Movies and games are usually the epitome of the chalk and cheese philosophy, especially when a Hollywood director decides to use a game as their inspiration. The end result is usually a multi-million dollar mile-high pile of shite. But when the shoe is on the other foot, and games borrow ideas from the big screen, the final package can be something quite incredible.
The below five games have been heavily influenced by the big screen, but are distinct enough in the gaming universe to be recognised as great games in their own right. Do you agree with us? Or are we just talking out of our bottoms?
L.A. Noire
The most obvious one – L.A. Noire borrows heavily from L.A. Confidential, from the 1940/50s setting right down to the suspicious Irish officer, no doubt a mirror-image of Captain Dudley Smith (played by James Cromwell) from the movie. Both are excellent pieces of media though, with L.A. Noire fleshing out an enormous campaign for you to immerse yourself in and investigate at your leisure.
Ghostbusters
Dubbed as ‘the third film’ by Dan Akroyd himself during production (who also assisted with the script alongside Harold Ramis), Ghostbusters took everything amazing from the first two films and lumped them together in an incredibly fun package. Not just fan-service, Ghostbusters ties up a lot of loose ends from the films and expands on them, introduces new weapons and clever gameplay alongside a laugh-out-loud script.
Kingdom Hearts
Not just inspired by one film, the Kingdom Hearts series draws from an enormous array of movies from the entire Disney catalogue, whilst throwing in a dash of Final Fantasy and its own unique story to create a solid identity of its own. The end result is a series full of imaginative levels and tie-ins, that’s highly playable, addictive and massively confusing at the best of times.
The Thing
We’re big fans of The Thing – both the John Carpenter flick and the game from whence it came. But while the film made us cack our trousers in fear, the game took us down a different path, fleshing out the story amongst an eerie atmosphere that wouldn’t let up. The teammate mechanics worked well, too. Who could and couldn’t you trust? Should you give them more ammo? It expanded on the story and introduced us to secret agents, giving us a better idea what exactly was stirring in our blood…
Dead Rising
Zombies in a shopping mall? Despite Capcom’s insistence to the contrary, the first Dead Rising reeks of George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead and other zombie films in the genre. But we don’t care, simply because Dead Rising gives us the freedom to dismember the undead in any way we see fit. Shopping trolley? Check. Chainsaws and swords? Check. Mega Man outfit? Check. Dead Rising focuses on the overrun zombie concept and gives you free reign to do whatever the hell you feel like doing, making it our number one game inspired by the big screen!
Related posts:
