I’ve landed in lots of Brazilian regions in my travels, and there’s a certain sameness to them. It usually consists of a large, commercial city and a large, packed dance club, sometimes on a beach. The women are tanned scantily clad, and shirtless tattooed men with long black hair dance around them. There’s always a party going on. It’s like Spring Break or TRL all the time. Full Disclosure: Lest you get the wrong impression of me, I have never actually watched an episode of TRL, but I have seen bits of it while changing channels. Really. Perhaps this represents the urban youth culture in Brazil. If you want to party, search for any region with Brasil (the Portuguese spelling) in the name. If you don’t mind lots of shouting in Portuguese, you won’t find a bigger party.
Novo Ilha Brasil is a litle different from the norm. Maybe it is still new, but there isn’t a party going on, though there are some small venues for it. Instead, the region is a nicely detailed representation of a Brazilian city. In some respects it is even boringly so. Most of the storefronts are emty facades. But the variety and detail on the buildings is so well done that it gives you a feel for being in a hot ciy in the southern latitutdes.
There are some things to do. You can ride up to the top of a tower for a great view of the city. There’s the usual parachuting setup you’ve probably seen elsewhere, with the added challenge of trying not to hit the skyscrapers on the way down. I also found an RC car track. I invited my friend Velveeta to play and the game was challenging. Don’t worry about if your competitor has made gaming skills, the cars are tough to control for anyone. Our game was a little more like bmper cars than a race. Garth considers a comment about women drivers. Garth values his life and thinks the better of it.
If you hear rumbling sound while exploring, that’s the subway beneath your feet. It really works, and will take you from one end of the region to the other — except that when you get to the other end there is no stairway to the surface. Subway from Hell! You can get in but you can’t get out! Bwah-ha-ha-ha-ha!
In what I can only guess is a quest for accuracy, there are lots of banks, complete with rope lines to the tellers and non-functional ATMs. That’s really… dull. There’s even a (((shudder))) McDonald’s. That’s getting a bit too realistic, even for my tastes.
/me thinks Garth is a smart man for not commenting on the driving skills of women