If you’re both a reader and a gamer, as I am, you’ve undoubtedly had the experience of finishing a novel, setting it down and thinking to yourself, “Dang. Someone should really make a video game out of that.” I think we can all agree that the following books fall under that category.
The Book(s):
It may surprise some readers to learn that this book exists, but do you remember that wonderful movie Dragonheart? Well it turns out that the screenwriter published a novelization years ago, which tells the story as he intended it to be told without the changes made to the screenplay by the director/producer in the film. The changes are mostly small. Extra lines of dialogue here, minor changes to the choreography there. Instead of Draco dying every time Bowen and Draco trade-off on deaths. That sort of thing.
SPOILER ALERT
One of the most dramatic differences is with the first dragon you see Bowen slay in the movie. Right after we meet Brother Gilbert, Bowen slays a dragon who is later revealed to the be the last female dragon. In the book, this dragon is an old, sickly male dragon. A small change, but an intriguingly important one. The choice to make the second to last dragon a healthy female in the movie makes the revelation that Draco is the last of his kind all the more dark and horrifying. When you realize that there was a chance, however small, that the species might have continued if only Bowen hadn’t killed the Scarred One, it breaks your heart. In the book when the second to last dragon is an elderly dragon who’s wings have deteriorated to the point where he can no longer fly and he can barely hunt for himself anymore makes the same revelation somewhat less dramatic. Nevertheless, the scene works well in both novel and movie.
The power and emotion of the story carry even more weight in the book and if you can find a copy I definitely recommend checking it out.
Why It Should Be A Game:
To be fair, Dragonheart technically already is a video game. In conjunction with the release of the movie there was a Game Boy game created, Dragonheart: Fire and Steel. In it you play as Bowen trying to assist Draco in defeating seven evil dragons who have conquered parts of the world, as well as stop Einon. I have never played the game myself, but you can see a sample of the gameplay here if you’re interested.
In any event, why Dragonheart the novel should become a modern 3D game is pretty obvious. Are you skilled enough to fool the villagers into thinking you actually killed Draco? Let’s say you fail and some of them catch on to the scam. Later when you’re raising your peasant army to combat Einon, that slip up may cost you valuable soldiers who’s skills could have contributed to the final battle. Lose the village with peasants who are knowledgeable with pitch and you may not be able to use fire. Time to change tactics.
And really, who wouldn’t want to play, as either Draco or Bowen, in the iconic battle between these two before they strike their deal to work together? Some might argue that this would be a terrible fight to include in a video game because regardless of which character you play you can never truly win it. But the sense of closure in that fight wouldn’t come from winning, but performing well against your opponent, so I argue for it to stay.
I can even see Dragonheart being successful as a graphic adventure game similar to the likes of Telltale Games titles (Jurassic Park: The Game, The Walking Dead: Season One). It would be very interesting to see how player choice could affect the outcome of this tale in such a format.
