productions to mention it on several occasions. Basically, right now we cannot in any way make concrete hypotheses about the existence of the game, but we want to fantasize about it for at least two valid reasons.
The first is that on X we came across the profile of a Senior Environment Artist from the GTA house, https://twitter.com/JonBick0/status/1780225881924919652on which it is possible to admire splendid concept art with majestic landscapes, castles and knights in armour, some with a more fantasy style, others more in line with a medieval setting.
The second is that with the future of Red Dead Redemption perhaps it would simply be nice to see it side by side the Grand Theft Auto series from a new IP set in the Middle Ages.
We know that for the current Rockstar Games there may be less space for alternative intellectual properties to GTA, considering not only the human and economic resources used to bring the sixth chapter to life, but also because the upper levels of Take Two and the studio itself could identify a limit in projects far from the modern era: the impossibility of packaging multiplayer experiences equally capable of attracting large segments of the public for long periods of time. Having said that, dreaming is possible, so…
Setting and characters
We mentioned Bick’s concept art earlier, some of which depicts more fantasy architecture. Well, we would like the game in question to avoid contamination of this type, following the path of other Rockstar Games productions. It could therefore propose credible scenarios, and as in the case of Red Dead Redemption refer to real historical periods, without, however, tracing significant events with precision.
It also happens that Rockstar North is located in Edinburgh, in Scotland, with an important medieval history to draw inspiration from and iconic real-life characters to use as inspiration to create other fictitious ones. Think, simply, of Sir William Wallacecourageous leader who led the rebellion of his people against the English occupying forces.
We can already imagine the distorted and parodic version of the national hero, in true Rockstar style, trained to show an iron will and sense of sacrifice in front of his men, but in reality assailed by the fear of dying in battle, or worse. We can almost see her while, intending to shirk her duty, she decides to send her willing loyalists to the front line, unaware that they are giving their lives for a scoundrel.
On the other hand, the house of GTA has already done something similar with Abraham Reyes, leader of the Mexican rebels in Red Dead Redemption (here is the special on the porting of Red Dead Redemption). Behind his boasted love for his people and freedom, Reyes poorly concealed a thirst for power, selfishness and tyrannical inclinations, perhaps even worse than those of the governor he wanted to overthrow.
And then we think of pot-bellied and capricious gentlemen, busy eating as much as they can during sumptuous receptions in large castles, or to high religious officials with a much more active sexual life than expected. The creative possibilities regarding the main and secondary characters of the adventure are truly numerous, and the same goes for the protagonist of this journey. From the member of the army, to the thief and frequenter of taverns full of drunkards, everything would really be welcome, especially if the non-hero of the moment was accompanied by three-dimensional and credible supporting characters, rich in the many positive and negative facets of the human being.
A living world, spectacular clashes
Based on what was achieved in Red Dead Redemption 2, Rockstar Games could with GTA VI take NPC interactions to the next level. Already in the trailer we saw an impressive variety of people, capable of distinguishing themselves by habits and physical characteristics and with the team that aspires to perfection – as declared by Take Two CEO Strauss Zelnick – we can’t wait to see more of this aspect of the experience.
Now, let’s take what was said about NPCs and let’s transfer it to a medieval context. We could witness the hard way in the fields, farmers chasing fleeing chickens or even riots triggered by criminals and promptly quelled by passing guards, clearly with the sound of lethal blows. Mindful of one of our misdeeds, a specific soldier he might look at us with suspicion as we pass by himon the other hand, a man from the common people who we have helped might remember it and ask us for support in a random event, perhaps more structured than those experienced by Arthur Morgan.
Let’s imagine a newly married couple engaged in the celebrations, interrupted by the arrival of the gentleman on duty who asks to bless the marriage by claiming the “ius primae noctis“. We are actually talking about a famous historical fake also appeared in films such as Breaveheartof a supposed right of feudal lords in medieval Europe that gave them the ability to have intercourse with a bride on her wedding night.
Forced to see his wife leave the house to go to the master’s house, the villager in difficulty in our imaginary mission could involve us in his plan to prevent the abuse and save her. As we were saying, this is just an example, but we believe it is useful to underline one thing: a setting like this for a new game would give Rockstar the opportunity to put us in truly peculiar situations. And now, our favorite part of the speech.
Thanks to the combination of RAGE Engine and Euphoria, the experts have been giving us engaging shootings with a high level of credibility for years, think once again of the results obtained in Red Dead Redemption 2. The merit, in the case of the videogame western, is not only the aspect of blood or the mutilations and the smoke coming out of the guns. In fact, a large part of it goes to splendid death animations of opponentsalways different based on the position and state of motion of the unfortunate people and consistent with the damage we inflicted on them with our weapons.
Without the bow and its derivatives, in the case of the Middle Ages Rockstar would have to face a significant challenge, creating a combat system based on melee and swords and shields, spears, spiked maces and the like, very different from those he has been assembling for years now. Thanks to high-level physics management, it would be wonderful to be able to engage in combat capable of giving us back all the heaviness of the blows inflicted and received, between armor that deforms in real time and the blood that begins to leak from the wounds, in the areas left exposed by the armor. However, all on the basis of a gameplay capable of combining visual realism and accessibility on the gaming front, without therefore going down the path of the offensive technicalities of a Kingdom Come Deliverance (here is the preview on Kingdom Come Deliverance 2).
Between a battle on horseback, an animal that would benefit enormously from its iteration in Red Dead Redemption 2, and the siege of a castle, a similar title could give us an important amount of memorable moments. As emerged once again in the GTA VI trailer, the Rockstar-branded graphic amazement does not pass so much through the polygon count of the individual character, but through the obsessive care placed in the creation of every element of the virtual worlds, from water yield, through the behavior of people and animals, up to lighting and variety in terms of vegetation, animations and scenarios. Thinking about this, the idea of an open world action adventure in the Middle Ages becomes even more fascinating… at least for us. What do you think? Tell us in the comments.
Tags: love medieval open world Rockstar GTA
