Xbox 360 Game News, Reviews, and Columns - XboxFocus

For the most part licensed movie games suck to the third power. Strict deadlines results in games that look like their respective flicks but play like ass. However, games like Stranglehold, The Godfather, and The Warriors that have been released significantly after their films have been pretty well done. The games' developers didn't have to worry about releasing them on time with their respective movie. No matter what the cost was, they had the time to let the movie's essence marinate. Here's just the short list of pre-released movies that should be translated into videogame form.

Crouching Tiger is a no-brainer. Legendary swords? Check. Crazy videogamey rooftop floating and wall running? Checkity check. The story's great too, and like the others on this list, the game could appeal to people that have never seen the movie. Imagine a sword fighting sequence where you're walking on water and gliding through a forest while using giant bamboo shoots and the leaves of trees as leverage and footholds. "Achievement Unlocked: Played in Chinese with Subtitles."

2) Kill Bill
Both of the Kill Bill volumes already have violence down pat. Decapitation followed by a geyser of blood was a move taken straight from the Grand Theft Auto playbook. Factor that in with eyeball stomping, scalp slicing, shotgun blasting, and a fight scene with enemies filling the screen and it's practically a 360 game already. The aforementioned Crazy 88 scene would be epic, and the game could be an amazing action title with each boss on The List getting progressively harder. The notion of a tutorial with Master Pai Mei where I'm trying to pull off my Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique combo is enough to give me chills.

3) Gladiator
The Greek and Roman thing has been done before in pixel land, but never without gods and mythological creatures to go with it. A game that took a realistic approach to the gladiatorial era would be interesting. Realistic does not automatically mean boring. Gladiators not only fought one-on-one but also against animals and in full-scale battle recreations. The floor of the stadium would also change to different landscapes for every match featuring stages with things like manufactured mountains or an oasis. Online multiplayer would be choice. Don't feel like playing? Go into spectator mode and watch some other poor dude get mauled or slaughtered from the stone Coliseum seats.

4) I Am Legend
I Am Legend is the only movie on this list that made me imagine a videogame version while watching the first time. The best way to go about it is to not even follow Smith's character of Robert Neville. Other survivors were mentioned in the film, so the game could be set in a completely different dilapidated city with some other character allowing the player to craft their own story. You'd have to safeguard your crib from the crazy zombie dudes, stockpile it with foods, and forge a plan to make it out alive. For the immediate future we have Fallout 3 to fill the post-apocalyptic void, but weapons like a handheld nuclear catapult don't really accomplish the lonesome sense of survival I'm looking for.

5) Rambo
Shit blows up frequently in the Rambo series. The one released earlier this year clocked in at bloody 262 kills, a total that would make even the most right trigger happy gamer pause and take notice. Rambo unmounts turrets like Master Chief , hijacks vehicles like Nico Bellic, and inspired Marcus Fenix to shoot arrows that blows enemies into bite sized pieces. Plus, Sylvester Stallone already has the cartoonish steroid meathead look going for him. He would fit right in with most videogame characters these days.

Wait,-- shit.

Marty McFly could be the new Solid Snake. The player would have to try and fix time without interacting with anyone or thing that could break the space/time continuum and keep Marty's drooling mother off of him. The middle of the game would have hoverboard sequences and the last third would feature old school western shootouts. It would be greatness if pulled off right, but the way this franchise has been kept sacred (probably for the best), we may actually get to 2015 before it happens.