What were the pickups in the 3D era supposed to be?

[universetwisters]

I know what they are, health pickups give you health, armor gives you armor, etc but what are the supposed to be? Health pickups at the hospital I can understand but in the middle of an alleyway? Is the player just eating food they find on the ground in the hopes that they get health from it? Adrenaline pills, do they really swallow down half empty pill bottles that’re just laying around? 

 

Sure, it’s there to make gameplay easier with wanted bribes, free health etc but if there’s a reason for it to be so in-universe, what do y’all think it would be? 

[sabitsuki]

happy pills

[universetwisters]

39 minutes ago, sabitsuki said:

happy pills

But are all the protags impulsive enough to eat random drugs they find laying around!?!?!?! (Probably)

[VenusianDream]

In my mind I always imagined that health pickups were first aid kits, adrenaline was discreetly placed around by drug dealers and bribes were drop-off points where the protagonist leaves money for someone to pick up shortly after leaving. (Although no money actually gets spent, I like to pretend so)

 

As for why pickups and guns can be found in alleyways and other places? I remember reading on a conspiracy website in GTA IV that stated that the government had purposely dropped these things off in remote locations to keep crime rates high, or something like that.

[just Gesha]

There really doesn't need to be logic behind it. The 3D era was as arcade as it gets and much of the gameplay, missions and game premises didn't make much sense. They were just supposed to be crazy and fun - an objective they certainly achieved.

[universetwisters]

4 hours ago, just Gesha said:

There really doesn't need to be logic behind it. The 3D era was as arcade as it gets and much of the gameplay, missions and game premises didn't make much sense. They were just supposed to be crazy and fun - an objective they certainly achieved.

Ofc there’s no logic behind it, they’re dumb games for dumb fun. I’m just posting this thread to see if there could be any reason why you would find health in the middle of an alley or somethin equally silly 

[Gravarty]

I think this is a tradition from the old classic GTA titles like GTA 1 and 2, where there were more crazy things like double damage, fast reload, and temporary invulnerability. 

Sure, you probably already know this, but maybe they placed these pickups in random locations to reward the player with bonuses for exploring the map. I mean, some of the pickups are really hidden, like in GTA III where you can find an AK and a UZI behind a building where the passageway isn't really easy to spot.

Edited May 14 by Gravarty