10 Video Games That Should Be Movies (And Who Should Direct Them)
A DiCaprio/Scorsese reunion for Vice City, anyone?
Gaming has come a long way since the glory days of 2D boards and sticky arcade buttons. Nowadays, an engaging story is just as much a part of the gaming experience as the gameplay itself, and year upon year the quality of plot in video games seems to improve. In fact, a good number of recent games have proven more engrossing than half the stuff being churned out by Hollywood lately.
In the past, video game developers have looked to the big screen for new ideas, always on the hunt for a potential adaptation of a popular picture. With so many film-worthy games already out there and a number of talented writers and developers creating more by the month, perhaps it is time for film studios to repay the compliment and look for inspiration in the world video games.
Seeing as there as so many to choose from, pointing out a game that would make a great movie is the easy part. The challenge is putting that game in the hands of a director who is capable of making a faithful adaptation of it, true not only to the original story but to the style and feel of the game, something which has never happened in the past.
Of all 33 films based on video games listed on Rotten Tomatoes, not one has a rating of more than 50%. Games have never been done justice on the big screen, and they never will be until the top players in the motion picture business are put to work adapting the best of them.
And luckily some games immediately suggest themselves for the perfect big name directors...
10. David Fincher's Firewatch
The Game:
Developed by Campo Santo and published by Panic, Firewatch is a first person adventure game that takes place in the wilderness of 1989 Wyoming. The player is in control of a man named Henry, a fire lookout stationed in Shoshone National Forest who becomes entangled in the disappearance of two teenage girls.
While Henry did come across the drunken teens - who accused him of leering - he knows nothing of their whereabouts. When he finds his watchtower ransacked and notices that he is being followed by a cloaked figure, he realises that something strange is going on in his forest, and he is now involved in it whether he wants to be or not.
Why David Fincher:
With a CV that boasts titles like Se7en, Fight Club, Zodiac, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Gone Girl, David Fincher knows his way around a thriller. What all those films have in common, apart from style and substance in abundance, is a protagonist attempting to solve a mystery they don't quite understand.
The search for truth is a recurring theme in Fincher's work, and Firewatch's Henry certainly fits the model.
Another Fincher trait that would work well with Firewatch's story is that of the unreliable narrator. Ben Affleck in Gone Girl, Ed Norton in Fight Club, Kevin Spacey in House of Cards - they are the ones telling us how it is, but we're never entirely sure we can trust them.
This angle would work perfectly with Henry's situation, and with plenty of shocking twists and turns to play with (including the discovery of a mummified child) Fincher could bring this game to life.