Port Desire, the hemmed-in city setting of immersive sim No Law, is hard to place. At points, it reminds me of walking around Lisbon. It shares that Portuguese city's verticality, where hill-straddling streets shouldered by colourful houses and corner shops can feel like tiers on a wedding cake. The strong sunlight and bursts of foliage reinforce the mediterranean vibes. Yet, the port city's structure and history is much closer to Kowloon Walled City, the ungoverned Chinese enclave that existed within British-owned Hong Kong.
Through the 1900s, with the British government taking a hands-off policy to the tiny district and the Chinese government exercising no control over its citizens, Kowloon became the most densely populated city on earth, with 33,000 citizens living in just 2.6-hectare borders. With virtually no official police presence, the city attracted anyone looking for a less-observed, less-regulated life – gangs, refugees, and a surprising number of unlicensed dentists.
As one of No Law's creative directors, Tor Frick, tells it, Port Desire is very similar. Not specifically the dentists bit, more the general, isolated lawlessness.
"The city is surrounded by deep seas and a border wall," Frick says. "This is a lawless city set between three neighbouring countries. This is like no man's land." There's a peacekeeping force that maintains the status quo and, as Frick puts it, "make sure it doesn't explode." None of the neighbouring countries wants to take over the city, but nor do they want it to disappear.
"This is a very convenient playground for all kinds of powers," Frick explains. "The neighbouring countries can do shady stuff here. There's illegal medical research, all kinds of vices and smuggling. This is a perfect scapegoat place."
Into that tinderbox, finely balanced on a tightrope above an open fire, you enter. Grey Harker, an ex-military hardcase just looking for the quiet life. Frick won't go into detail about exactly what happens at the start of No Law beyond saying "Essentially, you were wronged by the [city's] four mayors and you're going after them." From that fixed starting point, you are free to tackle the mayors in whatever you order you want.
Though, Frick says, the order you choose will "change their relationship to each other, their narrative, and also change the game systemically." He uses the example of finding a mayor who eats at a particular restaurant. Early in the game, they may be virtually undefended, but if you've knocked off a couple of their fellow magistrates and will find them much more heavily defended – "they know he's coming for them so they arm up."
But, this is getting away from what I saw of No Law – which didn't include any mayors or hint of the inciting incident that kicks off Harker's rampage through Port Desire. Instead Neon Giant co-founders Frick and Arcade Berg show off a lower stakes mission. There is a hotel and in that hotel is a room and in that room is a safe and in a safe is some intel that Harker needs. And they're going to show me two-ish different ways to get it.
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/we-want-people-to-try-and-outsmart-the-game-no-law-aims-for-arkane-style-reactivity-within-a-dangerous-walled-city
