Licensed video games have been a fixture of the medium since its inception, but there have been some truly bizarre adaptations released for PC, consoles, and mobile platforms, particularly the games based on Prestige TV series that fail to live up to their inspirations. Like Elevated Horror, the exact definition of what makes a Prestige TV series is a matter of debate, but there are certainly shows that have aspired to tell meaningful stories and uphold a high standard of quality. The video games based on these licenses do not always have the same standards as their source material, unfortunately.
A few fortunate Prestige TV shows have had a relatively smooth transition to the gaming medium, like Telltale’s Game of Thrones adaptation. Many well-regarded TV series deal with subject matter that might be difficult to adapt to most conventional video game formats. It seems obvious that a rushed, cash-grab product might harm a show’s good reputation, but that has not prevented some strange missteps. Prestige TV series often fueled water cooler conversations at the time of their release, but many of their game adaptations were largely forgotten, which in some cases is for the best, given their poor production values.
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5
The Sopranos: Road To Respect (2006)
Platforms: PlayStation 2
One of the first shows recognized as Prestige TV was HBO’s The Sopranos, a beloved series that eschewed the glamorous portrayals of the Mafia in films like The Godfather for a gritty look at New Jersey mobsters and a distinct focus on the psychology of its characters. While many still debate the exact meaning of the series’ infamously abrupt ending, or its allusions to supernatural forces at work, hardly anyone brings The Sopranos: Road to Respect into a discussion of the show. Road to Respect was a 2006 game, released only on the PlayStation 2, telling a non-canonical side story.
Where the same year’s Scarface game captured the movie’s tone, Road to Respect was largely disappointing. The game has a 42 Metacritic score, mostly attributed to its poor graphics and unpolished gameplay. Though many actors from the show provided their likenesses and voice acting for the game, Sopranos creator David Chase distanced the show from the game in interviews. The story followed Tony Soprano offering Salvatore’s son a place in the Mafia and tried to emulate the style of The Sopranos TV series, with escalating conflicts and conversations with the dead, but it lacked the psychological depth of the show.
4
Dexter: The Game (2010)
Platforms: PC, Mobile
The serial killer show Dexter was adapted as Dexter: the Game. This iPhone game was ported to PC but was released as a physical disk only, so it is not currently available on platforms like Steam. Dexter’s typical episode formula does offer more suggestions of gameplay structure than many shows, and the video game attempted to follow it. The titular character stalks targets who may also be killers, gathering evidence to confirm their misdeeds, and then whisks them away to a pre-prepared kill room. Dexter: the Game loyally followed the show’s rubric but forgot to make it fun or interesting.
Some critics gave the Dexter game leeway in judging it by mobile game standards, but it is a far cry from being among the best stealth video games. The ugly character models might have looked acceptable on a mobile device, but played on a PC screen, the quality was unacceptable for a release close to 2010. The pattern of shadowing targets and covertly slaying them was broken up with simulations of Dexter’s job as a police forensic scientist or his domestic life with Rita. Dexter: New Blood brought the character back onto the small screen, but gaming success evaded Harry’s trained monster.
3
The Shield: The Game (2007)
Platforms: PlayStation 2, PC
The Shield was an early 2000s hit for the FX network, centering on a brutal team of corrupt police officers in Los Angeles. Like The Sopranos, it carried a bleak tone and reveled in moral ambiguity, but The Shield: The Game was unambiguously terrible. The adaptation was released on PC and PS2 and took the same approach as The Sopranos’ licensed game with a storyline taking place between seasons 3 and 4. Even diehard fans found little to enjoy, as it combined blocky graphics with stiff third-person action gameplay and awkward, poorly designed mini-games, earning its scathing 34 Metacritic score.
While fans wait to see if GTA 6 will improve on mechanics like the Star System dictating police pursuit, those who played The Shield: The Game experienced a much worse take on the concept. Vic Mackey could acquire Heat Levels for openly unethical actions, like brazen murder, which resulted in a Game Over if the level went too high and exposed Vic’s corruption. Players could lower Heat by making legal arrests, creating a horrible gameplay loop where the player could get away with needlessly killing several people if they arrested one alive, adding up to a vile police brutality sim.
2
Breaking Bad: Criminal Elements (2019)
Platforms: Mobile
Among the ranks of Prestige TV series, Breaking Bad stands near the top by many metrics, but its transition to a video game was less successful than its surprisingly poignant prequel, Better Call Saul. In 2019, six years after the show’s conclusion, Breaking Bad: Criminal Elements released on mobile platforms. Compared to other flawed adaptations of beloved shows, Criminal Elements is less egregious, offering a fairly standard free-to-play base building game supported by microtransactions. Its stylized graphics, reminiscent of recent Sims games, also hold up well, but it did nothing to set itself apart from other mobile cash grabs.
Criminal Elements closed the year after it was released. It could be seen as another harmless mobile time-waster title, but a landmark series like Breaking Bad deserved better. Reducing Breaking Bad to an exercise in the mechanics of building a drug empire does not do justice to the impeccable character arc of Walter White. Seeing pivotal moments from the series recreated in a crude animatic style added little to the experience. Perhaps the developers depended on gaming fans enjoying the absurdity of Breaking Bad being presented as a cookie-cutter mobile game, but ironic enjoyment did not keep Criminal Elements afloat.
1
The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct (20130
Platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii U, PC
Several games have been released based on The Walking Dead franchise, including some adaptations of the original comic book series instead of the AMC television series. The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct was a prequel to the show, centered on the Dixon brothers. The game featured Norman Reedus and Michael Rooker reprising their roles of Daryl and Merle, struggling through the early days of the series’ zombie outbreak. Some harsher critics might think poorly of certain seasons of the show, or the over-saturation of its spin-offs, but Survival Instinct is still the low point for the entire franchise.
Though The Walking Dead: Destinies also released to negative reviews, it at least tried something unique, by allowing players to experience events from the series with the option to alter their outcomes. Survival Instinct’s non-canonical prequel for seventh gen consoles and PC attracted little interest from fans, and its poorly executed shooter gameplay did nothing to make up for its weak premise, resulting in an abyssmal 32 on Metacritic. Going the route of Destinies might have at least allowed players to send the bigoted Merle to his demise earlier in the story. Some might argue whether The Walking Dead deserves to be considered Prestige TV, but at its worst it outdid Survival Instinct.
