Games adapted from movies are invariably approached with cynicism, and with good reason. With very few exceptions, movie adaptations have historically failed as games. This is all the more true for movie tie-ins, as the spin-off games are, more often than not, treated as mere marketing leverages to build enough hype for the movie.
Then again it is true for anything that plays second fiddle to a larger entity.
It doesn’t end there; games and movies being disparate have never really adapted well to one another. If you try to impose the creative restraints of one medium to another, the end product is ultimately stifled. Then there’s also the case of deadlines. Games tied in with movies have to release with the movie and this invariably leads to a rushed product, which sounds the death knell for any game. However, there have been exceptions.
Not only did The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay release in time with the movie, but it also excelled in every single aspect. It’s one of the rare exceptions that managed to be superlative, despite going from the drawing board to the retail box in less than 18 months flat. This is a rare merger of talent, excellent source material and pure gumption of the developers to pull off the seemingly impossible. It would be naive to expect seeing this replicated.
Then there are other exceptions like Peter Jackson’s King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie that owes its success to the creative brilliance of Peter Jackson and Michel Ancel (Rayman, Beyond Good & Evil). This is an example of the creative powerhouses behind the movie and the game working in tandem to build a game that effectively captures the true essence of the movie. I believe this was only possible because of the creative flexibility and the matching artistic wavelengths of the two stalwarts.
Tron: Evolution then faces an uphill task, especially considering the fact that its predecessor Tron 2.0 is counted among the few successful movie-to-game adaptations. The Tron movie was well regarded for its graphics, but the storyline was found lacking. It would bode well to remember that the original was released in 1982, when that kind of eye candy was unprecedented. In the current scheme of things, where CGI has pervaded every single aspect of mass media, Tron needs more than just flashy eye candy for success. A mere adaptation of the movie will not suffice, but to reach out to a larger audience Tron: Evolution needs the gameplay and design aces up its sleeves to succeed.
source: techtree.com
