Mad Men to 8 Mile - the games we'd like to see Telltale do next
Feature The Sopranos, Saw and Agatha Christie
The Telltale Games we'd like to see
Telltale has getting yet another big franchise under its belt, with the storytelling game creator announcing its very own take on Batman.
The developer has made a name for itself with episodic, interactive story games that focus on character development and narrative. Players progress through the game by conversing with characters and interacting with their environments in an RPG fashion.
Telltale has been trusted with franchises such as Borderlands, Game of Thrones and even the giant that is Minecraft. But that's not enough... it wants more.
Which got us thinking - what other titles would we like to see? We've pulled together a Telltale 'wish list' - some serious, some... not so serious.
Some ideas that didn't make the list include Magic Mike, Alien, The Thick of It, The Wire, The Human Centipede, Final Destination, Police Academy and Harry Potter. Read on for the ones that did...
Die Hard
Everyone's favourite Christmas movie gets reimagined as an episodic, story-driven game about one man who picked the wrong building to spend Christmas Eve in.
Nakatomi Plaza's on lockdown and terrorist mastermind Hans Gruber is calling the shots, but there's one detail they missed: a maverick cop with an extensive dialogue wheel who's ready to persuade his enemies to rethink their evil doings. Put down the guns - it's time to talk it out.
Our favourite scene: Hans Gruber taunts McClane: "Do you really think you have a chance against us, Mr. Cowboy?"
You:
- "Yipee-yi-yea motherf**ker"
- "Hibbedy hubble, you're in trouble!"
- "No. I have reconsidered. Please guide me to the nearest, safest exit."
Murder on the Orient Express
Imagine a murder mystery Telltale game. Here you step into the point-and-click shoes of Hercule Poirot and, much like Agatha Christie, guide him to finding the allusive killer on the train.
Each episode makes you feel like you're getting a step closer to finding the killer, but then your key suspect is surprisingly picked off. You back to the drawing board and reassess the evidence.
Murder mystery games haven't been anywhere near this good since The Ship.
Our favourite scene: Episode one opens with Poirot sitting down in the dining car. The waiter asks, "What would you like for dinner, sir?"
You:
- "I'll take the Belgian waffle please"
- "Can I trust none of this food is poisoned?"
- "What makes this Nando's business so cheeky?"
8 Mile
Life's no picnic for Jimmy "B-Rabbit" Smith Jr. - his family is poor, he lives in a trailer park, and his mother is an alcoholic - but he can rap, and by pushing himself and impressing the right people, he could make it big.
Take on the role of Jimmy and rap your way to the top, or play as Cheddar Bob and shoot yourself in the leg within the first half hour - the choice is yours!
From start to finish you'll be spitting some of the sickest rhymes and dopest verses as you battle your way to rap stardom, but don't trip on your words. The game climaxes in a heated three-hour rap battle with no save points. Because life has no save points.
Our favourite scene: The rap battle reaches its apex as your opponent starts showing weakness. Now's your chance.
"I'll drop you so hard you'll be spitting blood for weeks"
You:
- "But regular dental checkups reduce risk of tooth decay and serious gum disease"
- "Drugs are cool"
- "Mom's spaghetti"
Saw
By the last instalment in 2010, Saw had become a parody of the original film that made it so successful. Saw 7 missed what made the original so great - the decision making. Each character had to decide their fate, or at least what to do before it came about. What better way to bring back one of the most gruesome horror franchises of all time than in a Telltale game?
We don't want Telltale to remake the original film, instead we want to see another story set in the same universe. Jigsaw kidnaps your characters and you have to decide whether it's worth cutting off that limb or letting the other NPCs die. Game of Thrones proved Telltale can do gore, now it's time to take it to the next level.
Our favourite scene: In a nasty twist, your fate is decided by the NPCs you've been interacting with for the entire game.
You:
- "I have many riches buried in a secret location. Let me go and I will share them with you"
- "I'm sorry that I said your eyebrows were a weird shape. Please don't put me in the giant food blender"
- "Frankly, I deserve to die"
Mad Men
Don Draper's story is over, but there are many iconic characters still working at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. Why don't we continue the story with Telltale? We're thinking Mad Men: The New Class. It'll be the first office-based RPG from Telltale, but imagine the stories you could tell.
This time it's your choice to cheat on your wife or to just head home for another whiskey and bed. But it's also all your fault if you lose that important Chevy account.
Sprinkle in a couple of cameos from the original cast and Mad Men by Telltale could well be a great sequel to AMC's best show.
Our favourite scene: Coca-Cola's back and it wants another advert. You knocked it out the park last time, so what's it going to be?
You:
- "What if Santa drove a lorry?"
- "Screw this. Pepsi are way less demanding"
- Leave for another journey of self-discovery in the hope that inspiration will strike once again.
The Sopranos
Everyone's favourite New Jersey mobster family is back in playable form. Play as Tony Soprano - father, husband, mafia man. Press X to dump the body in the canal, Y to throw it in the skip, or B to head home and watch Jeopardy.
And if you thought the ending of the Sopranos was frustrating, just you wait: each episode concludes with a frustratingly-timed fade to black. Sometimes a person just gets cut off mid-sentence, only for the next episode to pick up somewhere completely different.
But hey, what are you gonna do about it? You gonna come and tell Silvio you've got a problem? Yeah, that's what we thought,
Our favourite scene: Some mouthy so-and-so needs a whacking. How you gonna do it?
You:
- Ice him with an AK
- Stick him in the freezer
- Let him go and talk it over with your psychiatrist
James is the Editor-in-Chief at Android Police. Previously, he was Senior Phones Editor for TechRadar, and he has covered smartphones and the mobile space for the best part of a decade bringing you news on all the big announcements from top manufacturers making mobile phones and other portable gadgets. James is often testing out and reviewing the latest and greatest mobile phones, smartwatches, tablets, virtual reality headsets, fitness trackers and more. He once fell over.