Videogame movies are sometimes used as a punchline, or as a cautionary tale of what not to do. It’s sad, but it’s true. However, that doesn’t mean that it has to be that way. It’s possible to make a great videogame movie, provided that you choose the right game, and approach it correctly. Picking one of these eight games would be a great place to start.
Left 4 Dead
Left 4 Dead may not seem like an inspired choice for a movie, until you consider how the game is arranged. It tells the story of a group of zombie apocalypse survivors as they attempt to reach safety and avoid being eaten alive. You could even include all eight of the survivors from the two games. Each of the campaigns was a self-contained episode, making it almost perfect to adapt in today’s episode-focused Netflix world. The characters are compelling, and the tale of a world gone wrong is one that always seems to do well in theaters.
XCOM: Enemy Unknown
The XCOM series is crying out for a film adaptation, and has been for years. It’s part Men in Black, part action film, and all awesome. Imagine a gritty alien invasion movie, with the XCOM commander being forced to make the hard decisions on where to commit his limited forces. Meanwhile, the Sectoid armies advance, as the heroic XCOM soldiers fight to save humanity. Yeah, I’d watch that.
Bioshock
The underwater Art Deco city of Rapture is ripe for someone to make a movie of, and Bioshock has great characters and story to spare. Not only is Jack’s progression through Rapture a compelling story, his use of plasmids and decisions about how to handle Little Sisters could make for some great morally gray moments. While the story might be a little too convoluted for easy adaptation to the big screen, the action scenes and amazing art style would definitely find a good home there.
Alan Wake
Playing Alan Wake always felt like reading a book by Stephen King, so advocating for it to be a movie isn’t a huge step at all. The creepy vibe that permeated the game should be easy to translate to the big screen, and the story of a writer who’s lost his wife and chunk of his life is great fodder for a screenwriter to adapt. Add in the fact that the viewer could never be sure if what they were seeing was real, or if it was only in Wake’s head, and you’d have a great movie on your hands.
Mass Effect
I think pretty much every gamer has thought about what a Mass Effect movie would look like, or who would star in it. The truth is that it doesn’t matter who’s in it, as long as they’re competent. The story behind the Mass Effect games is plenty deep enough to support a series of movies, and the cast surrounding Commander Shepard is filled with great characters. Throw in the “We’re off to save the galaxy” storyline, and you’ve got a summer blockbuster.
God of War
Yes, we’ve done Greek mythology movies like Clash of the Titans before, but none of them come close to the darkness that is God of War. Kratos is a dark hero, slaying gods and men alike. Seeing the ancient Greek gods not only interact with people, but actually bring their might to bear on a mortal would be nothing short of awesome to see. Combine that with the tragic tale that is Kratos’ life, and you’ve got a movie that could be a legit summer blockbuster.
Red Dead Redemption
The story of John Marston seems to resonate with gamers, as the success of Red Dead Redemption showed. The retired outlaw blazed a path through the old West, and seeing that re-enacted on the big screen would draw in gamers and non-gamers alike. You also can’t forget the attraction of seeing a bad guy trying to go straight, and the disappointment you felt when the government turned on him. Heck, they could even expand on the story of Jack Marston to show viewers what happened after John was avenged. After all, nobody hates a good Western.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
It’s the future, and corporations have begun to find success in replacing human tissue with cybernetic implants. One man is nearly killed, losing almost everything, and now he’s using the implants that saved his life to seek revenge. C’mon, you can’t tell me that doesn’t sound like a plot Hollywood would be all over. It would require some serious CGI for some of the augmentations to work properly, but done well, Deus Ex: Human Revolution could be a great action/espionage film.
