I’m pretty stubborn. If a video game is part of a larger canon - something that began, or continues, in other media such as books or television shows - then I am highly likely to check out the full package. If things are set prior to the game, I’ll read them, watch them, listen to them, before I boot it up.
But even with all this stubbornness, there are times when I just do not have the chance to do all that ahead of schedule. There are only so many hours in a day. Having played the following, I can assure you, while there may be nods, references, and so forth, you needn’t engage in the non-game side of the equation to hop straight into these great games themselves.
8The S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Series
The S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games - hereafter referred to as Stalker, because that’s a real pain to type - are based on the 1977 novel ‘Roadside Picnic’ by brothers Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. Quite a bit of influence stems, in turn, from Andrei Tarkovsky’s excellent 1979 film, Stalker.
We’re now 19 years removed and counting, as of this writing, from the year in which the games present a fictional second Chernobyl disaster. Thank goodness. But in the Stalker universe, the event leads to a wellspring of strange creatures and paranormal activity.
Monstrosities and anomalies abound, but it’s the unrivaled atmosphere of slowly sifting through the foggy hell of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, aware that something might emerge at any time to challenge your survival, that makes these games so memorable. None of this is expressly steeped in the book nor the film, and I reckon very few people will have experienced either of those seminal works before booting up these games.
7The Metro Series
‘Metro 2033’ is a 2002 science-fiction novel by Russian author Dmitry Alekseyevich Glukhovsky which depicts the struggles of Moscow’s few survivors in the aftermath of a nuclear holocaust. As its name implies, it’s set largely within the confines of Moscow’s expansive metro rapid transit system. After all, it’s not looking too hot above-ground.
The book was followed by two sequels, ‘Metro 2034’ and ‘Metro 2035’, respectively. Remarkably, ‘Metro 2035’ is influenced in part by Metro: Last Light, the second title in the video game series based on Glukhosvky’s works. The book then went on to earn its own adaptation with Metro Exodus, the most recent entry not counting the VR-exclusive Metro Awakening.
All of this to say, none of itreallymatters. Will you get even more out of the Metro trilogy if you read the trilogy of novels which it’s based upon? Sure. But in presenting similar depictions of Artyom’s increasingly surface-side saga of exploration and reclamation, developer 4A Games effectively presents its own version for players to experience, making familiarity with the source material hardly necessary.
6Marvel’s Spider-Man Series
Marvel’s Spider-Man released for PlayStation 4 in 2018 to rave reviews and further-reignited interest in the life and times of perennially popular superhero Peter Parker. After such a successful launch, it’s been followed by Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales - which follows the younger Spider-Man protege - and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, which carries on the drama for both central characters.
Whereas many who have played the Stalker games will likely not have read their book or even caught their flick, I’d go to the opposite end of the spectrum here, and presume that most of the umpteen millions who have experienced Insomniac Games' adaptation of this IP will have had at least passing familiarity with it beforehand.
The comics still sell well; the 2000s-era Tobey Maguire films were viewed by the masses; and the ongoing exploits of Tom Holland’s own turn as Spider-Man has handily proven itself to be the most successful side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe since Avengers: Endgame.
But none of this matters all that much in the grand scheme of things. Marvel’s Spider-Man grandly introduces much of the core cast of its series, and its interquel makes do for several more of them. It’s a self-contained saga with an origin story and an eventual conclusion, and while comic and comic movie fans will appreciate things that many of us won’t quite grasp, I’m sure I’m not alone in saying that the games work just fine on their own.
Cyberpunk 2077
WHERE TO PLAY
Developed by CD Projekt Red, Cyberpunk 2077 is a first-person action role-playing game based on the Cyberpunk tabletop RPG. You must choose your path through life in the lawless Night City, while contending with the memories of Johnny Silverhand (Keanu Reeves).
Czech developer CD Projekt RED will appear twice on this list, and even if you’ve not already scrolled to the bottom of the article, odds are solid that you’ll know why that is: After all, Cyberpunk 2077, while mega-big in its own right, is hardlythething they’re known for.
What some may not realize is that Cyberpunk 2077, too, is an adaptation. Since 1988, Mike Pondsmith has been penning tabletop adventures within his fictional setting of Night City. In the original iteration, the year was (an obviously quite different take on) 2013, and it’s moved all the way up to 2045 with 2020’s fourth edition, Cyberpunk Red.
This has left CD Projekt’s with a winning formula: it’s been covering Night City’s landscape 32 years into the future from even the newest of the bunch. While I personally do recommend Mike Pondsmith’s tabletop role-playing game on its own merits - seriously, it’s wicked cool - you needn’t have any foundational knowledge of it to enjoy the enormously entertaining game.
