Video Game . . . Novels?
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I have all the Halo novels, and have read them all. I have both Gears of War books, despite the supposed 'bad' writing the VG Cats comic accuses it of, and enjoy them. I have both Mass Effect books, with Ascension actually being a good precursor to Mass Effect 2 in my opinion. I also have the Star Wars: The Force Unleashed book, and I'm at least happy to say it's better then the game...story-wise anyway. I also own two Tom Clancy game novels in HAWX, and Ghost Recon.
I find that the books, sometimes, excell because they don't limit themselves to just one character's viewpoint throughout. Case in point is Halo: The Flood, which is basically
I find that the books, sometimes, excell because they don't limit themselves to just one character's viewpoint throughout. Case in point is Halo: The Flood, which is basically
a retelling of Halo: Combat Evolved, but from the points of view of Captain Keyes, Jenkins, the various Marines in the game, Cortana, ODSTs, a couple of key Covenant here and there, and even the title Flood; though in the form of a Flood controlled Jenkins and Keyes.
Fall Of Reach was actually pretty good. Haven't read any of the other Halo books, but I haven't heard anything too terrible about any of them.
I did read the Doom and Resident Evil books quite a while back. I wouldn't say they are great literature by any means, but if you're just looking for a fun read they aren't too bad.
I also read a few of the really old "Worlds of Power" books when I was a kid. They are absolutely horrible and not worth reading unless you're looking for something unintentionally funny.
I did read the Doom and Resident Evil books quite a while back. I wouldn't say they are great literature by any means, but if you're just looking for a fun read they aren't too bad.
I also read a few of the really old "Worlds of Power" books when I was a kid. They are absolutely horrible and not worth reading unless you're looking for something unintentionally funny.
I've read a few novels adapted from or based on video games over the years:
That was a big mistake. Fire Warrior was one of the single most painful experiences I've ever had - I was constantly enraged throughout the entire book, for reasons I shall now rant about. Imagine you're playing a first person shooter - maybe the story isn't the greatest, but you're still having fun, and you don't really notice the contrived ways the game makes you 'alone' - when you see through the eyes of your character, having scripted events play out on the other side of impenetrable glass, or support characters communicating with you via radio, etc, all those things make a certain kind of sense.
Now imagine you have a friend watching you play this FPS. After you finish, your friend sits down and writes an extremely faithful novel based on the experience of watching somebody play an FPS - and when I say extremely faithful, I mean collecting 3-part keys, weapon swapping, multi-stage boss fights with "shoot the shrine he's drawing power from!" mechanics, scripted cutscenes on the other side of glass dividers, contrived circumstances constantly placing the protagonist by himself with only the voices of superiors (mostly) to give him orders... and how could I forget a body count so ridiculously high you will be calling bullshit on it before the first few chapters and it ONLY GETS WORSE.
This is what Fire Warrior is - the single most faithful adaptation of a video game I have ever witnessed, and that's not a compliment. The main character murders his way through things that should have left him as a gory cyan smear before the first chapter was even finished and it only gets more ridiculous(!), and engages in and witnesses all the stupid things we do/see in an FPS that only make sense because we're playing that FPS, which would sound completely retarded if you transplant them into a story directly.
I have no idea how a capable writer like Spurrier could have produced such a horrible abomination, and the worst part is the elements that weren't involving Mr. Player1 were good! But then the protagonist and his unstoppable bullshit armor of plot would blunder back in and everything would go right back to shitty.
There's a reason an author will alter things when adapting a story to a different medium than the original form, and Fire Warrior is the object lesson demonstrating why you absolutely have to do that. Never ever read it, your brain will thank you.
And I should know, as I've read (and own) practically every 40K novel that exists, minus six older novels and a handful of new releases (that are sitting on my shelf now in my "to be read" pile), a feat I accomplished in a year and a half (this past year and a half, so there is no nostalgia for my dimly remembered childhood at play here).
1). The Descent novels - a trilogy based on the Descent series, took a lot of liberties with the source material in ways that sometimes improved it but often just felt weird, and I'm not really sure how the presentation of one of the "mysteries" (the source of the virus that started the outbreaks in the PTMC mines) really jived with that of the designers. Since the Descent series is functionally dead, I guess we'll never know whether the novels' explanation at all jives with that of the game designers.
Overall they were a decent enough read, nothing spectacular.
2). The various Dawn of War novels - there have so far been 4 Dawn of War novels, a trilogy based on the first game (though only the first novel directly followed the plot of the video game, the 2nd and 3rd were original and only loosely tied into events of the first expansion), and one based on the second. The 2 that adapted the plots of the games are definitely the weakest, but they weren't really bad. The other two are rather good, though 40K purists have issues with the liberties the author took regarding the source material.
