Pushing Buttons: Will The Last of Us open the door for more good video-game adaptations?
The HBO version of the post-apocalyptic has had rave reviews. From Silent Hill to Broken Sword, here are others that could really shine on the small screen
With the benefit of hindsight, it was always going to be television and not film where the first genuinely authentic video game tie-in would happen. The format of the ongoing drama series, with its capacity for multiple character and narrative arcs, as well as its extended running time, aligns much more closely with how games actually function. Even so, I am surprised by just how brilliant episode one of The Last of Us (HBO in the US, Sky Atlantic in the UK) is. It beautifully weaves the conventions of both TV and games into one gripping experience, using subjective camera shots to put us into the viewpoint of characters (like a game), while also toying with depth of field in a very televisual way to blur out background details for thrilling effect (oh god, the shaking granny!). Ever the optimist, I'm thinking that maybe - maybe - this series (pictured below) has unlocked a new set of multidisciplinary tools that will enable other TV and game makers to collaborate on exciting dramas.
So, what next? Yes, we're only on episode one, but you can bet there are TV producers and video game creative directors looking at the critical acclaim handed out to the series and thinking, hmm, I fancy a piece of that. We know that TV productions based on Life Is Strange, God of War and Horizon Zero Dawn are on the way. What else would work?
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