Games that should be turned into TV series

I really shouldn't be writing this article. I shouldn't even think about it. Because we all know how bad it usually is. Resident Evil, Doom, Warcraft, Max Payne, Need for Speed, Far Cry, Rampage, Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, House of the Dead, Halo, Assassin's Creed, Uncharted.... Many a great game has been turned into a movie or TV series over the years and everything about these adaptations has been bad. Everything.

But amidst all this fantastically murky mess of lousy adaptations made by people with zero passion and knowledge of the source material, there is one shimmering brilliant exception. The Last of Us. The HBO Max drama series that enchanted an entire world and the first live-action video game adaptation that truly honors, celebrates and respects the source material and rather fills out and expands the story from the game into something more. Below, we at Gamereactor have dreamed up a number of different TV series adaptations that we want to receive the same respectful, responsive, well-crafted and careful treatment as Naughty Dog's amazing 2013 game.

Call of Duty

Seal Team Six, Navy Seals, Terminal List, The Line, The Selection... There are plenty of TV series based on real war stories and that wonderfully embellished image of the ultimate special forces soldier, and if any game would be suitable for a series of this type, it's Activision's primary cash cow. We want to see Price, Ghost, Tavish, Mason and Frank Woods in several different storylines that portray people at war over several decades.

Red Dead Redemption

There is no doubt that Rockstar has told two great stories in their ultra-ambitious western titles and that fans are thirsty for more. Here at Gamereactor we adore the work put into the world, the mythology, the characters and the setting of both games that frame a time in American history. Westerns have usually done well in the form of movies and TV shows. In a dream world we would love to see a multi-billion dollar project drenched in production quality, chewing tobacco and dirty gunslingers with a script written or at least partially written by Dan Houser himself.

Killzone

Imagine... A taut, thriller-esque drama series about how the war between the ISA and Helghan escalates with tight political tension, crashed negotiations, arrogance, pride, and loyalty mixed with war scenes taken from Killzone 2. It would be expensive, of course. Just the production design and all the costumes would cost a lot, not to mention the scale and scope that would have to be dialed in, but we can always dream.

The Walking Dead

Deep down, we all just want to forget about AMC's TV series adaptation of Kirkman's fantastic comic books and instead start the whole thing from scratch, again. In that case, we would definitely prefer that The Walking Dead TV series was based on Telltale's fantastic game and on the characters of Lee, Clem, Christa, Omid, Ben and Kenny and their tough journey through a zombie-infested America. We want tighter and better character portraits of the sort seen in The Last of Us, with more respect for the source material and more drama that feels and means something rather than Rick Grimes standing in the same miserable clearing yelling for nine episodes in a row.

Mass Effect

Bioware's masterful sci-fi epic is made for the TV series format, although we understand that it could be very expensive, given the scale and production quality that would be required. Of course, we wouldn't accept any Babylon 5 sets here, but would require nicer locations and better use of effects than what is offered in The Mandalorian, for example, and a much darker tone than most of the genre. We want to see Commander Shepard immortalized in the TV series format. Can you help us with the dream casting here?

God of War

Kratos. Thor. Odin. Freya. Sindri. Artreus. Brok. Durlin. Mimir... There are enough great characters in the latest games from Sony-owned Santa Monica Studio to build a TV series rooted in Norse myth, which could knock the socks off monotonous snore parties like Vikings or House of Dragons. Amazon is already working on a God of War series, and hopefully the success of The Last of Us has given it enough of a kick in the behind to make sure Kratos and Atreus' story is told well.

Did we miss anything? Let us know what games you want to see adapted into a TV series?