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Have you ever walked out of a movie theater, full of popcorn, potentially crashing from a blood sugar spike caused by a large Tango Ice Blast and thought – “dang, that was awesome, I wish there was a game of that”. Me too, almost always. Now, being 2023 now and the games industry well and truly having its hooks within the mainstream, it is often the case that these movie tie-in video games do exist. The problem is, a lot of the time they just aren’t that good, or they somehow miss the resonant point from the seminal works causing it to just not translate mediums as well as you would hope.
Not to tar all tie-in titles with the same brush of course, there are plenty of good tie-in products available now, but that is a different list for a different day. What I have for you today is a list of a few games which might scratch the itch you’ve been feeling if you have watched any of the following films or series lately.
Sharknado – Maneater
You’ve all seen it – the ludicrous trailers, the whacky action set pieces, the cringeworthy dialogue both within and removed from context, Sharknado is a phenomenon. How could something as outlandish as a twister saturated with marine predators be translated into the medium of a video game? Well, that is exactly what Tripwire Interactive managed to do.
Not exactly a one-to-one adaption of the premise, but Maneater does have a lot of the same spirit as the Sharknado movies. You control an initially tiny shark and work your way up the food chain, devouring humans, sea creatures, battleships and alike. Where this gets truly bonkers is when the RPG elements begin to creep in. You can customise all elements of your killing machine, from a boney exoskeleton, to electric teeth, and yes, even lasers should you wish. The result is something more akin to a sketch in the back of a teenage notebook than a shark.
Without getting into more of the specifics, the game captures the essence of Sharknado and although the finished product can be a little janky and repetitive, you’re bound to have an absolute blast with it.
The Bear – Overcooked
The Bear rocks. Now I know what you’re thinking – “hey, this isn’t a movie, this is a series that can be found on Disney+ and everyone should probably go and watch it”, and you’d be right. However, I think that Overcooked has far more in common with this than something like Ratatouille or Chef. The Bear is tense, stressful, agonising, hilarious, sometimes it is even jovial, but most of all it pushes the relationships between characters to their absolute limit and often beyond.
Overcooked also does all of these things, so it makes for great movie video games play. It is almost impossible to play Overcooked without cursing, slandering and downright hating your allies. At the end of the day though, when the tills are cashed in and your final grade is displayed, you look your friends in the eyes and without a single word being spoken, you know you’re ready to do it all over again. Unless of course one of your partners has already stormed out, at which point you know, they just aren’t cut out for this business.
I haven’t even mentioned it, but yeah, both of these titles take place in a restaurant – so that is another similarity for you.
John Wick – Sifu
This will be no surprise to anyone who knows me. I bloody love a good action film, and no film does it quite like Chad Stahelski, Keanu Reeves and the rest of the John Wick team.
Now adapting something as complex as the “gun-fu” found in these films into a different medium is a big ask. Crafting a system that is interactive enough to give player-agency, but still flashy enough to make you feel like a badass is certainly challenging. I am delighted to say that developer Sloclap has succeeded with flying colours. The kung fu fighting system is fun. As a player you are rewarded for perfect timing and successful reading of the enemy movement as well as mastering your environment through the ability to use sticks, chairs, bottles and alike as weapons throughout the many, many scraps.
The whole game oozes coolness, providing overt homages to some of the best fight scenes in recent memory – and yes, there is a level set in a nightclub, as per John Wick tradition.
It has to be said that the game isn’t just a power fantasy, there is a real challenge here, with an extremely sharp difficulty spike as you head into the second stage, if you can stick with it though, the reward is playing something that looks as stylish as you feel.
Note: this has been remedied somewhat by a much easier difficulty mode which allows players of any skill level to see the whole game.
Inception – Control
There isn’t anything quite like Control to be honest – but if I had to liken it to any movie at all though, it would probably be Inception. A mind-melting exploration of both science and the paranormal leads to some truly awesome set pieces, all within the office block ominously called “The Oldest House”.
Many areas within the movie video games series, Control, makes the twisting corridor sequence from Inception look pedestrian in comparison. If you have played this title at all you surely know of the now iconic ‘ashtray maze’, but if not, I shan’t spoil it here.
If you are looking for a third-person action game that is truly weird, and has telekinesis, you really shouldn’t look any further than Remedy’s best title. It helps also that the upgrades to PS5 and Xbox Series X clean up the only lackluster part of this title – the framerate. Don’t delay and get yourself ready for the somewhat recently announced Control 2.
Mars Attacks – Destroy All Humans
Showing my age a little bit here, but I really loved seeing Mars Attacks as a kid, it was a little scary, but I still have a soft spot for this lesser-known Tim Burton flick.
The parallels here are obvious. Aliens invade Earth and wreak havoc, abducting cows, probing hippies and such. If you’ve ever wanted to live that power fantasy throughout various time periods, Destroy All Humans has you covered. What makes this more in line with Mars Attacks than something like a Prototype is simply the outrageous sense of humour. The vibes are aligned – jump in, have some fun and get out and enjoy the rest of your day.
This humour, as ever is a double-edged sword, but if you don’t take it too seriously, you’ll be able to have a good time unscathed. If the blue dialogue does get a little much for you, you can always jump in your UFO and level and entire town as some form of catharsis.
Hopefully this gives you some inspiration of what to play next if you like any of these movies – or perhaps, if you like these games it has given you some inspiration of what to watch next. Let me know on socials what you think the best unofficial movie tie-in video games are, I’d love to know.