However, I felt that their list didn't really cut it.
So I offer up my own "10 awesome sci-fi stories that would make a great game and haven't really been done justice if they already have been":
Ender's Game: Sure, every space-faring RTS feels like Orson Scott Card's book, but what hasn't been done is the "Zero-G strategy/shoot-em-up" that composes the first half of Ender's school daze.
Logan's Run: By William Nolan and George Johnson. Sci-Fi Survival Horror. 'Nuff said.
I am Legend: While Richard Matheson's book strattles the line between Sci-Fi and Horror, this is another candidate for a Survival Horror game. Or, howabout a "Tecmo's Deception" style game where you build traps to lure the vampires to their demise...
The 10th Victim/Hunter Killer: The 10th Victim was a pretty poor movie based on Robert Scheckley's book series, but while the competitive nature of "The Big Hunt" has been often imitated in many FPS death match modes, no game has ever quite captured in the way it plays out in the book.
Dream Park: Take World of Warcraft and let you choose the genre - that's the basis of this fantastic (and predictor of MMO's and LARPing by at least 20 years) book by Larry Nivens and Steve Barnes.
Snow Crash: IIRC there was one attempt to make Neil Stephenson's book into a game, but it never captured the Saint's Row meets Neuromancer vibe the game should have. At the very least, sword-fighting melee combat is a must.
Sunshine: Danny Boyle's 2007 would make for a great survival horror game in the tradition of System Shock. Hard Sci-Fi, IMHO, is pretty overlooked in gaming.
The Lensmen: E.E. "Doc" Smith's Galactic Patrol of "cops and robbers" in space (and pre-cursor to the Green Lantern Corps) would make for all kinds of great gaming experiences. "Grand Theft Auto in Space" is the obvious choice.
The Automatic Detective: A. Lee Martinez's hard-boiled noir story with the detective cast as a killer robot with a heart of gold would make for a great adventure game.
Flash Gordon and/or Buck Rogers: Other than the Colecovision "Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom" and the Commodore 64 "Flash Gordon" game, I don't remember any video game based on either of these two classic sci-fi properties since the mid-80's. Laser blasters and swordplay, cigar-shaped rockets, jetpacks, space pirates and evil space dicators? Count me in!
Got any of your own suggestions? Post them in the comments section!
A team in my class last year at DigiPen started making a 3D FPS based off of the zero G idea in Ender's Game. That was going to be their game for our main game class, but they decided to change their design after programming quite a bit of it up. It looked like it would make a really fun game too.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree that hard sci-fi is overlooked in games. The closest "recent" game that approaches it that I can think of off the top of my head is Dead Space, and even then, its alien/zombie hordes go a tad too far.
ReplyDeleteI hope we one day see a Space Odyssey of games; a hard sci-fi title that is well-made and taken seriously.
I think that a game based on a solid sci-fi show that is still running (like SGU) would be a cool precedent. If game design was able to keep up with the release of new seasons, it would be cool to see both the game and the show combine to tell an even more elaborate story.
ReplyDeleteI think that a game based on a solid sci-fi show that is still running (like SGU) would be a cool precedent. If game design was able to keep up with the release of new seasons, it would be cool to see both the game and the show combine to tell an even more elaborate story.
ReplyDelete