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• Reviewed on: PS2
• Also available for: Xbox, PC,
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• The Good: Isn't a straight adaptation; features an interesting hostage system. Great soundtrack
• The Bad: Horrible character models and awful acting; incredibly linear and repetitive third-person action; frustrating driving segments
• The Verdict: Reservoir Dogs bravely tries to be something different than a straight adaptation and has some interesting design choices; sadly it just doesn't work
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For roughly as long as we've had cinema, we've had the concept of the "un-filmable" novel; a written work that through some use of the form is considered untranslatable to the silver screen. However, many filmmakers have taken on the task of such adaptations with varying degrees of success, such David Cronenberg, who tackled The Naked Lunch.

A concept that is certain to take hold soon in this world of cross-media franchises is the concept of the "un-gameable" film. Despite both being largely visual mediums, there are nuances to film and its specifically non-interactive form that are completely unworkable in a game, a situation that many developers struggle with even if only in attempting to make their own game franchises more filmic.

Reservoir Dogs is a film that absolutely fits the definition of "un-gameable", with a dialogue-heavy plot in which almost all "action" takes place off-screen. There's no leeway for simply an interactive remake, and thus requires the developer work hard to create an adaptation that captures the style and theme of the original work while fitting the form of the new medium.

It's obvious Volatile Games tried hard to reach this lofty goal with Reservoir Dogs; but sadly either their talent and creativity simply failed them, or Reservoir Dogs truly is un-recreatable as a game.

"Let Me Tell You What 'Like a Virgin' is About."

The Reservoir Dogs game has a clever hook; rather than have the player take part in any moments of the film, they would play the characters in scenes that are only discussed in the movie, such as taking part in the diamond heist and escaping. Complementing this, the levels are split almost evenly between driving and third-person action.

The third-person action levels have a core piece of design that heavily affects the action; the player can take civilians or policemen as hostages in order to neutralize other policemen or to facilitate moving around the level (certain hostages can unlock doors and open safes). Hostages are held easily with the push of a button and with a hostage in your arms other characters ordered around with the right analogue stick. At worst, you might have to beat a hostage to make policemen do what you say, but with one single hostage you can neutralize an entire SWAT team without a single kill.

Getting through the game killing as few people as possible is incredibly important if you want to complete the game with the highest rating, "professional", in a ranking system similar to the Hitman series of games, also published by Eidos. However, unlike Hitman, here there are far less options on offer to get through the level with as little bloodshed as possible; the majority of the game is a linear and very slow trek through the levels holding a hostage as a bargaining tool for each group of policemen that appear. In any cases where something goes wrong (perhaps the hostage passes out) there's nothing to do except kill everyone in sight or grab another hostage.

Just as limited are the driving levels, which mostly take the form of linear police chases. The cars handle perfectly responsively, but the levels are occasionally teeth-grindingly frustrating, such as a level that requires the player to escape the police but which, to reward the player for losing the police early will spawn a new police car meters away from the goal, unavoidably losing the entire mission.

"You Ever Listen to K-Billy's "Super Sounds of the Seventies" Weekend? It's My Personal Favorite."

Perhaps the worst thing about the entire game, however, is just how badly the Reservoir Dogs is as an adaptation. Though the songs from the film are all there (and a high point) the cut scenes and acting are all diabolical. The only voice and likeness included is Michael Madsen, and absolutely everyone else featured has been disfigured just enough to be unrecognizable; and when I say "disfigured" I mean it. These are some of the least charismatic characters I've ever seen; puppet-like models that look like they've been formed from stale Plasticine.

"Are You Gonna Bark All Day, Little Doggy, or Are You Gonna Bite?"

The strangest thing about Reservoir Dogs is that despite being flawed in almost all respects (with at-best average game design and utterly awful artistic direction) it's oddly hypnotic to play, and I found myself compulsively playing it to the end. However, any die-hard fan of the original would be disgusted by this work, and because of that, it's rather hard to recommend as an adaptation.