If game developers steal one thing from No Law, I hope it's the open-world game's ridiculously detailed and realistic corner shops

After seeing open-world imm-sim No Law last month, I'm sure the developers would hope I was gripped by memories of missions you can approach stealthily or in all-out action, the sci-fi combat where you wield slow-time grenades and cyberpunk implants, or even the powerful kick you can use to boot open locked doors. But, no, what I keep thinking about is the corner shop where protagonist Grey Harker, an ex-soldier on a murderous rampage to take down Port Desire's four corrupt mayors, stopped to pick up some batteries.

Image credit: Krafton / Neon Giant

Image credit: Krafton / Neon Giant

Early in the demo, creative directors Tor Frick and Arcade Berg are walking me through the streets of Port Desire. It's broad daylight and the pavements are populated with people who could have walked off the set of Cyberpunk 2077 – there are plenty of tank tops, piercings, and cybernetic implants on show. Market stalls and street food vendors have set up their stands against the mediterranean-style buildings that line the road. Flaked pastel paint and worn signage suggests this is a city that's not getting much investment from its local council.

That said, we come across a scene that is both decidedly sci-fi and contemporary. Two maintenance men in hard hats stood before 4-Ever Open, a bodega-style corner shop, repairing the power line leading into the building. Instead of reaching the junction box on a cherry picker, they're piloting a remote control drone. It's a touch of reality that grounds No Law's world immediately.

That reality continues when Frick walks inside the corner shop. It looks like the inside of a 7-Eleven. The walls are lined with shelves stuffed with boxes of chewing gum, energy bars, and lighters. There are those display meshes with metal hooks, holding bags of crisps from brands you never see in mainstream supermarkets. And, at the front of the shop, behind his protective shatter-proof glass is the shopkeeper.

There is a reality to No Law's shops. If I were a Port Desire resident, I know that on those days when it's gone midnight and there's no Cadbury's Fruit & Nut in the house and all the supermarkets are shut, I could head to 4-Ever Open and they would have those £1 bars they only sell at the counter of corner shops. Likewise, if I were in need of a pick me up on a lazy Saturday, I'm confident this is a shop where I could buy a crisp tapas made up of delightfully weird flavours, textures, and shapes. Or, if I were out of milk and it was raining outside, I bet I could run down to 4-Ever Open and grab a one-pint bottle to tide me over until the big shop ot the weekend.

Image credit: Krafton / Neon Giant

Image credit: Krafton / Neon Giant

Obviously, this isn't the first corner shop to exist in a game, nor are Neon Giant the first developer to get the look and feel just right. What I love about No Law's shops, though, is that there is a dash of extra depth: every item in the shop can be taken off the shelf and used. As Harker goes around the shelves picking up items, they all go into a shopping basket with the total bill appearing on the right side of the screen. In go the crips that will restore his health (as in real life), the energy bars that bump up stamina, and then a few of the batteries that the ex-military mercenary uses to reload his taser. Basket loaded up, Harker can head to the front of the shop to pay the balance or he can head for the door. Though, leaving without paying will summon the police, or, at least, leave you with a black mark against your reputation, meaning you can't return to the shop in the future. As someone who has burned his bridges with a cornershop owner in the past, I wouldn't wish that shame on anyone. Do you know what it's like to be walking home from a night out and know you can't just pop into Singhsburys for a big bag of beefy Hula Hoops? Terrible.

(Just to assure you, I didn't steal from a cornershop. The guy at the counter said he was sure he went to school with my brother, I told him I didn't grow up around there, he didn't believe me, he insisted, I desisted, things got icy, I stopped going in out of awkwardness.)

There are other items in No Law's cornershops that are useful for someone on a revenge mission to take down the city's mayors. As you walk into the shop, a proximity sensor pings a doorbell behind the counter. If you nick the sensor, you can combine it with items in your inventory to make new tools. Stick it on a grenade, for instance, and you can make a proximity mine. Also, if you are looking to rob a corner shop, deactivating the proximity sensor will make it easier to enter the store unnoticed.

Image credit: Krafton / Neon Giant

The shops in No Law are stitched into the world's systems more tightly than they first appear, too. They will open and close according to the game's day/night cycle, for instance. And Frick showed me that if you break into the shop after dark, you'll be free to lift what you want from its shelves. Though, when he turned up, the shop owner was still hanging about closing for the night, so he did have to get a tad violent. While that did leave Frick free to nab what was on the shelves, with the shop's owner now dead, it wouldn't open the next morning or any day in the future.

Another approach, if you're looking to exercise a five finger discount, would be tracking down where the owner lives in Port Desire. All named characters have a set home somewhere in the city. If you find their apartment and break in, you may be able to find a key so you can visit when it's locked for the night.

We've been doing a lot of this stuff in Elder Scrolls games for years – though, there you didn't need to visit a shopkeeper at home, you could just stick a bucket over their head – but there is a lovely reality to No Law's corner shops that I want to explore more. I do worry that as soon as I'm free to wander Port Desire, I will ignore the revenge mission against the city's mayors and instead become a bodega menace, looking for all the ways I can get around a shop's security.

And, when I'm feeling particularly chaotic, I'll do what Frick recommended and throw a grenade through the front door of a gun shop. Apparently, every item inside is a functional object and the stacks of ammo boxes will go off like a fireworks factory.

Travel and accommodation to Gamescom was provided by the conference organisers.