The Top 10 Best Licensed Games Based on Movies

Ah, the licensed video game. Once a postulation of underwhelming retellings of big-screen blockbusters, littered with haunting polygonal nightmares (Hagrid, that’s you) and aimless Atari attempts (yes, E.T., that’s you), we’ve seen an uptick successful really bully adaptations successful caller years, with the upcoming Terminator 2D: No Fate looking similar a promising effort astatine turning James Cameron’s classical into immoderate enjoyable retro action. So, we thought we’d prime retired the champion of the bunch.

We bash person a fewer small rules, though, that halt conscionable immoderate aged film-adjacent crippled from making the list. They request to either be:

• A nonstop translation oregon adaptation of a diagnostic film
• An authoritative movie sequel oregon prequel.
• Or a crippled that attempts to proceed the communicative oregon supply backstory and further canonical lore.

So, for example, Insomniac’s Marvel’s Spider-Man is not eligible arsenic it takes spot successful a Marvel beingness abstracted from the movies and is overmuch much rooted successful the archetypal comic books, but the PS2’s Spider-Man 2 would beryllium allowed owed to it being straight based connected the Sam Raimi movie of the aforesaid name. Make sense? I anticipation so. Let’s fertile the apical 10 champion licensed games based connected movies.

10. Peter Jackson’s King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie

Console motorboat games travel with the powerfulness to stun acknowledgment to the leap successful exertion they inherently are unlocked by. The Xbox 360’s Peter Jackson’s King Kong decidedly benefited from this, arsenic the Lord of the Rings’ director’s epic retelling of the classical monster movie made a immense splash astatine the dawn of gaming’s HD era. With Rayman and Beyond Good and Evil creator Michel Ancel helming it astatine Ubisoft Montpellier, King Kong felt much than a modular movie tie-in acknowledgment to its galore absorbing and caller ideas. You had the state to research its immense jungle spaces, which offered an unprecedented consciousness of cinematic immersion and was a breathtaking opposition against the erstwhile generation’s much limiting, corridor-like spaces. King Kong not lone ushered successful a full caller procreation of hardware but besides a caller mode of reasoning astir however licensed games could beryllium approached.

9. Scarface: The World is Yours

Scarface: The World is Yours has balls. Not lone does a “Balls Meter” capable up arsenic Tony Montana causes mayhem crossed an open-world ‘80s Miami, allowing for him to dilatory down time, participate first-person mode, and summation infinite ammo arsenic helium guns down arsenic galore pack rivals arsenic possible, but it besides has an audacity to presumption itself arsenic a sequel to a movie successful which its protagonist dies astatine the end. In this alternate universe, Al Pacino’s antihero coke fiend survives the ambush astatine his mansion acknowledgment to a definite small person and escapes retired of the backmost door, escaped to proceed gathering his drug-running empire. Yes, it's mostly a GTA-clone, arsenic was commonplace successful the epoch — spot the besides really rather bully The Godfather adaptation for further grounds — but its chaotic conception unsocial is capable for it to merit a spot connected this list.

8. Rockstar’s The Warriors

In presumption of creating immersive worlds and capturing a tone, not galore bash it rather similar Rockstar. The Warriors comes from an epoch erstwhile we’d get much than 1 crippled a decennary from the developer, and sometimes aggregate successful 1 year. A overmuch smaller-scale task than the likes of GTA: San Andreas oregon Vice City, The Warriors acts arsenic some a prequel and a retelling of the cult ‘70s thriller of the aforesaid name, focusing connected the titular New York gang. Taking the signifier of a bushed 'em up, it successfully drenches you successful the seedy underworld alleyways that its characters inhabit, arsenic Rockstar erstwhile again displayed their world-class world-building credentials. And that grimy code is what The Warriors achieves astir successfully, making it an adaptation that shouldn’t beryllium overlooked, adjacent erstwhile compared to the Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption studio’s different headline-stealing projects.

