These Days, Movie Tie-In CD-ROMs Needn’t Follow the Same Script

Used to be a time when blockbuster movies begat ho-hum CD-ROM tie-ins that felt as inspired as limited-edition Happy Meal wristwatches. Now studios are taking more active roles in interactive projects, and we have three CD-ROMs each for “The Lost World: Jurassic Park” and “Hercules.” Though there still is a lot of schlock out there, some titles are breaking through with original ideas that do more than simply put you in the movie.

The idea of interactive movies has been trampled by a public that couldn’t care less about multiple endings or a shaky-video version of the film on their computer monitors. Instead, gamers want good games, and movie fans want to hear and see the stars in an original setting.

The first thing you’ll notice about movie tie-ins is that they aren’t tied into the release date of the movie. The “Independence Day” game came out nine months after the movie, while “The Lost World” PC games from DreamWorks Interactive aren’t coming until this fall. Seems that game production cycles run much longer than films, so you never know when a movie-inspired game will hit the shelf.

Jon Richmond, president of Fox Interactive, said his CD-ROM division reads scripts even before they’re green-lit by the studio. “It’s highly unusual for a game to come out at the same time as the movie,” he said in a recent interview from France, where the ID4 game was just released. “And that’s all right because we want to make a great game that uses the movie’s underlying story line as inspiration. We don’t want to go scene by scene from a movie.”

While the ID4 game lets you fly jets and an alien craft, its plot does resemble the movie in its lack of personality. Fox’s “Die Hard Trilogy” is a stronger effort, combining three games in one: a third-person shooter, a first-person assault on an airport, and a wild car-driving mission through Manhattan. Though Bruce Willis isn’t anywhere to be found, his John McClane character is evident. If you kill a pedestrian, you hear a snide “Sorry, pal.”

Even more off-beat is “Romeo + Juliet: An Interactive Trip to Verona Beach.” It’s not a game, but instead a multimedia study of the film, with explanations of character roles and the imaginary society with guns, low-riders and Elizabethan dialogue. I’m not sure what the point of the disc is, but the pulsing hip-hop beats and gorgeous quick-cut slide shows would make a great ambient background at a party.

Just like Fox, the folks at Disney Interactive have the luxury of working within the confines of an experienced studio. Disney’s “Animated StoryBooks” are less edgy, but super-popular with the kids. The “Hercules” edition includes original voice-overs from James Woods, Paul Shaffer and Danny DeVito, plus a few mini-games and some Greek mythology primers. Plus there’s a separate action game for teens coming this fall, and get this, a “Hercules Print Studio” so kids can make stationery, calendars and greeting cards. Your kid can become a virtual Disney promo printing press!

There are still some old-school holdouts, like “Batman & Robin: The CyberExperience” (December Interactive) and “Star Trek: Generations” (Microprose). “B&R;” is basically a showcase for Apple’s QuickTime VR, which lets you look around six movie sets while helping save Alfred from a menacing virus. Uh-huh. The umpteenth “Star Trek” title again includes puzzles and video sequences. Though much deeper than the “B&R; CyberExperience,” “Generations” is still best left to avid Trekkers.