A lot of popular movies have produced tie-in video games, sometimes to tell additional stories and expand upon the films, but usually to make a little bit of extra cash when a new movie comes out. Generally, the consensus is that movie-licensed video games are really not good at all, though there have been many diamonds in the rough over the years. But with every game that does it right, there are ten that do it wrong, and some that do it very, very wrong.
When developers flub nearly every aspect of a movie-licensed game, it can sometimes ruin the original movie, and results in hordes of disappointed moviegoers who are rightfully angry that their favourite IPs were exploited in such a way.These are the worst movie-licensed video games, which have gone down in history as being not just terrible adaptations, but some of the worst video games ever made, period.
11’Aliens: Colonial Marines' (2013)
Platforms: PC/PS3/XB360
Aliens: Colonial Marineswent through development hell for years before it was finally cobbled together and released. Legions of hungry fans were excited to have it in their hands at last, but were miserably disappointed when they actually played the game. To its credit, it did do some things right. The weapon customization was pretty in-depth and interesting, the collectibles involving memorabilia from theAliensmovie were actually fun to search for, and the multiplayer was decent. Everything else sucked pretty bad, though.
The game was rife with bugs and glitches, the titular aliens very rarely appeared, and when they did, they felt uncharacteristically non-threatening. But perhaps worst of all, it absolutely ruined the canon set in place by theJames Cameronfilms, bringing back deceased characters in impossible ways, and destroying the narrative.Even though, at base level, it’s a pretty far cry from the worst game ever made, that couldn’t save it from the bitter disappointment felt by many anAliensfans, which has lingered with them for well over a decade.
10’Kinect Star Wars' (2012)
Platform: XB360
The Xbox 360’s Kinect system was supposed to be a revolutionary new device that used the player’s body as a controller. The camera attachment would track players' movements, and translate that to the game. Except for the fact that the camera was really janky and often unresponsive, and withKinect Star Wars, this couldn’t have been any more apparent. The motion controls simply did not work, but that was only the tip of the terrible iceberg.
Instead of taking audiences through the films, it made up its own nonsense story with random, uninspired characters that nobody really liked, and included a few other modes, the most ridiculous being a galactic dance-off; effectively aStar Warsversion ofJust DancewithStar Wars-themed parodies of popular songs.This effort was laughably bad, and was seen as a gigantic joke in the sci-fi community. Many were upset at all the content lost when Disney acquired the license and purged all previous stories as being non-canon, but it was pretty clear that no one was going to miss thisterrible excuse of aStar Warsgame.
Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope
A farm boy from a desert planet becomes an unlikely hero in the fight against the oppressive Galactic Empire. Guided by a former Jedi Knight and alongside a rebellious princess, a smuggler, and his co-pilot, he embarks on a mission to destroy the Death Star, a massive space station capable of annihilating entire planets. As he learns about the mystical Force, he discovers his destiny and the true strength within himself.
9’Fight Club' (2004)
Platforms: Mobile/PS2/XB
TheFight Clubvideo game may as well be a lesson on how to completely miss the point of the source material 101. The original movie is acounterculture filmthat is anti-capitalism, anti-materialism, and anti-establishment, with the titular fight club being only a small part of the overarching narrative. If you’re going to make a game based on the movie, it should cover all the same bases, and not play into materialism by being a mass-produced piece of garbage meant to make money without providing a quality product.
The game took the very small fighting portion of the movie and blew it up to an unacceptable point, making it the primary focus of the game. Most of the fighters felt exactly the same, the environments were lacking, and the controls were flimsy. But the most bizarre choice was the ability to play asFred Durstof Limp Bizkit as a secret unlockable character.It’s a game that isn’t just bad, but that isn’t even remotely connected to the film upon which it was based, and that flushed the entire point of the film down the toilet.
Fight Club
8'007 Legends' (2012)
Platforms: PC/PS3/Wii U/XB360
The007franchise has seen some really great video games, with the classic N64GoldenEyestill being seen as an excellent bit of nostalgia and a revolutionary first-person shooter. But007 Legendspretty much killed the entire line of video games with its campy awfulness, as it bit off way more than it could chew. In theory, it’s a game that explores the most exciting parts of one film from each era. There’s bits fromGoldfinger, a solid choice from theSean Conneryera, followed byOn Her Majesty’s Secret Service, which is sort of a default pick considering it’s the only movie starringGeorge Lazenby.
Everything after that though, was a terrible choice, taking players through some of theworst007filmsincludingDie Another DayandMoonraker. The game builds anticipation, promising that the final levels will take place during the critically-acclaimedSkyfall, but these levels were entirely underwhelming and only tackled the least interesting parts of the movie. Beyond that, the gameplay was stale and stagnant, and felt more like generic FPS slop with little substance or inspiration, lacking any of the cool gadgets that players were dying to use. Put simply, it’sboring, nonsensical, and far too ambitious.
