Shadow of the Beast

Last week I heard that there is a Shadow of the Colossus movie in development and it has a director, Josh Trank, attached to it. Normally I don't pay much attention to game-to-film adaptations as they tend to have a rather terrible reputation (one well earned mind you). But SotC is a favorite game of mine and, as a result, this is the first I've heard of such an adaptation.

So in order to talk about this, let me share my thoughts on video game-to-film adaptations: It is something I have mixed feelings about. Sure they nearly always turn out to be terrible movies but consider this: Any movie can work if the effort is put into it - even to the point where any dubious origins can be ignored. Take the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie - great movie but looking at now, one wouldn't think that it was inspired by a theme park ride in Disneyland.
But ultimately though, unlike movies, books or TV series, video games hold the unique position of being a form that entertainment that requires participation form the viewer. As such there are many scenarios in a game that will never work in a movie.
Having said that however, it also works the other way. I never liked how games bill themselves as movies, or on par with movies, because that really defeats the purpose of it being a game. If you're going to make a game that requires the player to sit quietly when the action is being played out then why are you making a game? If you're billing movie-like quality to a game then why isn't it a movie? As such I have seen some games that present scenarios that could work great as a movie but fail when placed in the context of an actual game. Having said that, when is a Dreamweb movie going to get made, hrmmm?

But having got that off my chest, let's talk Shadow of the Colossus.
How on earth can one hope to make a movie out this scenario? There's only three characters in the entire game: One of which is in a comatose state and another one is an equine. There's the colossi true but whereas the game was sold on the seemingly insane principle of sixteen boss fights, making a movie out of that principle sounds impossible.
And that's not even considering the ambiguous nature of the game: When you think about it, Shadow of the Colossus presents a story but only half of it - or even less than half. So what would the movie hope to achieve with half a story? Will it explain the origins of Dormin? Describe the exact relationship between Wander and Mono? Illustrate how Emon knows Wander? Somehow having such mysteries explained for me loses their allure.

Personally if I were to make a game based movie I would do one based on those Space Marine combat games (ie Gears of War). But I'd take one of the macho space marines and then place him in a world AFTER victory has been achieved and he must learn to reconnect with the real world and function as a proper human being :)

Your DreamWeb is just about to fall

Continuing on with that rant I made earlier this week about subtlety, I am reminded of a game that came out in 1994, for the Commodore Amiga (and later PC).
For the unfamiliar, Dreamweb is a adventure game where you control a dude named Ryan. Through a series of recurring dreams, he is informed by a group of monks that seven evils are in the city he lives in and whose continued presence will eventually bring about a global calamity. Thus, Ryan is assigned to hunt them all down and kill them, in the name of restoring the balance and saving the world.

Sounds familiar? Not this time: You see whilst the game itself may run through a tried and tested gaming plot formula, it soon becomes clear that something about this game just doesn't sit well. A quick peek into the manual reveals a diary kept by Ryan which reveals a lot about his mindset: He has problems with his girlfriend, he's been lacking sleep and he is showing signs of paranoia. Ultimately, Ryan is losing his marbles.
Thus whilst the game is a standard kill-dudes-to-save-world-scenario, the manual, and hints throughout the game, tell a different story: Is Ryan deluded? Is he a serial killer? Is he using the rationale of the Dreamweb as an excuse to gun down people in cold blood? Ryan is not all bothered by motives - and if the player questions them, progress through the game is stalled.



At first, Ryan is in a kill-or-be-killed scenario. That changes, in the second mission where Ryan has to gun down an innocent person, a security guard no less, simply because they are in the way. This unfortunate adds more to the questionable morality of the game, simply through having no function beyond being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Yet there a few clues that suggest that the DreamWeb is real and Ryan more not be deluded. Indeed, by the end of the game, the player has to arrive at a conclusion about Ryan and the state of his character.

Dreamweb as a game inspires many questions - all of which are never resolved by the game's end. That it does so, is a masterstroke - adding further to the punch this game provides. Indeed, the strength in this game is in it's story-telling and the way it challenges it's audiences. So much so, it makes me wonder why no one else has tried to replicate this scenario (maybe they're too scared of subtleties. Or too busy trying to match Halo's thunderous success). It's been sixteen years - we could do with some more ways of telling the story, addressing key themes and, indeed, something to point to to verify a maturity in gaming.

You know, to hell with Prince of Persia: They should a game-based movie out of this!

References:
http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/dreamweb/dreamweb.htm
http://www.ntsc-uk.com/review.php?platform=ipc&game=Dreamweb