Movie Games

Just how many video game/movie tie-ins have gamers suffered through?

An innumerable number, to be sure. So many of them have been utterly terrible games, too, which is the real tragedy. In some ways, movie games are probably one of the major obstacles to the whole "Video Games are Art Too" movement (akin to the comic books are art too movement). Movie games can, at times, be utterly reprehensible cash grabs, meant to suck the blood from eager fans (I'm looking at you, slew of terrible Lord of the Rings games).

Not all movie-games have been completely terrible. In fact, there have been a number of really great movie games. Star Wars Battlefront was a great game, probably one of the best Star Wars games ever. Battle for Middle Earth II was also quite good. All agree that Goldeneye 64 is a classic. You could list plenty of other decent, good and great movie games.

I don't necessarily have a problem with movie games. My beef is with shitty games period, and movie games are some of the worst offenders. What typically holds these games back is the utter lack of creativity that usually goes into them. Finding a movie game that doesn't follow the plot of the film word for word, letter for letter is something of a challenge. Ignoring plot (as gamers tend to do) most movie games offer repetitive, ho-hum action (come to think, I wonder what percentage of them are beat-em ups). The graphics tend to be lazily slapped together.

Here's my point in all of this - why do movie games have to come from current movies?

I can't be the only one who wants to see a Seven Samurai video game. The awesomeness of such a thing  cannot be understated (as long as it isn't a beat 'em up). If the game replicated the movie's most dramatic moments, supplemented them at times, brought in the soundtrack, kept that iconic black-and-white look, it might redefine what makes a movie game. The problem with all this is that there's not as much name recognition of the Seven Samurai as there is with Pixar's Brave or Star Wars or whatever. But if the gaming industry is out to make good games and not just capitalize on the flavor of the month, why not? The possibilities could be endless.

Philip Marlowe, Fistful of Dollars, Tora! Tora! Tora!, George Romero's Dawn of the Dead (!), and on and on and on. The pool is endless. Unfortunately the burden is on the players, and not the industry, to demand change from the status quo. As long as we keep forking over 60$ for the latest Transformers nightmare, the industry will keep shilling the shit and rolling in the dough.

K