5 Films That Can Work as Video Games
I recently took an online course on game writing. If anything, it taught me to analyze every film and TV show and ask, “Can I play this?” Well, games are incredibly wide-ranging and diverse, so the answer to that question is almost always a yes. You just have to keep in mind that you have to get your idea approved by the higher-ups, the executives, the creative team, the budget team, and the potential player base. So the answer to that aforementioned question may almost always be a no. However, that does not stop my delusional brain from conjuring up ideas for the next billion-dollar AAA blockbuster or the next quaint indie hit.
In Time (2011), starring Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried, and Cillian Murphy, is a film where humans have been bioengineered to stop aging at twenty-five. Whoever figured that out must have had a Wario to their Mario because humans have also been bioengineered to have a countdown clock on their wrists that counts down to their deaths. Time is money. Everyone who’s not filthy rich must work to add time to their lives. The rich created a false scarcity of time, which keeps the poor having to work to survive. The two protagonists are like Robinhoods, who steal from the rich to give to the poor. The perceived antagonist, the timekeeper cop (Cillian Murphy), tries to maintain order. It’s got the feel of Detroit: Become Human (2018), because the concept of playing as the three main characters during a time of social upheaval would work perfectly with this movie. Opportunities abound for player choice in the story, action sequences are abundant, and the message resonates in this current political and economic climate.
Chronicle (2012), featuring an up-and-coming Michael B. Jordan portrays three high school boys who stumble upon a glowing crystalline object while goofing around in a cave. The three pass out, then wake to realize that they’ve gained telekinetic superpowers: they can fly, they have super strength, and they can bend reality with their minds. However, being high school boys, these newfound abilities get to their heads as they spiral into darker places in their minds. My mind went to the game inFAMOUS: Second Son (2014), in which a young man finds himself in a similar place with newfound abilities, which can very well get to his head. Mix in a superhero game with combat and psychological dilemmas, and you’ve got yourself an action-adventure.
As Above, So Below (2014) is a found footage horror film where our main characters delve deep into the Paris catacombs in search of the philosopher’s stone. Found footage films work particularly well for video game adaptations because they turn the viewer into the cameraman. On a level, it breaks the fourth wall and heightens the sense of intimacy and interactivity that is parasocial, as video games overtly are. The Resident Evil game series, especially Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (2017), comes to mind: a horror game exploring spirituality through solving puzzles and escaping supernatural monsters. Furthermore, Until Dawn (2015) comes to mind, where the player is tasked to keep as many of the naive young people alive as possible through branching choices and quick-time events. Possibilities lay around every corner for jumpscares.
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012) is a period piece akin to Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018), but take it back a few decades to the period before and during the American Civil War and mix in vampires. It’s a film that is a mix between historical fiction and science fiction. Arthur Morgan came to mind but was replaced with a young Abraham Lincoln, who is still trying to find a foothold in both his personal life and political career. Players explore the world in pre-Civil War America, killing vampires and seeing how Lincoln came to become the legendary president that he is known as today.
The Final Destination films are prime material for video game adaptations; imagine players watching the horrifying deaths of all of the characters in a scene, and then they have to play through that scene, making choices and finding clues in order for everything not to go horribly wrong. Exploring Murphy’s Law, the video game. Again, Until Dawn (2015) is a good example of this concept, as players make choices under pressure to try and keep everyone alive. Kick it up a notch by turning it into a multiplayer experience, where you can create your own character, fill out your attributes, and get matched into lobbies with different circumstances on different maps. Each player gets assigned a random role with their character, and their survival depends on their own decisions and the decisions of all the other players in the lobby. A cross between a Call of Duty game with specialists and a battle royale game, except the players are working together in order to ensure their collective survival.
