Get ready for Bioshock........... - by BrokenArts
Nameless Voice on 18/2/2022 at 13:13
You're right enough, gameplay doesn't work from a film perspective.
Book to film adaptations can be great, even surpassing the book in some cases - probably because the two mediums are a lot more similar.
Adapting the story of a story-heavy game to a film could work in theory, but they never seem to actually try that. They take a few elements of the plot, and throw the rest away - which just annoys fans of the original story, even though those were presumably supposed to be the people who'd want to watch the adaptation?
I guess a story set in a game's setting might work?
Tomi on 18/2/2022 at 15:46
Quote Posted by nicked
What I don't understand is who the target audience for these things is supposed to be. If you're a fan of a game, it's because you enjoy playing it. No-one finishes a game and goes "That was amazing, but I wish I could have sat back and watched just the cutscenes instead of having to play it!"
Not that I think that game films are even a good idea in general, but surely the fans of a game should be the main target audience. I'm using Max Payne as an example again. I think the game has a great story, but you're stuck behind a 3rd person camera throughout the game, and outside gameplay the story is delivered by these comic strips. Therefore, a film adaptation is guaranteed to be very different, even if the story remains exactly the same. The story is only one part of a movie experience anyway, so I think it would have been exciting to see how the director had chosen to deliver the story on film. Minor changes to the story would have been fine of course, but they decided to make some pretty big changes instead - changes that were in conflict with the game's story - which of course disappointed the fans of the game.
Then again, I'm not a screenwriter or a film director. Perhaps a direct translation of the game's story wouldn't have worked on film.
Aja on 18/2/2022 at 17:56
I actually think The Last of Us could be a good TV show. As a game I enjoyed it a lot, but there was always the nagging sense that the story and gameplay were at odds, that people trying to survive shouldn't have to murder so frequently and gratuitously (my end-game kill count was in the 400s). A TV show or film could instead focus on the interesting story and characters without having make the concessions required for engaging gameplay.
Anarchic Fox on 20/2/2022 at 23:17
Quote Posted by demagogue
As for movies based on games, Mortal Kombat and Mario Bros. are kind of cult classics.
Those were the same two I intended to mention. They're campy but entertaining. Also, while
Street Fighter isn't good, the villain's performance is outstanding.
