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STARSHIP DUPER

Helldivers 2 isn't the only Unofficial Movie Adaptation in gaming, but it might be the best one

Stop pretending that Deadly Premonition is good on any level.

Collage of troops from Starship Troopers and Helldivers 2
Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios, TriStar Pictures
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Video by Jim Trinca Video Producer
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Please enjoy this week's Best Games Ever Podcast, your Tuesday lunchtime pick-me-up panel show where a bunch of regular guests try to convince me, the host, that their Gaming Opinion is the best one. This week I'm asking the question: what's the best game that's an unofficial adaption of a movie or TV show?

I already know what you're thinking, but no: not a single person put forward Deadly Premonition as an unofficial adaptation of Twin Peaks. Or Alan Wake as an unofficial adaptation of Twin Peaks. Or Life is Strange (Twin Peaks). Or Silent Hill (Twin Peaks). Or, er, Link's Awakening? Nope, no, that's enough Reddit for today.

Watch the video version of The Best Games Ever Show here:

Cover image for YouTube videoHelldivers 2 isn't the only Unofficial Movie Adaptation | The Best Games Ever Podcast
Check out the video version of The Best Games Ever podcast. You should watch it, that way you get to see our faces as Tom resurrects his worst ever bit.Watch on YouTube

Listen to the audio version of The Best Games Ever Show here:

This is the audio. You should listen to it, that way you don't have to see Tom's smug look when he resurrects his worst ever bit.

It’s clear from Helldivers 2’s marketing that the game is directly inspired by Blair-era Dutch arthouse anti-war movie Starship Troopers. It’s also clear from playing it that Warhammer 40,000 and the future war bits of Terminator have made their mark on the project, and with its sprawling, player led, strictly PVE campaign engendering a keen sense of community among players, it’s rather like a wholesome war-themed social club for 90s teenagers. As a Nearly 40 it feels laser-targeted at my exact levels of pop culture cutoff, shooting skill, and associated decrepitness.

It takes a lot of willpower after a play session to not immediately open Netscape Navigator and e-commerce that poster of the grey alien that says “take me to your dealer” and also one of Gillian Anderson doing a pout. But my wife wouldn’t let me put them up anywhere, so it would be a waste of £18.98 plus shipping. I would advise current teenagers to never grow up and move out: that freedom is an illusion. Stay at home where it’s cheaper and nobody bats an eyelid if you cover your bedroom walls with folk off the telly in sultry poses. What the actual f* ** was I talking about.

Oh, yeah, podcast. So which other games are Secret and/or Unofficial Adaptations of films or TV shows? And of them, which are the best? In order to find out what our expert panel thinks, you should watch or listen to this week’s Best Games Ever podcast. Methods for doing so are handily listed above, so you don’t have any excuses.

Stay tuned for a new episode of The Best Games Ever Show every Friday. Subscribe right here on VG247, or wherever you get your podcasts:

  • Here's The Best Games Ever Podcast on Apple Podcasts.
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  • It's even on YouTube if that's your thing.

    • Special thanks to David Bulmer for performing "Jim's Theme".

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