In 2022, we have a lot to look forward to in entertainment media. Following a tumultuous couple of years, movies look to be returning to prominence, particularly with so many strong-looking films on the way. As listed by Rotten Tomatoes, March and April look stacked with the likes of The Batman, Turning Red, The Lost City, Morbius, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, and Ambulance on the way. Now that plenty of people have the new generation of consoles, gaming looks to go big again in 2022. PCGamesN lists Ghostwire: Tokyo, Babylon’s Fall, Elden Ring, and Total War: Warhammer 3 among the biggest hitters of Q1.
However, the one thing lacking from what NewZoo says is a $175.8 billion games market is a former staple of the scene: movie tie-in games. With both entertainment sectors going so strong, where have these titles gone, and which movies deserve the video game treatment?
The demise of movie-based video games
Following the 80s industry crash and slow return to form, movie tie-in games became the standard practice for most major releases. We saw it from The Lord of The Rings, Alien, Jurassic Park, The Mummy, Star Wars, and so many other cinematic properties. However, as Only Single Player details, the time it took to create a half-decent game became far longer than the process taken to create a new movie. For an increasingly high-tech and expensive process, the tight budgets and quick turnaround simply didn’t work.
Instead, Hollywood is increasingly turning to video games as inspiration. Over the last half-a-decade, several game movies have scored big at the box office. As listed by The Numbers, Detective Pikachu, Rampage, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Tomb Raider all exceeded 250 million worldwide and were released in 2018 or later. Movie properties have also now found a secondary entertainment home, so to speak, at Betway Casino. Movies like Jurassic Park, Jurassic World, and The Terminator 2 all have official slots to offer a way to play along with these classic movies and the new renditions of the much-loved franchises.
Having said that, a few small-scale movie-adaptation gems have emerged in recent years. Blair Witch – released on Steam in 2019 – is a prime example of this, putting you in the shoes of the film’s protagonist to create a scary, story-driven psychological horror game. So, perhaps all isn’t lost for the sub-genre of games, and maybe some savvy developers are looking for the perfect movie to transform into a top-class video game. These might just be those movies.
Get these movies onto our consoles
We’re going to start off with an extremely long-running movie franchise that also has a long history in video games: James Bond. The 007 games have featured on every major console from the Atari 2600 up to the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and doomed Wii U, but the most prominent of the lot is GoldenEye 007 – which may make a comeback, according to Nintendo Life. However, perhaps the one film that most lends itself to the video game treatment of the latest series of films is Casino Royale. Daniel Craig’s tenure is undisputedly over with No Time To Die out, but it’s tough to argue against his first outing also being the best on-screen. While the lackluster Quantum of Solace – both in movie and game form – does flashback to Casino Royale, the initial third-person Casino Royale that was in the works, per MI6 HQ, could have done so much more. Perhaps the most tantalizing prospect would be to play poker against Le Chiffre.
Next up is a superb film in just about every regard that wasn’t trusted enough by its studio to be given a cinematic release, as detailed by Tech Radar, and was palmed off to Netflix instead. Annihilation is a tour de force of Alex Garland’s making, boasting tremendous special and practical effects, wondrous sets, intrigue, science-fiction, true horror set-pieces, and superb acting from Natalie Portman – who escaped her side-kick role from the Thor films – and her co-stars. It offers a grand and immersive visualization of what was originally put forth by Jeff VanderMeer’s novel of the same name and could be the perfect set-up for a video game. The environments are already well-suited, but with the action and horror throughout, following the blueprint of the movie could lead to a game akin to a more colorful Dead Space.
Those are the big two more recent movie releases that really should be looked to as video game inspiration, particularly with this segment of the James Bond franchise coming to an end and sci-fi being a big-ticket genre at the cinema and in gaming right now. Other fun picks for game adaptations could include Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (due to the complete lack of dodgeball simulation games), Blade Runner 2049, Train to Busan, and The Raid (in a similar style to the newly released Sifu).
