Movies and Games: From the big screen to the little screen

Everybody loves a movie, and equally, everybody loves a game based on a movie they love. Interestingly, this is a fact that is unlikely to ever change and many great games are produced on the back of a successful film.

The first that springs to mind is the game that changed first-person shooters forever. When the James Bond film GoldenEye was released in 1995, it prompted games developer Rare to produce what is considered one of the greatest N64 games of all time. The game, named after the movie, was released on the Nintendo 64 to huge acclaim in August 1997. It was a free roaming shooter and opened up the console as a valid platform for the genre. It sold over eight million copies and received the BAFTA Interactive Entertainment Games Award. It showed the world that games developers were capable of making engaging games that were directly based on or influenced by films, rather than simply cash-grabbing tie-ins.

Today, mobile and online games developer Plarium also have a number of titles that are derived from themes popular in film, as well as a couple of directly linked titles. The studio produced a mobile game based on the movie Terminator Genisys that can be played on mobile devices and allows players to build armies in a post-apocalyptic world and form clans to rule of the wasteland. The game is called Terminator Genisys: Future War and was marketed in line with the Terminator franchise, often depicting an Arnold Schwarzenegger head made up in the classic T-800 style on promotional material.

Using popular movie themes in games is one way that game franchises can appeal to a wider audience and Plarium MMO games are amongst those to do that. The company produces a wide range of games that set the player in situations and worlds popular in movies. Their game Sparta: War of Empires is a game based in the 5^th Century BC and positions the player in the role of a commander that has to lead their Spartan Army to War against the Persian Empire ruled by Xerxes. The player not only has to be able to build an impressive army but also has to be clever in their strategy and use alliances to defeat the overwhelming numbers available to the Persian leader.

This game can be linked to the film 300 that saw a small number of Spartans take on the might of a huge Persian army in the Battle of Thermopylae. Other games like Pirates: Tides of Fortune have clear links to films such as Pirates of the Caribbean, with players taking control of a pirate leader and protecting their haven whilst gathering resources to help make more forces to attack other players.

The moviegoer loves to engage in games that link to films they really enjoy, so this strategy will always be a winner amongst gamers. Taking yourself into a world that allows you to lead great armies like the icons of the movies while enjoying it with other players online is something that looks like remaining popular for a long time yet.