Bonus Round: Apocalypse Now?
The film: Based on the novel Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad, Apocalypse Now is an intense, unrelenting look at the dehumanizing psychosis of war.
Above: THIS MOVIE TOTALLY RIPPED OFF MGS3: SNAKE EATER!!!1!
How to spin it into a game: Earlier this week, rumors began flying around the internet about an Apocalypse Now videogame under development by the enigmatic Killspace Entertainment. Our take? Filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola opted to set his adaptation during the Vietnam War, making it more relevant than the African ivory trade of the 1800s. The game, in turn, could relocate to a modern day hotspot. Maybe even return to Africa? But we’d be happy with a straight-faced adaptation, provided the game doesn’t lose the film’s artistry and insightful perspectives – otherwise, it’ll be just another generic FPS.
Bonus Round 2: Akira?
OK, we hear you moaning that Akira came along well after the home console revolution and doesn’t really fit with the rest of the films on this list and blah blah blah. Fine, keep whining. Would you rather I carry on about Battleship Potempkin’s dialectic montage and what games could learn from Marxism?
Above: Didn’t think so
The truth is, I came across these screens for the Akira/Ghost in the Shell influencedNeo Tokyo Half-Life 2mod while researching this article and thought they looked incredible. But they left me wanting more than a Half-Life 2 mod. Something like Crackdown meets Fallout 3 in a Neo Tokyo filled with cyber-mutants, biker gangs and private armies. Akira’s crusty old Famicom game and Akira: Psychoball just don’t live up to the movie’spotential. Today’s consoles could easily produce graphics surpassing those of the original anime and create an immersive world full of fascinating characters. It would even provide room to delve into storylines from the manga that were cut from the movie. If you have any doubts as to how rad an Akira game could, nay should be, just check out these screens.
Now imagine this mod fleshed out into a sandbox with the Akira universe’s characters and backstory. Til some brave publisher steps up, you'll just have to download theNeo Tokyo Half-Life 2mod for yourself.
April 15, 2010
