Movie-Licensed Games are Ruining Gaming

Everybody loves going out to cinemas and watching the latest comic-book superhero movie out there, maybe it's Thor or Iron man, but one thing's for sure. Movie licensed games are some of the most terrible, low value, full retail ($60 - $40) games out there. 

Even Tony Stark doesn't know what's happening

Games like Thor: God of Thunder and Iron man 2 are such cash-outs in an attempt to take advantage of all the hype the movie's getting. If all games were treated this way, then ALL games would be too bad and too expensive. I like to think that the gaming industry is at a point in its life where it's on the verge to finally being considered as more of an art form than a waste of time. But crappy movie-licensed games are NOT helping at all. Perhaps it's the developers that didn't get enough time or money to produce the game so MAYBE we can't blame them. That means we sure can blame the greedy movie companies and publishers for such poor quality games. 

It just baffles me how a bad game like Thor: God of Thunder can get an 8/10 from IGN. 8/10? is this real life right now? Now I didn't play the game personally, Based on the gameplay footage and an Angryjoe review of the game I can safely say that this game most certainly does not even come close to a 6 out of 10, let alone a high 8. An 8 puts Thor: God of Thunder - a half-hearted game solely built to raze the wallets of any fanboys of the comic book - higher than Kingdom Hearts 2! one of the ALL-TIME greatest RPGs for the PS2. The only explanation is that IGN was probably paid to give this game a high rating. 

If developers and publishers want to make a movie-licensed game, then MAKE a movie-licensed game. Make one with ACTUAL PRODUCTION VALUE instead of just the actors form the movie doing the voicing. I bet even the actors are going "WTF!?" over the games they're voicing. It would definitely take time and some more money to produce a decent superhero game but it will be worth it. Spiderman 2 is a clear example of a movie-licensed game done right. It was fun, it had adventure, it borrowed the story from the movie and most importantly, it properly captured the feeling of being Spiderman. By no means were the graphics of Spiderman 2 great, but the developers still got the job done and brought players a good movie-licensed game. One of the very few good ones made.

Anyone who is willing to pay $60 or $40 for a short, repetitive game like Thor or Iron Man are either ridiculously rich people who have too much money, or, kids who know NOTHING about good video games. If this trend of horribly rushed movie-licensed games keeps continuing. It's only going to mean bad things for gaming. Superheroes are very recognizable by , well, anyone. Therefore, everything their associated with like the movies, comic books and video games will, in a way, reflect the industries that they're showcased in. That means, When people play the new Thor game or the new Superman game and it (will) turn out as a boring brawler made to steal money of your pockets, the game industry is the one that takes the hit. 

Poorly made movie-licensed games are one of the reasons that the gaming industry is not being taken as seriously as movies or comic books. How ANYONE is suppose to be hooked into gaming after spending $60 on an amazingly bad game is beyond me. But one thing's for sure. There IS  a way to fix this. 

This is suppose to be PS3 Graphics!?

Firstly, and it would seem like the cheapest and easiest way, is to STOP MAKING movie licensed games. Or at least don't pay famous gaming blogs like IGN to give your game good reviews when even the developers know that they didn't make anything that came close to what the game's suppose to be like. But the problem with this approach is that people want to play superhero games. And the demand for that gets even higher when you throw in famous actors and actresses in the game. Who wouldn't want to play as a Chris Hemsworth copy of Thor on the PS3? 

The second way is to stop making BAD movie licensed games. By that I mean, publishers should give some more time and money to the developers so they can make a GOOD game. A game with a nice balance between gameplay and narrative. The story is easy enough, just follow the movie's plot while throwing in 2 or 3 events that could coincide with the storyline. And by events, I don't mean putting stages where you endlessly bash away at the same enemy type over and over again. Make an adventure, which immerses the players and makes them remember what a good game they just played. 

I guarantee every publisher and developer of any superhero out there that the first company to make and publish the next, not good... but GREAT movie-licensed game, will be The most profitable movie-licensed game ever. Period.


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