6 Great Movie Tie-in Games
- Matt Quill
- Jul 3, 2023
- 6 min read
From The Past: This article has been imported from one of my past blog sites, written in 2018.
It’s strange to think that just under 15 years ago, you could walk into any video game store and be bombarded with endless movie tie-in titles. Some were good. Some were bad. Whilst others were just outright atrocious. Still, if you liked the movie, you were more than likely going to be running straight out of that cinema screen to get your hit of that video game tie-in fix. Whether it was superhero blockbusters like The Incredibles or more peculiar tie-ins like The Golden Compass, the options were plentiful. It almost got to the point you’d have a harder time finding games that weren’t movie tie-ins during your 6-week summer break (okay, maybe that’s a slight exaggeration, but you get the point). Nowadays, it’s another story. If you're lucky, you just might manage to find one faintly related movie tie-in (if you don’t count Legoized versions, of course). I mean, don’t get me wrong, plenty of us won’t mourn their loss, especially when a good 80% of them were barely mediocre titles, but I will. You can catch me defending their effectiveness to get us further into a movie's absorbing world, granting us more time with our favourite heroes or villains. Or even on the rare occasion, just being a heap of fun to play. So what about those diamonds in dirt? The games that tried their damn hardest to give the movie tie-in a good name, only to be overshadowed by the disappointment of others? Well, I’ve unearthed a few personal gems to share with you in support of my case, to get these movie tie-in titles flowing again. Just maybe not to the same extent.
Jurassic World: Evolution
It’s probably no surprise that Jurassic World: Evolution kick-started all this reminiscing in the first place. After all, it seems to be the only console released movie tie-in since… Fast and Furious: Showdown? There’s no doubt that there have been quite a few Jurassic Park games, but the movie tie-in ones don’t seem to be quite as enticing as Evolution. It won’t come as a surprise, but Frontier’s Jurassic World: Evolution is a park simulator, one that grants you the funds and genetic power to build your very own Jurassic Park.
Run your park however you see fit, try (or don’t try) to save your guests from rampaging Dinos, as they work up a sweat for your overpriced food and drink stalls. Plus, with a whopping 42 different species, you’ll certainly have a nice variety of Dinos to display in your park. Furthermore, they’ll all act accordingly to their natures, so don’t expect to catch your Raptors cosying up to any Ankylosaurs out in those paddocks.
Bottom line, Jurassic World: Evolution is an enjoyable Park Simulator, one that you can choose to run efficiently and take prideful tours in your jeeps. Or one where you just leave a few gates unlocked (by accident, Wink Wink) and watch as all hell breaks loose. I'm fairly certain that accidentally leaving the T-Rex gate open is the latest craze since removing ladders from a pool in The Sims.
Peter Jackson’s KING KONG The official game of the movie
Not only is King Kong one of the greatest movie tie-ins of all time (an honour bestowed on it entirely by myself), it’s also one of my all-time favourite PS2 games. What makes it so great is how it interweaves two separate gameplay styles into one complete and exciting package.
You’ll first take control of Jack Driscoll in a survival FPS where you’ll scavenge ammunition, spears, and more often than not broken carcasses to fend off the island's nasty inhabitants. By inhabitants, we mean towering dinosaurs and the not-so-friendly beasties of the island. Soon you’ll swap to a third-person (Or third Gorilla?) brawler where you’ll take control of Kong as you go head to head against the V-Rexs, and climb around Skull Island to assert your rightful rule.
King Kong excels when you’re placed in Jack’s shoes, as you’re treated to plenty of exciting set pieces, such as fending off V-Rexs on a rapid raft ride, or running between small shelters to avoid the patrolling Venatosaurus. Most of Jack’s adventure is extremely tense, and thanks to great level design, you’ll feel yourself pulled into his dire situation more than you thought possible. Although Kong’s battle sections don’t quite match up to the excellent survival FPS sections, they’re all still solid and enjoyable enough to warrant their addition. Ones that not only help break up the gameplay, but give you the chance to play as a towering ape. An ape that can completely demolish anything in his path. And after you’d have seen the movie, how could you not want to tussle as the giant ape, and brawl with some V-rexs?
