Where gaming meets cinema

REMEMBER when games used to be following a plumber around, collecting gold coins? Now it’s all about how cinematic a game can be.

SURE, you can still fidget on a small screen, furiously flinging rotund red birds at nefarious pigs. It’s addictive and passes the time on public transport.

But at the other end of the spectrum, gamers expect an immersive, layered experience with a sophisticated narrative and characterisation, especially if you’re paying $100 for that game.

The simple pleasure of following Mario through pipe-filled worlds splattered with gold coins has been replaced with the comprehensive stories of the biggest gaming franchises. The likes of Assassin’s Creed and Uncharted have stories that carry over from one game to another, with protagonists as famous as iconic movie characters.

Arguably, gaming has been influenced by cinema as technology advanced to allow it to create worlds to rival anything on celluloid. Even if that means sometimes gameplay will be hampered by the needs of the story — no matter how many ships you destroy, you’re always destined to sink because that’s what the story dictates.

You can bet there is an Uncharted movie on its way.

Hugo Martin, the creative director of id Software, the developers behind the new, rebooted Doom, knows better than most the interplay between the two mediums. He’s worked as a concept artist in both film and gaming, with credits including Pacific Rim, The Avengers, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune and Halo Wars.

“As engines push out stronger visuals, developers have the ability to create greater and more in-depth experiences that at times can feel as visually dynamic as something you might see in a film,” Martin told news.com.au. “Movies teach us how to create an immersive visual experience with atmosphere, lighting, composition and FX.

“It’s hard to make a video game now with all the tools we have available and not be influenced by the works of Steven Spielberg or Ridley Scott.

“Film history provides artists working in video games a huge amount of imagery to be inspired by and use as visual references and environments. If I have a sci-fi city level in a game I’m making, then why wouldn’t I look at Blade Runner for reference?”

There’s something very Ridley Scott-esque in this shot from the new Doom game.

On a story level, gaming has been influenced not just by film but also by literature. As Martin said: “People like stories and they like heroes.”

However, Martin argued, gaming can create an experience for the audience that films can’t match. “I don’t have to watch people creating a performance on a 2D screen but can actively participate in the narrative, moulding the action as I see fit based on the decisions I make. In the case of Doom, I can create my own fight scenes with an array of weapons and melee attacks all within a universe that looks as cinematic as what you might see on film.”

With lots of money at stake in gaming (PwC predicts the global gaming market will be worth $US93.1 billion by 2019), film has, for decades, created a symbiotic relationship between the two.

The film industry has plundered gaming for franchises to turn into movies — Super Mario Bros, Street Fighter, Tomb Raider, Doom, Angry Birds, Prince of Persia and soon-to-be-released Assassin’s Creed are just a few examples. In turn, movie studios have sought to extend popular film franchises into gaming so they could take advantage of another revenue stream.

The Assassin’s Creed movie will be released in Australia on January 1, 2017.

Some of them turn out great (the James Bond GoldenEye game) while some are destined to fail (a movie trilogy based on Tetris).

“The fans win when they get to experience something they care about in several mediums, not just one,” Martin said. “I liked the Mortal Kombat games and as a kid, I really enjoyed the Mortal Kombat movie. I think it’s important that they pay each other the proper respect and stay true to the source material.

“When I see a film that I loved, I am then excited when I get the chance to play a video game as the characters from that film and I hope the game is an honest reflection of the source material, that it meets my expectation as a fan.”

Doom is out now on PS4, Xbox One and PC.

Originally published as Where gaming meets cinema