Game Review: The Movies

Since there are no more episodes of Hannibal to review (sad face), this week I have instead decided to review a game that I have recently become addicted to - The Movies.  Put together by Lionhead Studios, this game allows the player to jump into the role of a big time movie producer, building and running their own studio and attempting to create the world’s next big film blockbuster.

You start out the game in 1930, with a limited budget and nobody working for you.  You have to use what money you have to build up the basic buildings of your studio, things such as a casting office, some basic sets, a script writing office and others.  From there, you’ll need to hire up stars, extras, maintenance staff, crew members and writers.  Once you get your people together, you can start putting it all together to produce films.

The years will pass by and technologies will change, so you’ll need to keep your research team running to get access to the latest developments in movie tech, costuming, lot decorations and sets.  If you fall behind, your movies will start to suffer but if you get ahead, you’ll have an advantage over the competition.  By combining micro-management with good executive decisions, you can produce number one films and even win awards.

Though the premise is simple, the game requires a lot of attention to detail.  Your stars will all have quirks, such as a propensity to eat or drink or a low stress threshold that causes them to throw tantrums and march off the set.  You need to make sure they are happy by giving them fancy trailers, making them over with the latest fashions and letting them indulge a bit.  If you let them indulge too much, however, you’ll need to send them to rehab or they might just spend all their time in the bar instead of filming.

Your lot design will also play into how successful you’ll be at the game.  A fancy lot will gain more prestige, allowing you to win an award.  It will also help your stars feel proud of where they work so they freak out less.  If your sets go into disrepair, it will affect the amount of cash you can bring in from a production.  There’s also the need to keep the stars practicing to get better at their craft, as well as the need to build up good relationships with your stars so that they work well together and produce better films.

But the real fun of playing The Movies is in the creation of the films themselves.  You can either let the script-writers make randomly generated films or go in and do it yourself.  Designing your own script takes a LOT longer, but it can be rewarding to see something that you’ve made with your own hands.  And there’s a ton of ways to customize the scripts, so no two movies will look the same.  The random films are just as much fun though and you may notice that your writers have a habit of putting aliens into every film they can.  There’s also a strange horse that seems to pop up a lot, even on the surface of alien worlds in sci-fi flicks.  But the randomness of the generated scripts will often leave you laughing to tears as they produce some truly ridiculous scenarios.

Anyone who enjoys micro-management simulations should take a look at this game.  It may be older (2005), but it still holds up today.  There’s also an amazing collection of fan-made content out there, including some very bizarre costumes.  If you’ve ever wanted to be a movie producer, this is definitely the game for you.  I only wish they’d bring out a newer version to take advantage of cutting-edge graphics.

The Movies courtesy of psotter.com