Cinema and video games have always had a somewhat tumultuous relationship. From the famous failures of video game film adaptations to the even more famous struggle to make good film versions of games, it's rare that the two mediums see eye to eye. That's why it's so fun that there are some rare examples of games that attempt to recreate famous movie scenes while giving players control of the action.
The latest example of this comes from the surprisingly good new Indiana Jones game, which recreates a playable version of the opening of Raiders of the lost arkbut it's far from the first game to try this. Unfortunately, this is a trend that has become less popular in recent years, as game developers have realized how difficult it is to achieve. That hasn't stopped us from putting together a list of some of our favorite examples.
As a notable caveat, we have some important details here. On the one hand, we only consider recreated scenes that can actually be played; they couldn't simply be representations of scenes from movie moments. Additionally, we decided to omit entries that were filtered through a different style than the original film; this is an overly specific way of creating Lego sets, which make wonderfully silly recreations and could have easily filled this list.
Other than that, here are some of the best (and silliest) attempts at games that recreate movie moments, along with a brief description of how well they work (or don't).
Ethan Hunt infiltrating the CIA
The game: Mission: Impossible (1998)
The movie: Mission: Impossible (1996)
How playable is it? Honestly, this one is pretty good. Sure, the descent appears to be about 1,000 feet longer here than in the movie, but it captures the tension clearly and isn't afraid of the kind of silliness that makes Mission: Impossible excellent. Now, I admit this is a two-way curveball. First of all, this was a game for the N64 and original PlayStation, so I take into account the fact that some of it looks downright ridiculous. But secondly, as console technology has improved, we have fewer and fewer games that allow you to complete heists through laser grids and, frankly, that sucks. So I'm glad this game actually worked. —Austen Goslin
The shooting at Tony Montana's mansion
The game: Scarface: The world is yours (2006)
The movie: scarface (1983)
How playable is it? Objectively, Scarface: The world is yours is one of the strangest games ever released. Aside from having a combat feature called “balls”, where Tony Montana can go into “blind rage” when his “balls meter” is full, the game's weirdness is only compounded by the fact that it is a sequel to the film, which, by the way, ends with Tony Montana dying in a hail of bullets. To correct this, the first level of the game is a recreation of the ending of the movie, where Tony is supposed to be killed in a shootout. However, in the video game version, Tony storms out of his mansion, taking down dozens of would-be assassins before escaping and continuing his criminal empire with the players in control. To be clear, the game isn't very good, so this level isn't either. But when it comes to playable recreations of famous movie scenes, it's a success. —AG
The game: Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire (1996) and many other Star Wars games.
The movie: Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
How playable is it? The Battle of Hoth is iconic. It's one of the greatest movie scenes of all time, a truly epic sci-fi battle that rivaled war movies long before CGI made it easy and less believable. So it's no surprise that it's a perfect reenactment target in almost every Star Wars game it can fit into. Unfortunately, most of those recreations have been pretty bad. The best ones come from games like Star Wars: Battlefrontwhich gives players control of the outcome and allows them to use the movie setting for any combat they want. However, of all the most authentic recreations, we believe shadows of the empire came closer to reality, even if it's still a far cry from Luke's act of daring in the movie. —AG
The game: Matrix: The Path of Neo (2005)
The movie: The matrix (1999) and The reloaded matrix (2003)
How playable is it? Matrix: The Path of Neo is full of these types of recreations and, frankly, none of them quite work, which is less an insult to the game than a testament to the original Wachowskis films. Of all the moments this game digitizes (is it fair to say when the original version took place in The Matrix?), “Burly Brawl” is both the most obvious and egregious. One of the strangest and most spectacular fights in The reloaded matrixNeo facing off against hundreds of Agent Smith clones seems like an obvious translation to video games. Unfortunately, the original is so great that this version pales in comparison. On the other hand, the recreation of the fight in the Merovingian mansion in this game is not so bad, especially because of the mess of weapons that allows Neo to play with at will. —AG
Ellen Ripley initiating the Nostromo self-destruct sequence
The game: Foreigner: Isolation (2014)
How playable is it? Foreigner: Isolation is widely considered today to be one of the best video games set in the universe of Ridley Scott's sci-fi horror franchise. This reputation is only supported by the fact that the game not only perfectly captured the terrifying unpredictability of the Xenomorph, but also skillfully recreated two of the most iconic sequences featuring him in Scott's original film. Foreigner: IsolationDLC expansions Expendable crew and last survivortakes place on the USCSS Nostromo and casts players in the role of Ellen Ripley or one of her crewmates.
Expendable crew recreates the scene immediately after Brett's death, as the rest of the crew on board make a last-ditch effort to expel the creature through the Nostromo's airlock. last survivor begins immediately after the end of Expendable crewwith Ripley forced to activate the ship's self-destruct sequence and escape before she too becomes prey to the creature. Both DLCs do an excellent job of recreating two of ForeignThe most tense and terrifying moments put players directly in Ripley's shoes and test their arrogant “Pfff, I could survive that” attitudes. —Toussaint Egan