The environment is an important part of any video game. A good setting can immediately enhance an adventure, while a boring one can damage the overall experience. Junglers tend to fall into the former category. After all, exploring or traversing an area filled with overgrown trees and flora tends to be exciting. Plus, greenery always looks beautiful – as long as the game at least has solid graphics.
That doesn’t mean all games in a jungle are good, because that’s not true. However, there are several fantastic titles that put you in that kind of setting. The following are the best.
7/7 Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune
Nathan Drake’s adventures throughout the Uncharted series take him to many different parts of the world. However, in the first game it mostly takes him to jungle areas. He and Sully wander through a jungle early in the game, which leads them to a scrapped Nazi U-boat. Later, Nate and Elena land in another green wilderness when their plane is shot down.
There is good terrain for the protagonist, as he makes use of the trees and vines for his climbs. Still, he doesn’t just go there for some parkour fun. He visits the jungle in hopes of finding more information about the treasure known as El Dorado.
6/7 Crysis
In Crysis, North Korean forces have taken over the Lingshan Islands. There happen to be some American archaeologists on the same island and have important information. So a team of American soldiers must infiltrate the place and rescue them. This is the basic premise of the title and the explanation of why you spend the game on an island.
The area is filled with jungles that you have to cross. This means a lot of wading through trees and other greenery to reach your goals. You’ll also occasionally come across a few outposts and other buildings in the middle of the jungle. Everything looks good, as Crysis is one of the most graphically impressive PC games ever.
5/7 Crash Bandicoot
Real-life Bandicoots tend to live in rainforests or other forested areas. Crash from the iconic Crash Bandicoot series tends to hang around the jungle, especially in the original game. At the beginning of the first adventure, he washes up on a beach and heads into a jungle.
The place is filled with boxes and dangerous creatures. It doesn’t look much like a real jungle, as there’s a long way through the middle of it all that the trees and flora somehow haven’t covered. However, this is obviously just for gameplay reasons. The overgrown greenery that the jungle is known for can be seen on either side of the trail. Crash spends the first two-thirds of the game in areas like this.
4/7 Donkey Kong Country returns
The Donkey Kong clan is one of the most iconic families in gaming. And since they’re all monkeys, it’s no surprise that they spend a lot of time in the jungle. In fact, that’s where their home is. During Donkey Kong Country Returns, the aptly named Donkey Kong Island is invaded by the Tiki Tak tribe, who steal the protagonists’ bananas.
Naturally, Esel and Diddy can’t let this slide, so they travel around the whole island to get the fruit back. Technically, there is only one world in the game called a jungle. Still, some of the other worlds, including the ruins and forest, have a jungle theme, so that counts.
3/7 Far Cry 3
Things start to go wrong immediately in Far Cry 3 when protagonist Jason Brody and his friends end up on the dangerous Rook Islands. It is filled with many unpleasant characters who will try to murder you on sight. At least the place looks beautiful.
Although the island is not completely covered in jungle, there are many of them. And throughout the game you spend a lot of time going through them. In fact, much of the protagonist’s journey is about acclimating to the wilderness. That wilderness also contains a bunch of animals, several of which will try to kill you.
2/7 Shadow Of The Tomb Raider
Fascinating locations are a big part of the Tomb Raider series. After all, it’s always interesting to see where Lara Croft’s adventures will take her next. In Shadow Of The Tomb Raider, they mostly take her to jungle areas. Not just any area, but she visits the Peruvian jungle in search of the lost city of Paititi in hopes of stopping an impending apocalypse.
Most of the game takes place in the jungle itself. The area contains many secrets, including a bunch of tombs, as you would expect from a Tomb Raider game. However, Lara is not alone in the wilderness. She often encounters paramilitary forces and the occasional predator. As such, you must often use the jungle environment to your advantage.
Metal Gear Solid 3 is a prequel game set in the 1960s that shows you how Big Boss became a legendary soldier. His mission, in the game, takes him to the territory of the Soviet Union. More specifically, he finds himself in a Soviet jungle.
You spend almost the entire game in the wilderness, sneaking around. And it’s not just a nice setting – the environment is also important from a gameplay point of view. This is because it is important to camouflage yourself in order to blend in with your surroundings. Additionally, you can hide in the grass or climb trees to stay out of sight. So in many ways you must become one with the jungle to complete your mission.
