Sometimes when I go through my daily life stages, or just watch television programmes and movies, I like to compare how these events would play out in a video game and how they’d work. (Which is why I was very passionate about my Doctor Who video game article).
With the release of the Netflix exclusive Orange is the New Black Season 2, and having watched the new season premiere for it, I’ve begun to question why the hell is a Prison based video game still just a niche and not applied into an actual game?
Ok, I’m not saying that there hasn’t been a prison based video game, there’s been many games that involve prison breaks and such in the game (Saints Row 2 remains on the top of my head for this) whilst there’s also been Prisoner of War (which I don’t fully consider as a PRISON game) or the Prison Break video game – which in theory should of been great but there was just some empty aspects so the game wasn’t anything too notable.
What do I want then? I’ve been thinking about this all week as I’ve been re-watching Season 1 of Orange is the New Black, and have just watched the season premiere of Season 2; I’ve imagined that Rockstar could make such a great video game adaption, not just of Orange is the New Black but also any type of prison game with a similar formula in general! While we are waiting for other Rockstar games such as Agent, another Red Dead game, Bully 2 and more, I’d definitely hope that Rockstar would attempt to make a game like Orange is the New Black.
The set up would work perfectly. Imagine having a in depth map of a prison which is fully explorable and with many hidden areas, it could even be a prison island similar to Alcatraz! Bully has proven that a small area of a building of a school campus with a small town built around it works, and the same could be applied but replacing the campus with a prison and the town with open areas for the players to explore. The amount of diverse characters that would enter the prison (just as in Orange is the New Black) could reflect both the comedic side of characters (just as in the programme there’s Crazy Eyes, Taystee and more to provide comedy) while also having a dramatic emotional and engaging impact. The idea would be trying to fit in, with missions where you work for different characters to appeal to everyone and try to avoid conflict (which of course would somehow produce more conflict to create an exciting game).
I could honestly see the exaggerated story of Piper Kerman (which is Piper Chapmans story in Orange is the New Black) playing out in a video game where you first have to appeal to Red after pissing her off and working for her doing certain missions, prison violence would be restricted to fist fights while guards aren’t around, but then again weapons can be obtained such as screwdrivers to give the protagonist more strength. The story can be engaging enough for people to want to play the game and such.
Now I’m not saying I wish for a Orange is the New Black video game (although I wouldn’t reject it) what I AM saying is that something in a similar style could work. So the plot line would obviously have to be different so it’s not mimicking Orange is the New Black too closely; perhaps the protagonist ends up having to deal drugs around the prison, or attempting a big prison break out with all the inmates or anything from the wacky minds of Rockstar.
What kind of elements would you want from a prison video game? Would you agree Rockstar would be the best publishers for a game like this? Leave a comment here and tell us your view!
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