In some ways I feel that Peter Jackson has done us all a huge disservice in bringing us The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy. For years, Tolkien's masterwork was said to be the book that could never be filmed. Then old Pete did the job and everyone loved it and the world was a happy place and a fantasy movie won an Oscar.
However, the creature Hollywood had a glint in its eye and the thirst for money took over its soul. But there was another who was corrupted by this force and its name was the games industry. Not content to let Hollywood have all the glory, the games industry hooked up with Hollywood and they made a pact to rape and pillage every corner of literature, from Greek myth and epic Medieval poetry, through to all successful fantasy trilogies ever and of course comics. Nothing was sacred and nothing was too difficult to bring to screen or console.
As a result of this greed and thirst for already established IP, the creatures Hollywood and games industry have happened upon Watchmen. News of a Watchmen movie was more a matter of resignation than shock for me. Several of Alan Moore's works have been given the movie treatment, namely the abysmal League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, the neither great nor terrible From Hell and the vaguely successful V for Vendetta. This meant it was only a matter of time before Watchmen hit the big screen.
Just this week, a friend emailed me the trailer for Watchmen and it's looking slick, if a little action-centric. Doctor Manhattan looks super cool, as he should, but I'm thinking subtle nuances are probably being left as a surprise for people who buy the comic off the back of the movie.
What nuances? It's a comic, how subtle can it be?
Well, on the surface it's just a whodunit and a deconstruction of the superhero archetype. Then there's the fictional intertextuality of the comic within a comic, the multi-layered narrative and the non-linear story, centred around three-dimensional characters and of course the philosophical discourse that runs through the whole story. That enough nuances for ya?
I'm not really that worried about the movie, as it'll probably look good, have some fun explosions and bear a vague resemblance to the comic, while missing the main point. The game on the other hand could be a shambling mess that sullies the good name that was Watchmen. The question will be, not "who watches the Watchmen?" but "who plays the Watchmen?"
Now, it's not going to cause any major controversy if I say most games of movies suck the big one. They are merely a way to make money and cash-in, using the people that really can't be bothered to research good games and prefer to be spoon-fed something familiar, regardless of quality. The same people go to Starbucks, rather than taking a chance on the small, local coffee shop, that actually cares what its beverages taste like and doesn't insist on serving them in a cup the size of your head, just so that they can charge you extra for what is essentially more hot water.
Admittedly, Warner Bros, the publisher behind the Watchmen game, has announced a new approach to the whole game-of-a-movie-of-a-comic project. Rather than rushing out a sub-par game, it has decided to go episodic. Forgive me if my eyes begin to glaze and roll back into my head, but so far, I've yet to get any joy from the episodic arena.
I tried Sam and Max, but not to be disheartened I tried Penny Arcade. So, I think I'm fair in saying, beware friends (they don't have to be Greek) bearing gifts, especially if they're packaged as episodic games.
Danish outfit, Deadline games is producing the first two episodic games based on Moore's seminal comic – or should I say, based on the movie, based on said comic (two entirely different things). According to an interview with Variety, Warner Bros' development chief, said, "What we're trying to do with Watchmen is create the best quality game that delivers the experience fans expect from what we believe to be a great movie and a great property."
Translated: "Cha-ching!"
Oh, I must stop being so cynical, really I must.
Apparently, the game is going to be the same quality as a retail game, but being downloadable in chunks allows the developers time to get it right. Warner Bros big cheese adds, "When you're talking about content of this rich nature, with a huge fan base, it deserves some tender loving care. With over a year to go, some people would have said, ‘sign me up for a retail sku.' Maybe for a kids' game, that would be find. Not for Watchmen."
It all sounds great and I'm thinking, yeah, episodic, it could be the way forward. Then I'm thinking, but what kind of game is it going to be? I'm also thinking, Watchmen isn't your biff, pow, zap kind of a comic. In fact, there's hardly any action, so that's going to be a tricky one to solve. So dear play chums, what sort of game do you think it's going to be?
Yes, that's right; it's a single-player brawler with a co-op mode.
Subversive and cerebral as the original text?
Perhaps not. Who says games aren't art?
Most played: Mass Effect
Most wanted: Champions Online