GAME TO MOVIE ADAPTATIONS

Game to movie Adaptations. How many of them work and how many don't ? If you do some quick review of all the recent movies that were based on some game or game series, you will see that most of them have failed. I don't know why movies mostly fail to recreate the magic that the game spawned. There may be many reasons. Maybe it is because a movie is not interactive but a game is. You feel you're a part of the virtual world in the game but a movie won't give you the similiar experience. It's ok if you find this reason lame. I somewhat do. However the other more evident reason may be that since we already know (The gamers I mean) what the plot revolves around, we tend to over-expect and thus get disappointed easily than we would have had we not known about the game. However there may be instances where there may be faults within the movie itself.
According to me, the worst movie I have seen based on a game is The House of the Dead . To speak the truth, i never really like the House of the Dead games as well.

House of the dead series consist of rail shooter light gun based arcade games. I am not very fond of such games as they don't give me the adventure and free controlling that I want. And when I saw the movie based on it, I saw it as a totally seperate movie and did not relate it to the game at all since I did not even like the games in the series. And still the movie was horrible. In fact both movies (there was a sequel to the movie as well). Bad acting, bad storyline, stupid zombies. It's better to catch the old black and white George Romero zombie flicks than House of the Living Dead 1 and 2. The movies were panned by both critics and fans of the game.

Doom was a lesser disaster but still a disaster. A movie based on the popular Doom series of games was released a year after Doom 3 released. Even the presence of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson could not save the movie. And the movie deserved to drown. I was so disappointed with the movie. Doom 3 is a classic and so are the other doom games. The main factor in Doom series is the concept of a hellish invasion where horror begins when a portal to hell gets opened in an accident. But what on earth did they do with the movie ? They made a viral infection (like resident evil and so many more) the main plot element of the movie.

The movie didn't even contain what set doom apart from other games in the same genre.Not for a moment was I scared while watching the movie. The only good thing was a five minutes long first person scene in the movie, where you see the movie from the protagonist's point of view as he battles the monsters holding the weapon, just like as in an FPS game. That's about the only thing I liked in the movie and other fans did like this too. Well I also liked the BFG gun which they managed to incorporate in the movie as well. It was my favorite weapon in the game. I thought I would post the clip of the FPS mode of the movie in here.

This movie again received negative reviews mainly. Box office collections were not that good and dropped from the 2nd week itself. I was disappointed a lot with this movie. The fans mainly criticized the change in theme as the movie went for an infection rather than a hellish invasion. It contained no supernatural element like the game did. It was more like a zombie apocalypse movie like Resident Evil in Mars. They did manage to include some creatures from the game but what good can you do when you don't have a decent plot. The video below does not mention even for a moment that the filmmakers changed such an important aspect of the game's storyline.

Take a look at the Resident Evil movies. These games have failed critically but have been commercially successful. The heroine of the series Alice, was not present anywhere in the games and the main female characters like Jill Valentine and Claire Redfield were second fiddles to Alice. Don't know what the problem was to keep the protagonists same as the games. my favorite Resident Evil character Leon S. Kennedy hasn't been shown in any of the movies.

I would still say that of all the movies that have been based on games, at least according to me, the Resident Evil movies are the best. They had the maximum connection to the games. If you forget the fact that Alice did not exist in the game world, the movies are not that bad. There are a lot of scenes that have references to the video games.

Hitman and Max Payne were two of the most pathetic video game based movies again.

I had been eagerly waiting for both of them right after seeing the promo and saying I was disappointed with both of them would be an understatement. I had atleast expected these movies to be good.

I had always thought that there should have been a Hitman movie made long before the movie came out and had imagined it my way. The mysterious past of Agent 47, his distinct style, the heart-stopping missions, and the way 47 switched from one costume to another, absolutely NOTHING was present in the movie. Timothy Olyphant was a bad choice. Not that he didn't act well. He gave his best shot. But Timothy is just too cute to be 47. He doesn't look that tough. He is not that convincing. Somehow I just can't imagine him as the 47 I have guided through so many missions. The plot was totally confusing, and it ended up being like any crime-action movie. not a HITMAN movie. 47 didn't even perform hits and like he did in the game. This movie did not fare too well at the box office and was a total critical failure too.

Max Payne was no better. Mark Wahlberg lost the capacity to act in this movie. The dullest of expressions he kept on delivering all throughout the whole movie. Major differences form the game was that it is in the middle of the movie that we know that Max is avenging his wife and kid unlike the game. The movie even confused the viewers with the valkyre monsters that were included. Even I was confused as to whether the creatures were reaaly there or were imagination. They totally overdid with the valkyre creature thing and the movie looked more like a supernatural one. It was in all, a very dull one. They just added a bullet time shoot sequence to get you the Max Payne feel just like Doom incorporated a FPS scene.

