Space Marine (which I reviewed yesterday) left a fairly profound effect on me.
Space Marine is by no means a game changing…game…but the attention to detail is good and I’m looking forward to seeing more in this series and even find myself hoping for downloadable content, which is a first. I really feel the game should be recognised for the work that has gone into it and the careful way in which they have dealt with the source material.
It’s inevitable that in this modern era, a lot of media that gets green lit and produced is going to be based on a franchise. This is for the simple reason that the sheer amount of time effort and money that goes into these projects is enough to make you sink into a little inadequacy filled puddle of awe and they have to stand a decent chance of making a profit or at the very least not cause a loss. If your project is based on a pre existing franchise with a pre existing fan base, then some of your work is done for you. You don’t have to market the thing quite so aggressively, you’ve got people providing the hype for you, and you’ve got a large group of people who will pay you for your work regardless of the eventual quality.
It can be heartbreaking to see something handled badly. There is a lot of resentment towards fan-loved properties that are somehow distorted beyond recognition by a translation to a different medium. Sometimes it even comes from the original creators and you suddenly realise that you attached more significance and meaning to something that was somewhat a fluke. Although it happens a lot with sequels and reboots, it’s even more common when something goes from one form to another, for example a line of toys to a line of blockbuster action films that seem to be focused on borderline racist one liners and extended screen time for American military types.
Every now and then though, somebody gets it right. Somebody manages to take something that is complicated, dense, rich and sometimes awkward, and usher it into a new form. The world of franchise translators and rebooters and sequelisers should take notes from Relic Entertainment for their work on the upcoming video game Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine.