My thoughts on movie tie in games

My thoughts on movie tie in games 

 

Since I’m starting to see less and less of these games, I think it’s time for me to talk about them.

I don’t know about you, but I’m surprised that movie tie-in games lasted this long because they don’t seem to make as much money as other video game franchises, as far as I know. (Plus, I see those games in bargaining bans in retail stores.) Also, most of them are bad, part of the reason why is the rushed production. The developers didn’t work on the game at the same time as the filmmakers filmed the movie; even if they did, making movie tie-in games is a gamble. If the movie isn’t well-received, what makes you think the games will sell? Plus, you have to ask yourself, can this movie work as a video game, and what elements from the movie can be used as gameplay? 

The only way around this issue is to come up with a story that takes place before, during, or after the movie.

These are some movies that have no business being a video game. Sorry! There are so many of them that I can't think of any examples at the top of my head. Plus, the game follows the same story as the movie for the most part, so there’s no surprise in the game’s story. Then again, the DBZ fighting games have the same story as the anime, and no one seems to mind that, but I digress. Speaking of that, I'm surprised that we have tie-in games of TV shows and cartoons, because they are made before the show ended. Spider-Man 2 is held as the gold standard for how movie tie-in games should be done. It has an open world, has a lot of content for the game to have replay value, and the game gives you the experience of playing as Spider-Man. I think it’s kind of messed up that this game got so much praise. I’m not saying that it doesn’t deserve it; however, we had decent tie-in games before Spider-Man 2, like Golden Eye and The Lion King. 

I’m let down that the tie-in game haven't gotten better after Spider-Man 2. ( To be fair, Star Wars episode 3 Revenge of the Sith tie-in game also gets overlooked.) Well, we have some successes like X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Captain America, and the Lego games that are based on movies, but they don’t rival Spider-Man 2. The Batman Arkham games manage to do what Spider-Man 2 did, but better. X-Men Legends could have worked as a tie-in game for the first X-Men movie. I say that because the story in that game is similar to the movie, but the game has better world-building. There is one tie-in game that I'm disappointed with, and that is the Iron Man game. How can you screw up an Iron Man game? Another reason why I feel this way is because of the story in the first game, you don't just destroy Tony's weapons, you also fight other terrorist groups, and the game answers one of the plot holes in the movie. That's what I like about this game, it builds off of the movie's story. If more of these tie-in games did the same thing, I wouldn't mind them so much. 

Another thing that hurts these games is that there are different versions of them; people assume that just because they played one version of the game, then they're all the same. That's not always the case due to third-party developers, for example, the Wii version of Battleship is different from the XBOX 360 and the PS3. The Wii version of Battleship is a strategy game, and the other two console versions are shooter games. Also, the Wii version of Iron Man is not as bad as the other two consoles, plus the graphics could look better that depends on which version you're playing. Do you see how this is an issue? No one is going to buy a new console just to play a better version of a game unless he or she has money to burn.    

Despite that movie, tie-in games are a cash grab that doesn't mean that they can't reach their full potential.