This movie also got severe negative reviews and was critically panned. But still it managed to gross well at the Box Office.

Well now let's talk about a movie where the actor actually looked 100% convincing as the game's titular character. Tomb Raider is what I am talking about. The movie Lara Croft: Tomb Raider had Angelina Jolie playing Lara and I can't think of anyone who could have done it better, Tough, sexy, Kick-ass attitude , she had it all. But still the movie sucked ? Why ? Because of a lack of plot. Because it lacked the exotic and mysterious locations that have been Tomb Raider's USP. There was no emotional impact. Only the action sequences were good to watch. And of course Angelina Jolie. But these alone hardly make a movie worth watching.

Ok now after all this, let me mention the only video game based movie that I really liked quite a lot.. And that award goes to....

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Ok.......Now I know many of you may think I'm insane for liking this movie. But to each his own I guess. I agree that the story of the movie had absolutely nothing to do with the stories of any of the Alien vs Predator games except for just the fact that it showed a clash between the two species, but then I liked the original story of the movie. I don't know why this movie received negative reviews. The only grudge that I have against this movie was that the fight scenes between the two creatures were quite less in number. But the movie managed to keep me glued to the seat, and the tension building in each scene could be sensed. Most of the AvP games take place in a facility in a distant planet or in a spaceship . The storyline of the movie takes place on earth itself. A team of archaeologists venture out to examine a suddenly discovered heat bloom on an island completely desolate and uninhabited, a thousand miles from Antarctica. They reach the place and discover a thousands of years old ancient pyramid structure 2000 feet below the ice. What they don't know is that this very place was a battle arena between Aliens and Predators years and years ago. The predators returned every hundred years to earth with Alien eggs and used the humans living in that pyramid to breed the alien creatures and then would engage in a battle with them to hunt them as game. And to the explorer's horror, that is what is going to happen now after years and years. Soon it becomes a fight for survival as the humans find themselves caught between a thousand year old battle between Aliens and Predators. It's our world. It's their war. I really liked the story as well as the way it was presented. The scene where the Predator and the Alien first face each other was epic. The awesome background score added to the mood. However the sequel to the movie seriously sucked. I just hated AvP 2.. Anyways, the first movie, in spite of the criticisms, still grossed a lot at the box office and was commercially successful

So basically what we see is that movies based on games generally do well at the box office even if it is trash. Critical failure does not necessarily mean commercial failure. Well that would be because fans of the game all over would definitely be dying to checkout the movie, and it's because of them that the movie may recover it's expenses or even earn more than that in the 1st week itself, even if collection start dropping drastically from the 2nd week due to everyone disliking it. That's about all I wanted to say.

REVIEW : TOMB RAIDER UNDERWORLD

Ok this time I'm going into a full on game review. I had promised in my previous post that I'd post a review for Tomb Raider : Underworld. So here it goes. The 8th installment in the famous and legendary Tomb Raider series which started way back in 1997 and introduced us to the legendary famous (and if I may add, immensely sexy) Lara Croft.

DEVELOPED BY : CRYSTAL DYNAMICS

NIXES SOFTWARE

SANTA CRUZ GAMES

PUBLISHED BY : EIDOS INTERACTIVE

DISTRIBUTED BY : WARNER BROTHERS

GAMES TIME WARNER

RELEASED IN : 2008

I know I played this game a bit late. I played it almost a year after it had released. I had some other important work in between so even though I had already got myself a copy of the game, I had not found the time to play it. This was really difficult because I know the game had taken off from where the last installation of the series Tomb Raider Legend ended and the curiousity as to what happens next was killing me. The last one had ended with Lara Croft's nemesis Amanda telling her that her mother ( who was believed dead) was alive and in a Norse mythical and mysterious underworld called Avalon. Tom Raider Underworld now continues the story and shows Lara's quest to find the place called Avalon. In order to do that she has to travel to other Norse Underworlds to collect some ancient magical artifacts without which she can't gain entry to Avalon. The artifacts are two ancients gauntlets used by the ancient god Thor, a belt worn by Thor, and a hammer ,also used by Thor which together with the belt and gauntlets can open the gateway to Avalon and let Lara discover the truth behind her mother. Now before anything else, let's discuss the aspects of the game worth mentioning.

Graphics : 8/10

The graphics of this game is quite spectacular and the lush, flora and fauna featured in major part of the game is a treat for the eyes. The environments were great and realism was felt. However sometimes the camera angles were a bit irritating. Especially when you are hanging from a ledge or climbing walls. If you want to shoot an enemy while hanging from a ledge ( this technique was introduced in this installment itself) you can't be sure you can be aiming right. Because the camera angle may not show you the enemy. But otherwise the graphics is great. You will be spellbound seeing the natural beauty of the coastal islands and the underwater part.

