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It's become standard to expect the unexpected from the developers at Lionhead Studios, and initial reports of The Movies certainly seemed to uphold those expectations. The Movies is a strategy game about building a movie studio, but also includes an engine for creating digitally generated films, or "machinima" as it's sometimes called. In the end, what you get is a good, if largely standard, strategy game.
Beneath the promise of being a studio mogul and creator of blockbusters is a real-time strategy game that could have been titled "Studio Tycoon." As it is in most "tycoon" games, your job as the player is to build from scratch a thriving business. Transform an empty lot into a community of casting facilities, scriptwriting shops, costume and makeup labs, and sets of all sorts, populated by actors, directors, crews, and extras. Hire personnel and order buildings to be constructed, then juggle your resources (money and people) while keeping your studio in good repair and churning out new films to keep funds rolling in. There isn't much new here, with the game looking and playing largely like many strategy games but wrapped in a movie star's skin. Like most Hollywood stars, this is an attractive game to view. But it comes with more than the outward appearance of the stars that eventually become the assets of your studio. It also gives them some personality, perhaps too much. The actors and directors have a battery of desires and needs you have to fulfill. Happier workers are better workers, so the prevailing labor theory goes, and stars are like any worker but with considerably more expensive demands. It's a game of "monkey see, monkey want" as each demands more money or a personal trailer or an entourage and gets upset when his peers have something he doesn't. This dynamic becomes horribly tiresome even if realistic. Another annoying labor issue that's not realistic is the absence of enthusiastic new hires. The entire city of Los Angeles is filled with actors posing as waiters, car valets, and baristas waiting for an opening on the casting couch. For all I know, it might be harder to get into a blockbuster film than into medical school. But after an initial burst of prospects, you find yourself pressed to find anyone to accept the lead role in a film while your other stars are occupied with other projects.  Starting in the 1930's, your studio's sets and films are primitive. With time your researchers discover new filmmaking technologies, adding things like color and improved sound. Of course, fashion is a big part of the film industry, and you are expected to give your stars periodic makeovers to keep their image and esteem intact. The game does a nice job of being historically educational as it loosely traces the film industry's steps. The depth of detail is considerable and the database of changing styles and clothing through the decades is paralleled by the effects of large scale events on the kinds of films amenable to the public. For example, during the Great Depression, the public wants to see comedies. After World War II begins, the interest in war films increases. What separates this from other strategy games is the machinima engine. The game generates films automatically based on a script type. But there are provisions that allow you to become more involved in details of the film, controlling such things as the length, type of scene, plot progression, and set choice. This is fascinating and fairly easy to do with the well-designed and powerful film tool. Unfortunately, the effort you personally put into a film doesn't affect the critical ratings it receives, which are based on more tangible generic qualities derived from factors like the script and actor quality, the actor-director relationship, and set repair. This is understandable because there's no way any software developer, no matter how brilliant, could write a software package that would be able to critically analyze a film and then throw this critique engine in a box and charge only $50 for it. For critical opinions on any films you make, you have to take advantage of the game's support for publishing your movies on the Internet. For the creative gamer, there is much potential to extend the game beyond its strategy conventions.  
Although the game is deep enough that I think children will be unable to manage the strategy goals effectively, most of the youths I showed the game to liked it. My 3-year-old just liked to watch me building the studio, while my six-year-old enjoyed watching completed films and learned a little something about how movies are made. My ten-year-old niece initially ignored the strategy game entirely and spent all her time in the makeover department dressing up the actresses. But she learned how to play and ran her own studio, and eventually started calling it her favorite game.
However, there's a little that's potentially offensive here, with the Teen rating noting blood and gore and sexual themes. But none of it is really near the visual intensity of Activision's other titles like DOOM or Call of Duty. There are references to such vices as alcohol and diet abuse, and sometimes mild sexual themes when characters in the game begin developing love interests, but again, it's pretty tame by modern television standards. There are some costume items in the makeover area though, such as breast implants, that may warrant parental supervision. It's too bad parents can't toggle some of the more mature content off because although this is an average strategy game, the parts of it I could share with my young guest audiences really captivated them. This review edited by Dave Long Comments? Chat about it in our forums! Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us | Buy This Game Browse Amazon.com's selection of "The Movies" themed games Home > Review Archive > Video Games > Results: The Movies |
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