Although video games based on books aren’t common, some amazing titles were inspired by books.
Furthermore, most games don’t have good or unique stories. It’s surprising that more game developers don’t go to novels for inspiration.
Even the best RPGs usually follow the same themes that players have seen a thousand times before.
Typically beginning with an unassuming hero waking up one day to discover themselves on a quest to rescue the world.
Additionally, it’s weird because games appear to be the ideal platform for making a book adaptation because there is no better way to portray a writer’s vision than by immersing gamers in the story.
And allowing them to experience it for themselves. Games are also not bound by the same time limits as a film or a weekly television show with a 45-60 minute time slot.
Thankfully, more game creators are realizing that books are a great source of inspiration, so here are fifteen video games based on books.
1. The Witcher
The popularity of CD Projekt Red’s The Witcher franchise has skyrocketed since the release of The Witcher 3. rather unsurprisingly, given the game’s many features.
That’s not to say the series wasn’t well-known before then, with the first two installments selling millions of copies.
However, the popularity of the third Witcher game has helped to raise awareness of the series of novels.
And short tales that the games are based on, with an increasing number of people becoming interested in Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski’s work in recent years.
Furthermore, the Netflix series has also aided in this area and, at least so far, has followed the books much more precisely than its predecessors.
2. Frankenstein: The Monster Returns
It’s not Frankenstein; it’s a video game based on books about Frankenstein.
The player is pitted against Frankenstein’s Monster, who has recently been resurrected from the dead in this 1991 game.
Additionally, the objective is to defeat the Monster’s army, which includes other villagers, and save a maiden who the Monster plans to marry.
The swordsman obtains better weapons and power-ups as the game progresses, supporting him in defeating this lumbering affront to God.
3. Assassin’s Creed
Vladimir Bartol’s Alamut inspired Assassin’s Creed. A less-than-flattering account of the Hashshashin, a medieval gang of warriors and assassins.
Besides, the Hashshashin, whose name comes from the etymological root “assassin,” was a branch of the Nizari Ismailis, a Muslim group that fought the Sunni Seljuqs during the Middle Ages.
Additionally, Alamut portrays the Assassins as dangerously deluded, whereas the game portrays them as mostly a force for good.
Whose strong loyalty stems from a commitment to a purpose rather than drugs and deception.
However, the scene in which Altair leaps from a tower, as well as the one in which he falls from a tower, are both taken directly from the novel.
4. Lord of the Rings: Battle for the Middle Earth
EA Games released Lord Of The Rings: Battle For Middle Earth in 2004 for the PC. J. R. R inspired it.
Besides, Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings novels and Peter Jackson’s films of the same name.
Many people who worked on EA’s Command & Conquer: Generals helped to create it.
Furthermore, the gameplay fits with the Lord of the Rings world. Additionally, Fight For Middle Earth recreates many battle moments.
And locales that fans of the movie will recognize, and it’s still a fantastic-looking game after all these years.
Battle for Middle Earth is one of the video games based on books.
5. BioShock
The objectivism of Ayn Rand is visible throughout BioShock.
A civilization of exceptional minds secludes itself from the ungrateful world in Atlas Shrugged and 2K’s enormously popular shooter.
While the former promotes individualism and isolationist capitalism, the latter opposes both.
Additionally, Players will discover a world destroyed by self-indulgent experimentation and unrestrained individualism at the cost of society as they explore the underwater city of Rapture.
BioShock is an examination of Rand’s vision. It is not higher output, not an incredible invention, but a society so obsessed with the individual that it consumes itself alive.
6. Metro 2033
Metro 2033 is one of the video games based on books. After drawing influence from the literary world for the Stalker series before founding 4A Games.
It’s not unexpected that Metro 2033’s developers did so again just a few years later.
This time, though, it was the work of Dmitry Glukhovsky, a Russian-Israeli author and journalist, that drew their attention.
However, his science-fiction novel of the same name provided much of the game’s premise, and his following work has influenced the franchise.
Additionally, the author worked closely with 4A Games on the first Metro game, even contributing to the story and dialog for the sequel, Metro: Last Light.
7. Dynasty Warriors
The Romance of the Three Kingdoms is a 14th-century Chinese classic by Luo Guanzhong. It is the source of inspiration for many of the major Mosou gaming series.
It’s widely considered one of Chinese literature’s four major classic books, and it relates the story of China’s reunification, which is the central plot of every Dynasty Warriors game.
