Movies and video games have always had a somewhat tumultuous relationship. From the famous failings of video game movie adaptations to the even more famous struggle to make good movie versions of games, it’s rare that the two mediums see eye to eye. Which is why it’s so funny that there are a few rare examples of games trying to recreate famous movie scenes while giving players control of the action.
The latest example of this comes from the surprisingly good new Indiana Jones game, which recreates a playable version of the opening of Raiders of the Lost Ark, but it’s far from the first game to try this. Sadly, this is a trend that’s become less popular in recent years, as game developers have realized how hard it is to pull off. That hasn’t stopped us from putting together a list of a few of our favorite examples.
As a notable caveat, we’ve got a few important specifics here. For one thing, we only considered recreated scenes that are actually playable; they couldn’t simply be cutscene renders of movie moments. Furthermore, we decided to skip entries that were filtered through a different style than the original movie — this is an overly specific way to carve out the Lego games, which do wonderfully goofy re-creations and could have easily filled this list.
With that aside, here are some of the best (and silliest) attempts at games recreating movie moments, along with a brief description of how well they do (or don’t) work.
Ethan Hunt infiltrating the CIA
The game: Mission: Impossible (1998)
The movie: Mission: Impossible (1996)
How playable is it? Honestly, this one is pretty great. Sure, the descent seems like it’s about 1,000 feet longer here than it is in the movie, but it captures the tension neatly, and it’s not afraid of the kind of silliness that makes Mission: Impossible great. Now, I admit that this is grading on a curve in two respects. First of all, this was a game on the N64 and original PlayStation, so I’m accounting for that fact that some of it looks downright ridiculous. But second, as console technology has improved, we’ve gotten fewer and fewer games that let you complete heists through laser grids, and frankly that sucks. So I’m just glad this game really went for it. —Austen Goslin
Tony Montana’s mansion shootout
The game: Scarface: The World Is Yours (2006)
The movie: Scarface (1983)
How playable is it? Objectively, Scarface: The World Is Yours is one of the strangest games ever released. Aside from just having a combat resource called “balls,” where Tony Montana can enter a “blind rage” when his “balls meter” is full, the game’s oddness is only compounded by the fact that it’s a sequel to the movie — which, by the way, ends with Tony Montana dying in a hail of bullets. In order to amend this, the game’s first level is a re-creation of the movie’s ending, where Tony is supposed to die in a firefight. In the video game version, however, Tony shoots his way out of his mansion, mowing down dozens of would-be killers before escaping and continuing his criminal empire with players in control. To be clear, the game’s not very good, so neither is this level. But as far as playable re-creations of famous movie scenes go, it’s a success. —AG
The Battle of Hoth
The game: Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire (1996), and many other Star Wars games
The movie: Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
How playable is it? The Battle of Hoth is iconic. It’s one of the all-time great movie scenes, a truly epic sci-fi battle that rivaled war movies long before CGI made that both easy and less believable. So it’s not a surprise that it’s a perfect target for re-creation in just about every Star Wars game it could possibly fit in. Sadly, most of those re-creations have been pretty bad. The best of them come from games like Star Wars: Battlefront, which gives players control of the outcome and lets them use the movie’s set-piece for whatever combat they like. However, of all the truest re-creations, we think Shadows of the Empire got the closest to the real thing, even if it’s still a far cry from Luke’s in-movie act of daring. —AG
The Burly Brawl
The game: The Matrix: Path of Neo (2005)
The movie: The Matrix (1999) and The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
How playable is it? The Matrix: Path of Neo is full of these kinds of re-creations, and frankly none of them quite work, which is less an insult to the game than it is a testament to the Wachowskis’ original films. Of all the moments that this game digitizes (is that fair to say when the original version took place in the Matrix?), the “Burly Brawl” is both the most obvious and egregious. One of the weirdest, most spectacular fights from The Matrix Reloaded, Neo facing off against hundreds of clones of Agent Smith seems like an obvious translation to video games. Unfortunately, the original is so goddamn cool that this version can only pale in comparison. On the other hand, this game’s re-creation of the fight at The Merovingian’s mansion isn’t half bad, mostly because of the mess of weapons it allows Neo to play with at will. —AG
Ellen Ripley initiating the Nostromo’s self-destruct sequence
The game: Alien: Isolation (2014)
The movie: Alien (1979)
How playable is it? Alien: Isolation is widely considered today to be one of the best video games set in the universe of Ridley Scott’s sci-fi horror franchise. This reputation is only substantiated by the fact that not only did the game perfectly capture the terrifying unpredictability of the Xenomorph, it also deftly recreated two of the most iconic sequences featuring it in Scott’s original movie. Alien: Isolation’s DLC expansions, Crew Expendable and Last Survivor, take place on USCSS Nostromo and cast players in the role of either Ellen Ripley or one of her crewmates.
Crew Expendable recreates the scene immediately following Brett’s death, as the remaining crew aboard make a last-ditch effort to expel the creature through the Nostromo’s airlock. Last Survivor picks up directly after the end of Crew Expendable, with Ripley forced to activate the ship’s self-destruct sequence and escape before she too becomes the creature’s prey. Both DLCs do a terrific job of recreating two of Alien’s tensest and most terrifying moments, placing players directly in Ripley’s shoes and putting their cavalier “Pfff, I could survive that” attitudes to the test. —Toussaint Egan
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