Gene's a Grand Theft Auto, The Getaway and Max Payne lover when it comes to video games based on some of his favourite crime and gangster films. I took this idea on from Philip Glenister's quote about what he would be like if he was 12 in the Sony PlayStation generation and here's the result... The video games are extremely violent, but feature the things he dreams of in wanting to become a police officer one day and features characters who distrust each other but are forced to co-operate in order to reach their goal (and even survive).
Set in 2008 (as Gene is 12 making him born in 1996 and Alex Price is 8 born in 2000)
Rated M due to 18+ Rockstar/Team Soho video games references and really don't want to encourage younger readers to play those underage.
Alone in his studio apartment in downtown Broker, sleeping on the mattress on the floor his jet black hair fell softly on the pillow. The Liberty city lights were shining through the cracks in the curtains, illuminating his pale face as he slept. But the serenity of the moment was short lived, as a loud and powerful knocking came from the front door of his apartment.
12 year old Gene Hunt was playing on his beloved Sony PlayStation 2 slimline console; it was one of the classic Grand Theft Auto titles and could still knock spots off from the newer 4 version on the new PS3, Alex Price came into the lounge to watch her beloved Gene Genie on his games console; it was a typical boy thing, but she decided to get curious about the video game. Gene's interest in crime and gangster video games for PlayStation is shown by the promotional posters on the walls in his bedroom. Their plots had some meaning for Gene himself.
"Hey, Gene what game are you playing on your PlayStation?" she asked the very gorgeous blue eyed twelve year old who became smitten looking adorably confused with his shaggy long hair.
"Grand Theft Auto III, it's a classic third person crime action adventure thriller game." explained the Gene Genie who knew the 2001 game was based loosely on New York City and is a cross between a gangster film and an RPG.
The young Gene Genie is obsessed with crime film style games on his Sony Playstation. In his head, he lives in them and sees himself as the undercover cop the way he goes around policing the dealers on screen, in his favourite Grand Theft Auto, The Getaway and Max Payne games there's a very fine line between the criminal and the copper and he sometimes gets very close to crossing that line but he does always ensure he stays on the right side of the law.
"You know, Alex I like to sit there, listen to what they have to say, then half-an-hour later they realise that I was right." replied the 12 year old boy guiding the maverick undercover cop on the screen to his next mission with the control pad, arresting and beating up the wrong uns with an array of useful firearms and driving lots of vehicles around. Although completely different, Gene and Sam's policing methods will complement each other.
"Oh, that's so you Gene!" Alex Price giggled as she watched her boyfriend on the car chases in Grand Theft Auto III.
"When it's not your car, you can throw it around a bit." Gene was having great fun with the secret forbidden thrill of 18 rated games "I was putting my foot down, slamming on the brakes and trying to hit certain marks which meant I had to do several rehearsals before saving my data on to memory card to get it right!" he smirks and laughs with a cheeky wink.
"Really? I would have never have guessed, Gene."
"But I hate having to travel on the weekends with my boring old mother in law from London and she'd say to dad 'you're driving awfully fast dear, can you slow down - you can do it at work but this is Richmond..." mocking his mother in law Elaine Downing in the process, making eight year old Alex Price end up in raptures of laughter.
Other games the young Gene Genie likes are The Getaway and it's Black Monday sequel, set in London about a team of police officers who investigate notorious criminals in the capital city of England with a storyline following their parallel lives.
"You really shouldn't be playing those grown up PlayStation games!" teased eight year old Alex Price wearing her posh school uniform in red with a beret, pinafore skirt in red gingham and best Clarks school shoes in black.
"Err, why not? They're better than stupid Crazy Frog!" exclaimed 12 year old Gene Hunt turning up the volume to listen to some of his favourite in game radio stations on the HD ready television his Sony PlayStation 2 Slimline was plugged into. "YouTube fads get old so fast and how can a ringtone character have successful merchendise?"
"Yeah, but what if my Mummy finds out from your mummy? She won't let me come over to play at yours!"
Life is sweet for the 12 year old Gene Hunt who dreams of being an undercover CID police officer and being amongst the action, but for now Grand Theft Auto, The Getaway and Max Payne video games on the PlayStation are the next best thing. There are four different endings that depend on the player's actions throughout the game in The Getaway: Black Monday.
"OK, but keep it a Gene Genie secret; promise Pricicle?" Sergeant Ben "Mitch" Mitchell is chasing down an armed teenage robber on the screen. The teen robber stops running, instead aiming his gun at Mitch. Mitch orders him to drop his weapon. However, the teen then chooses to try to turn around and escape. Mitch fires his weapon, which makes it seem like he purposely shot the teen in the back. One year later, Mitch is on his first day back on the team. The team heads towards an East London housing estate, where they believe the Collins Crew is storing drugs in a flat.