Furthermore, the series’ larger-than-life characters can be traced back to the novel, which draws heavily on historical records.
Regarding the powers of characters like Guan Yu and Lu Bu, there are certain embellishments, but there are also some elements of truth.
8. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six
Regarding authors, Tom Clancy, the late great, has had a greater impact on the video gaming business than most.
Many of his books have been turned into video games, and many more have been written as spin-offs.
Furthermore, the writer’s Rainbow Six series, which has produced multiple best-selling video games over the years, is the most well-known.
Additionally, regarding spy and military-themed games, few brands can compete with the long-running series, which began more than two decades ago.
During that time, it emerged on a slew of systems, with a new installment, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Extraction, set to release on the PS5 and Xbox Series consoles in April.
9. The Godfather
EA’s The Godfather games, while based mostly on the movies rather than Mario Puzo’s original novels, can be traced back to Puzo’s work by extension.
Besides, the second of the two games was a letdown, but the first, which covers the events of the first film. It is one of the best GTA clones on the market.
Furthermore, the Godfather, which tells the story of Michael Corleone’s rise to power, puts players in control of a new character.
And smoothly weaves new narrative threads into an already fantastic story.
However, this is supported by some amazing gameplay mechanics and a hauntingly beautiful score that includes both new and vintage pieces.
10. Parasite Eve
Parasite Eve by Hideaki Sena is a unique example in which the game isn’t an adaptation but rather the canonical sequel to the novel.
Additionally, the novel is a biological horror thriller in which mitochondria have evolved consciousness and intelligence much beyond that of humans.
In the game, the player assumes the character of Aya Brea, a New York City cop caught in the thick of the mitochondria’s dominance plot.
Besides, Parasite Eve, which combines the horror of the story with survival-horror mechanics, imagines a future in which mitochondria have already begun to kill human bodies in retaliation.
It’s a fitting sequel that builds on what worked so effectively in the first film. It is also one of the video games based on books.
11. Romance of the Three Kingdoms VIII
KOEI created Romance of the Three Kingdoms VIII, released on PlayStation 2 in 2003.
It’s a tactical strategy game based on Luo Guanzhong’s 14th-century historical novel, a 113-year saga of China’s reunification in the second century.
However, it was the best tactical strategy game on the PlayStation 2, demonstrating that the complicated genre could operate almost as well on consoles as on PC.
On the PS2, its closest competitors were Dynasty Tactics and Kessen, both of which were overly basic in comparison, favoring large-scale 3D warfare over diplomacy.
12. S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Shadow of Chernobyl
The Roadside Picnic by the Strugatsky brothers takes place after an extraterrestrial event in multiple locations around the Earth.
Additionally, these unseen catastrophes have left deadly phenomena and things with supernatural properties all over the place.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. isn’t a direct adaptation; instead, it adapts the premise to the Chernobyl disaster site, substituting extraterrestrials for government experimentation.
Furthermore, the game refers to plot points and characters from the book, making it a reimagining rather than a direct copy of the well-regarded novel. But with a compelling through line between the two.
13. Age of Conan: Unchained
Age of Conan: Unchained is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game that was launched in 2008 for the PC by Funcom. It’s a video game based on books.
It is based on Robert E. Howard’s Conan pulp-fantasy books, among the most influential of all time.
Additionally, the events of Hour of the Dragon, also known as Conan the Conqueror. Which was first published in 1935 and is based on the events of the game.
Age of Conan was the first game to truly dive into the Conan universe’s vast history and lore.
14. American McGee’s Alice
Alice by American McGee is a psychological horror game featuring platforming and action components.
Besides, it’s based on Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass books.
However, this gloomy adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland novel features a distinctive and terrifying graphic style, as well as riddles and games from the book.
Instead of a diminishing health bar, the game uses a sanity meter mechanic.
15. I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream
Last on our list of video games based on books, is I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream. I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream will feel familiar to fans of classic point, and-click adventure games.
However, due to its antiquity, it’s a game that most modern gamers are unlikely to have heard of.
Those individuals are seriously missing out, as the game’s experience is still completely unique to this day.
However, the game is set in a dystopian future controlled by an A.I. system known as AM and is based on Harlan Ellison’s 1967 short story of the same name.
Furthermore, humanity has been wiped out except for five people. And those who remain have spent the last century being psychologically tortured by AM.
Throughout the story, several dark and unpleasant themes are covered, including abuse, genocide, and paranoia.
