8 Video Games You Didn't Realise Ripped Off Famous Movies

2. Battlefield: Bad Company - Three Kings

Bad Company Three Kings
EA/Warner Bros. Pictures

Not only was Battlefield: Bad Company loved for its destruction-led multiplayer, but surprisingly because of its story. Giving the franchise a personality beyond just "war is pretty noisy, isn't it?", the campaign introduced fans to a ragtag gang of AWOL soldiers, who spent their spare time sticking smiley faces on grenades and trying to get rich.

This plot was pretty much ripped entirely from Three Kings (swapping out the desert setting, anyway), a movie starring George Clooney which similarly followed a breakaway group of soldiers during the Gulf War attempting to rip off Saddam Hussein by stealing some of his gold. The banter between the squad was very much inspired by this movie as well, even if Bad Company pushes that element slightly further than the film.

There's also shades of Kelly's Heroes in there as well, another comedy war movie - this time set in WW2 - about a bunch of misfits attempting to steal Nazi treasure. Both were great sources to draw from, as it made Bad Company the perfect antidote to Modern Warfare's super-serious plot at the time.

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Josh has over 11 years of experience as a published writer, having worked nine of those years as a full-time content producer at WhatCulture. In that period he has created hundreds of articles, videos and podcast episodes for multiple WhatCulture channels, specialising in gaming, horror and film & TV. He now primarily works as a senior content producer and presenter on WhatCulture Gaming where he co-hosts the WhatCulture Gaming Podcast, a top 3 UK most listened to gaming podcast that he co-created in 2018. Over the years he has reviewed several high-profile gaming releases, covered industry events with on-site reporting, opined on breaking news, and even kicked off his interviewing career by chatting to childhood hero, Tommy Wiseau.