Seems like every game wants to be a movie these days, and for years people have mentioned that their love of games stems from a sense of being in an interactive movie. I think only a few games though have really done "cinematic" right. Some of my choices may be a bit obvious. Feel free to add your own
Zone of the Enders 2
This whole game feels like a big, budget anime movie with fast paced intense action, tons of huge battles, crazy anime-ish bosses, cool mechs, big budget graphics, a killer soundtrack(with even a little J-pop), sweet anime cutscenes and even a Dragonball Z style warp move you get later in the game. It's an anime fan's dream, especially if you like mechs. Only the so so dubbing holds it back. Hideo Kojima never does anything small does he.
Starfox and Starfox 64
The soundtracks for these games have always been big, epic and movie like. Throw in some obvious nods to big budget sci fi movies like the "Independence Day" level in Starfox 64 and more voice work in Starfox 64 than any N64 cartridge of the time and you had a game that really felt like a movie, at least for its time anyway.
Resident Evil 4
The lake monster battle was pure cinema and one of my favorite bosses of all time. Nice touches were you having to swim back to your boat before being eaten if you got knocked out of it. Plus, the GREAT surprise in the ensuing cutscene where you're STILL in control of Leon and have to keep him from dying. Plus, the awesome cabin fight which reminds you of every horror movie you've ever seen that has a moment where some one(or ones)is trapped in a building with zombies coming in from every door and window. Oh, and the first battle with that cave troll thing. If dodging a swinging tree as it smashes some buildings behind you isn't cinematic, I don't know what is. And the dog coming to help you in the fight is the kind of cheesy(in a good way)thing you'd see in a typical summer blockbuster. For those who played the PS 2 version, Ada's gunboat battle is pretty sweet and cinematic too.
Lord of the Rings Return of the King(PS 2)
This game just captured EVERYTHING from the movie. I mean it was no surprise that the music and graphics matched the movie given Peter Jackson and EA's involvement, but the gameplay really captured the feel of the movie too. With fully upgraded arrows, Legolas would be busting out shots as fast as he does in the movies. The ability to parry EVERYTHING meant that you could take on tons of enemies and watch your character fend off every single attack just like Gimli and Aragorn do in the battle of Helm's Deep from the movie. Plus, you had the awesome bane moves, which were Mortal Kombat style death attacks letting you finish people off in cinematic fashion. Levels were hectic, intense, full of surprises and I have to mention the great interactive objects in the environments that you could use against your enemies for even more cinematic flair, and the great use of AI characters and voice work to really make you feel like you were in the movie
Resident Evil 2
I think this was the first 3-d game that truly blew me away with it's graphics. My first thought when I started playing RE 2 was, "Wow, this game really LOOKS like a movie". It was very impressive for its time, especially considering that the shift from the game's opening cutscene to actual gameplay didn't leave you with that, "I wish the game looked as good as the cut scenes" feeling
Max Payne 2
You know if Sin City can work as a movie. I imagine that Max Payne could too. Just the way these games tell their narrative, in addition to the movie-like "bullet time" effect really make these games feel like they could easily transition to movies. Imagine if they did the graphic novel parts of the games in a style similar to Sin City and 300, and upped the action level to John Woo proportions. I would love it. A combination of the first game's story with Max Payne's 2 love story could carry a movie, and those nightmare sequences would be amazing to see on the big screen.
Peter Jackson's King Kong
It was as big budget an affair as the movie was, with the brilliant Ancel from Beyond Good and Evil at the helm. I actually found the game's version of the story more engaging than the actual movie
Well that's it. I'm sure you guys can come up with better, and maybe less obvious examples. And you probably won't have such ridiculously long posts like this one either. LOL. Not that anything's wrong with that...I think
Best cinematic games
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Gamerforlife
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RadarScope1
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What about Mad Dog McCree and all the live action LD games? Or are you talking JUST intro's and cut scenes?
Ace Combat 6(hell, any CG by Namco) is looking real good. Belkan War had a good cutscene/interview effect from what I remember.
Indigo Prophecy had a good movie feel. So good in fact I only ever beat it once (like most movies I watch).
Do you think that push toward movie/real games come from the fact that some game companies use the film industries model for making money? Throw out crap until something sticks, then make three sequels, get a tie in with Coke/McD's, make a school lunch box and get an Xbox title. OR do we the gamers demand it?
Ace Combat 6(hell, any CG by Namco) is looking real good. Belkan War had a good cutscene/interview effect from what I remember.
Indigo Prophecy had a good movie feel. So good in fact I only ever beat it once (like most movies I watch).
Do you think that push toward movie/real games come from the fact that some game companies use the film industries model for making money? Throw out crap until something sticks, then make three sequels, get a tie in with Coke/McD's, make a school lunch box and get an Xbox title. OR do we the gamers demand it?
Majors -=- Wedoca '22
I'd second Metal Gear Solid. Maybe some Max Payne and RE nods while we're at it.
A few more off the top of my head:
Company of Heroes
Finally picked this up and played the hell out of until I beat it. Hell, the first mission is like being in Saving Private Ryan. There's even a Platoon-esque scene towards the end and amazing in-game cutscenes throughout (like that amazing plane crash). Then, of course, there's the game itself which looks and plays great. Setting up an assault on a bunkered-up house and bringing the camera down to the house's windows to see them firing out of it and get launched out when a rocket zips past and explodes... Sometimes I'd just freeze in awe as my guys got blown halfway across the map by powerful airstrikes or howitzer blasts.
