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Which Games Should Make the Transition to Film?

With the release of Assassin’s Creed coming to theaters in short order, and following the high of the finally-released Warcraft film, video game movies are here to stay whether you love or hate them.

Now if you, like us, have enjoyed your fair share of gaming there’s no doubt you’ve at least to embrace at least one video game-turned-movie franchise attempt. Whether it was Tomb Raider, Silent Hill, Resident Evil, or Hitman, Hollywood continues to take some of our favourite gaming series to the silver screen. In some cases, they become a good movie onto themselves, but fail to capture key elements gamers long for. When the role is reversed, average moviegoers don’t know how to interpret a movie they have no background about. This whole business has resulted in some interesting, some poor, and some successful adaptations at the box office.

Despite the failures, and because of even the most minor of successes, it cannot be denied that average gamers would love to see their favorite franchise be successfully produced in a different consumable environment. If the Marvel Cinematic Universe is any indication of a successful transition between platforms, I don’t know what is.

And thus, in a world where games turned into movies successfully captures those key narrative or gameplay elements, and translates it not only into something a gaming fan would love, but that would also be popular in the masses, we have our list:

BioShock (Series)

Promotional Tagline: “Would You Kindly”

Why it would work: Stunning graphics, a vast potential for stories outside of what the games already told, and emotional depth.

Even if you’ve never considered playing it, there’s no doubt you’ve heard about the ambiance, mood, and story of the BioShock series. Originally released in 2007, BioShock has provided us not only with the depth of two sequels, but also further DLCs on top of that which tie the whole series together. BioShock‘s eerie story, setting, and level of complication borders on Inception level possibilities for the silver screen if they chose to make all three, or at least the first and the last, into feature films. The potential for stunning graphics, an intricate story, and a fanciful setting, gives the BioShock universe a lot to offer a potential movie… or so we’d hope.

Problems: By 2008 strong rumors of a film adaptation of the original title were already in full force. Despite countless efforts on behalf of Universal Studios, and Take-Two, the film never came to fruition, primarily due to disagreements over budget. Building a world like Rapture would be pricey, and the team was unwilling to compromise on the goal of that vision.

Alternatives: A prequel story was released in 2011, called Rapture. While we may not be able to see the full grandeur that making a movie surrounding BioShock or its sequels, the origin-story prequel may be be slightly more in reach.

Mass Effect (Series)

Promotional Tagline: “Don’t Fear the Reapers” / Blue Oyster Cult everywhere.

Why it would work: Mass Effect has long been praised for its thorough world building. Much like BioShock, but on a much larger scale, the world of the future within Mass Effect has the potential to tell not only its own stories, but also those of all the races and peoples within its realm. Additionally, the original trilogy story arc deserves to be told on the big screen, bringing in all the best elements of Science Fiction, while grounding itself in very real issues. Added bonuses of hopefully seeing both Jennifer Hale play a real Commander Shepard, alongside Seth Green in a live-action role of Joker. We can dream (and Hale’s Shepard is the ultimate bad-ass).

Problems: The very thing that makes Mass Effect so great for the basis of a movie, is the very thing that would make it not so great as a video game movie: the importance of choice. Mass Effect as a playable space opera provides the player with so much choice that world building extends beyond what the developers have made, and into the hands of the players themselves. Will your Shepard be diplomatic, or decisive? Will you save the bad guy for trial, or shoot him to save the trouble? While the tensions caused by these actions may be able to be found within a film setting, some of the best parts of Mass Effect don’t translate as much as we’d love them to.

Alternatives: Much like the new Mass Effect title coming to the gaming community, rather than focusing on the story that’s been told, a film could easily encompass other narratives from the Mass Effect universe. Additionally, a standard “canon” of sorts has already been discussed with regard to the series, and so, as much as many players may be remiss for them following said canon on the big screen, at least it could have a shot of making it at all with a unified story.

Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time / Majora’s Mask

Promotional Tagline: “Are you ready to face the dawn?” / And general playing on the counting down element.

Why it would work: While it may seem like it to pick a fan-favorite amongst gamers, there’s more depth to choosing these particular titles for our list. Recently, a mock trailer was released which featured Ocarina of Time done in the style of Studio Ghibli. It was beautiful, and well, perfect.

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While our hearts were shattered to learn that no collaboration would be taking place, the union of these two visions has been in the back of our minds. What if we were to take it one step further? While Ocarina makes a wonderful starter film or introduction to the narrative, fans of Ghibli already know that it is Majora’s Mask instead that would best fit alongside No Face and Totoro. If any studio could both sort out and represent the complex narrative of Majora’s Mask, it would certainly be Ghibli. Having already experimented with traditional stories from other places, it would be awesome to see what they could do with the Alice-type story that Link finds himself partaking in within Majora’s Mask.

Problems: Unfortunately, as glorious as the mock trailer is, it is very unlikely we’d see such a pairing as this take place in the real world. While there may be other interpretations of Ocarina or Majora’s Mask which could be possible, the fanciful and magical way of storytelling done by Ghibli overshadows all other options.

Alternatives: While we might not get to see a real version come from Ghibli itself, perhaps more fan-created content will continue in this vein. Even if we don’t get to see a full-fledged movie, we may be lucky enough to get a second trailer featuring the themes of Majora’s Mask. We can dream.

Portal / Half-Life Universe

Promotional Tagline: “Still Alive” / Literally anything you’d hear GlaDOS say.

Why it would work: One of the best things that Portal in particular does, is to tell the story of what’s going around in its universe without saying very much at all. In truth, GlaDOS pretty much spends all her time berating you and trying to get you to chase after some well-lit chocolate cake rather than let you know what’s going on in the world. She does hint at the outside world of Half-Life, however, even if so subtly. While the mechanics of what kind of story would be told in a world of endless tests, the wit and puzzle element might be able to find its way to the big screen. If for nothing else, we may get a more wit-driven Saw with much less blatant torture. Throw in some Battlestar Galactica-level respawning capabilities, and you might actually be able to develop a more dramatic version of the story we already know and love. Let’s not forget the most menacing villain of all:

Problems: As was already partially touched on, the element of story would be severely lacking from the outset unlike the other three titles on our list… but perhaps that’s actually what might make it a success. A lack of story can actually allow for room in areas that more restrictive story titles may not provide. However, there’s also the fact that Battleship was made into a movie with the same pretense.

Alternatives: The best we can probably hope from this franchise is to rent out a theater to play it on the big screen. In the meantime, we can always hold out patiently for the hope of seeing Portal 3 instead.

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Honorable Mentions: 

• Darksouls (series)
• The Elder Scrolls (series)
• Gears of War (series)
• The Last of Us
• Chrono Trigger
• Dark Cloud
• The Witcher (series)

What is your favourite video game movie? What ones do you think are the worst? What game or series would you love to see be taken to the silver screen? Share with us know, and join in the conversation below, on Facebook, Twitter, or in the forums

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