The makers of the Walking Dead games are bringing the world of Westeros to consoles, but plenty of other shows deserve the same treatment
It shouldn't surprise anyone that a new video game based on Game of Thrones is on the way. This time it's being produced by Telltale Games, who also made The Walking Dead, which proved it's now possible to make an expansive, emotionally involving game based on an acclaimed television show. What's more, the world of George RR Martin is so vast and varied that it arguably suits an interactive experience even more than it does a linear TV show. But if it works, we can expect several other video-game spin-offs from television shows to pop up. Here are five that deserve to be first in line.
The Returned
Perhaps The Walking Dead games are a little bit too mainstream for you. That's fine – why not play a video game based on French zombie drama The Returned instead? It's basically the same, except it's in French with English subtitles, the worst thing that the zombies do is suffer prolonged existential crises about how the world has moved on since their death, and you keep being forced into an unlit underpass even though you know that pretty much anyone who's ever used it has ended up being murdered horribly.
EastEnders
One of the main gripes about the GTA series is that, one top-down expansion pack aside, London has never really been a focus. But that all changes now, thanks to a partnership between Rockstar North and BBC Worldwide. EastEnders: The Videogame offers players a fully immersive sandbox experience like no other. Explore all of Albert Square and a bit of George Street. Visit the tube station, but never actually go anywhere. Stand outside the pub, or wash your clothes in the launderette. Why not buy an apple at the market, or soak up the all-pervading sense of gloom in the cafe? EastEnders: The Videogame has 28 full years of gameplay to enjoy, except not much really ever happens. Your character might be recast a couple of times, but that's probably about it.
Breaking Bad
In theory, the Breaking Bad game should slowly lead you through a set of impossible circumstances which darken your morality and transform you from a mild-mannered chemistry teacher into a murderous druglord. However, there's an online version of the Breaking Bad game and, because people who play games online are objectively several times more evil than even Walter White at the peak of his malevolence, you can pretty much just go round murdering people without consequence. Brock, Skyler, Walt Jr … kill them all. You may as well. It's just a game.
Mad Men
Press A to drink a cocktail. Press B to stare across the mid-20th-century Manhattan skyline for five minutes without speaking to anyone, as your face reflects the looming social chance that the 1960s will usher in. Press C to drink another cocktail. Congratulations! You have just completed the Mad Men videogame.
Top Gear
Have you ever wanted to race around the famous Top Gear test track? The Top Gear game lets you do exactly that. Have you ever wanted to race a skateboarder down a hill in a jeep? The Top Gear game lets you do that, too. Have you ever wanted to travel through the jungle with two annoying friends who don't appear to grasp the severity of the situation? Buy the Top Gear game. Ever wanted to make a series of alarmingly xenophobic jokes, and wear horrible shirts, and then say that women are awful, and then interview Mark Wahlberg in a cut scene that feel like it's about 15 minutes too long? Then you really need the Top Gear game in your life.
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