7’Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1' (2010)
Platforms: DS/Mobile/PC/PS3/Wii/XB360
The otherHarry Pottergames actually weren’t that bad. Some were even pretty fun. The majority of them played like open-world adventures where players could explore Hogwarts and learn new spells. However, when it came time for the video game adaptation ofHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1, the developers threw everything good about the previous installments out the window and turned the franchise into a third-person shooter. Yes, you read that right. The game plays like a cover-based shooter, using spells instead of guns.
Each spell behaved like a different type of gun that one would typically find in a shooter game, and the consistent “defend your ally while they perform this task” objectives made things inane and annoyingly repetitive. Out of all of theHarry Pottertie-in games,this one is absolutely the worst, made even more insulting by its meagre runtime of less than two hours. The video game for part 2 of the film was marginally better than the first, but only marginally.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1
6’Godzilla' (2014)
Platforms: PS3/PS4
The 2014Godzillafilm marked a new era for the franchise, one that was much less silly than its predecessors, and far more serious. It was honestly a really brilliant film, but the video game tie-in? Not so much. This monster-sized travesty only had about two basic modes: a story mode, which was only about half an hour long, and where every single level is exactly the same, and a multiplayer mode, which was woefully unbalanced. The game would pit level 600 players up against level 2 newcomers, and didn’t seem to notice anything wrong with that.
Sure, you could play as a whole bunch of monsters from the classic movies, but the only way to unlock them was to replay the boring story mode over and over and over again. There was really nothing else to do other than grind or go up against players who inexplicably devoted all of their time to this abomination, and neither option was fun. If neither of those things were your forté, you could always take photos using the game’s built-in photo mode, where you could set up props and sets. Spoiler alert: this was boring, too.This game lacked any real direction and felt like very little effort was thrown into it.
5’Rambo: The Video Game' (2014)
TheRambofranchise is a series of action films starringSylvester Stalloneas the titular hero, a traumatized Vietnam War veteran and former Green Beret who is sent on numerous top-secret missions for the US government throughout the later days of the Cold War. Fans of tough guy 80s action flicks should have rejoiced at the news that aRambovideo game was being developed, which would take players through the most thrilling parts of the first three films. Except for the fact that the game license was acquired by Teyon games, notorious for theirHeavy Fireseries of on-rails shooters, all of which were critically panned.
As such, theRambovideo game was also an on-rails shooter, meaning there was no freedom of movement–all the player could do was point and shoot as Rambo moved himself around the level. To make matters worse, there was only about one song in the entire soundtrack, and the enemy AI only had about two lines of dialogue, so the audio gets really annoying, really fast. The game was also painfully easy, until an unexpected difficult spike during the final level, which was completely unfair and even game-breaking at times. On top of that, the graphics were like something out of the uncanny valley, and nobody felt even remotely human.This game definitely deserves to be tossed into a sewage treatment plant, where it can sink with the rest of the turds.
First Blood
4’Charlie’s Angels' (2003)
Platforms: GCN/PS2
TheCharlie’s Angelsvideo game was a 3D brawler based on the 2000s series of movies, and even hadLucy Liu, Cameron Diaz, andDrew Barrymorereprising their roles as their iconic characters. The problem is, it would appear they didn’t believe in the game whatsoever, because each of these talented actresses mopes and moans their way through the voice lines without even attempting a convincing delivery.
The gameplay was atrocious, and oftentimes downright insulting, diving way too deep into the sex appeal aspect of the game, likely because the developers knew it would sell more copies. Trying to do anything in the game is nearly impossible, as the controls are overly-complicated and finicky. The enemies were sponges and were way too hard to defeat, and the bizarre animations were horrific, yet unintentionally hilarious at the same time.A lot of people might have forgotten about this one, which they should have, because it doesn’t deserve to be remembered.
Charlie’s Angels
3’The Lord of the Rings: Gollum' (2023)
Platforms: PC/PS4/PS5/Switch/XBO/XBSX
What is there to say aboutThe Lord of the Rings: Gollumthat hasn’t already been said? First off, if one wants to make a game about Gollum, it would be best to hireAndy Serkisto reprise his iconic role, or at least find someone who sounds pretty similar. The person voicing Gollum in the game just couldn’t replicate the character’s memorable voice from the movies. The game wasn’t really based on anythingJ. R. R. Tolkienwrote, so it’s more accurate to say it’s based on thePeter Jacksonfilms.
The game was supposed to be astealth action adventureabout Gollum trying to recover the One Ring after it was acquired by Bilbo Baggins inThe Hobbittrilogy, but the stealth mechanics were painfully bad. The graphics were atrocious, and extremely outdated, and the dialogue is cringe-inducing. Just watch five minutes of gameplay and you’ll likely agree that everything about it is wrong. It’s not even one of those games where you can make a couple drinks, invite your friends over, kick back, and laugh at its poor quality, because before long, everybody would be frustrated and exhausted.This game was an absolute insult to Tolkien and his fans, and probably shouldn’t ever have been made in the first place, because even from trailer reveals, fans could already tell it was going to be a disaster.