7. Mad Max

Avalanche Studios’ Mad Max is the cleanable illustration of taking the essence of a movie bid and turning that into the driving unit down a video crippled adaptation. In this case, it's the exhilarating car combat witnessed each the mode backmost successful the archetypal 1979 movie, done Road Warrior, and into Fury Road’s landmark action. When Max is connected ft successful the 2015 game, it's perfectly bully arsenic it apes the palmy melee look concocted by Warner Bros. stablemate Rocksteady for its Batman Arkham series, but it's erstwhile the Australian drifter gets those hands retired of raiders’ jawbones and down the instrumentality of his iconic Interceptor that it truly comes to life. Now a cult favourite, overmuch similar the archetypal movie that inspires it, Mad Max is 1 of a benignant and a fantastic translation of George Miller’s imaginativeness successful video crippled form.

6. Spider-Man 2 (2004)

Years earlier the Rocksteady Batman: Arkham and Insomniac Marvel’s Spider-Man games, the imaginable of a palmy comic publication crippled was bleak. Even rarer was the thought of a genuinely amusive movie tie-in. Treyarch’s Spider-Man 2, based connected the Sam Raimi movie of the aforesaid name, flew successful the look of some those ideas. An incredibly elaborate New York City (for the time, astatine least) felt similar a revelation to plaything astir in, and Peter Parker’s web-slinging provided a full caller mode to research the benignant of 3D unfastened satellite that the PS2’s Grand Theft Auto games had pioneered. In a legitimately awesome method revelation, Treyarch’s Spidey really attached his webs to buildings alternatively than bare skyboxes. Flying betwixt skyscrapers and thumping petty criminals was a thrilling sensation backmost successful 2004, and, portion it has since been acold eclipsed by much modern Peter Parker and Miles Morales adventures, it surely paved the mode for those to exist.

5. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

It’s hard to deliberation of a movie bid that’s had much games to its sanction than Star Wars. Classics specified arsenic TIE Fighter and Rogue Leader were contenders for this pick, but we conscionable deliberation there’s thing similar the fulfillment of the Force phantasy that is delivered by Respawn’s Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. Bridging the spread betwixt Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, this 2023 action-adventure is portion of the authoritative canon, with references to Order 66 and clashes with Darth Vader fuelling Cal Kestis’ story, but with an originality that doesn’t conscionable thin connected Star Wars cliches. An betterment successful beauteous overmuch each mode implicit its predecessor, Fallen Order, it's an casual prime for our typical of the astir celebrated of movie universes.

4. GoldenEye 007

It whitethorn not beryllium the champion to play now, but there’s conscionable nary denying the interaction that GoldenEye 007 had erstwhile it arrived successful 1997 connected the Nintendo 64. Perfect Dark, soon after, would spell connected to grow connected the ideas established successful its campaign, and games similar TimeSplitters would get from its revolutionary attack to FPS multiplayer, making it truthful overmuch much than conscionable a movie adaptation. Yes, it featured a full big of celebrated James Bond heroes and villains — including a genuinely breached Oddjob, who takes the word “sharply dressed” to its utmost —- and successfully captured the globetrotting exploits of 007 arsenic overmuch arsenic a console with the constricted powerfulness of the N64 could astatine the time, but it besides shaped the adjacent 3 decades of online shooters. This makes it truthful overmuch much than conscionable a movie tie-in, and thing developer Rare should ne'er beryllium forgotten for achieving.

3. The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay

A video crippled prequel to the 2000 Vin Diesel vehicle, Pitch Black, has nary close to beryllium arsenic bully arsenic The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay, yet present we are. Taking a heap of Half-Life run plan and a steadfast dose of Thief-like stealth, the Swedish Starbreeze Studios and Vin Diesel’s ain Tigon Studios transformed a perfectly decent movie bid into a genuinely large video game, and 1 that galore judge surpasses its root material. Its astute level plan is enhanced by intelligent translations of Riddick’s abilities from the film, specified arsenic his trademark “eyeshine”, which lets you spot successful the dark, and a steadfast magnitude of improvised blunt and crisp weaponry that fits perfectly with the movie’s grimy aesthetic. The plot’s premise — a situation flight — is fundamentally cinematic, but it's the ways successful which Butcher Bay asks you to play intelligently successful its satellite that pushes it beyond the large surface and into a genuinely large game.

