Over two months ago, I wrote about Five Comic Book Games I Would Love to See. However, comics aren’t the only form of entertainment needing more good games. TV is one of the most gripping ways of storytelling, for it can span over hundreds hours but still be in digestible chunks. But before I dive into the list, I want to say that I will not use any shows involving comics I’ve already covered. So as painful as it is for me, I won’t put My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic or Arrow on the list. So sit down on the couch and turn up the volume, these are the Five TV Games I Would Love to See.
Supernatural
Genre: Adventure
Developed By: Team Bondi
Why: Supernatural is a show about two brothers who travel the country and hunt monsters. However, unlike most monster hunters they usually deal with threats with their guns. It’s a show that’s practically begging to be turned into a game, and I think I found out how.
The Pitch: The game would have two sections, investigation and confrontation. During investigation, you have a few ingame days to gather clues about what’s happening. You must choose who you talk to and what weapons you use carefully, because it could backfire. When your time is up, then you go into the confrontation. These are mini-boss fights that use a mixture between puzzle solving and Zelda like combat. The weaknesses and identity of a monster will never be revealed to you, which would make it much more rewarding when you take down a monster.
Doctor Who
Genre: Point and Click Adventure
Developed By: Telltale
Why: Out of all the shows on this list, Doctor Who is my favorite. And coincidentally, it also has the worst games. While the show is story based, most shows decide to gloss over the story and make boring and repetitive puzzle games. Which is a shame, because it has a mythos begging to be expanded on and explored more.
The Pitch: Doctor Who is a series focused on character development and interaction, something Telltale is perfect at. Many tough choices are made throughout the show, something telltale is also masterful at. The Doctor constantly has to choose who dies and who lives, which could make for some intense gameplay. Out of all of my ideas on the list, I would want to play this one the most.
Avatar the Last Airbender
Genre: Action RPG
Developed By: Bethesda
Why: Avatar the Last Airbender is one of those shows that you watch to learn more about the world. The show and comic series did a great job exploring and expanding the world, but there’s still so much more to know about.
The Pitch: Nobody does World-Building quite like Bethesda. They always jam in thousands of hours’ worth of books, locations and NPCs that expand the world in their games. And with a world as creative as Avatar’s, I know that they could do some wonderful things.
Star Trek
Genre: Strategy
Developed By: Subset Games
Why: Star Trek is perhaps the most legendary TV series of all time, and it definitely deserves it. This is the franchise that perfected space battles, but managed to deliver with interesting characters as well. Many Star Trek games have been made, but sadly, none of them have been worth talking about. That needs to change.
The Pitch: Subset Games made a Star Trek experience that is Star Trek in everything but name. FTL Faster than Light was one of my favorite games of 2012, and it’s mainly because of how well it emulated Star Trek. It had impacting morality choices, tactical space combat, and tons of planets to explore. With a bigger budget, who knows what they could accomplish?
Fullmetal Alchemist
Genre: Action Adventure
Developed By: Crytek USA
Why: Fullmetal Alchemist is my favorite animated show of all time, not just anime. It has some of the best characters I’ve ever seen, and it has a great conspiracy as well. It also includes tons of entertaining action, so why hasn’t a good game been made out of it already?
The Pitch: Crytek USA is what remains of vigil games, the developers of the excellent Darksiders series. Their mix of combat and Zelda-style exploration was amazing, and I feel that their style would translate perfectly for fullmetal alchemist. Alphonse would control like the lumbering War while Ed would play like the more agile Death. Mix that in with co-op and it would be perfect.