4. Houston, Texas
From the north to the western edge of the South, it would only seem right and even poetic for Rockstar to revisit the largest city of the state they portrayed so captivatingly in
Red Dead Redemption. Its been over a century since John Marston walked the streets and sands of the parallel universe Texas, and Houston would provide a thriving modern setting that could focus on multiple social, political and economic issues. We could explore all the stereotypes from the greedy gun-toting business mogul to the flag-waving products of incest; its the city that gave us the Enron scandal in a state battling against drug trafficking, an inland port enriched by oil corporations with some of the worst smog outside of LA. Parts of it flood regularly and the summers are only tolerable with the air conditioning on full blast. It is at once glistening and gritty, and the ethnic makeup of the city and wider state increasingly warrants a game from the perspective of a member of the Hispanic community if the franchise were to do its own spin on the area. In 2011, the city recorded 974 violent crimes per 100,000, and the murder rate in particular was the 6th highest in the country the previous year. Ideal territory, then.