A fan-made remake of The Simpsons: Hit & Run is gaining traction online as development continues, with the game now featuring character switching in the same vein as Grand Theft Auto 5. The original character-swapping feature was used to facilitate the player's easy use of GTA 5's three protagonists: Michael, Franklin, and Trevor.
The Simpsons: Hit & Run is something of a cult classic. Released in 2003, to this day it remains one of the most popular Simpsons games ever released. At its core, Hit & Run is a parody of the Grand Theft Auto games, and many people who played it believe it executed the concept very well. A wide array of popular characters from all around Springfield, including the titular Simpson family, are tasked with completing a range of missions over the course of the game, in a similarly wide variety of vehicles. The game's enduring popularity means that even nearly two decades on from its release, fans are still hoping for news of a Hit & Run 2 with or without EA, the current owner of the IP.
YouTuber reubs is not content with simply waiting for a sequel, however. They have been creating a fully-fledged remake of the original game in Unreal Engine 5, a remake that now features even more GTA references than the original. While coding the game's camera controls, reubs noticed how zooming out from a character to a bird's eye view was reminiscent of GTA 5's character-swapping graphics. Inspired by this, they then took steps to replicate this in their Hit & Run remake, and have now demonstrated the feature in a new video. While there is no official update on a Hit & Run 2, this update on the unofficial remake is scratching much of the same itch for fans.
Although clearly similar, the character-swapping graphics for the games are still visually distinct. This is partially due to the programs involved; As reubs notes, GTA 5 reloads its map upon changing characters, while the Hit & Run remake's use of Unreal Engine 5 allows them to skip this step in their own project. It should be noted that the original Hit & Run did not support swapping characters, as each character playable in the game was tied to one particular level (or two, in the cases of Bart and Homer). However, it seems that reubs is going in a different direction for their own project. With pedestrians and vehicles also now present in the remake, it will be interesting for many fans to see if there will be a similar update to The Simpsons: Hit & Run's worst missions, most of which take the form of time trials.
Watching the progress of this remake makes for very compelling viewing for any fan of The Simpsons: Hit & Run. reubs is very clearly skilled at what they do, and the exploration of their design process is a perfect mix of informative and entertaining. Their taking inspiration from Grand Theft Auto, just like the original game, is just another point in their favor. The changes that reubs has made to the original game are sure to have fans wishing that the project was official. At the very least, with another update video already in the works, it should not be a long wait until there is even more content featuring this amazing open-world remake of Hit & Run.
Source: reubs/YouTube