6 video games Singapore has featured in

Singapore and video game reality collided on Wednesday (Sept 30), when the official Call of Duty Twitter account masqueraded as a news portal and "live-tweeted" a fake explosion in the Marina Bay area.

While the publicity stunt to hype up Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 was widely criticised, the island was most likely chosen because it is set to feature in the first-person shooter, which will be released on Nov 6 by publisher Activision.

In the opening level set in a dystopian version of 2065, the player (presumably as a US soldier augmented with futuristic technology) is dispatched to Singapore to investigate a secret CIA site that has gone incommunicado.

It might sound new, but Singapore has been the setting for several high-profile video games in the past.

Here's six of them to fill you in.

---

1) CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS 2 (2012)

---

 

 

Even before Black Ops 3, Singapore made its CoD debut in its predecessor Black Ops 2 as a side-mission from the main storyline.

Also set in the future with island overrun by Chinese forces in 2025, the player is tasked with performing a surgical strike on a freighter containing a deadly weapon docked at Keppel Terminal.

The level was also adapted to act as a multiplayer map.

Once the level is completed, the player is rewarded with an achievement entitled Singapore Sling.

Real original, guys.

---

2) BATTLEFIELD 4 (2013)

---

Electronic Arts' Battlefield series is widely regarded as CoD's main rival in the shooter field.

Possibly following in Activision's footsteps, Battlefield 4 – which went head-to-head with Call of Duty: Ghosts in 2013 – was released for next-generation consoles featuring a full single player level set in Singapore.

Once again, China has taken over the island and the player and his motley squad are deployed there to destroy an airfield (supposedly Changi Airport) to eliminate their foes' air superiority.

However, the developers took several liberties when designing the stage, from the insane typhoon-like weather as the player attempts to land on the beachhead to the crowbarring in of what seems to be Marina Bay Sands, even though it is in a completely different part of the island from Changi.

Army buffs will also know that the game features two pieces of Singaporean-made weaponry – the modular mounting system variant of the SAR 21 and the U-100 MK5, better known as the Ultimax 100 SAW.

You can watch a video featuring the Battlefield 4 Singapore level in the video below, but do note that it features a good deal of profanity.

WARNING: VIDEO CONTAINS EXPLICIT LANGUAGE

 

 

---

3) MEDAL OF HONOR: RISING SUN (2003)

---

 

 

Before CoD and Battlefield came to the fore, Medal of Honor was the top dog for military shooters that was primarily set in the World War 2 era.

Rising Sun, which was only released for consoles, was the first game to be set in the Pacific theatre where players take on the role of US marine Joe Griffin.

In the sixth chapter set in March 1943, Griffin is sent to Singapore to infiltrate a secret meeting of Axis officers.

With the help of a Japanese-American undercover operative and a British special forces man, Griffin manages to escape on a double decker bus with valuable intelligence despite getting his cover blown.

---

4) DEUS EX: HUMAN REVOLUTION (2011)

---

PHOTO: SQUARE ENIX

The last shooter on this list, this 2011 prequel to the original game released in 2000 was the third installment of the popular series about cybernetically-enhanced humans.

In the penultimate chapter of the game set in 2027, protagonist Adam Jensen finds himself in a top secret Singapore research lab after stowing away in a stasis pod from Shanghai.

Jensen, who was augmented with technology to save his life earlier in the game, must rescue several scientists and his ex-girlfriend.

While the stage is set in Singapore, most of the action takes place indoors from what I've seen and there aren't any obvious signs that it is Singapore.

 

 

---

5) NEED FOR SPEED: NITRO (2009)

---

 

 

Racing in Singapore might not feel like a foreign idea thanks to the staging of F1 races here, but its squeaky clean image does feel a little at odds with a series that's all about the underground racing scene.

Nevertheless, Need for Speed: Nitro features a rather decent take of the Lion City's cityscape as the backdrop for a race circuit.

Merlion? Checked.

Esplanade? Checked.

Singapore Flyer? Also checked.

The game also features a Singaporean driver named Zarinah, although she really doesn't sound a bit Singaporean from the video above.

---

6) FORMULA 1 SERIES (2009-2015)

---

 

 

If you're looking for a truly authentic recreation of Singapore in a video game, however, look no further than the official F1 video game series by Codemasters.

A year after making its F1 debut in 2008, Singapore's Marina Bay Circuit was featured in the 2009 edition of the F1 racing simulation game and has featured in every edition since.

The latest edition, F1 2015, which you can view in the video above, looks especially sharp after the series made the leap to next-generation consoles.

Source: YouTube