The 1958 film Vertigo is one of Alfred Hitchcock's most notable works, and will now lend its director's name to an upcoming video game, Alfred Hitchcock - Vertigo. The film is a masterpiece of suspense and paranoia, with James Stewart in the leading role of John "Scottie" Ferguson, a retired police officer trying to recover from intense vertigo before becoming embroiled in an increasingly strange mystery. Over the years, Vertigo has inspired countless filmmakers, and is again inspiring a game adaptation. But the game may not deserve its enticing title.
At first glance, the idea of an interactive adaptation of Vertigo is quite compelling. Scottie's prowling through the streets of San Francisco seems well-suited for an experience akin to Rockstar's LA Noire. Certainly some liberties would have to be taken with characters and plot points, but the rooftop chase intro, driving scenes, investigations, and even the famous nightmare sequence could make for interesting gameplay. Unfortunately, upon closer inspection of the plans for Alfred Hitchcock - Vertigo, the game seems to have little in common with the film aside from the title and themes.
Alfred Hitchcock - Vertigo publisher Microids unveiled the new title at the 2021 Guerrilla Collective indie games showcase. According to the Microids website, the game actually has no relation to the plot of the film. Instead, the story revolves around a writer surviving a car crash he believes involved his family, even though no one else was found in the wreckage. The incident induces vertigo in the writer, and he sets out to determine what actually happened.
Why Use The Title Alfred Hitchcock - Vertigo?
The first in a list of features for the Alfred Hitchcock - Vertigo game is, "An exclusive, original story about obsession, memory, manipulation and madness, freely inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's masterpiece, Vertigo." That's all well and good, and may make for a compelling video game, but why slap the deceased director's name on the front of the title?
This is a game merely inspired by Vertigo, with a plot that has little to do with the film itself. Vertigo is far from the only piece of cinema dealing with "obsession, memory, manipulation and madness." In fact, it isn't even the only film that inspired the game. The Microids website notes that "some characters [in Alfred Hitchcock - Vertigo] resemble protagonists from Rebecca, Psycho, and many more." Taking inspiration is fine (and universal in creative fields), but naming the game this way and invoking the titles of two other well-known Hitchcock films seems like, in light of the wholly original plot, just a means of securing an audience.
Hitchcock himself has no association with the game (having passed away in 1980), and like the ill-fated adventure title Hitchcock: The Final Cut from 2001, his work seems to serve as little more here than a fertile ground for other ideas. Whether the game ends up being good or not, naming it Alfred Hitchcock - Vertigo feels like little more than a veiled attempt to generate interest.