h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Amazon has ben recommending to me the game spin-off of Peter Jackson's King Kong. It seems to be well-reviewed on there, but I have trouble believing it's actually any good.
So, are there any games of the type released as film/TV series tie-ins that are good? Are they actually quite often good, despite the stigma of the past?

I had a fun 'Trapdoor' game for my ZX Spectrum.

<BB<

One the best FPS games ever made was GoldenEye 007 for the Nintendo 64.

I think the few Film->Video Game successes are the exceptions that make the rule. Most video game movie tie ins are just meant to be promotion for the film. They're usually shovelware, quickly programmed with a generic game engine just porting characters into a game with little thought to actually making a unique game experience.

I recently D/Led an android game based on Interstellar. I got it based on a review that said it's actually an excellent game on its own. Unfortunately, I just don't seem to be able to set aside any time to play it (or any other games for that matter other than Mah Jong when I just want to turn my brain off). What little bit I have played did seem to suggest some interestingly new game play.


I did a quick google and found this list. I haven't played any of these games except for GoldenEye 007, so I can't say much about the others on the list.

http://www.toplessrobot.com/2012/06/10_genuinely_good_videogames_based_on_good_movies.php

Wait, I did play the Blade Runner game and I do remember enjoying it. You play another blade runner, not Decker. The mood was perfect.

Most game adaptations of TV and film tend to be rather rubbish.


Don't ever look at 'How to Train Your Dragon 2' - it's appalling.

The problem with the film games that come out around the same time the film is released is that the game developers themselves aren't even privvy to the story so can (and very often do) make horrendous mistakes.

Peter Jackson's King Kong was a passable, if not particluarly faithful, effort. It was an Easy 1000G/Platinum game.

Alien: Isolation on the other hand, although not based on an actual film, 'feels' like the Ridley Scott original. Complete with the screaming from the player

If you want to try something new, TellTale Games have an Episodic version of Game of Thrones currently running set between and just beyond season 2-3 of the HBO series. There's always their Walking Dead Seasons one and Two (although they're based more on the comic books) TellTale, though tend to be more 'interactive story' than game, are flipping brilliant little games - each Episode can be play in a couple of hours.

Are you a console or PC gamer Bob?

"Are you a console or PC gamer Bob?"

Actually, no, to be honest. I have a few games. I have even played some of them. But I don't have time for many. My copies of Assassin's Creed I and II for PS3 have been sitting on my shelf for about 5 years now, untouched. My Skyrim for PC, not much less. My PS3 gets much more use as a DVD player.

I feel your pain, Just Bob.

Earlier this year I blew the dust off a game I started, but never finished, in 2001-2002, Myst III: Exile. (While looking for the name of it, I just learned that this is NOT the final game in the series. I may have to do some used game shopping. )

I have a few other old games I wouldn't mind taking another stab at. One of those is Starship Titanic. I played through that one, but I'd like to play it again if it will still run on a new computer. Another is American McGee's: Alice. When I first bought that one, my computer was too slow to play it. Now I might have the opposite problem. Oh, and I also never finished playing Grim Fandango... I really need to see if that will play on my laptop.

And then there is the one game I've started way too many times and never finished. I should be ashamed of myself...

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy from Infocom, now online and SAVEABLE (yes, that's a word).

My problem is that I am a bit of a completist. I don't seek out walkthroughs or anything, but I feel like I haven't properly completed a game unless I have explored every nook and cranny. I generally play any given game for about 100 hours. I enjoy (almost) every minute of it, but I know that if I start a game, there will be a period of a few weeks when it will be kinda the only thing I do with my spare time, and I don't want to make that sacrifice...

Same here. I've just got old enough and my time is spread thin enough that I just don't spend the time I used to playing games, (or watching movies as well (but I can't bring myself to drop my Netflix subscription)).

One of the things that bothers me when I think of it is that I have Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess for both the Gamecube and the Wii and haven't finished either version. I got stuck on the Gamecube version in a side adventure, going down a seemingly endless well of challenges. I think I was something like 28 levels down out of I don't know how many. I wanted to complete everything, but I just got frustrated. A younger me wouldn't have quit.

>I am a bit of a completist.<

Yeah, Final Fantasy VII for over 200 hours *just* so you could raise a Golden Chocobo to go and and fight/capture Knights of the Round (and never use them cuz they were all FMV and no clout).

A review of some game or other that I read years and years ago said that the problem with TV/movie tie-in games was that they'd spend so much money on the rights that not enough was left to spend on producing a really good game.

I think there have been some well-received Star Wars tie-in games over the years, but I can't say I've played any of them. Was there also a classic text-based adventure of 'The Hobbit' - never played it, but I think fondly remembered and very influential.

One I do remember fondly was the computer game version of "Yes Minister" on my old Amstrad 464. It was essentially a text-based choose-your-own-adventure whereby you had to deal with various scenarios/crises that occurred differently each time (though obviously a finite number of them). A lot of the wit carried over quite well, but probably an amusing diversion rather than something for the longer term.

I wonder if we're now at the point where we can expect more movie tie-ins of games. We've already had Street Fighter, Final Fantasy (very, very loosely), Doom, and some horror stuff. I think the Mass Effect universe might lend itself to film treatments - great if done well, awful if done badly.

You missed out Super Mario Bros (probably very wise)

There was a lot of fuss made when the Matrix sequels came out, as the plot of spin-off game 'Enter The Matrix' was mentioned once or twice in the film. That was supposed to be a landmark bringing games and films closer together - but Tron got there first...

<BB<

I could name a few more: Tomb Raider, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, Dungeon Siege, Dead or Alive, and more.
A Warcraft film has been announced, directed by Duncan Jones. There are hopes that it could be the first properly very good film of a game...

"Most game adaptations of TV and film tend to be rather rubbish." [Magwitch]

That may be so. I have also heard that there are few good movie adaptations of games. Some critics thought that "Prince of Persia" was one of the better ones, but I doubt that they were in the majority. I'm not sure it matters to someone like me, who sees movies but doesn't play games.

I do read books, though, so I have some interest in whether a movie adapted from a book is any good. I recently read Pynchon's "Inherent Vice" so I would have a clue about the movie version that will soon be out. However, the book made little sense to me, so now my hope is that the movie will be easier to understand.