The team breaks into the flat, but finds it empty (with only two Collins members), but PC Harvey and another SO19 officer find a door that leads to the flat next door, and find tons of drugs. They soon chase them down in the apartment complex and PC Harvey is injured in the leg. Mitch single-handedly hunts down the remaining suspects, who take an old woman hostage in the roof. Back at the station, Mitch is taunted about the teenager shooting incident and almost loses his temper. Inspector Munroe then informs them of a shooting at a boxing club in Shoreditch. After arriving at the scene, Mitch chases Jimmer Collins, who manages to escape.
Munroe suspects a Latvian gang is responsible and assigns Mitch and Stoppard to join a unit of SO19, who are preparing to raid a scrapyard in Lambeth to detain the suspect, the game shifts to Eddie's story. Nick and Jimmer Collins had originally planned to steal credit card codes and print their own cards. When Danny West owes a gambling debt to Collins, he forces West to get people to steal the credit card codes from the Skobel Group, and steal the Icon (a small religious artifact, which in the end is revealed to be a case in which diamonds are hidden), so that no one realizes the card codes were stolen.
All of Gene Hunt's dreams are able to be played in this police officer versus gangsters sandbox style game; seemly much cooler than Hotwheels cars whizzing from an orange plastic track into cereal boxes. The young Gene imagines himself brandishing a gun and has a glint in his eye, smiling "My reputation precedes me."
A major feature in the game was its approach to immersion and being "movie like", achieved mostly by not including the typical HUD, such as with car chases being done by signaling the player with the vehicle's indicators, rather than a large arrow above the car or the player characters limping or bleeding profusely to represent low health instead of a health bar/meter.
The second half of the game follows the story of a suspended and disgraced police officer, Detective Constable Frank Carter (Joe Rice) in service with the London Metropolitan Police Flying Squad as he attempts to wipe out Jolson and his gang. Both stories take place parallel to each other causing Hammond and Carter to come into contact on several occasions. Carter's partner, DI Joe Fielding (Vic Robinson) is shot at the beginning of the game, leaving Carter alone and without armed assistance while on duty. Carter also reports to several disturbances that have been caused by the player as the character Mark Hammond, such as the Collins Crew establishment which Mark burned to the ground and Carter was escorting Jake Jolson before he was broken out by Hammond. Due to his "Rambo ways", Carter's superior officer, DCI Clive McCormack, suspends him pending investigation. While suspended, Carter grows skeptical of McCormack's integrity and covertly follows his boss to a depot operated by Jolson's Bethnal Green Mob. Using stealth tactics, Carter discovers McCormack's corrupt relationship with Charlie Jolson.
"It's like a modern day American Western with all the goodies and baddies, only twenty times better!" replied Gene Hunt to all of his mates at Salford Comprenhensive School in awe of how Gene manages to play all of his favourite 18 rated crime and gangster video games without the adults knowing, it was better than finding out about girls in the lads magazines or on secret Google searches.
"When you're meant to be doing your homework, Guv!" nagged Sam Tyler who was the serious one in their friendship and looked like a young John Simm with his jet black hair, slim body and a sunny smile with beautiful brown eyes; sometimes very much playing second fiddle and is led by Gene Hunt.
"Which one are you, mate?" asked Sam Tyler and quick as a flash, the 12 year old Gene Hunt answers "The cops of course with a hint of the criminal." he will be expected to follow his father Stephen Hunt into the "family business" of being police officers; while the women in the Gene Genie's family are actresses, teachers or stay at home mums "I'm still waiting to be mobbed in Waitrose with mum!" is gifted with a rare twinkle and a mischievous sense of irony for a boy of 12 years old; dressed in a black polo-neck that is far nattier than his Salford Comprehensive School uniform has even been, since starting in September 2007 but was becoming a poster boy for a sort of Ford Transit white van man mentality as that was Gene's upbringing in 2008 Manchester surrounded by single mothers, chavs, drug dealers and dole dossers.
A friend of Gene's father is a boorish man; and smells of the pub; a Santa's grotto for the young Manchurian boy is the local Railway Arms pub which to a streetwise 12 year old of circa 2008, became this magical, dark place full of men, Sky cable sports on the massive television, a snooker table and little winking lights from the fruit machines. That to him was just the most glamorous thing. But Stephen Hunt's dodgy mate is also a shiftless waster, is repulsive into drinking, drug-taking, sleeping around and trying to scam his family, friends and neighbours around Salford, Manchester. A neglectful and an irresponsible father with the energy of a bad council estate poet and his contempt for The System.
This is the background result I imagined if Gene Hunt was spending his childhood in the Sony PlayStation era and came into the world in 1996 instead of 1963 or 1970 something for his year of birth. Well what do you think?