There was a time when movies based on games and games based on movies were tied in terms of suckage, but we started to see a bunch of fantastic games based on movies long before we saw great game-to-movie or TV series adaptations such as Fallout.
That’s because there’s no actual curse regarding video game adaptations ā so long as the game studios get the budget, time, and artistic liberty required to make them. Here are the games that will bring you the closest to actually living in the world of your favorite movies.
The Thing
If you’re sad about that The Thing‘s 2011 prequel which threw away the practical effects of the original in favor of wonky CGI, then the video game might prove a good alternative for you. Sure, it features even more computed-generated imagery than the infamous sequel, but it does a great job of putting you in the action of a situation similar to the events of the original classic. 2002’s The Thing video game even features mechanics that add a lot of replay value by always keeping players guessing who the thing might be. It’s like living that masterfully chilling final scene ā for eternity.
Star Wars Episode I: Racer
A lot of people seem to have changed their minds regarding the prequel trilogy when they saw the sequel trilogy. I’ll meet them halfway and admit that Episode I is a good movie ā if the only part of it that you recall is the podracer scene. It’s well-directed, features some great effects, and, weirdest of all, for something out of the prequels, it’s thrilling. LucasArts had the genius idea of just excising this gem imprisoned in that terrible movie and giving it room to breathe and grow. Why is Disney yet to make a series about podracing, or, better yet, another game?
Mad Max
Even though it came out just a few months after the massive Mad Max: Fury Road, the Mad Max video game failed to gain the traction that I believe it deserved among gamers ā likely because it came out on the same day as Metal Gear Solid V . It made driving around the wasteland a surprisingly smooth experience, gave players a way to stay in that wicked universe outside of just having them rewatch the movie until the end of times, and even enriched the canon with elements we’d later see in Furiosa.
Sadly, director George Miller isn’t too keen on it and has said that he’d like to see Hideo Kojima taking a stab at a Mad Max game, but I think he’s underestimating this gem by Avalanche.
Alien: Isolation
A considerable number of Alien fans consider James Cameron’s Aliens superior to the original film. I believe that the only work in the franchise capable of rivaling the original is Alien: Isolation. It makes the Xenomorph scarier than any other Alien property as it puts you in a maze as the prey with your wits as the only weapon on hand.
Bonus points for a mechanic where the game uses your microphone to detect any noises you make and alert the Xenomorph. Turns out someone can hear you scream in space, and that somehow makes it worse.
Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay
The Chronicles of Riddick‘s tie-in came out in 2004. This means that the FPS that was already fighting an uphill battle because of the whack property it was connected to even had to face off against the likes of Doom 3, Far Cry, Halo 2, and Half-Life 2.
Miraculously, Butcher Bay is an order of magnitude above the movie that spawned it and also one that held its own in the best year in the history of FPS titles. You won’t find any groundbreaking gravity gun action in here, but the first-person stealth gameplay rivals that of the Thief and the Dishonored series.
Goldeneye 007
You’ve probably heard of this one because it’s one of the greatest games of all time. Whether you’re more about wanting to be James Bond on a campaign to save the world or want to have some of the best split-screen action ever put on a split-screen, this is the one for you.
Many have tried to recapture Goldeneye 007’s magic, but only very few have succeeded.
Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic
Many games have already proven that the best way to adapt Star Wars is to ignore the source material and forge your own path ahead. KOTOR is the best example of the bunch, as it goes four thousand years into the past to tell a tale better than what we saw in most of the films.
No other Star Wars film, game or TV series has ever done such a great job of making you feel like a true Jedi or Sith. Unfortunately, it seems like it’ll stay that way for the foreseeable future.
Spider-Man 2
GTA 3 changed the entire landscape with its 3d free-roaming, and few games benefitted more than the Spider-Man series.
The leap between the video game adaptation of the original Spider-Man game to the second was enormous, with most of it coming from ditching the regular level system in favour of allowing players to freely web-swing around a pretty good rendition of New York City. Even today, Spider-Man 2’s web-swinging is incredibly fun.
Blade Runner
Blade Runner was a flop when it was released in 1983, only finding its true audience with later releases, like the 1992 Director’s Cut. Despite this, 1997 saw Westwood making the counterintuitive decision of braving through hell to make their own video game adaptation. The company ended up revolutionizing both the gameplay and look of point-and-click adventure games.
My only gripe with the Blade Runner video game is that it sometimes sticks too closely to the film even though it supposedly tells a new story. Still, at least it mimics one of the greatest films of all time.
Indiana Jones and The Fate Of Atlantis
One of the best things about being a gamer is that you don’t have to be as disappointed at Indiana Jones as movie fans. Not crazy about Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull or Dial of Destiny? Then perhaps you’ll be happy with one of the excellent video game releases.
1992 saw the release of Indiana Jones and The Fate of Atlantis, a point-and-click adventure title made in the old LucasArts SCUMM engines. Quite simply, Fate of Atlantis is possibly as good as Raiders Of The Lost Ark and perhaps better than Temple Of Doom or Last Crusade. An excellent game that filled a gap when there was no new Indy for a long, long time.
