This past xmas, I received a DVD of the cult classic The Warriors. For a 25 year old movie, it is still a good watch - and, was wrapped up in its own set of controversies when it was first released in theaters…

Anyway, after watching the DVD, I picked up the recently released The Warriors game. Overall and enjoyable gaming experience that got pretty good reviews.

I hadn’t read the reviews ahead of time, so I didn’t realize that the game was mostly a prequel to the movie - or rather, you do missions and get into a bunch of mischief as a build up to the events in the movie. Playing the before-the-movie-events type missions are pretty engaging, and immerses you in the unique gang culture universe that’s created by the movie itself.

However, once the game gets into the missions that parallel the events in the movie, the game starts to suck. What was previously a compelling experience in an engaging universe becomes a game-on-rails experience constrained by the narrative path of the movie (eg, some levels had more cut-scenes than gameplay).

I’ve always taken the position that a game based on a film license should be more about interacting within the world/fiction as opposed to recreating the unique linear progression of the movie itself.

Recent remarks from film legend James Cameron are encouraging. He plans to create a joint game/movie project where the movie is single narrative thread based in the universe/fiction of the game…