There’s this misconception in video game development that claims that being more cinematic— or replicating filmmaking’s style and tricks— guarantees quality. While not an inherently bad idea, it eschews everything that makes video games their own unique storytelling medium.
For every landmark game like Bioshock or Spec Ops: The Line, there are many more that miss the point of being “cinematic.” In fact, these titles are overlong movies that somehow found their way to a console.
10 Mirror’s Edge Would Fare Better As A Parkour Movie
Mirror’s Edge’s selling point is parkour. In the first game and Catalyst, players take control of Faith as she runs, scales, and leaps through a dystopian metropolis to deliver vital information to scattered resistance fighters. Problem is, the games are told through a nauseating first-person perspective, making it difficult to appreciate an otherwise unique gameplay mechanic.
Because Mirror’s Edge prefers to use Faith’s athleticism to avoid fights instead of getting into them, it would’ve been better as a dedicated stunt movie like District 13. This way, Faith could show off her parkour skills in the uninterrupted glory it deserves. That, and even if it were shot with a shaky-cam, a parkour movie would be easier on the eyes than a "Let’s Play" of Mirror’s Edge.
9 Wet Is Better As A Cinematic Throwback Than A Game
Not unlike something Robert Rodriguez would direct, Wet is an homage to ‘70s-era grindhouse movies, but with Quick-Time Events (QTEs) bolted on to the action scenes. The worst thing about Wet wasn’t the lackluster gameplay or a notorious overreliance on QTEs, but the fact that everything about it just works better as a movie than an interactive story.
From its red-and-black mode during Rubi Malone’s berserker rampages, to character designs and the loading screens riffing on in-theater ads, Wet owes more to cinema than gaming. As a game, Wet was one of the biggest perpetrators of the QTE trend. If it were a movie, Wet would quickly find a place in midnight screenings beside Deadly Prey or Hobo With A Shotgun.
8 Kingdom Hearts Would Be Easier To Understand As A Movie
Kingdom Hearts is the deceptively childlike franchise crossover of Disney and Pixar movies with Square Enix characters, primarily from Final Fantasy. Despite its kid-friendly aesthetic, Kingdom Hearts has one of the most confusing and sprawling mythos in all of gaming history. As of this writing, Kingdom Hearts has about a dozen total games— "about" because it's hard to know which of the multiple versions of single games to count separately— only three of which are actually the mainline canon.
Like what the MCU did for Marvel comics and their countless reboots and timelines, movies could streamline Kingdom Hearts’ lore and make it more accessible. Additionally, many of the worlds that Sora and his party explore hail from movies, not games. It would make more sense for them to visit the actual Disney movies rather than their subpar licensed game adaptations.
7 Overwatch’s Story & Characters Would Work Better In A Movie
At the height of its popularity, Overwatch was hyped as a hero shooter with a uniquely deep and complex setting populated by diverse characters. Unfortunately, the game wasn’t able to convey any of its world building or characterizations properly due to the storytelling roadblocks inherent to the class-based multiplayer shooter.
Contrast this to the parodic Team Fortress 2, which avoided this pitfall by not taking its lore seriously and making its characters as simple as possible. Today, people remember Overwatch best for its promotional movies, and the franchise should capitalize on this. Overwatch and Talon’s clash would be much better off in movies done in the vein of Big Hero 6.
6 Red Dead Redemption 1 & 2 Are Spaghetti Westerns With Side-Quests
The Red Dead Redemption duology is a good examination of revenge’s futility and the emptiness of the outlaw life. Not unlike The Last Of Us duology, these games are open-worlds with too many side-quests and mundane chores disguised as mini-games (cooking, horse cleaning, hunting etc.) shoehorned between the major events of John Marston and Arthur Morgan’s lives.
By shortening or removing these diversions, Red Dead Redemption will be more focused and emotionally charged. And even then, each game’s story is dragged out by tedious gameplay, like slowly walking or riding beside an expository NPC. Red Dead Redemption plays out like a classic Spaghetti Western with gameplay crammed into it, bolstering the case for movies more.
5 God Of War (2018) Translates Better As A Cinematic Character Study
The soft reboot and belated sequel to the God Of War trilogy deviated from franchise tradition, as the once bloodthirsty one-man army Kratos basically retired and moved to the countryside of Midgard. Now the father of a young boy, Kratos abandoned violence up until it came at his doorstep in the form of an angry Norse pantheon.
God Of War was a change of pace, as players spent more time trekking Midgard and riding boats than they did slaying gods. The original God Of War was a slasher trilogy, not a self-serious deconstruction of action fiction. With its restrained violence and matured characterization, Kratos’ later years would’ve been better as a movie similar to Logan than a game.
4 Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns Of The Patriots Is More Cutscene Than Game
Metal Gear Solid is notorious for its excessive cutscenes, and the fourth installment is the worst offender. Combined, Guns Of The Patriots’ cutscenes last 90-minutes, with its 71-minute long finale earning a Guinness World Record for its length. Said epilogue is comprised of four vignettes, with Solid Snake’s 27-minute long confrontation with Big Boss getting its own record, too.
As Solid Snakes’ swan song, it makes sense to dedicate lots of time to his and everyone’s farewells. However, Guns Of The Patriots prioritized cutscenes so much that some “gameplay” had players move Snake between rooms just to start another cutscene. It would’ve been better to end Metal Gear Solid with an actual movie instead of a glorified interactive movie on a PlayStation 3.
3 Death Stranding Is An Interactive Arthouse Movie
To its credit, there’s no AAA game like Death Stranding. That said, there’s a reason why there aren’t that many strand-type games to begin with. The game’s biggest problem is that its unique story about a courier being the only form of communication left in a desolated Earth is burdened by cumbersome walking mechanics and tedious chores disguised as immersive gameplay.
As expected of game auteur Hideo Kojima, Death Stranding’s cutscenes are incredibly long, with the finale lasting more than two hours. Thing is, the story is perfectly comprehensible without Sam’s arduous delivery services. A common consensus with Death Stranding is that it would’ve made for a uniquely surreal post-apocalypse movie if not for the gameplay’s interference.
2 David Cage’s Games Should've Been Movies First
From Indigo Prophecy (also known as Fahrenheit) to Detroit: Become Human, it’s clear that Cage intended for his stories to become movies or TV shows, and gameplay was just an afterthought. Such is the case that most of his games are little more than QTE marathons, with the scant action set-pieces feeling perfunctory at best (see: Beyond: Two Souls).
In brief, Cage’s games should’ve been made as movies from the get go. Not only would this bypass the overreliance on QTEs, but his stories would also be free from gimmicks like alternate endings and branching narratives. Though fun and conceptually innovative, these only undermine his stories by forcing characters to make extreme and nonsensical choices.
1 Quantum Break Already Has A Pre-Built TV Show In It
When it comes to making a game “cinematic,” Quantum Break took it to the extreme by literally being a live-action TV show with some gameplay in it. Touted as a cross between an ambitious 4-episode miniseries and a 5-act video game, Quantum Break split its story through chapters where the player’s choices would affect the outcome as seen in the live-action segments.
Problem was, both halves of Jack Joyce’s time-travelling conspiracy were undercooked and uninspired. It would’ve been better if developers just made a movie or series, since it’s obvious that the cinematic presentation and casting of big names like Aidan Gillen and Lance Reddick took priority. As it is, both halves of Quantum Break barely work together, let alone on their own.