Top 8 Video Games Inspired by Books

To celebrate World Book Day we're looking at which video games have borrowed elements or drawn inspiration from stories in books. The roots of this stretch back to the time of tabletop games like Dungeons & Dragons which were extremely narrative-focused games. It's precisely this narrative quality that makes books and video games much closer mediums than film with either of these two. And while all three media tell a story, film is entirely confined within its time frame, whereas books and video games are not subjected to that burden. However, the use of books for the development of video games wasn't as prevalent in this rapidly growing industry, at least during its early years in the '80s and '90s. Although subsequent periods brought forth several interesting titles based on literary works, it wasn't until the new century that this trend truly took off.

There are games like Sherlock Holmes, The Lord of the Rings, including the recent Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor (Let's not forget about Shadows of Mordor, a text adventure from 1987.). Then there's Neuromancer, based on William Gibson's Neuromancer, and even mobile games like 80 Days, inspired by Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days. You have The Godfather games, Alice games, and several games based on the famous Chinese Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

When you add comics into the mix, we also have games like The Walking Dead, countless superhero games, and one of my personal favourites, The Darkness.

Below, we've selected several titles that successfully leverage literary premises. Some you might have known, some we believe you haven't (and we were surprised by some titles too).

1. Assassin’s Creed

Right off the bat, a surprise. Many games on this list are more or less direct adaptations of books, but there are many original games that still owe some of their ideas to literary works. Assassin’s Creed is one of them. According to producer Jade Raymond, the first Assassin’s Creed was inspired by Vladimir Bartol's novel Alamut from 1938. The plot of the novel is set in Alamut, which was a real Persian fortress located around a hundred kilometres from present-day Tehran.

2. BioShock

I'm willing to bet most of you already knew this, but just in case you didn't... Ayn Rand is all over BioShock. The city of Rapture was founded on the principle of pure self-interest, the same idea that underpins Rand's objectivist philosophy. The very name Andrew Ryan is essentially named after Ayn Rand. Similarly, you have Frank Fontaine, named after Rand's novel The Fountainhead, and Atlas, named after Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged. Posters found around the game ask "Who is Atlas?" just like the repeated "Who is John Galt?" line from Atlas Shrugged. We can go on and on with details, but broadly speaking, BioShock is an exploration of Ayn Rand's philosophy and a critique of how absurdly bad things can get when objectivism is applied on large (though fantastical) scales.

3. Cyberpunk 2077

William Gibson's novel Neuromancer is often regarded as one of the pioneering works in the cyberpunk genre. Published in 1984, it explores a future where humanity is enmeshed in a global network of computers, artificial intelligence, and cybernetic enhancements. The novel follows the story of Case, a washed-up computer hacker, who is hired by a mysterious employer to pull off a seemingly impossible hack. The novel is known for its gritty portrayal of a dystopian society where megacorporations wield immense power, and individuals navigate a world where the boundaries between virtual reality and physical reality are blurred. It popularised concepts such as cyberspace, hackers, and cybernetic enhancements, which have since become staples of the cyberpunk genre.

Fast forward to 2020, CD Projekt Red released the highly anticipated video game Cyberpunk 2077. While the game is not a direct adaptation of Neuromancer, it draws heavily from Gibson's novel and the broader cyberpunk genre. Cyberpunk 2077 is set in the dystopian metropolis of Night City, where players take on the role of V, a mercenary navigating a world of corporate intrigue, cybernetic enhancements, and advanced technology. The game features many themes and elements that are reminiscent of Neuromancer, including a sprawling urban landscape, a morally ambiguous protagonist, and a narrative that explores the consequences of technological advancement on society. Additionally, both the novel and the game delve into themes of identity, consciousness, and the nature of reality in a digital age.

