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Quentin Tarantino’s directorial debut subverted the typical crime drama, but its 2006 video game adaptation failed to reach the same heights.
Very few directorial debuts changed the cinema landscape the way Quentin Tarantino did with Reservoir Dogs in 1992. The independent crime film spawned a remarkable near-three decade career thanks to its smart dialogue, memorable performances and unconventional storytelling. In the mid-2000s, the film actually video game during a time when classic crime movies like The Godfather and Scarface were being given the same treatment through Grand Theft Auto-style adaptations.
However, as violent and stylish Reservoir Dogs is, the fact that most of it takes place over the course of an hour inside an abandoned warehouse makes a direct game adaptation sound impossible. Still, Blitz Games Studios attempted to do just that after pitching its vision to SCi Games, which had the film’s video game rights.
However, while Blitz was given the go-ahead (and created a subdivision to work on the game called Volatile Games), it was given just over a year to complete the project to make a late-2006 release. The game was also given a small budget of just one million pounds. Ultimately, the final product shows the limitation of that time and money, which prevented the Reservoir Dogs game from being an open-world game akin to GTA.
Additionally, there’s the issue of the content being adapted itself. Because the film only shows the criminals preparing for the crime and dealing with the consequences afterwards, the developers had to fill in the gaps by expanding the heist scenes. Every car ride mentioned in the film became a wild chase in the game. The details of the unsuccessful heist is displayed in the game from the perspective of each of the “dogs,” contradicting the film’s minimalist approach by stuffing in too much action that originally took place offscreen.
On one hand, this allows the player to strategize decide between taking hostages or outright killing police officers and civilians during missions. Each decision the player makes as a particular character will effect their criminal status and whether they are a reckless and ruthless killer or a calculated professional who carefully plots each move anD minimizes collateral damage.
Still, the most ridiculous aspects of playing each character are the moments when they get to show off their darker sides in front of armed officers. As they take a hostage, the player has the ability to torture their victim in front others, including Mr. Blonde cutting off the ear of one in a way that mimics the film’s most famous scene. Blonde’s twisted and revealing moment in Reservoir Dogs becomes a gimmick in the game.
What also doomed the game from the get-go was the fact that Michael Madsen was the only cast member to lend his voice and likeness to it. Everyone else was dubbed by another actor and had their face slightly altered, and the differences show. This is especially obvious in the cutscenes, some of which are just uncompelling reenactments of scenes from the movie.
Upon release, the Reservoir Dogs game received mixed critical reviews, currently sitting at 50 on Metacritic and 65 on the Internet Game Database. Colin Thames of Cheat Code Central summed things up well writing “The tie-in with the movie makes this average game good but let’s not forget that at the core this is just an average game. If anything it makes me want to see the movie again.” Despite this, Big Star Games made another Reservoir Dogs video game with 2017’s Reservoir Dogs: Bloody Day. Although it took a different approach, it still wasn’t a critical or commercial success.
Even with its flaws, the 2006 game may be worth playing for fans of the film. It is an opportunity to see these characters in action and experience the story in a unique way. The game also provides a look at the fates of characters like Mr. Blue and Mr. Pink, which was left vague in the movie.
While the idea of a Reservoir Dogs has yet to be successfully executed, it makes sense why fans would want one. The group of criminals wearing matching suits and sunglasses remains an iconic image, and each character is entertaining and intriguing. However, it seems that a better way to give fans what they want would be for Tarantino to write a novelization of his directorial debut that expands its lore similar to what Once Upon a Time…In Hollywood received.
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