For nearly as long as video games have been around, we’ve had movie tie-in games, with plenty of bad ones along the way, but still lots of good ones as well. With the recent release of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 earlier this month in theaters, I thought I would weigh in on this topic after getting a chance to play the tie-in game as well.
Of course, there are also multiple ways to go about crafting a story for a movie tie-in game. There is the option to stick very close to the source material, like some classic games such as Aladdin, The Lion King, and Goldeneye, as well as others like the many LEGO games. There is the option to go with a spinoff like Star Wars Episode 1: Racer, which can allow for some expansion on one particular aspect of the movie.
Some games are outright follow-ups to the movie, such as the original The Amazing Spider-Man. That game specifically had a storyline that tied in right after the first movie with cross-species as a result of the Lizard’s plan from the first movie. This was a very nice touch and they even managed to get soundalikes in the voice actor department for the most part. It felt like a true continuation of the movie, even though we knew it would not stay in canon due to the upcoming movies.
In almost a complete contrast, we have movie tie-ins that are almost only tie-ins based on the name of the game and not anything thing. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is essentially one of these type of tie-in games, with a completely main original story that could not fit in continuity with this movie, while also completely contradicting elements of the first movie and first tie-in game.
The game does actually resolve some first movie plotlines, like the fact that Uncle Ben’s killer is still on the loose, but there is no way for it to maintain continuity with the movies in any way. To go along with the movie, we got a similar Electro in design along with a Harry Osborn story, but the main focus of this game is on Kraven the Hunter and the Carnage Killer, with the rest feeling pretty tacked on at times.
Beenox even chose to not have Peter Parker look or sound anything like Andrew Garfield, unlike the first game, to where it feels more like this could have been developed as a standalone Spider-Man game at first and then had the few movie elements thrown in and the name tacked on later.
When looking at movie tie-in games, I can honestly see arguments for many of the different types of tie-in games. Sometimes when a movie you absolutely love comes out, you want nothing more than to put yourselves in control of the lead character and experience the scenes from the movie yourself. On the other hand, with you getting to watch the movie and experience the story already on the big screen, wouldn’t it be better to have something completely new to experience, whether as a continuation or a completely out of continuity game that is in name only?
This has to be one of the first questions that comes up when a movie tie-in game is first conceived. Personally, I almost like a hybrid that has some ties to the movie, but expands on the storyline to fill out a full game to give it a little more depth than only a two hour or so movie. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 tried to do this, but was held back due to other aspects of the game that kept it from reaching its full potential. If those problems weren’t in the way, I’d say the way they went about the game is a model way for developers to be able to get a head start on something like The Amazing Spider-Man 3, when they may not even know the story of the movie itself yet. This could allow for longer development cycles rather than rushed out tie-ins that are there just to make money off the movie at release.