Cars
When you’re making a movie tie-in game, you’ve got to know what game genre will work best for the movie universe. You’ve got Lord of the Rings as a hack n' slasher, the James Bond games as First Person Shooters, and the Cars franchise as a 2D fighter… Whoops, I mean an open world arcade racer.
Cars is built upon solid driving mechanics, which are both fun to race with as well as just free roam around Radiator Springs. There’s also the option to... erm, take the wheel? (Do these Cars even have wheels?) of multiple characters from the film, with a good variety of events to take part in. Sure, you’ll be progressing through the film's story, but you’ll also get the chance to race as a monster truck, take part in races around the canyons of Radiator Springs, and, of course, a bit of NASCAR. There’s rarely a movie franchise that warrants a great racing game title, and thankfully, THQ delivered more than just a good tie-in; they made Cars a great arcade racer in its own right.
Lord of The Rings: Return of The King
If you know anything about me, then you’ll know how much I loved RotK (Return of the King) on PS2. It was one of the greatest Hack and Slash games I played growing up, and still love revisiting it. Not just because it has the bonus of being set in the Lord of the Rings universe, but because it’s a fantastic game in its own right.
There are multiple story paths that each feature their own standout moments, whether that’s holding off Gondor’s invasion as Gandalf, or sneaking through Osgiliath as Sam and Frodo. RotK had it all. Plus, you have the addition of co-op gameplay, the film's amazing soundtrack sweeping through the levels, as well as an upgrade system that lets you power up your ranged & melee attacks, unlocking a slew of new combat moves. It even gives you the option to revisit any of the levels with any hero from the roster. Do you finally want to see Gimli take the ring to Mordor or watch Frodo hold the line at Pelennor Fields? Well, here’s your chance.
LEGO Star Wars
Way back when, before every franchise under the sun became legoized, this little beauty started it all. LEGO Star Wars was simplistic fun at its best. Block punch anything and everything in sight as you manically smash your way through every level, collecting colourful studs like a flock of ducks cramming for the last bread crumbs. LEGO Star Wars created that LEGO charm we’ve all come to love, clever visual gags, with every character rocking the odd murmurs for vocals.
The game took us through the prequel trilogy with several levels per movie, alongside an incentive to revisit each level with new LEGO teams that’ll help you unlock previously gated-off areas. The game featured an expansive roster that included well-known heroes and the very obscure, like a trash compactor robot.
Alongside the multiple hero abilities, there was the option to do it all as a team, as it was a truly entertaining couch co-op affair. So if you’ve ever wondered how the LEGO games became so popular, look no further than where it all started.
Spider-Man 2
Over the past 15 years, we've had more than our fair share of good Spider-Man games, with Insomniac’s amazing Marvel's Spider-Man title topping the pile. Yet there’s still one Spider-Man title that managed to not only be a great Spidey game, but also a great movie tie-in, and that game is, of course, Spider-Man 2 (Although an honourable mention goes out to The Amazing Spider-Man).
What made Spider-Man 2 such a fun game was the fulfilling Web-swinging sandbox. Zipping through the city with your (physics disregarding) webs, fighting bad guys, climbing skyscrapers, only to free-fall off and web swing away at the very last second. It was so much fun to mess around in.
The game takes you through a fleshed-out version of the film’s story, now with even more heroes and villains to interact with, and of course, a ton of lost children’s balloons to save, because that’s what friendly Neighbourhood spiders do... right?
The combat was fun enough for its time, the movement even better, and when you’ve got a citywide sandbox to play with, the only thing to make it better is traversing it with superpowers.
There you have it, that’s my movie tie-in list. Think that I’ve missed some great titles off this list? Let me know in the comments below.
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