Author: BRWC

Video games based on popular films are typically hit-or-miss. They sometimes manage to spin cinematic characters and concepts into really enjoyable experiences, and other times they play like animated trailers for the films. And then there are the ones that are so different it’s hardly worth associating them with the cinema at all. But because there are just so many of these games overall, it’s easy to miss out on the good ones by mistake.

To help you avoid that, I wanted to write a little bit about three film-based games you might have missed, each of which is surprisingly enjoyable.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

There’s a very strong argument that you can make, and which I have made, that X-Men Origins: Wolverine might be the worst film among all of the movies that have been based on Marvel comics. It’s just a mess of a project, set up to fail by a clunky, cliché-ridden script and seemingly determined to bastardise X-Men characters and concepts throughout its duration. It may actually be the worst film Hugh Jackman has done in the 21st century.

And yet, unpredictably, everything bad about this film was reversed in the accompanying video game that was released in 2009 for Windows and all the major consoles. IGN gave the game a 7.8 (specifically for Xbox 360), citing its extensive gameplay and awesome combat mechanics as reasons for the strong review. Ultimately, the game is actually a pretty incredible achievement given the challenges it faced. Of course there was the hurdle of shaking off the name of the miserable film, but there’s also the fact that Wolverine has been part of a countless lineup of video games. He appeared prominently in older Xbox and Marvel vs. Capcom arcade games, he headlines a number of X-Men-based online casino games, and is now involved in more modern games making use of large collections of Marvel heroes. Even among all those examples, this one stands out most. It’s a gory, adventurous, beautiful exhibition of all the things we love most about Wolverine.

The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction

Everything I have to say about this game is pretty similar to the situation that surrounds X-Men Origins: Wolverine. The key difference is that The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction is not based specifically on either of Marvel’s relatively useless attempts at kicking off a standalone Hulk franchise (OK, the Ed Norton one wasn’t completely horrible). Rather, it’s just a superhero action game that came out in 2005 for Nintendo Gamecube, Xbox 360, and PS2.

The Hulk also didn’t quite have the extensive gaming history to contend with that Wolverine did, though the character does have a pretty strong presence in some of the same modern arenas. Naturally, the Hulk shows up in collaborative Marvel hero games, and he’s also used in the same fashion Wolverine often appears in casino gaming. Gala Casino describes “The Incredible Hulk” slot machine as “one in which you get to SMASH things to win bonuses,” using the bashing power of the Hulk to intrigue potential players. The graphics in this one are actually surprisingly good, though the game still doesn’t involve much in the way of adventurous Hulk smashing.

And that’s where The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction comes into play. This game’s developers appear to have been delightfully aware of everything that makes the Hulk fun, which of course means that playing the game means bashing your way through the city with reckless abandon. In fact, as one review at Metacritic put it, “bounding building to building across cities and leaving huge craters in your wake is more addictive than gambling.”

Fast & Furious: Legacy

There are surely bigger and better film-based video games that I could have included on this list, but part of the point of singling out Fast & Furious: Legacy is to signify that not all app games based on movies are useless (as I once assumed). Basically, this is a big-time mobile racing game that makes use of characters, cars, locations, and even specific missions that will be familiar to fans of the Fast & Furious film franchise. It’s mostly focused on the street racing, which means that some of the additional action that’s been injected into the series is missing. However, it’s still a pretty thorough video game accompaniment to the series.

An article in Forbes argued that a major Fast & Furious game could compete with the Grand Theft Auto games, and I get the point. Given the aforementioned non-driving action that’s become part of the franchise, a full-on street racing/crime/shoot-em-up game could be designed without straying too far from what the movies have shown us. But in the meantime, the Legacy app is almost guaranteed to surprise you through its size and quality.

By Kate Voss.

It seems everywhere you look these days, zombies are infiltrating the media. The Walking Dead, Fear the Walking Dead, and Z Nation are some of the most popular shows on television. Classic films like Night of the Living Dead, White Zombie, and Shaun of the Dead are still viewed on a regular basis. Even comic books and novels have gone the undead route with Marvel Zombies, Night of the Living Deadpool, and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. With all of these zombie films and shows available, it can be hard to find stories that stand above the rest, that take zombies to new and exciting places that they’ve never been before. But the following five films are more than just the average generic representation of the genre.

Fido (2007)

This horror comedy gives viewers a look at an alternative universe where space radiation caused an outbreak of zombies and humanity had to go to war against them to retain their place in this world. Once living humans won the war they found a way to enslave the masses of undead and keep them as servants and pets. Unlike many zombie films that focus more on the horror aspects of the monsters or the sad and desolate lives of the humans trying to survive during the zombie outbreak, Fido (streaming info here) puts a humorous spin on the whole situation and plays itself off for laughs instead of screams.

[REC] (2008)

This Spanish horror film, however, definitely goes for the screams. Members of a television series crew find themselves suddenly part of the story when they become involved with other people infected by a “rabies like” virus that makes them aggressive and murderous toward others. Soon they are quarantined by the health department, trapped with the infected, and fighting for their lives. [REC] is dark, claustrophobic, and gory, and doesn’t shy away from showing just how scary zombies and living human beings can be. The movie has spawned three sequels (most are on Netflix) with each new addition being gorier than the last.

Pontypool (2008)

Based on a popular novel, this zombie film is similar to [REC] in that it doesn’t showcase traditional zombies created by a voodoo curse or some kind of infection that brings people back from the dead as cannibalistic monsters. Instead it features a radio personality and his love interest who find themselves trapped with people who are becoming infected by words. They must fight to stay alive and figure out how to keep themselves from going crazy once they start to become infected. Pontypool (watch it online) is more of a psychological take on the zombie war than other films portray, though still has the elements that make zombies interesting.

Zombieland (2009)

Another horror comedy, Zombieland is also equal parts satire of the genre, adventure story, and romance. It features snarky characters who are as obsessed with staying alive as they are with finding the last Twinkies in existence. They might have to fight hordes of undead to stay alive, but that doesn’t stop them from living it up a bit in abandoned mansions, partying at theme parks, and trying to decide if they can trust each other or even themselves as they make their way in the new world order. Zombieland (on demand through FiOS) is a great example of a fun, exciting, somewhat scary but mostly just entertaining, zombie film – and not to fear, its long-rumored sequel is slated for a 2016 release.

Zombeavers (2014)

Not all zombie movies have to be serious, scary, technically advanced, or a smart kind of funny. Some can just be good old monster movies with nubile young stars, a preposterous plot, and zombies that are at turns ridiculous and frightening. In Zombeavers it falls on animals – beavers to be exact – to carry the monster portion of the story, making this as much a creature feature as a monster flick. Not many zombie films have gone the campy route or tried infected animals, so Zombeavers (on Vudu) stands as unique as can be in that regard.

Not all zombie movies are created equal, and there’s plenty of trash out there alongside the rare chunks of treasure. You might scream, you might cry, you might throw a brick through your television, but you certainly won’t be bored. You might even learn how to prepare in case the zombiepocalypse truly comes to pass.