2. Alien Isolation

The archetypal Alien movie from 1979 is simply a haunted location movie successful space, with lone subsister of the Nostromo, Ripley, aiming to past its acheronian corridors and the roaming Xenomorph menace until the credits hit. As such, it would go a earthy inspiration for galore endurance fearfulness greats, from Dead Space’s infested spaceship, to SOMA’s unnerving futurism, and, of course, Resident Evil 2’s stalking Mr X threat. So, naturally, erstwhile the clip came for yet different Alien crippled to beryllium made, endurance fearfulness seemed a logical prime for developer Creative Assembly, who would beryllium the adjacent successful a agelong enactment to instrumentality up the situation of translating the unsocial ambiance of Ridley Scott’s archetypal film.

What the workplace made was beyond what could person been expected, arsenic it evolved the thought of RE 2’s Tyrant into an ever-present information that scuttled on the map’s sprawling web of vents. The Xenomorph, and the tech powering it, are the jewel astatine the centre of Isolation’s crown, and are what marque it specified a faithful recreation of Alien. By stepping into her daughter’s shoes and sneaking astir the Sevastopol, you get arsenic adjacent a feeling arsenic to what it would’ve been similar to beryllium Ripley and locomotion those Nostromo hallways yourself. It whitethorn not rather marque the fig 1 spot connected our list, but it is the introduction that astir successfully captures the wide code of its root material, embracing its panic to astonishing effect.

1. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

We wouldn’t person the likes of Tomb Raider oregon Uncharted without Indiana Jones, and successful 2024, the king came backmost to assertion his throne. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle took everything that made the archetypal trilogy of Steven Spielberg films truthful peculiar and managed to construe it into a lovingly designed video crippled from Wolfenstein developer MachineGames — possibly not truthful coincidentally, a workplace formed by erstwhile Escape from Butcher Bay developers. Not lone is The Great Circle a fantastic, stealthy, puzzle-filled action-adventure that truly places an accent connected the escapade part, but it borrows each of the archaeological intrigue and, crucially, humour that makes the likes of Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade truthful special. So much, successful fact, that the communicative told present would slot successful nicely betwixt them and enactment arsenic a superior 3rd of that trilogy than Temple of Doom ever did.

Throw successful a fantastic pitch-perfect Harrison Ford content from Troy Baker, a suitably swarmy show from Marios Gavrilis for the villainous Emmerich Voss, and a steadfast magnitude of Nazi punching, whipping, and shovel-smacking, and you’ve got each of the ingredients you need. But it’s truthful overmuch much than conscionable a playable film, alternatively grounding itself successful flexible immersive-sim-esque gameplay systems that emphasise utilizing encephalon implicit brawn. Violence is seldom considered a archetypal option, and gained cognition is ever a overmuch sharper weapon. It makes for a genuinely fantastic crippled successful its ain right, but 1 that is arsenic referential arsenic it is transformative, and a true-to-life mentation of what the Indiana Jones quality is — a doctor, not a soldier. The Great Circle is arsenic thought-out a licensed crippled based connected a movie arsenic you could privation for, and a cleanable acceptable for the apical of our list.

And those are our picks for the champion games based connected movies. What crippled that you emotion didn’t marque the cut? Let america cognize successful the comments! And for much licensed games, cheque retired our database of the champion Marvel games of each time.

Simon Cardy is simply a Senior Editor astatine IGN who tin chiefly beryllium recovered skulking astir unfastened satellite games, indulging successful Korean cinema, oregon despairing astatine the authorities of Tottenham Hotspur and the New York Jets. Follow him connected Bluesky astatine @cardy.bsky.social.