7 Best (new-ish) Video Game Movie Tie-Ins Worth Playing

Movie tie-in games were always notoriously bad, ever since Atari gave game developers only six weeks to hammer out an E.T Extra Terrestrial game. Well, the reputation has improved a little as budgets and possibilities have widened, but... there’s still some way to go. 

 

The best movie tie-in games are those that pay tribute a while later to great ideas, sci-fi settings, experiences or story themes. They often have to use engines and mechanics taken and adapted from other leading game franchises to be any good.

 

Take a look below at these more recent titles, which include links to their Xbox (etc.) Amazon listing. This is because here at Prizes Drop we give our members free PS4 and Xbox One codes or free Amazon vouchers for those collecting enough of our points. How do you do this? Simply by completing mini tasks such as our surveys, watching ads and trying out various offers. 

 

 

Marvel's Spiderman (Game of the Year ed. - PS4 only)

 

 

Taking great elements from hit titles like Batman Arkham and Shadow of Mordor combat, this big budget movie tie-in tops our list with its exhilarating feel and scope as the character swings around a gorgeously-rendered Manhattan. With an emotional, compelling story (and ok, some dull missions too), the combat system widens as you unlock more skills, becoming more interesting and varied, with cool gadgets to use too. Everything seems to work together for this rich Spiderman experience, also featuring reliable and good-natured Spidey humour.

 

Alien: Isolation: Nostromo Edition

 

 

For some reason, we’re still waiting for the ultimate, action modern console game to arrive. Of course, yes: the one that truly re-creates a Doom-like feeling of arriving on a dark, deadly, Alien-infested planet and finding out - terrifyingly - that everything’s gone awry. You know, 'hunter becomes the hunted' type stuff. Or the American conflict in Vietnam in the 1970s, but with space marines and heroes like Hicks from James Cameron’s Aliens, forced into a nightmare situation. 

 

Perhaps the makers of Alien: Isolation will turn to this film one day, because one thing’s certain: they’ve already fully paid tribute to Ridley Scott’s original movie Alien. Here, they re-create the horror and stealth-based action directed towards some simple things: survival and escape from an infested space vessel. It will have you gripping your controller in fear, since it takes much of its inspiration from the first film. There’s even a 'Nostromo' DLC where you get to play a re-created level based on the ending of Alien.

 

James Cameron’s Avatar: the Game (PS3)

 

 

The oldest game on this list, but worth mentioning as it was an early bird that started to show off the gorgeous power to render graphical beauty by modern console games. A third-person adventure, it’s not particularly deep but it delivers on being the archetypal movie tie-in game: it takes you closer to the planet Pandora and lets you have some fun in that whole world for a good while. It won't be the last Avatar game.

 

Lego Star Wars The Force Awakens

 

 

Packed with content based on the new Star Wars movies, kids have loads to explore with mild puzzles to overcome. They will unlock more vehicles and characters new and old, as well as ‘Free Play’ mode so they can revisit planets and just roam around. Split-screen co-op allows for social fun and teamwork as two-players join together through the entire game. Littered with trademark, amusing Lego cutscenes and takes which allow grown-up Star Wars fans to find entertainment also. 

 

Extra content includes discovery of some planets from the original films including Endor. Overall just a great way to introduce the Star Wars story to young ones, so they can enjoy the movies perhaps more when they’re allowed, recognising characters and locations. 

 

Ghostbusters The Video Game: Remastered

 

 

Ok look, it’s not the best Ghostbusters game ever, and there will probably be some great ones made in the future, (or those inspired by ghostbusting such as Luigi’s Mansion 3.) However...  this one deserves a special place for having the direct involvement of Dan Ackroyd and Harold Ramis. In fact, it was supposed to 'be' the third movie, until they decided to make one more recently, but which obviously won't feature Harld Ramis (now passed away). So enjoy being back in New York, in the third movie that never was, where we get most of the original voices here too. As the blurb describes:

 

“The game takes place two years after the end of the Ghostbusters II Movie, users will play as "the rookie", a trainee trying to make the Ghostbusters team.

 

Ghostbusters is a third-person shooter where players use their Proton packs to fire laser streams to fight Ghosts, attempting to trap them into a capturing device.”

 

Terminator: Resistance

 

 

We’ve included this one in the list, as it provides a solid, recently-made Terminator experience that continues after T2: Judgment Day, ignoring all the other movies. For one thing, this is a way to please many fans who get as far as watching these two classic science-fiction films, and then want to find a video game to dive into.

 

However, there’s little doubt that it’s also a missed opportunity that is said to be ‘a poor man’s Call of Duty’ where graphics and AI could also have been worked on for longer. 

 

 

Peter Jackson’s King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie (Xbox 360)

There were 2 game modes inherent in this King Kong movie tie-in: sections of first-person shooting where you play as one of the human characters, and third-person sections where you played as the Kong himself.

 

The FPS sections were very entertaining: many giant, scary creatures are lurking around Skull Island and you must use your environment to kill them. You really had to use the island habitat to your advantage. However, wrestling with dinosaurs (including a bonus setting on top of the Empire State Building) was also a ‘gripping’ dose of fun, as the giant gorilla himself. A veritable dream come true!

 

Looking for more movie game tie-ins….? Scan through the list on Game Streaming service Playstation Now for quick and easy access to others you might find….

 

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