4. Discworld Noir

Many know about Sir Terry Pratchett's legacy and his fantastic novels about the Discworld, mostly set in the city of Ankh-Morpork. These novels use fantasy tropes to satirise real issues and events, and their sense of humour has made each book an instant classic. The plot of these books is transferred to Discworld Noir, an adventure game developed by Perfect Games in 1999. The game is unusual because it doesn't follow the plot of any book. Instead, it borrows characters and environment to create a new story. As such, the game plays like a new part of the Discworld series, following Lewton, the only private detective in Ankh-Morpork. You use gameplay in the style of investigation to try to solve a murder case. As Lewton also becomes a werewolf during the game, you get a unique smell mechanic to help you solve the case. For Sherlockians among us, Discworld Noir is a must!

5. Metro 2033

The survival horror shooter Metro 2033 has its roots in the eponymous novel by Russian author Dmitry Glukhovsky from 2005. Like the game, the plot of the novel takes place in the underground subway system in post-apocalyptic Moscow, devastated by nuclear holocaust. The player character, Artyom, is the same as the protagonist in the novel, one of several characters who appear in both the game and the book. The book Metro 2033 was published in the United States in 2010, the same year the game was launched. Unlike most games on this list, Glukhovsky himself deserves credit for writing both his book and the adaptation of the video game.

6. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Andrzej Sapkowski's The Witcher series is a collection of fantasy novels set in a world filled with magic, monsters, and political intrigue. The series follows the adventures of Geralt of Rivia, a witcher – a professional monster hunter imbued with supernatural abilities through rigorous training and mutation. Throughout the novels, Geralt navigates a morally grey world, where he encounters various mythical creatures, engages in complex political machinations, and struggles with his own identity and purpose.

The Witcher series consists of several books, including short story collections and full-length novels. While the novels were originally written in Polish, they have been translated into numerous languages and have gained a significant international following.

CD Projekt Red's video game adaptation, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, draws heavily from Sapkowski's source material while expanding upon the world and characters he created. The game is set in a vast open-world environment and follows Geralt as he searches for his adopted daughter, Ciri, who is being pursued by the spectral Wild Hunt. While the game's plot is not a direct adaptation of any single novel in Sapkowski's series, it weaves together elements from multiple books to create an original narrative that captures the essence of the source material. Players encounter characters, creatures, and locations from the novels, and the game's storylines explore themes of morality, destiny, and the consequences of one's actions – all of which are central to Sapkowski's work.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt received widespread critical acclaim for its storytelling, world-building, and gameplay mechanics. It is often praised for its mature and nuanced approach to fantasy storytelling, which stays true to the spirit of Sapkowski's novels while offering players a unique and immersive gaming experience.

7. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow Of Chernobyl

Roadside Picnic, a Russian science fiction novel from 1972 that inspired the STALKER games, was unusually resistant to direct adaptation. The wonderful, transcendently reflective film Tarkovsky's Stalker uses broader ideas as a starting point for exploring human idealism and aspirations, but leaves most of the science fiction behind. The three S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games, on the other hand, open-world first-person shooters, almost completely abandon all character work in favour of expanding sci-fi themes after the disaster, then cleverly meld them into a real-world location. Both the book and the film predate the Chernobyl disaster, but the Zone, the hauntingly beautiful ruin left behind, was at once an incredible harbinger of disaster and about the perfect setting for a game about surviving in a strange and mysterious place we've ever had. The first game Shadow of Chernobyl is the closest to the Roadside Picnic trilogy plot and perhaps the all-pervasive loneliness and mistrust of the 1979 film.

8. World War Z: Aftermath

The World War Z universe is a bit of a rabbit hole the book, the game, and the film are essentially connected. But the original source for all of this was Max Brooks' key novel, World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War. Aftermath happens in 2024, following up on the original catastrophic events from the book. Taking the form of a cooperative shooter, the game offers several different types of zombies for you to target as you work on reclaiming the battered Vatican in Rome. Granted, the book and the film don't visit these locations, but Aftermath shows us just how big the zombie apocalypse really was. Unfortunately, there's no Brad Pitt here, despite the inspiration from the film.

Have we missed some of your favourites? Let us know below!