3). Fire Warrior - another Warhammer 40,000 novel, based off the corresponding and not very good video game. That should have been a red flag, but the author (Simon Spurrier) had penned Lord of the Night, one of the best 40K novels ever, so I was cautiously optimistic.
That was a big mistake. Fire Warrior was one of the single most painful experiences I've ever had - I was constantly enraged throughout the entire book, for reasons I shall now rant about. Imagine you're playing a first person shooter - maybe the story isn't the greatest, but you're still having fun, and you don't really notice the contrived ways the game makes you 'alone' - when you see through the eyes of your character, having scripted events play out on the other side of impenetrable glass, or support characters communicating with you via radio, etc, all those things make a certain kind of sense.
Now imagine you have a friend watching you play this FPS. After you finish, your friend sits down and writes an extremely faithful novel based on the experience of watching somebody play an FPS - and when I say extremely faithful, I mean collecting 3-part keys, weapon swapping, multi-stage boss fights with "shoot the shrine he's drawing power from!" mechanics, scripted cutscenes on the other side of glass dividers, contrived circumstances constantly placing the protagonist by himself with only the voices of superiors (mostly) to give him orders... and how could I forget a body count so ridiculously high you will be calling bullshit on it before the first few chapters and it ONLY GETS WORSE.
This is what Fire Warrior is - the single most faithful adaptation of a video game I have ever witnessed, and that's not a compliment. The main character murders his way through things that should have left him as a gory cyan smear before the first chapter was even finished and it only gets more ridiculous(!), and engages in and witnesses all the stupid things we do/see in an FPS that only make sense because we're playing that FPS, which would sound completely retarded if you transplant them into a story directly.
I have no idea how a capable writer like Spurrier could have produced such a horrible abomination, and the worst part is the elements that weren't involving Mr. Player1 were good! But then the protagonist and his unstoppable bullshit armor of plot would blunder back in and everything would go right back to shitty.
There's a reason an author will alter things when adapting a story to a different medium than the original form, and Fire Warrior is the object lesson demonstrating why you absolutely have to do that. Never ever read it, your brain will thank you.
That they are - I feel I should really point out that my elaborate complaining about and/or not particularly effusive praise for the various 40K novels I describe earlier in my post are in regards to novels that are objectively among the worst that the Black Library has ever produced. Most 40K novels range somewhere in the spectrum from rather enjoyable to absolutely bloody brilliant.Dyp100 said:
And I should know, as I've read (and own) practically every 40K novel that exists, minus six older novels and a handful of new releases (that are sitting on my shelf now in my "to be read" pile), a feat I accomplished in a year and a half (this past year and a half, so there is no nostalgia for my dimly remembered childhood at play here).
Being a huge point and click adventure game nerd, I have the novel version of The 7th Guest. Read it a few times, quite liked it. Don't know if it's written well, but again, I enjoyed it. I also have a prequel book to the first Myst game. I've only skimmed it, but I think it's about Atrus meeting his wife Catherine and this big battle against his father. Looks good, I just haven't gotten around to reading it.
Thank you, now I don't have to post that.AjimboB said:
OT: No, I have not, but they do seem interesting. I may read some eventually.
Fire warrior was the first Warhammer novel I ever read, and you're right it is like playing the game, but you have to imagine the voice actors reading the lines (they got some awesome people in to voice that game).Gildan Bladeborn said:
I have a shelf full of 40k novels now, and can safely say that FW was a low point. I blame the source. He's a good author, and actually went out to make a novelization of a game not a loose adaptation. I forgive you Mr Spurrier, and you made up for it in the end.
I read the Four Swords manga once, it was actually pretty good!
But apart from that I don't really read Video Game novels, as I barely come across them, and even then, they don't usually grab a hold of my attention.
But apart from that I don't really read Video Game novels, as I barely come across them, and even then, they don't usually grab a hold of my attention.
I've been thinking of hitting up the Halo novel series, haven't picked one up as of yet.
I did read the Doom novels (at least the first 2, not sure if more were written) but I recall nothing of them. Based on the original games (Doom 1 & 2) there wasn't much backstory other than demons in space are fucking shit up and the marine who fights them. *meh*
Did the Assassin's Creed series spawn any novels?
EDIT: Looks like there were 4 books total: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doom_novels
I did read the Doom novels (at least the first 2, not sure if more were written) but I recall nothing of them. Based on the original games (Doom 1 & 2) there wasn't much backstory other than demons in space are fucking shit up and the marine who fights them. *meh*
Did the Assassin's Creed series spawn any novels?
EDIT: Looks like there were 4 books total: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doom_novels
I've read all 7 Halo books, which I loved, and I read Mass Effect: Ascension, whihc was also very good, and gave a nice first real showing of Cerberus and the Illusive Man.