They’ve not all been brilliant, no – just look at the big-budget Assassin’s Creed for proof of that – but they’ve each helped turn the tide a little. Honest.īut all that’s changed recently, hasn’t it? Slowly and delicately, as though doing its best not to draw too much attention for fear of spooking us, the TV and movie industries have quietly been releasing quality game-flavoured shows and movies. Despite what video game movies may intimate, not every video game narrative has a tissue-thin premise and terrible character development… I mean, some do, sure, but not every one of them. It’s hardly a new phenomenon, either some of my favourite game storylines were written decades ago. We’ve long been shouting about the power of interactive media, and as the industry has matured, so has the themes it tackles and its ability to tell thoughtful tales that stay with you long after the credits have rolled. It’s not that games can’t tell good stories, of course. Street Fighter Need For Speed Tomb Raider Sonic– but did you know that in October 2008, we were blessed with not one but two game-to-movie adaptations Far Cry and Max Payne? How about an Alone in the Dark film – did you know about that one? What about a Postal movie? Dead or Alive? Hitman? They’re all very different, but they usually have two things in common one, they’re adapted from games, and two, they absolutely fucking tanked (that aforementioned Alone in the Dark movie stars Christian Slater and sits on a 1 per cent score on Rotten Tomatoes and a 9/100 on Metacritic. You may remember some – Resident Evil Super Mario Bros. Which is exactly where they belong.Īnd let’s be clear: there are hundreds of them. Some are so bad, they’ve reached culty, kitschy status – I bet I don’t even need to name them for you to know what they are – but most have melted into obscurity. Director Christophe Gans had been a tad cavalier with his interpretation of the source material, granted, but he nailed the atmosphere and creature design, and even the brief detour into the world of the non-canon The Janitor wasn’t enough to dampen my enthusiasm.įor a brief while there, a trembling bud of optimism unfurled inside me could it be that video game stories – stories that I’d long championed to unconvinced friends and family – were finally finding their place in mainstream media? Could it be that my favourite rich, vibrant, virtual worlds were finally transitioning from my console to my local cinema?įor every not-terrible video game adaptation – yes, I make a distinction between good and not-terrible, as not-terrible is typically the best we ever get – there’s a score of absolute wrong ‘uns that have done nothing to solidify gaming narrative design in the mainstream consciousness. It’s a shame, really, because its 2006 predecessor, Silent Hill – though not without its missteps – was not the unmitigated clusterfuck I’d expected it to be. READ MORE: ‘Metal Gear Rising’ composer talks meme resurgence and lyrical boss fights.Six years we waited for that sequel – a sequel we were all hoping would be Silent Hill 2, of course, but was instead based on Silent Hill 3 – and when it finally arrived, it shot to the top of my coveted Worst Video Game Adaptation Movie Ever list with dizzying speed, reminding me that no matter how stellar the cast, the budget, or the special effects, Hollywood – even the most enthusiastic, game-savvy part of it – just doesn’t seem to get video game adaptations right. That’s how long it’s been since Kit Harrison and Adelaide Clemens rocked up to the silver screen as Vincent Smith and Heather/Sharon Da Silva in Silent Hill Revelations. This week, she’s cautiously optimistic about a new generation of video game shows and movies that just may not completely suck this time. This Week in Games is a weekly column where Vikki Blake pulls apart the biggest stories in gaming each week.
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