Video Games That Remind Me of Movies (And Two Shows) (WIP)
This is the companion to the list I made over on Letterboxd. These two lists are basically inverted versions of each other, with the only difference being that the entries which remind me of entire franchises rather than single games have been omitted on this version of the list. The movies on this list that I've actually seen will have a * next to them. Video game movies and movie tie-in games don't count. Suggestions are more than welcome.
Check out the original Letterboxd list here: https://boxd.it/cI63M
Check out the original Letterboxd list here: https://boxd.it/cI63M
50 Games
Ambulance* (Pretty much a feature-length five star wanted level chase. Also, the L.A. setting seals it.)
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind* (Lighthearted apocalypse and similar atmospheres)
The Northman* (Blend of fantasy and medieval/viking elements and a brutal, unforgiving atmosphere)
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford* (Western setting, increasingly paranoid gang leader, and the train scene was a clear inspiration for the train heist in the game)
DragonHeart (Talking dragons)
Menace II Society* (South Central setting, protagonist trying to change his ways and break the cycle of violence)
The Incredibles* (Similar premises and Pixar-y visuals)
Brotherhood of the Wolf* (Similar hunter outfits, demonic beasts, and trick weapons. A good amount of both this movie and this game focus on an event called "The Hunt" as well.)
Radioactive Dreams* (Blends a mid-20th Century pastiche with a nuclear apocalypse. The film also heavily inspired Wasteland, the game that the original Fallout was the spiritual successor to)
Youth of the Beast* (Somewhat similar tones and obviously the yakuza settings)
Drive* (Synthwave visuals and music, extreme violence, and jacketed protagonists)
Angel's Egg* (Bleak, desolate fantasy setting with a focus on environmental storytelling)
Bright (Failed attempts at allegories to racism)
The Proposition* (The law forces a man to kill an outlaw that he used to be close with)
Hardcore Henry (First person John Wick simulators)
The Wicker Man* (Man of the law investigates the disappearance of a girl in a mysterious island populated by a cult)
Scarface* (Clear inspiration for the plot, protagonist, and setting)
Children of Men* (The game’s plot is the same as this movie, but with zombies)
Escape from New York* (Solo infiltration missions involving stealth, deadly fail-safes, and a cynical protagonist named Snake)
Aliens* (Space marines gunning down and blowing up aliens. Plus, the xenomorphs really reminded me of the Flood here and Sergeant Al Apone clearly inspired Sergeant Major Avery Johnson)
Sorcerer* (Delivering cargo and being very careful while you do so.)
A Town Called Panic* (Zany senses of humor and general Frenchness)
Alien* (Atmosphere of isolation and claustrophobia, unsettling artstyle, and the Funes in the game kind of resemble xenomorphs)
Heat* (Buncha heists)
Solaris* (Tarkovsky's movie didn't directly influence this game, but both stories deal with guilt, punishment, loss, and love in similar ways through the psychology of their respective protagonists. Kris Kelvin's relationship with the planet Solaris also somewhat mirrors James Sunderland's relationship with the town of Silent Hill)
Lawrence of Arabia* (WW1 setting and T.E. Lawrence is mentioned in the game)
Son of the White Mare* (Sword-wielding male protagonist goes to a desolate area to fight giant beasts)
The Sword and the Sorcerer* (Campy, yet entertaining B-grade fantasy)
The Room* (So-bad-it’s-good entertainment)
John Wick* (Well dressed assassin who is exceptionally good at killing people)
The Thing* (Battling a shapeshifting alien in an abandoned research station)
The Killer* (Bullet time and general John Woo-isms)
Come and See* (Increasingly nightmarish anti-war)
Song of the Sea* (Toony artstyle with a lot of water)
Man on Fire* (Alcoholic killer tasked with protecting a girl in South America, similarly woozy and hyperactive visual styles)
Snowpiercer* (Middle fingers to capitalism and objectivism)
Assault on Precinct 13* (Seemingly endless waves of faceless, nameless evil attacking survivors in an abandoned police station)
Dracula* (This game took a lot of inspiration from the Universal horror movies, and Dracula is the villain of both that movie and this game)
Inherent Vice* (Detectives who are stuck in the past style-wise and have to deal with former lovers in some way. Also, drugs.)
Star Wars* (Opening text crawl and dogfights in space)
Nemesis* (Cyberpunk dystopia with a cybernetically enhanced, glasses-wearing protagonist having to choose between a counterterrorist organization and an underground militant group)
Predator* (Jungle setting and camouflage)
Demonlover* (Complex plot, hazy neo-noir atmosphere, and disturbing undertones)
Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky* (A practically superhuman martial artist pulverizes his enemies in an over-the-top fashion)
Zeros and Ones* (Examinations of conspiracy and the control of information in the digital age)
The Rock* (Dudes breaking into Alcatraz and wreaking havoc as they do it)
Overlord* (Nazi mad scientists making mutant soldiers)
Year of the Dragon* (White guy(s) making a bad situation even worse over and over again while shooting at Chinese triad members in a neon-lit city)
Twin Peaks* (First few hours of the game are straight-up plagiarism)
Neon Genesis Evangelion* (Giant mechs being piloted by people through liquids, increasingly bizarre storytelling)
7 Comments
@MendelPalace I've been meaning to play Max Payne 3 for this exact reason, because I love both Tony Scott and Man on Fire (as well as Domino). I was initially waiting until I actually play the game before I add it to this list, but I might as well add it now.
Played 'Cuphead' recently, reminds me of a show called 'Cuphead'. But in all seriousness, this is a really cool idea.
Wonderful list!
Loved reading all of the notes you left. I’ll have to check out your letterboxd now.
Loved reading all of the notes you left. I’ll have to check out your letterboxd now.
@TrulyWack Thank you!
@yoitssyed Thanks!
this is a great list idea and i have been wanting to make comparisons similarly. also good to see some son of the white mare recognition
MendelPalace
2 years ago