5 Video Games That Take Place in an Alternate 2021

So far, 2021 has been… interesting to say the least. It doesn’t feel that much different than last year as we are still living in the hustle and bustle –or lack thereof– of the COVID-19 pandemic in most parts of the world. 

While we still don’t know how the rest of the year is going to play out, we have an idea of what the world looks like today in general. This may not be what any of us expected 2021 to look like a few years ago, but what did we expect? More specifically, what did game developers expect 2021 to look like? Well, here are five video games that take place in 2021.

Dead Rising 3 and 4 

Both 2013’s Dead Rising 3, and 2016’s Dead Rising 4 take place in 2021 despite the difference in characters and setting.

Dead Rising 3 follows a new protagonist, a young mechanic named Nick Ramos, as he attempts to survive the zombie apocalypse in the fictional city of Los Perdidos, California just a few days after the city’s initial outbreak. 

Later that same year, the original Dead Rising protagonist, Frank West, makes a return to Willamette, Colorado –the site of the series’ first outbreak– 15 years after the events of the first game. As the prolific photojournalist we know and love, Frank sets out to investigate a military compound that is secretly being used for zombie research. 

We may be living in a world altered by the presence of a serious virus, but thankfully, there are no zombies walking among us today. 

Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X 

Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X, originally released in 2009 for the Xbox 360 and PS3, may start off in 2014, but most of the game actually takes place in 2021.

Six years after the Air Force deactivated the H.A.W.X program, Major David Crenshaw –our lovable protagonist– is now working for Artemis, a private military company who has just signed a lucrative deal with Brazil.

Following a series of unfortunate and overly complicated events, Artemis ends up at war with the U.S, forcing Crenshaw to betray the company and rejoin the U.S Airforce to defend his country. 

Now, this one isn’t exactly out of the realm of possibility as all aspects of the plot, characters, and world are based in reality, but considering the fact that the U.S isn’t at war with a private military company right now, we’ll say this one is pretty different from the real 2021. 

D/Generation HD

D/Generation originally released for everyone’s favorite console, Apple II, all the way back in the late 80’s. A remake of the game titled D/Generation HD released for PC in 2015, and Nintendo Switch in 2017.

The game takes place at Genoq’s headquarters, a leading corporation in biomedical research, who has been secretly working on the construction of illegal bioweapons. On June 26, 2021, disaster strikes as the weapons escape and threaten the company’s employees trapped in the building, and if they get out, the whole world. 

You show up to the building’s 80th floor with a package for Genoq’s lead scientist. As you climb the tower, you must decide whether you’ll help the survivors stranded in the building or just get on with your mission to stop the virus from escaping the building.

So, how does D/Generation’s view of 2021 hold up to the real thing? Well, they hit the nail on the head with the threat of a virus, though we don’t exactly have biomedical weapons walking around here.

The futuristic 2021 they thought of in the late 80s seems a little higher tech than what we actually got, but I can’t say it’s completely different –though being confined to one building does limit your view of the world.

Nano Breaker

The 2005 PlayStation 2 exclusive, Nano Breaker, may be the least grounded in reality out of all of those on the list –including the zombie apocalypse. I mean, it is made by Konami after all so we shouldn’t be surprised there. 

The player takes control of Jake, a cyber militant with a plasma blade that can transform into a slew of different weapons.

In this alternate 2021, the U.S has built an island research facility with the specific focus of developing nanotechnology for their military to use. The military loses control of the nanomachines and they set out on a quest to destroy humanity –I mean, who could have seen that one coming?

Jake then sets out to stop them by destroying the island’s main computer controlling the machines. 

Yeah this one is a bit out there. The U.S military has worked on nanotechnology, but there isn’t any threat of a robot takeover anytime soon, or at least, as far as we know…

Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2

Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 released in 2008 and picks up three years after the events of the first game, Trauma Center: Under the Knife, or Trauma Center: Second Opinion as it is known on the Wii. 

In the first game, medical science has advanced to the point where diseases like AIDS and Cancer are easily curable. However, with every positive advance in technology, comes a negative one as an evil terrorist organization has created a new disease called GUILT.

You play as Derek Stiles, a young surgeon with a special healing touch who eventually eradicates the new disease.

Of course, until three years later when a new strain of the disease pops up forcing the young doctor to use his healing touch once more.

The DS exclusive visual novel is in some ways better than the world we know. It’d be incredible to have the medical advances to cure disease present in the game, but the presence of a Terrorist organization purposely trying to spread disease is something we can happily live without.

There you have five of gaming’s best iterations of life in 2021. Surprisingly, a lot of them focus on the presence of some sort of disease or threat… A little bit eerie if you think about it.