Gabriel Knight: The Beast Within
I'm practically cheating with this one, but it's one of the few games that used FMV with real actors successfully. Mostly solid acting and an engaging and deep story puts this a notch above many other adventure games for me. No Tim Curry though, ironically.
(I guess now I have to at least mention C&C, so here it is.)
The Chronicles of Riddick
Kinda cheating again? Oh well. Pitch Black was a decent/good movie. No such luck for Chronicles of Riddick, but the game, however, now that was some good, cinematic fun. Whenever people throw out the obligatory "Chronicles of Riddick sucked!!11`" comment you can't help but go, "Well now waitjustaminute. Escape From Butcher bay or the shithouse movie?"
No One Lives Forever Series
Funny, campy, smart, and sexy. Neat music, cool artwork, memorable gadgets, and some fun stories that played out like a nice little 60s spy movie. Hell, a lot of them Monolith games were pretty cinematic now that I think about it.
Hmm, I had a few more but can't seem to remember them now. But I do feel an urge to play NOLF and Riddick again.
A few more off the top of my head:
Company of Heroes
Finally picked this up and played the hell out of until I beat it. Hell, the first mission is like being in Saving Private Ryan. There's even a Platoon-esque scene towards the end and amazing in-game cutscenes throughout (like that amazing plane crash). Then, of course, there's the game itself which looks and plays great. Setting up an assault on a bunkered-up house and bringing the camera down to the house's windows to see them firing out of it and get launched out when a rocket zips past and explodes... Sometimes I'd just freeze in awe as my guys got blown halfway across the map by powerful airstrikes or howitzer blasts.
Gabriel Knight: The Beast Within
I'm practically cheating with this one, but it's one of the few games that used FMV with real actors successfully. Mostly solid acting and an engaging and deep story puts this a notch above many other adventure games for me. No Tim Curry though, ironically.
(I guess now I have to at least mention C&C, so here it is.)
The Chronicles of Riddick
Kinda cheating again? Oh well. Pitch Black was a decent/good movie. No such luck for Chronicles of Riddick, but the game, however, now that was some good, cinematic fun. Whenever people throw out the obligatory "Chronicles of Riddick sucked!!11`" comment you can't help but go, "Well now waitjustaminute. Escape From Butcher bay or the shithouse movie?"
No One Lives Forever Series
Funny, campy, smart, and sexy. Neat music, cool artwork, memorable gadgets, and some fun stories that played out like a nice little 60s spy movie. Hell, a lot of them Monolith games were pretty cinematic now that I think about it.
Hmm, I had a few more but can't seem to remember them now. But I do feel an urge to play NOLF and Riddick again.
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Droid party
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Killzone.
Not everbodies cup of tea but I really liked the intro the first time I saw it.
Oh and I'll throw my support behind Mgs while I'm at it.
Not everbodies cup of tea but I really liked the intro the first time I saw it.
Oh and I'll throw my support behind Mgs while I'm at it.
JT wrote:Yeah, like vampire aliens invade and hit us all with a ray beam that paralyzes all of our arms. The only way to deactivate the ray beam and fight back the vampire alien threat is with a complicated series of foot patterns on the device's control board that looks remarkably like a DDR pad. We will all praise this man for saving our lives and buy him a mountain of stuffed animals.
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All Hail The New Flesh
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No fun. I tend to dislike cinematic games, in general -- and, as the originator of this thread mentioned, so many (I should make that read "too many") seem to want this angle. They want to provide an interactive movie, rather than a game. I think, personally, its more interesting to take this thread and jack-it up retro-style:
Alternate Reality -- No, its not just a Sci-fi subgenre. This is an 8-bit game that found its first and best incarnation on the Atari 8-bit line. It also boasts, I believe, the first modern 3D engine. Regardless of these things, the game begins with a UFO hovering over a city; beaming up the people who would be taken on an alien adventure through a strange medieval fantasy world. Once done, the ship traverses the void of space while a theme song, complete with karaoke styled lyrics is presented. Then, you land and create your character. I'd say its cinematic, especially for a game dating back when 48K was your memory limit.
Day of the Tentacle + others. The lucasarts games utilizing the SCUMM engine have always been cinematic, but at some point they crossed a threshold in graphics and sound that allowed them to richly animate the games. Sam & Max, Day of the Tentacle -- several others -- were completely awesome, in this regard. I remember the oft-overlooked Full Throttle being an excellent example of this.
Alternate Reality -- No, its not just a Sci-fi subgenre. This is an 8-bit game that found its first and best incarnation on the Atari 8-bit line. It also boasts, I believe, the first modern 3D engine. Regardless of these things, the game begins with a UFO hovering over a city; beaming up the people who would be taken on an alien adventure through a strange medieval fantasy world. Once done, the ship traverses the void of space while a theme song, complete with karaoke styled lyrics is presented. Then, you land and create your character. I'd say its cinematic, especially for a game dating back when 48K was your memory limit.
Day of the Tentacle + others. The lucasarts games utilizing the SCUMM engine have always been cinematic, but at some point they crossed a threshold in graphics and sound that allowed them to richly animate the games. Sam & Max, Day of the Tentacle -- several others -- were completely awesome, in this regard. I remember the oft-overlooked Full Throttle being an excellent example of this.