On Saturday, SyFy Channel aired the premiere of "Red Faction: Origins," a made for television film adapted from the popular THQ game franchise. Honestly, the movie wasn't half bad; especially compared to the usual game-to-movie adaptation schlock (paging Mr. Boll). The movie was born from a recent partnership between THQ and SyFy, which also spawned a television adaptation of the publisher's "de Blob" games.
According to THQ executive vice president Danny Bilson, there's more movies on the way.
"We think it's a really effective way to sort of expand the stories of our games," Bilson told me this morning. "I can't tell you exactly what those adaptations are yet, because the game hasn't been announced yet. There's another one that's not with SyFy, and then there's another motion picture that will probably be announced in a couple months."
Hmm. So this upcoming adaptation of a yet-to-be-announced title isn't through SyFy? If that motion picture announcement is actually coming within "a couple months," it's fair to assume we'll hear about THQ's next game around that same time.
Speaking of adaptations, "Metro Last Light," the sequel to last year's atmospheric shooter "Metro 2033," is due out next year. The games are based on the books by Russian author Dmitry Glukhovsky, and I've been wondering if we'll see a continuation of the franchise following "Last Light." Bilson gave me the impression that the company would like to continue the series, but it will depend on how many of you get out there and grab a copy.
"We kind of looked at [Metro 2033] as a sort of cult hit," Bilson stated. "We very well could [continue the franchise] but, it really depends on the success of Last Light."
I wrapped up my interview with Bilson with a brief discussion about "Homefront." THQ made a significant investment marketing the game prior to launch, but the title received mixed reviews from game critics; that was in some part due to buggy gameplay. Bilson was quick to note that while "Homefront" did in fact sell well – "a million units in one week" – the company has learned from the experience, and hopes to apply those lessons to future titles. That seems fair, given that THQ has just recently patched the online portion of the game and released a demo. Bilson hopes that you're willing to download that demo and give the game a chance for yourself.
"We learned a lot from that game; we don't just keep crashing the same car around here. Any other parts of [Homefront] that might have been weak, we're going to shore up if we do it again," Bilson added. "Everything is subjective in art – you go to the reviews, there were mixed reviews, but there's a demo today. Anybody can try it and judge for themselves."
While I didn't receive a definitive answer in regards to the possibility of a second "Homefront" game, Bilson sounded optimistic.
"Could be...I love that game. I worked really hard on it."