Story : 8/10

This game has the best story-line in the entire series, second only to the original Tomb Raider game story. And also Tomb Raider Anniversary since it's a remake of the original and has the exact same plot. There was not a moment that I got bored of the story. The mystery behind what Avalon really is, what actually happened to Lara Croft's mother and indications of some monstrous entity in Avalon which could destroy the world if unleashed has been presented in an extremely brilliant manner. Moroever, the developers had to research on mythological concepts of a lot of cultures. You get to know quite a few things too while playing this game. The story was linear and will keep you excited to know what happens next. I could feel the glee myself when I found the two gauntlets and couldn' wait to get the belt next. Similarly when I found Thor's belt, I couldn't wait to lay my hands on the hammer. The story totally involves you into the game. You keep wanting to know ? What next.

Now I come to a point I mentioned in my previous post. The base of the story does have a slight similarity to Shade: Wrath of Angels mentioned in the previous post. Well in both the games you look for someone who vanished and he supposedly trapped in another world. Your mother in this case and your brother in Shade. Also you need to travel to different worlds unknown to humanity and collect artifacts in order to gain entry to where the one you are looking for is in both the games. The gauntlets, belt and hammer in this game and the four angel's hearts in Shade. And finally, in both the games you are actually aided by an ancient entity on your quest and in both cases you realize in the end that you were actually being used and the one helping you becomes the main antagonist. Natla in this case and the Angel of faith in Shade. This concept of being deceived in the end by someone for whom you were executing the mission is not unknown in games.Most of he games in the Meta Gear series are examples.

Anyways, if the story was so good, why didn't a give it a 10/10 and deduct two point you ask ? Well because I didn't like something. You don't get to battle Natla at all even though she is the primary antagonist. When I got hold of Thor's hammer, I was very excited about the upcoming battle I was so sure would be coming between me and Natla because this hammer was the only thing that could finish off an immortal god like Natla. To my utter dismay, the developers didn't give me, or rather anyone a chance to do that. It all happens in the last cutscene. Lara just throws the hammer into Natla and she crashes below into a deadly liquid and is assumed dead. So basically YOU , as the player, can't take the credit.

Gameplay : 7.5/10

If u're a gymnast/acrobat etc, you're going to fall in love with the gameplay. And that's because most of the gameplay is about gymnastics and awesome daredevil stunts. Most of gameplay includes climbing walls , jumping from a wall to a ledge, or from a ledge to a wall. I don't know whether to call this a shortcoming but if u're looking for some big action, you won't find it in Tomb Raider Underworld. Enemies are really very few. The main challenge in the game is to rely on Lara's superb acrobatic abilities to cross a dangerous terrain or some deep pit . You will really have to observe your surroundings very carefully and find some rock, some wall, or anything that Lara can climb or hold onto. There were times when I thought that crossing a particular area was impossible, a particular jump was impossible,there was no way etc but then there has to be a way isn't it ? Just examine your surroundings very carefully. In two missions, you will be needing your bike to make certain jumps and also to solve a puzzle. There are interesting puzzles as well you need to solve to get into a particular area. You can now shoot at enemies while hanging from ledges although a liitle problem with camera angles have made this added feature a little difficult. You can also split your guns and fire at two targets at the same time. You now have a bomb that sticks to walls as well as enemies and detonates after a few seconds. So once a bomb is tuck onto a enemy, there is no escape for the enemy. To make the game more realistic, if you exploring a wet area or if it's raining or if your hands are wet, you may slip from a ledge. But the most notable feature added to this installation was the "adrenaline moments" when time slows down and you can use that to your advantage to jump out of harm's way. The previous one had interactive cutscenes like RE4 when you did not have complete control over the character and had to press buttons as prompted. I tend to like these adrenalin moments more. Reminds me of the game that introduced this concept, which is Max Payne.

However I had expected more enemies. Frankly a few jaguars, a few tigers and some poachers are the enemies you encounter apart from a different supernatural enemy called thralls. Thralls are undead creatures , very much like zombies. They have been created by a deadly ancient liquid called eitr. Whoever comes in contact with this liquid dies, but the body remains active protecting some artifact and killing anyone whom they come in contact with. Their flesh is gone and all that remain are a walking pile of bones and look terrifying. You encounter some thralls. But even then, they're very less in number except for the last level. And two particular levels on two ships have some action with you battling Amanda's goons. And I don't count the underwater sharks as real threats. And this lack of enemies made me reduce points for the gameplay. Other than that ,it's splendidly realistic and good.

Overall :7.8/10

That's quite a good score. You can actually have hours of playing with this game without getting bored. It's extremely adventurous. You may not like it as much as I did but I bet you can never hate this one. Checkout the trailer here.