5 Movies That Should Totally Get Their Own Video Games

SCREAM

Movies can be a challenge to make compelling games out of, but there is a reason why horror movies, more often than not, do make great games. Tension, atmosphere, and jump scares are all fun ingredients for any game, and 1996’s smash hit Scream is brewing with all of these wonderful elements.

Classmates are murdered one by one, but who is the killer behind the mask? With the popularity of horror movies and games, and the recently critically acclaimed Until Dawn, Scream would make for an absolutely killer time. Keeping your friends alive and unmasking the killer will keep you busy as you try to discover their motive and how it relates back to you.

What would separate Scream from other horror games available is how self-aware the story can be. The game can address horror gaming conventions and subvert them at every turn. The characters would understand that they are trapped inside of a horror game and be aware of the rules of how to survive such a game. Think back to Conker’s Bad Fur Day and how Conker was aware that someone was pushing buttons to control him, and now mix that with horror elements. Depending on who you ask, quick time events are either loved or disparaged, and it’s that kind of gameplay mechanic that Scream can toy around with and even poke a bit of friendly fun at. Players will be laughing as much as they are screaming.

This kind of game would fit right at home with Quantic Dream, a developer known for bringing forth the cinematic qualities of movies into their gameplay, producing games such as Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls, and the upcoming Detroit: Become Human.

This post was originally authored by Brandt Prescott.

  THE PURGE

There is a ton of potential in a Purge video game. How about a timed experience like the single-player mode seen in Dead Rising? An open-world setting where all criminal activity, including murder, is legal for 24 hours. Within these 24 hours, you will find yourself trying to survive the night at all costs. Whether that be sticking to the side streets and avoiding danger, protecting people, or facing it head on, in classic kill or be killed fashion, as you come up with unique ways to survive.

The Purge will have all of the chaos of any Grand Theft Auto title, but with political intrigue and civilian unrest. Players will have fun creating their own scary masks that suit their personalities. You could customize your car to be discreet and blend into the night, or string bright lights around your car and ride out in style to make a statement to the other players. Your weapons can also be upgraded and fully customizable to suit your needs, either for effectiveness or just to make it look cooler.

The environments will need to be destructible. Out of ammo? Blast open the windows and raid a store. Of course, not everything needs to be so chaotic. Players who are opposed to giving into the game’s violent mentalities can hoard up the health kits and rescue civilians in need of saving.

If you really wanted to ramp up the intensity, how about adding some rogue-like elements into the mix? The addition of a “permadeath” system could spice up gameplay. A complete game over, forcing you to start again from scratch with the goal being to see how long you can survive. Now that would certainly shake things up and amp up the nerve-wracking tension in a game like The Purge.

THE MAZE RUNNER

The Maze Runner movies, based off the books of the same name, have become a popular franchise. The game would start off with players waking up in a barricaded community. The only way out of said community is through a giant maze. Players must work their way through the maze and solve it before the maze changes its form at the end of the night.

The puzzle solving is unique in that if you can’t solve it that day, it will be drastically changed upon the next day, effectively wiping out your hard work of attempting to map the area out. This eliminates memorization or any patterns you may discover. Another incentive on completing as fast as you can is that, as the sun sets, the creatures come out to play. Without a weapon to your name, be prepared for tight, visceral moments against a widespread of creatures as you either outwit, or outrun them. A first-person viewpoint will add to the challenge by eliminating the ability to tilt the camera-angle up for a better viewpoint, like you would be able to if the game was in the third-person POV.

The Maze Runner could also benefit from a VR experience, which would give players the claustrophobic feeling that the maze sets out to deliver.

Feel free to explore the maze and all of its dangers at dusk, but if you don’t find an escape or don’t make it back to the community start point, the maze closes up and swallows you with it.

GROUNDHOG DAY

Groundhog Day. The idea may sound silly at first, but hear me out on this one. Many consider Groundhog Day and Edge of Tomorrow to be like a video game, because the character continually dies until he learns how to handle the task at hand. Why not bring that back full circle and make Groundhog Day a video game?

The gameplay would give players a set number of days to figure out how to achieve the “perfect day.” Set in a small fictional town in which every building you see can be explored, every character fully interacted with, and the outcomes change depending on what time of day you choose to interact with them. Watch characters freak out when you begin to learn more about them than they know about themselves.

In the ever changing landscape of gaming, what players are wanting more of are choices, and that those choices are making a legitimate impact on the story. In this game, your choices mean everything. Your choices are the only thing. Your choices either lead you down a destructive path that will doom you to remain in the time loop for eternity, or they will lead you to the freedom of seeing tomorrow. What makes Groundhog Day unique is that your consequences are wiped free at the start of each day. If you rob a bank and go to jail, nobody will remember when the day starts over again. You can choose to rob a bank, or you can save a homeless man’s life as he nearly chokes to death in an alley.

Whereas many games reward players for the destruction they cause, Groundhog Day puts a fresh spin on things by gearing people toward performing a series of good deeds to bring that “perfect day” to fruition. Players can still waste a few days causing mayhem, but remember, the ultimate goal is to achieve that perfect day in as few days as possible. The challenge stems from finding what it will take to make your character become a better person. Be prepared for moral dilemmas aplenty as you navigate your decisions to end the time loop and get back on with your life.

LOOPER

Looper was released in 2012 and takes place in a future where time travel has been outlawed. Crime lords hide the bodies of their victims by shipping them into the past for “loopers” to execute. So what happens when you are tasked with eliminating the future version of yourself? Well, in this case, you don’t. You go on the run.

It is not often that you have the ability to control two versions of essentially the same character, Young Joe and Old Joe, which is bound to give Looper those lively time paradoxes found in all of the best time travel movies and games. Whatever happens to Young Joe consequentially affects Old Joe. If Young Joe is stabbed, watch that wound appear on Old Joe as a scar. A third-person perspective will help to highlight the changes made to these characters over the course of this sci-fi shooter as well as better distinguish which character you are currently in control of.

The game would benefit from ditching the “Rainmaker” storyline, a child telepath, in favor of focusing more on the character of Joe, as that is what will make for the most riveting gameplay. You will be able to swap between these two characters at the push of a button, with time travel playing a heavy part in the action. Being able to control two different characters in two different time periods would be a real treat as you shoot your way to living a free life again.

The tech noir setting of the movie oozes with atmosphere that would be great to toy around in, host to a world of colorful side characters. Enemies wield blunderbusses and futuristic revolvers, looking a lot like futuristic cowboys. Telepaths will also stand in your way as they hurl objects at you in this sci-fi shooter. Hover-bikes can serve as transportation if a regular car just doesn’t cut it for you. This world seems like a sandbox too fun not to step into.

These are five movies that we think could make great games. What are some movies you think would be fun to play? Let us know in the comments below.