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Another video game movie adaptation announcement. Those always turn out well, don’t they?

Did you see the Warcraft movie? Assassin’s Creed? Tomb Raider? Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Super Mario Bros.?

If you did, we’re very sorry. You’ve seen some stuff in your short life. More than any one person should have to go through, in fact. Can we perhaps suggest some counselling?

The point is, movies based on video games are, invariably, not very good. The issue could be that Hollywood goes after the biggest franchises with a whacking great budget (and very little idea of what made them special in the first place) and comes up with their own idea of what a video game movie should be. Which is very, very bad.

Perhaps it’s time for something completely different?

Enter We Happy Few.

The sort-of roguelike, sort-of stealth, sort-of survival, sort-of crafting game, currently in early access, certainly has an interesting setting and a unique style awash with personality. And the game’s cinematic intro – before all the procedurally generated stuff starts – certainly begins in a stirring, alarming, and very polished fashion:

We Happy Few does have an overarching story that can be unravelled over one, or multiple, playthroughs, that will be effectively unlocked when the game exists its early access phase. It’s a mechanically interesting game, but the story is something we’re really looking forward to getting our teeth into.

Announced by Variety, the We Happy Few movie has been picked up by Gold Circle Entertainment, perhaps best known for collegiate glee club ’em up Pitch Perfect, and will be produced by dj2 Entertainment, who are also working on a Sonic the Hedgehog movie, and a Sleeping Dogs adaptation starring Donnie Yen.

Other than that, we know very little about the We Happy Few movie, but it’s good to see that the world of Hollywood is taking a different approach to world of video game movies. Something coming out of left-field stands as good a chance as any – if not better – than anything that’s gone before it.

It won’t hurt that it’s something as stylish, and with such a unique sense of place, as We Happy Few.

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