Does Time Matter?

What’s the best time period for a video game that still revolves around Earth in some way? The cop-out answer is “the time period that best fits the game’s needs,” but we should look deeper than that. Grand Theft Auto IV might have lost some of its charm had Liberty City not been like a seedier version of present day NYC, but it still might have been fun to see Niko throw Caligula out of a chariot and cause mayhem in Ancient Rome. So which time is best for Earth and for video games? Arguments after the jump.

The Present - The present is pretty simple: It may be more down to Earth than any other video game time period depending on what you like to play. If you’re a sports aficionado, the sports world essentially demands you stay on the planet and in the present with yearly titles. If you’re not, there are still some must-have games that don’t fit into Earth’s past or future, like the aforementioned Grand Theft Auto series. There’s always Call of Duty 4 and Far Cry 2, even if the latter may have captured things we play video games to escape: endless commutes to work, disease, and the oppressive glare of the outdoors. The only problem? The present may be too restrictive.

Somehow I can't see this making it into GTA IV's downloadable content.

The Past - World War II alone is directly responsible for some of the greatest FPS’s around with the Call of Duty series, a few good and not-so-good flight-sims, and some great RTS games grounded in Earth’s reality (Company of Heroes) and some that aren’t (Command & Conquer: Red Alert’s alternate World War II). Then again, some of the past’s greatest strengths are also some of its greatest weaknesses. It’s hard to draw that line between real and fanciful, between the realistic offerings and the not-so unrealistic ones involving magic, time-travel, and alternate histories, though there’s always Bioshock to prove that you don’t need to be rooted in real history to produce a fine FPS. As for more classic Earth games set in the past, the one I dubbed “Frickin’ sweet,” was oldie but goodie E.V.O. The Search For Eden, which is all past.

The Axis will never know what hit them.

The Future - The future is a game developer’s dream because they can disguise anything that doesn’t seem realistic with a touch of techno babble and still tie it to Earth. Need an unrealistic weapon to complement your realistic shotgun? Hey look, a BFG 9000. Need a villain? Hello, alien menace to Earth! Need a setting? Earth’s people: now in space! Need a vehicle? Take a well-known present day craft, give it a few new angles and engines, bristle it with weaponry, and there you go. Heck, with this craft from Wing Commander II, they didn’t even bother to add a complimentary engine or wing.

Wing Commander 2's Morningstar. What, they couldn't add a single right-angle or something to make us believe this is a craft from the future?

My winner? The future by a landslide, but hey, I’m a Sci-Fi dork at heart. Sure, the future offers unparalleled creativity, but sometimes the design restrictions placed on a game with a theme rooted in the past or present result in a much better game. Absolute freedom can be dangerous. Then again, maybe these meanderings about time reveal the truth: it’s hard to argue with the “Let’s kick these Axis/criminal/alien asses off good ol’ terra firma” kind of mindset that comes with many of these aforementioned games, so maybe it flat out doesn’t matter what time the game takes place in if the defense or destruction of Earth is involved.