Games based on literature

Having recently read Dante's Divine Comedy, I was thinking about how most games that are based on books only become games once said book becomes a movie.

There aren't many games out there based straight off of a book or other piece of literature. The only ones I can think of offhand is the upcoming Dante's Inferno based on the poem I mentioned above, and Bioshock which was loosely based on Ayn Rand's "The Fountainhead"

Anyway, are there any other games based on literature that you know of?

Also, what pieces of literature would you like to see adapted into a video game?

Personally, on the subject of Epic poems, I'd like to see games based on Homer's two well known epics (The Iliad and The Odyssey) They could make awesome games.

I don't know if it counts, but Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire was a book and then a N64 game. I suppose it gets disqualified because it had 3 movies (at the time) to draw from for visuals.

I want "A Tale of Two Cities" by Charles Dickens to be featured as a videogame.

Play as a destitute and bloodthirsty peasant! Drag nobles to the guillotine and display severed heads on your Xbox's dashboard to show off to friends.

I want "A Tale of Two Cities" by Charles Dickens to be featured as a videogame.

Play as a destitute and bloodthirsty peasant! Drag nobles to the guillotine and display severed heads on your Xbox's dashboard to show off to friends.

Soapweed

That would actually be quite interesting and a change of pace from being the big bad super hero, instead starting with nothing and trying to survive in a time of great strife. Though of course it would probably be turned into an FPS set in WW2 or some modern day war, or a future war with aliens and the main character as a muscle man in super armour.

I would like a decent Harry Potter game, not some half hearted movie licence rip off, but an RPG set in that story's universe with a character creator, a strong story and more.

War of the Ring was an RTS that was based on the Lord of the Rings, and followed the books rather than the movies, it was a very good game.

I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream was a book before game.

There was a game called Deathtrap Dungeon that was based on a book written by Ian Livingstone before being released as a playstation 1 game.

was going to say 'Call Of Cthulu Dark Corners'too.. great game

Weren't gears and mass effect based off books?

The Witcher is based on books by Andrzej Sapkowski.

Weren't gears and mass effect based off books?

DoomZaW

Romance of the Three Kingdom is the obvious one. Based on the novel of the same title.

Dynasty Warriors is also based on same novel.(but B@stardized greatly)

Final Fantasy Tactic was also based on novel I believe, but I'm not certain about it.

we need a moby dick game...

we need a moby dick game...

LordGamer0001

no thanks.

I wanted to poke my eyes out when I had to read that book, so I'd have an excuse for not reading it.

I don't know if it counts, but Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire was a book and then a N64 game. I suppose it gets disqualified because it had 3 movies (at the time) to draw from for visuals.

djsundowner

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_Margin

this book was theinspiration forthe Suikoden games

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_Margin

this book was theinspiration forthe Suikoden games

armouredpriest

inspired and based on is totally different thing.

No one remembers the games based on Terry Prachetts work? Really?

I recall those, they weren't bad. Loved the jokes.

Games based off the John Grisham books might make good games akin to the Phoenix Weight series.

Journey to the West is seeing yet another videogame iteration in Ninja Theory's (Heavenly Sword) upcoming game, Enslaved. Bit of a futuristic/post-apocalyptic spin, though.

All those Dynasty Warrior and Three Kingdoms-based games are based on Luo Guanzhong's dramatized history of the Three Kingdoms period.

There's also talk of a Song of Ice and Fire game upcoming.

I could generally do without adaptations across mediums...generally, if the work is any good it will pretty much have a foundation in the traditions of the mediumit wasborn in, so that you can pretty much guarantee the adaptation is going to be a step down from the original. If you're going to adapt from another medium, adapt the idea rather than trying to make a direct copy...like Escape from Butcher Bay does with the Riddick franchise...make something new but in the spirit of, rather than trying to make something identical.

I could generally do without adaptations across mediums...generally, if the work is any good it will pretty much have a foundation in the traditions of the mediumit wasborn in, so that you can pretty much guarantee the adaptation is going to be a step down from the original. If you're going to adapt from another medium, adapt the idea rather than trying to make a direct copy...like Escape from Butcher Bay does with the Riddick franchise...make something new but in the spirit of, rather than trying to make something identical.Ish_basic

Being an avid reader of the classics, I dearly hope they don't try to start turning more classics into video games.

While I definitely want to see better stories in games - it's why I'm so anxiously awaiting Heavy Rain - there's simply no way to recreate the inherent genius of certain pieces of literary brilliance in virtual interactive form. You could do it with modern stuff like Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time series (I hear they're working on a game right now), but when it comes to the timeless books that people can study for entire lifetimes and still find something new, I think our industry should avoid that. It's why I also don't believe they should make movies out of the best books of all time.

And for the record, outside of the names and parts of the environment, Dante's Inferno has absolutely nothing to do with The Divine Comedy. I like the look of Inferno and everything, but there's no resemblance to the novel...and if anyone has actually read that book from start to finish, you'll know what I'm talking about. :)

Alot of books are based off games.

Take the seven hundred halo books for example.

BioShock is basically influenced by writings from Ayn Rand,George Orwell and Jules Verne,also I think that some if not all of the Tom Clancy games are based on books.

Alot of books are based off games.

Take the seven hundred halo books for example.

The Rainbow Six games are based on the characters from the Tom Clancy Novel, and the first game did have some missions that went down in the book, but overall, none of the "Tom Clancy" games are "based on" the books; they're more just "drawn from".

Betrayal at Krondor, classic

A particularly noteworthy literature adaption is The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy since Douglas Adams himself was actually involved in making it. Infocom and Trillium/Telarium were two companies in the 80s that were very devoted to literature adaptions in the text adventure format (Trillium/Telarium almost exclusively), though text adventures can of course be considered literature in themselves: non-linear literary works with puzzles. There are also the two Gateway-games by Legend Entertainment based on the Heechee saga by Frederik Pohl - the first one I cannot recommend enough.

There are a whole lot of games based on the works H.P. Lovecraft and Arthur Conan Doyle out there, both recent ones and oldies. Do a search here on GameSpot on "Sherlock Holmes" and "Chtulhu" and you'll see.

Actually, GameFAQs has a list on this that I just saw: Link.