There is also an anime entitled Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. Since its debut was two yearsafterCyberpunk 2077’s release, suffice it to say you’ll not need to have viewed it before playing the game. Still, it’s pretty good, and it’s got a second season en route, so why not, right?
The most recent entry on this list isDune: Awakening. This multiplayer survival game struck 140,000 or so concurrent players on its release day on Steam alone, so it’s fair to proclaim it at least a modest success. Time will tell how far things go, but for now, the open-world MMO is doing quite nicely.
I doubt it needs to be said, but Dune: Awakening is the latest in a long line of projects set within Frank Herbert’s titular universe. There’s a timelessness about that desert-shrouded planet of great power, and the cosmic struggles surrounding its acquisition. The movie series from Denis Villeneuve has brought about Dune’s latest resurgence.
Do you need to read Dune and its sequels to play Dune: Awakening? Nah. Must you have watched the movies, or the 2000/2003 Sci-Fi Channel miniseries, to get the most out of it? Not really. I mean, sure, yes. Like many of these entries, you will get even more out of it in doing so.
But speaking as somebody who always yearns to absorb every ounce of expansive universes, every tidbit of source material, I’ve played Dune: Awakening enough to know it stands perfectly well on its own. It gives you a good look at the lore, it expands on it accordingly and rather appropriately, and it lets you loose into the coolest gaming version of Frank Herbert’s classic since Dune II: The Battle for Arrakis.
3GoldenEye 007
An oldie but a goodie, as they say, GoldenEye 007 left its mark on the N64 era in a way that no other video game not made by Nintendo themselves ever did. It’s a James Bond game, and it’s based on the 1996 Pierce Brosnan-led GoldenEye movie, but here’s the thing: most players are in it for the multiplayer, so none of thatreallymatters.
GoldenEye 007’s multiplayer is indeed sublime. Well, at least, it was sublime. Sure, it’s been surpassed in the decades since launch, but it holds up strikingly well even today. Anyone who wasn’t there for it in its heyday but wishes to check out some top-notch gaming history ought to give it a try.
And even if you do play the campaign (which is pretty good), the truncated and more action-savvy retelling of MGM’s feature film gives you enough to work with in order to understand the goings-on, the who’s-who, and why Bond himself has never much cared for escort missions.
IO Interactive, best known for the Hitman franchise, has a James Bond game en route called 007: First Light. It will be IO’s own tale of Bond’s very own origin story, and as such - and given the nature of the James Bond franchise as a whole for that matter - I bet there won’t be much need for knowledge of the source material.
2The Super Robot Wars Series
Since 1991, Super Robot Wars has thrilled mecha enthusiasts and tactical role-playing fans alike with its wonderfully wide array of crossover-centric storytelling. From Mobile Suit Gundam and Great Mazinger to Code Geass and Cowboy Bebop, Super Robot Wars has taken dozens of established giant robot universes and smashed them together, often to splendid effect.
The thing about Super Robot Wars is… well, many of us will not have seenevery single seriesthat SRW has drawn from. That’s a lot of Japanese animation. So long as you’ve got some degree of investment in at least one thing in each game, you’re solid. Gundam is probably the most common frame of reference for players all around the world. It sure is for me.
1The Witcher Series
This was inevitable, right? CD Projekt created a titan.The Witcher 3alone has sold 60 million copies.60 million copies. I have not used bold for any of my text until now, but it truly needed the push. Neither The Witcher nor The Witcher 2 have done anywhere near as mind-bogglingly well - The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is a nigh-unseen RPG force to be reckoned with - but they’ve still performed quite strongly for themselves.
The Witcher is in an interesting spot because I would say it’s a bit more useful to read Andrzej Sapkowski’s novels upon which they’re based for the first two games. Not so much the third. The Witcher 3 does follow suit with its predecessors in presenting themselves as sequels to the book series. But it does a terrific job of onboarding every newcomer, not just to non-readers, but to the trilogy of games. There’s a reason so many people have gleefully finished The Witcher 3 andnot1 and 2.
That said, you don’t need to do any of that even for the 2007 original game. It’s just a bonus. It’s a bonus no matter which of the Witcher games you’re playing, but not much more than that. Geralt of Rivia’s adventures under CD Projekt’s helm are a continuation of the ones he had under Sapkowsi’s, and yet, the studio has always done a bang-up job of making them perfectly comprehensible for us all.
I’d still give the books a read. They have their issues, but overall? Fantastic. As for the Netflix show… eh. It’s up to you. Many have fallen in love with the TV adaptation, but I’m not one of them. Either way, it’s entirely unnecessary if your goal is to dive into the game series.
