For every movie based on a video game that ends up being divisive, like Doom, there's been a video game based on a movie that's been well-received, like Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor. If a movie has enough action, a compelling plot, interesting characters, and an intriguing setting, it has all the elements necessary to make for an exciting gaming experience.
While some titles in 2020 are no strangers to the video game treatment (Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey, Sonic The Hedgehog, and Monster Hunter), other action movies would be sterling candidates. With genres ranging from capes and cowls and survival horror to rogue assassins and underwater adventures, there would be something for every gamer to enjoy!
Wonder Woman 1984
There's no shortage of video games based on superheroes, but while most are multiplayer melee games, others have a more intimate approach that would be perfect for a movie like Wonder Woman 1984. Like PS4's Marvel's Spider-Man, which harnessed the joy of everyone's friendly neighborhood web-slinger and turned it into one of the most beautiful superhero games ever made, a video game with Diana Prince at its center could properly showcase all of her astounding new abilities.
Fans eager to fly with Wonder Woman and soar through the clouds above Washington DC, or compete in the games at Themyscyra, would get their fill of action-adventure, including an unlockable game playing dress-up with Steve Rogers.
The Old Guard
The exciting sleeper hit, The Old Guard, based on the comic book series of the same name, was one of the most original action movies of 2020. It chronicled a group of centuries-old immortals who used their exceptional healing abilities to become mercenaries who didn't fear death, but a betrayal by one of their own threatened their livelihoods.
To promote the movie, Netflix created a mobile "minigame" where players went through five levels as ax-wielding Andy, but a game created with something like Star Wars: Battlefront as a template would allow players to explore each character and their abilities as they cycled through heroes. While having exceptional healing abilities might lower the stakes, other weaknesses could be devised to balance out the gameplay.
The New Mutants
A blend of both the horror and superhero genres, The New Mutants follows five teenagers with unique powers, each being given harsh treatments at a secret facility to "cure" them of their abilities. Eventually, the treatments become a nightmare, as Mirage, Cannonball, Wolfsbane, Magik, and Sunspot begin to question what's real and what isn't.
The suspense and tension of the movie make it an appropriate inspiration for a survival horror game, with Dr. Cecilia Reyes and her staff as nefarious antagonists trying to stop the children from locating a way to leave the facility and truly understanding their gifts.
Underwater
Miles below the surface of the ocean, water overflows a drilling station, forcing the captain to make an important decision: walk across the ocean floor to the main facility or die. Underwater is a heart-pounding action-adventure combined with a creature feature element that ratchets up the stakes for the crew.
As if the sea wasn't terrifying enough, basing a video game on this sort of sci-fi horror movie would only be for the bravest of survival horror fans, who would relish the thrill of crawling through small, cramped industrial levels, and venturing into the vastness of the ocean depths. Battling monsters, the likes of which had never been seen before, would make it like an aquatic version of Silent Hill.
Tenet
Christopher Nolan's latest foray into action has given fans Tenet, about a disoriented secret agent who's forced to travel through time and space, bending every law of nature along the way, to prevent World War III with a single word.
Using mysteries like Heavy Rain and third-person shooter neo-noir games like Max Payne as its guides, a video game based on this movie could prove to be both an exciting thriller and an adrenaline-filled spy adventure all rolled into one.
Bloodshot
Based on the comic book of the same name, Bloodshot focuses on reanimated marine Ray Garrison who, after being brought back to life by a team of scientists, hunts down those responsible for murdering his family. With combat skills enhanced by nanotechnology, he becomes an unstoppable killing machine, capable of truly gruesome kills.
While the movie itself didn't impress fans much, the mystery at its center, regarding Bloodshot's true purpose and the murder of his family, would offer another layer of intrigue for the player desiring more complexity than a generic, fast-paced first-person shooter.
Mulan
The Disney live-action version of Mulan might have divided a lot of fans who were loyal to the animated movie, but there's no denying that the lush cinematography and engrossing combat sequences wouldn't make for an incredible fighting game like Shadow Warrior 2 or Way of the Samurai.
Played as a single person open-world RPG, it could involve the player unlocking achievements every time Mulan successfully outmaneuvers those around her, as well as increasing her family's honor. Participating in combat would have different effects on the main character, and like Nioh or For Honor, it might emphasize stance changes taken from real katana combat over parries and dodges.
Ava
Like Agent 47, the action film starring Timothy Olyphant as the shadowy lead of the Hitman series of video games, Ava seems a lot like a movie based on a video game that might already exist. Jessica Chastain plays a top assassin who, while not genetically enhanced, is a formidable killer caught in the crosshairs of her own black ops organization.
Ava's struggle to balance her skill set with a burgeoning moral compass would make for a compelling roleplaying element within a stealth game, as well as a thrilling first-person shooter.
#Alive
For fans of Train To Busan comes this pulse-pounding and realistic zombie movie from South Korea about a deadly outbreak and the aftermath of its wave of destruction. Much of the runtime is spent inside cramped apartment complexes with narrow corridors and struggling survivors, making it compellingly claustrophobic.
#Alive would work best as a VR title like Dreadhalls or Organ Quarter, where players get to truly experience the spine-tingling fear of avoiding zombies while trying to navigate tight confines, find tools, and work with other survivors.
Archenemy
What if a drunk, raving homeless man on the street claiming to be a superhero from the distant planet of Chromium was actually telling the truth? That's the premise of Archenemy, a movie that functions as an amalgamation of The Fisher King and The Terminator to deliver a ruminatively enriching, action-packed story.
The movie suggests a video game modeled after the sprawling Batman: Arkham Asylum or Crackdown series, and it would definitely benefit from an open-world format where character progression dictates superpowers.