This Is Vegas

PS3,Xbox 360,PC
Release Date: Q4 2008

This is Vegas is the upcoming action game from Midway that drops you into a stylized version of Las Vegas and lets you live a virtual life. The game is being developed by Surreal Software, of The Suffering fame, and takes an open-world approach. While this may sound like a setup that’s been done to death (albeit not set exclusively in Vegas), Surreal’s going in a unique, ballsy direction with the game. Rather than try to outdo the cinematic take of the gold standard for the genre, Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto games, This is Vegas is taking a humorous, tongue-in-cheek approach. Surreal has tapped writer Jay Pinkerton, a former Cracked magazine editor, to help craft the game’s story. Surreal representatives say the result falls somewhere between Ocean’s Eleven and a Will Ferrell movie. As far as gameplay goes, we got a general overview and the chance to try out three short sequences from the game that gave us an idea of where it’s headed.