15 Missions and Levels Based On Movies/Books

Ever play a game and have the feeling you'd been there before? Or see the action played out on screen? Well chances are, yes you have.

By Toonacious

Published 4 years ago in Ftw

A short collection of famous books and movies that would later inspire either their own spin-offs or would be featured as mission and or levels in popular titles.

The Grand Theft Auto franchise is a big fan of taking their inspiration from films, as you'll notice GTA is on this list more than once.

And while you're here, also check out: Odd Video Game Adaptations That Worked Amazingly.

1
Grand Theft Auto Vice City - Speed

GTA games are greatly influenced by many great crime drama movies around the globe. One example of this is GTA Vice City's mission publicity tour. During the mission, the player has to help a metal band. It turns out their vehicle has a bomb that will explode if the car slows down. This mission is based on Keanu Reeves's movie from 1994, titled Speed.

2
Fix-It Felix Jr. - Wreck-It-Ralph

Creating a full-blown movie on characters from video games can be an expensive affair. This is why Disney tricked people into thinking that their game's main protagonist is actually from a vintage arcade game when it is not. The game Fix-It Felix Jr. was built with the movie and because of the film and was released in 2012. Now that's not just a mission but a whole game based on a film.

3
Harry Potter Games and Lego Harry Potter

Every main Harry Potter game is based on books by the same name. This includes the main Harry Potter titles and the Lego games. Naturally, these games keep some good portions that belong directly in the book and the movies. From Quidditch or Chess to cinematic chases and story events, Harry Potter games have a good mix of content based on books.
4
GTA IV - Heat

Back in the GTA IV days, the Heists were not a common feature but rather a full-fledged vital part of the main story. The mission sees Niko with his criminal buddies trying to rob a bank in broad daylight. This robbery is followed by an epic shootout outside the bank and is directly inspired by the 1995 crime movie titled "Heat."

5
Mission Impossible - Mission Impossible

Mission Impossible is created by the same legendary director who made Scarface, and it may be one of the best spy films ever made. This is why there's a whole game dedicated to it. And while the game isn't the best thing ever, it has many elements that make the movie so popular, especially when Ethan Hunt hangs from the ceiling, taken directly from the film.
6
Scarface: The World Is Yours and GTA Vice City - Scarface

Many regard Vice City as one of the best Grand Theft Auto games ever, and that's because Al Pacino's Scarface directly inspires it. This is why the game's final mission is almost similar to the movie's finale, with many enemies attacking the mansion and the main protagonist fending them off. Although a more exact representation of the movie's ending is in the first mission of Scarface: The World Is Yours.
7
Call Of Duty 2 - Saving Private Ryan

Not the first, but certainly a notable one, Call of Duty 2 takes a lot from Saving Private Ryan. The game makes the player feel like captain Miller, as soldiers around the area crumble to their fate. This is followed up by a soldier shouting in the player's face, similarly to the movie.

8
Spider-Man 2: The Movie Game - Spider-Man 2

Spider-Man 2 manages to offer one of the most memorable scenes from the movie right in the game. The train sequence where Spidy fights Doctor Octavious and stops the train is in the game. Also, it isn't as dramatic as in the movie, but it does the job.
9
GTA IV - The French Connection

In GTA IV, there are some great movies and show-inspired characters. But the mission of Puerto Rican Connection is a bit too family to the movie buffs. Here, Niko is asked to follow the train on a car and keep up with it. This is directly taken from the movie, The French Connection. The fact that both the mission and the movie names are so similar is a direct indication that it is indeed based on the movie.
10
GoldenEye 007

Here's another example of a game closely following its movie. GoldenEye on N64 is pretty much a movie based on missions following the movie's events in an up-close fashion. One example of this is the mission where the player has to save Natalya and kill Ourumov. The escape is similar as well, with Bond using his watch to make way through the floor.

11
X-Men Origins: Wolverine

The hack and slash X-Men game is somewhat different from its movie counterpart. However, the game's ending fight is nearly identical, with Logan fighting Deadpool on top of a reactor plant.
12
Bully - The Outsiders

Bully has a good amount of references from movies and books. However, it's the brawl in the storyline mission in Chapter 3 that is similar to the novel, The Outsiders. During the mission "Rumble," there's an all-out brawl between the two cliques, inspired directly by the chapter with the same name.
13
Kung Fu Panda The Game

Being a movie-based game, Kung Fu Panda tries to re-enact parts of the game as in the movie. However, it's the ending fight and cutscene that is almost the same as the movie's final fight. With Po initiating the Wuxi Finger Hold on Tai Lung and saying "Skadoosh."

14
GTA San Andreas - Terminator II

People can find another mission based on a popular movie in GTA San Andreas. The bike truck chase scene from Terminator II is taken and formed into a game titled Just Business. Here, CJ and Big Smoke escape on a motorcycle while being similarly chased by a Semi-Truck to the movie.
15
Red Dead Redemption 2 - Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

The train robbery in RDR2 is a piece-by-piece copy from 1969's classic Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Everything seems almost similar, from jumping on the train to getting to the engine and stopping the train. Even the post discussion with halted train feels similar.