Released by Lionhead Studios, the same company who brought us the weird but wonderful Black and White series, brings us a new style of simulation game that will appeal to many of the genres fans. The Movies received critical acclaim from reviewers and gamers alike and to be honest brought us a stimulating game that was ultimately inevitable. Ever since the early classics such as Theme Hospital and Theme Park were released well back in roughly 1995 the simulation genre has exploded in size being filled by hundreds of Tycoon style games where the player assumes the role of building and running a certain faction whether it be a hospital, theme park, zoo or shopping centre. And so in 2005, The Movies, was released.
Graphically, many players will see a resemblance to The Sims with characters all looking reasonably realistic with detailed faces and body parts. The game has its own time line moving up through the era's starting from the 1920's which means a whole range of costumes become relevant. The costumes themselves are all well designed to the specific era and all entirely customizable from colour to shape. The actors hair and face are all changeable too offering you the chance to change everything when you get bored. This all works extremely well because as you scroll around your studio actors become instantly recognisable so your not searching around all over the place for someone.
As with any tycoon game, you are in charge of a plot set of ground where you will build - The Movies is no different giving you the chance to build fantastic looking buildings and aesthetics such as Production Offices, Rehearsal lots, Plastic Surgery clinics, Casting Offices and of course filming sets. These again are all well designed to fit well and once zoomed in all the props look realistic, enticing and artistically gratifying. You actually get the feeling that you have built a well styled lot. The filming sets all have particular themes associated with them such as Horror sets or Romantic sets etc and all match the category perfectly, albeit other sets can be used for different themes if granted.
Animation is also fantastic with characters prancing around on stage giving sometimes comedic performances with limbs moving in cohesion with the rest of the body. Its obvious special attention has been paid to ensure that characters move with ease as you can actually watch your own movies and it all needs to be pragmatic as in real life itself. It's really good to watch your actors filming a scene as you can see them riding on horses, being shot over western style bars or simply being proposed to in some swanky restaurant. 'Behind the Scenes' characters all move as brilliantly also with stage crew clapping boards, riding around on dollies to get different camera angles and doing dirty work for the director.
As mentioned a time era appears in the game meaning at first all of your films are shot in black and white whilst years later colour becomes available steadily to say the least until over fifty years later perfect techni colours really explode your films beautifully. This may seem boring at times but it really does prolong the game as it gives the player a sense of achievement once researchers has finally discovered colour.
As with other games, scenery items such as greenery (trees and flowers), lamp posts and other props are available to decorate your studio lot with and it all fits in nicely. Its really an achievement for Lionhead Studios actually because all of this design and graphic doesn't slow down your computer either when your twisting around to get a different view. On the down side though, the graphics are good yes, but not perfect. You can tell it's a game in the sense of looks almost cartoon like.
Gameplay wise is really where the game takes off giving the player full control of the studio, making films, casting actors and writing scripts. In the beginnings you will be far too worried about making 'basic' movies than earning huge amounts of money, but as the game progress' much more deeper Gameplay becomes available. The Movies IS the ultimate management game. Casting your actors is somewhat satisfying as you can train them up in any specified field you like so even the worst actor in town has a chance of making it big. Along side this you can actually build your own definite actors into the game using the star option. So if Jennifer Garner or Ben Affleck takes your fancy then incorporating them into the game is simple.
Lots design is not only essential in building up and improving your studio but it is also compelling. You'll find yourself taking so much pride into placing your buildings and sets so that actors can easily move around from one place to another.
Another huge aspect of the game is the script writing ability. Of course to begin with the basic methods work averagely until you unlock new methods of making blockbusters. Simply employing a script writer then beginning filming will not suffice entertainment wise. So the script editor works well both for Gameplay and entertainment values. You can make absolutely any film you like from westerns, to foreign culture films. Romantic hideaways to Horrific murders. Its all in there with many different outcomes and scenes available especially as you unlock more. There is nothing more pleasurable than making your own film or trying to copy the story of your favourite James Bond as closely as possible.
That is not the end either. From there on you can add your own special effects from fog and mist to explosions and weird shadow effects. Drop in the funky costume designs as well as the choice of who actually stars in your film and ultimately you have a hard worked production. You can also add your own words as subtitles into the films.
When your film gets released there's nothing better than reading all the reviews written about your film albeit good and bad. It's a real ego boost as you improve your stars performances and getting brilliant reviews for your own films. Especially as every 5 years there's an awards show giving awards to a variety of different categories.
The Gameplay gets deeper also. You can create your own romances with your actors increasing publicity and entertainment within the studio. This can effect your stars performances as well. There's nothing sweeter than watching your actors give best selling performances with their loved ones. However this works both ways. If your couple have just had an argument tension will ruin your scene and therefore show in your overall film.
There is a downside however. After a while your actors will start complaining they want better films, better trailers and more importantly better salaries. If your staff isn't looked after addictions can be abused like alcoholism and food junking and this will start to affect your stars films. Its really annoying when your filming is going great, when all of sudden your number 1 actor is having a fit craving booze and goes to bar to get drunk. Thus annoying other film stars who want filming over and done with and encouraging others to join him/her in their binge drinking session. Not only does this prolong the filming but also costing you much more money. This as a result takes the enjoyment out of the game but ultimately keeps a balance where as the manager or 'God' you have to utilise all the right decisions not just jump straight into making film after film. This even though is annoying provides an ounce of realism into the game making it difficult.
However you cannot get a even worse anticlimactic moment when you've spent ten hours + rendering your actor into the number actor in the world letting you rake in millions of money with memorable films winning you award after award after award then he/she decides its time to retire. Its frustrating as you have to start all over again and really makes you wonder what is the point?
Sound wise; The Movies is pretty basic offering the Sims style gibberish as the language your actors speak with simple beats. However a radio station will play throughout the game offering witty humour throughout, with a mixture of songs thrown in. Even though this is not the interest of the game a little more attention to the sound will in due course create a better game. I found myself listening to my own music in headphones.
Overall The Movies is a well produced game that offers hours of entertainment in many different aspects. There are flaws but easily passed with pretty enough graphics, deep interesting Gameplay and originality that extends upon the norm in Tycoon style games.
***
OP System: Windows 98SE/ME/2000/ XP
Processor: Pentium III 800 MHz or Better
Memory: 256 MB RAM (512 recommended)
Hard Drive Space: 2.4 GB Free
DVD - Rom Drive - 2X speed or faster
Sound Card: Windows compatible Sound card
DirectX Version: 9.0c
3D Hardware Accelerator Card required
32MB hardware T&L capable video Card
Price ranges from Supplier, I have listed a few below. As from 20/03/07
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