GTA 6 City Of The Week: Indianapolis

GTA 6 City of the Week is a weekly article series here on GTA BOOM. Every week, we will evaluate a different city in the United States, gauging how well it would fit GTA 6 as a setting.

GTA V News Recap

This week for GTA 5 wasn't particularly news-heavy. There were no big releases, announcements or reveals to hype up the community. Rockstar did kick off a new GTA Online event which offered double RP and cash for Adversary Modes which focused on a team of bodyguard protecting a VIP from assassins in some shape or form. A few vehicles were also heavily discounted, including the Pegassi Reaper.

Most recently, Rockstar Games released the first part of their Stunt Race Creator guide, which seeks to assist new users and returning veterans alike with getting their grips on the newly updated Content Creator. GTA Online's official tool for creating fan-made jobs was overhauled with a ton of new props and some new features, which is why the guide is warranted. We adapted it in our own post.

Lacking any kind of official word on it, the buzz and hype around the allegedly leaked Biker DLC has died down, proving that maybe even leakers with a good track record can be wrong. Chances are we won't be seeing any kind of announcement this or next week, but who knows? Maybe the next GTA Online DLC is closer than we think.

With such a slow news week, you might all be eager to read about our analysis of yet another potential setting for GTA 6 within the USA. Don't worry, next week will see the return of "GTA 6 Foreign City of the Week", of which we only published one so far. In the meantime, however, let's stick to good 'ol America.

Indianapolis

The Crossroads of America serves several important financial and business related functions, what with it being the most populous city in the state of Indiana. Logistics, distribution,transportation — all of these essential industries are important to the economy of the city, and indeed, the whole country.

But everyone knows the city because of the racing. You know, the highly marketed media segment focusing on people getting payed way too much for driving expensive cars dangerously fast on specified racetracks.

As the second most populous city in the whole midwest, Indianapolis has risen to significant prominence. As a planned city, upon its foundation the city was just a single square mile large, neatly organised. Today, the city covers 372 square miles and has a population of well over 800 thousand people. The surrounding metropolitan area, in turn, is home to over 2 million.

The city is also well known for its universities. With IUPUI and an additional three private universities, Indianapolis is a favored destination for students from across the country, but especially the midwest. Other than education, there are several other industries driving the economy of Indianapolis. Historically, the city rivaled Detroit in terms of automobile manufacturing, and this aspect is still strong. Several factories producing essential components for vehicles are located in the city. Pharmaceuticals are another major industry, with Eli Lilly and Company, one of the medical giants of today having been founded in the city.

Three fortune 500 companies are based in Indianapolis, including the above mentioned Eli Lilly. The Simon Property Group just makes the list at position 488, while the last of the three is actually very prominent. Anthem, one of the largest health-insurance companies in the world is based in the city. An offshoot from the pharmaceuticals industry, biotech and healthcare are also major industries. In fact, Indianapolis is the only city in the whole country which has specialised employment concentrations in all five major areas of bio-science.

The main nickname of the city, "The Crossroads of America" comes from the fact that Indianapolis is a single day's drive away from over 70% of the entire country's population. This, mixed with the fact that the city has the most monuments dedicated to soldiers who died in war as well a veterans, has also made it a popular tourist attraction. It is a notable and scenic city that also happens to be a reasonable distance away from the vast majority of the country's denizens.

Sports-tourism, primarily focused on the large motorsport significance of the city is also prominent. Several notable racing events are held in the city, including the world's largest one-day event, the Indianapolis 500. Conventions are also a large draw for visitors. Among many others related to many industries, GenCon, the largest RPG convention in North America, is also hosted in Indianapolis.

The city's nickname of being a crossroads is also more literal. 4 interstate highways converge in the city, and the fourth largest railway network in the USA has a hub in the city as well, boosting the distribution industry as well.

In terms of geography, Indianapolis isn't too favorable. there isn't too much wilderness around the city, just roads, plains and more city. Only a few tiny sources of water are dotted around Indianapolis. Granted, the Great Lakes are sort of close by, but still way too far away to be included in a map along with a GTA-ified Indianapolis.

Crime

Indianapolis isn't particularly heavy on crime. It sits as the 22nd most dangerous city in the USA, which isn't too bad. Naturally the city comes with all of the typical trappings of a big city. Dallying in ill-reputed places after dark will make a robbery likely and a murder possible, and the crime rate is above the national average.

The city does have a pretty high percentage of rape, which doesn't really fit into GTA's profile. However, the murder rate is also kinda high, and as opposed to most other big cities, it has been on the rise these past years, with 138 homicides being reported in 2014.

Now, it might seem cold to speak about such traumatic occurrences like this, but come on, this is GTA we're talking about. It's all fictional and kinda necessary for the game, see?

Gang activity in Indianapolis isn't noteworthy, but obviously it is there. Gangs are responsible for much of the violence in the city and pretty much all of the drug distribution.

Recognition

Indianapolis may not be the most iconic of cities, but for US audiences it will be much more recognisable than for foreigners. We mean this beyond the obvious, of course, as some of the other cities we've looked at might not be all too familiar to many Americans either.

However seeing as Indianapolis is a popular national tourist location, many Americans will have been to the city at least once. As for foreigners, racing enthusiasts may be familiar with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, while those interested in war memorials (a surprisingly large niche) will be familiar with the many commemorative sites in the city.

However, those are still just two niches, which while large, are but a small fraction of the potential audience of GTA 6. As such, I'm afraid we must dock some points in this department, as the city just isn't all that iconic as to be recognised off-hand.

Story Potential

We are once again greeted by a blank slate city. There isn't much there on which to base a specific GTA storyline.

Granted, one possible venue would be the racing aspect. Racing has always been part of the franchise to some extent. How about creating a story focusing on the corruption permeating the motorsport industry. The protagonist would be a racer who refuses to be part of a race-rigging deal wherein he would be paid a large sum to allow another racer, who is secretly gang-funded, to win in order to make cash from bets.

As retaliation, his car would be sabotaged, and the racer would suffer from a bad crash and would go into a coma. After waking up, he'd be greeted by a world where the underhanded corrupt official have dominated the racing scene in the city, and after his crash, his name was blackened. You'd be contacted by an up-and-coming new gang in the city which would sponsor your return to the racing scene in exchange for your help. You'd act as a getaway driver at first, but after showing some prowess in combat, the gang would send you on all kinds of missions. These would all be related to sabotaging enemy cars, cutting off their funds or blackmailing opponents.

Over the course of the story, the gang funding you would get more and more ruthless and would start showing signs of turning on you, however in the end you break ties with them, win the finale of some racing season, exact revenge on those who caused your first crash and take control over the gang which was funding you.

Actually, scratch our first remark. Indianapolis has great story potential!

Final Verdict

B-*'Pros : Dat story potential though, decent crime rates Cons **: Poor geography, limited recognition

Indianapolis is kinda getting there, but might just fall short of being a good GTA setting. The fact that few players would recognise it, coupled with the unfavorable and unvaried geography are just too many curbs to be forgiven due to the great story potential which would place racing in the spotlight. The crime rate isn't too high, but it is there, so that is more of a neutral point than a true pro, but we put it up there nonetheless.

Which city do you hope to see next week?