Let's face it, except for a select few (and let's keep in mind that GoldenEye 007 came out 2 years after the movie did), very few licensed games of a film have been even halfway decent, and yet more and more are coming out. Games from series like Harry Potter and Ice Age have been hits with kids that liked the films, but movie based games have failed to find a home with more mature audiences. Games like Resident Evil, Max Payne and Tomb Raider have spawned successful (Box office wise) movies, yet very few mature movies have spawned successful games.
Perhaps it's due to the inherent fact that while in video games, players often feel like they have the freedom to make a choice that will affect how the game turns out. On the flip side, when watching a movie, the watcher has no bearing on the ending of the film; they are just along for the ride. Movie watchers live and die with the character's choices in the film, whereas video game players are “free” to choose how they play the game. Thus, when playing a movie based video game it is inherent that the player is forced into situations that they have already encountered during the events of the movie. It's often that the movie based games have to either criminally deviate from the film to make a good game moment, or shamefully ruin a good game moment to keep in line with the movie.
Recent mature movie based games such as Stranglehold (Based on Hard Boiled) and The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena (Based on Pitch Black) have deviated from the traditional movie based game by using the movie's characters and themes but having an entirely new story. These games have found success in allowing the player the best of both worlds: the characters and themes of a well known film tied with the freedom of choice that they have with controlling the character. It also presents the video game player with an all new story that can add to the canon of the film.
Enter the Matrix was a new concept, as it was considered by the film-makers to be essential to understanding the Matrix Trilogy. The full canon game (unlike Path of Neo) started just before the events in Reloaded, and ended just before the end of Revolutions. The game, while having to adhere to the events of the film, told a separate story that the films only partially showed. This same style was applied to X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which took place during the film, then went beyond, taking place after the events of the film, branching off into its own path.
Future titles based on huge action hits such as Dirty Harry and Heat have recently been canceled. Then, the question has to be raised, is it due to the fact that more mature movie based games haven't been able to find a hardcore audience since 1997? Heat was just dropped earlier this year and the IP is up for grabs and yet no-one is grabbing at it. Dirty Harry had gone through an extensive pre-production and was still canceled for unannounced reasons in 2007.
What movies would you like to see made into games? And why do you think movie-based games fail to find a broader audience?
