40 Videogames That Need Movies
Listen up Hollywood...
Deadly Premonition
The Game: Cheesy with primitive animation, but oddly addictive. Anna Graham has been murdered near the fictional town of Greenvale, so FBI agent Francis York Morgan is sent in to investigate.
Movie Version: It’s time for a new Twin Peaks , and Premonition is just the game adap for it. As Frank Morgan (Leonardo DiCaprio) goes about his investigations, he gets caught up in the strange lives of the Greenvale natives…
Directed By: Martin Scorsese
Splinter Cell: Conviction
The Game: Spy Sam Fisher is out to avenge his murdered daughter, but this time he’s doing it without relying so much on the firearms.
Movie Version: A successor to Bourne , with Fisher (Vincent Kartheiser) impressing as he beats his opponents to a pulp using his bare hands in the search for his daughter’s murderer.
Directed By: Martin Campbell gave Bond fists of fury with Casino Royale , making him perfect for this.
Monster Hunter 3
The Game: A new hunter must slay monsters in order to rise through the ranks of his brethren and gather new objects – like swords, armour and other weapons.
Movie Version: A gritty indie following a young hunter boy who’s sent out to stalk monsters on his own – and become a man in the process.
Directed By: Andrea Arnold – why not? She’s good at elemental drama (see the upcoming Wuthering Heights ) and obviously likes a challenge.
Just Cause 2
The Game: On the Southeast Asian island of Panau, Agency operative Rico Rodriguez attempts to bring down evil dictator Pandak ‘Baby’ Panay while also tackling former mentor Tom Sheldon.
Movie Version: A gloriously over-the-top actioner, in which Rodriguez (Michelle Rodriguez – go on, let’s make him a girl) infiltrates Panau to the music of explosions and gunfire.
Directed By: Ladies and gentlemen, we have Michael Bay’s next project.
Limbo
The Game: Creepy black and white puzzle-solver, in which our nameless lead boy wakes up on the edge of hell and must solve puzzles during his quest for his sister.
Movie Version: A CGI animated wonder in the vein of Coraline , with atmospheric visuals as we follow our nameless lead on his way toward – well, that’d be telling.
Directed By: Guillermo del Toro – what? He clearly needs more on his plate.
Little Big Planet
The Game: Visually lush task-based game in which Sackpeople have to complete various challenges – and collect stickers on the way.
Movie Version: Quirky and bright-coloured, following the adorable Sackboy and Sackgirl, whose spaceship crash lands on a strange planet called Earth, where they attempt to fit in. Everything that the Smurfs movie wasn’t.
Directed By: Brad Bird can do cute without getting over sugary.
God Of War 3
The Game: Based loosely on Greek myth, our protagonist Kratos unites with the Titans to raid Mount Olympus, where he plans to kill Zeus and the other gods.
Movie Version: Clash Of The Titans but, uh, good. That plot can stay the same, but we want massive spectacle balanced with the fascinating internal fractures of the Olympus family. Like Gladiator with super-powers.
Directed By: Ridley Scott, please.
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Flower
The Game: A mesmerising, chilled out game in which players blow petals through the air using their PS3 controller. No guns here.
Movie Version: An ode to nature – 80 minutes of montages celebrating the wonders of our world, narrated with poems by Emile Bronte and Thomas Hardy. It won’t win any awards, but Terrence Malick’s basically been getting ready to make this for 30 years.
Directed By: Terrence Malick
Punch-Out!!
The Game: Wee boxer Little Mac attempts to punch and dodge his way through the World Video Boxing Association.
Movie Version: A bandwagon-jumping response to The Fighter and Warrior , this time with a little more of a funny spin on things. Colin Hanks is Mac, who’s always dreamed of being a boxer – only he’s not all that good at it.
Directed By: Edgar Wright likes a good fight, and would get the humour bang on.
Assassins Creed
The Game: Modern man Desmond Miles uses a machine to control the memories of his ancestor, Altaïr ibn-La'Ahad, a member of a secret group of deadly assassins.
Movie Version: A historical twist on The Neverending Story , with Miles (Tom Hardy) accessing the body of his assassin ancestor by using his invention – the Animus machine. But if his ancestor dies, so does Miles.
Directed By: David Yates balanced character with the fantastical in Harry Potter , it's time for him to take on something even bigger.
Josh Winning has worn a lot of hats over the years. Contributing Editor at Total Film, writer for SFX, and senior film writer at the Radio Times. Josh has also penned a novel about mysteries and monsters, is the co-host of a movie podcast, and has a library of pretty phenomenal stories from visiting some of the biggest TV and film sets in the world. He would also like you to know that he "lives for cat videos..." Don't we all, Josh. Don't we all.