40 Videogames That Need Movies

Fallout 3

The Game: Emerging from Vault 101, the nameless player must search through a post-nuclear Washington DC where the world has become little more than a graveyard.

Movie Version: Another post-apocalypse thriller, in which Mike (Matt Damon) breaks free from Vault 101 when his father goes missing, only to enter a dangerous new world as he searches for his pops.

Directed By: Paul Greengrass knows action and smarts, and we'd kill to see him working with Damon again.

Bulletstorm

The Game: Future politics collide with feverish battle play, as a black ops team called Dead Echo protect the Confederation of Planets – until they accidentally kill a reporter and discover their commander is corrupt.

Movie Version: A fast-paced actioner packed with ludicrous action scenes and fleshed out with a conspiracy plot, as Dead Echo agent Grayson Hunt (Henry Cavill) attempts to bring down his former boss General Sarrano (Viggo Mortensen).

Directed By: The Coen Brothers do action? We're there.

Gears Of War

The Game: On an Earth-like planet called Sera, humanity lives in a golden age of near-peace – until alien locusts burrow their way out of the ground and set about destroying all life.

Movie Version: New Line have the rights, but a GOW movie has yet to make it to the screen. This would work best pairing a human story with the horror of the locust’s assault, with focus on soldier Marcus Fenix (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and his attempts to restore order.

Directed By: Steven Soderbergh - go on, put off retirement for just a little while longer.

Ghostsn Goblins

The Game: The demon Astaroth has kidnapped Princess Prin-Prin, and it’s up to a knight called Arthur to save her by braving armies of the undead.

Movie Version: A comic caper that folds in old Arthurian legends as the hapless Arthur (James McAvoy) goes from hijinks to hijinks on his way to saving Princess Prin-Prin.

Directed By: Ivan Reitman

Crysis

The Game: In the future, a massive alien structure is discovered in the Philippines. When the Raptor Team is sent in to evacuate civilians, they come under attack from an unknown force.

Movie Version: Isolation horror in the same vein as The Thing , as the Raptor Team attempt to figure out the nature of the threat before it destroys them.

Directed By: John Carpenter, naturally.

Frogger

The Game: Frogs attempt to cross the road while trucks and cars threaten to turn them into mush. It’s from 1981, and it’s amazing.

Movie Version: The eternal struggle of frogs to cross the road becomes a metaphor for the struggles we all go through, as Pixar helps us to relate to frogs.

Directed By: John Lasseter

Soulcalibur

The Game: Divine warrior Sophitia and ninja Taki stop pirate Cervantes from using a mystical blade called ‘Sword Edge’ to create destruction. But soon the sword finds a new agent in a knight called Siegfried.

Movie Version: Real-world fantasy in which whoever wields the Sword Edge is granted with great power. Sort of like Highlander .

Directed By: Sam Raimi

Metroid Prime

The Game: Female bounty hunter Samus Aran discovers Space Pirates are exploiting a species called Metroids in a bid for galactic domination. Later, she finds that a Metroid called Prime has grown massive thanks to a radioactive substance called Phazon.

Movie Version: An intergalactic space opera with Michelle Williams going sci-fi as Aran.

Directed By: Jon Favreau could give it a go.

Tetris

The Game: Odd-shaped blocks fall from the top of the screen, and players have to find ways to slot them together in order to score points.

Movie Version: If they can make a movie out of Battleships , they can make one out of Tetris ! Aliens (of course) are chucking blocks from the sky to crush the human population, but a scientist has come up with a magnetic manipulator that means he can guide the blocks to safety – if the government gives him enough juice, that is.

Directed By: Paul Verhoeven

Portal

The Game: Chell is challenged by artificial intelligence GLaDOS (Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System) to complete puzzles while creating portals using a handheld portal device.

Movie Version: Something akin to Tron 3 , with characters plonked in a virtual world where they can open portals between levels – but have to overcome various challenges on the way.

Directed By: Clive Barker could give it a gutsy Hellraiser spin.

Josh Winning has worn a lot of hats over the years. Contributing Editor at Total Film, writer for SFX, and senior film writer at the Radio Times. Josh has also penned a novel about mysteries and monsters, is the co-host of a movie podcast, and has a library of pretty phenomenal stories from visiting some of the biggest TV and film sets in the world. He would also like you to know that he "lives for cat videos..." Don't we all, Josh. Don't we all.