When one considers that most games don’t have a great or a particularly original story, it is surprising that more developers don’t look to novels for more influence. Even the best RPGs often follow the same tropes that gamers have seen a thousand times before usually starting with an unassuming hero wakes up one day to find themselves on an adventure to save the world.

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It’s strange because games seem like the perfect platform to make an adaptation of a book as there is no better way to represent a writer’s vision taking players directly into the writer's story to experience it for themselves. Games are also not restricted by the same time constraints of a movie or a weekly TV show with a 45-60 minute timeslot. Thankfully, more developers are beginning to realize that books are the perfect inspiration for gaming, so let’s take a look at ten of the best according to Metacritic.

10 Romance Of The Three Kingdoms VIII (Metascore 77)

Romance of the Three kingdoms VIII was developed by KOEI and released on the PlayStation 2 in 2003. It is a tactical strategy game based on the 14th century historical novel of the same name from Luo Guanzhong, a 113-year story detailing the reunification of second-century China.

It was arguably the best tactical strategy game on the PS2 and proved that the very complex genre could work almost as well on consoles as it does on the PC. Its nearest rivals on the Ps2 were Dynasty Tactics and Kessen which were very simplistic by comparison as they favored large scale 3D battles instead of diplomacy.

9 Age Of Conan: Unchained (Metascore 80)

Age of Conan: Unchained is a massively multiplay online role-playing game developed by Funcom and was released on the PC in 2008. It’s based on the Conan pulp-fantasy novels by Robert E. Howard which are some of the most influential of all time.

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The game is specifically based after the events of Hour of the Dragon which was otherwise known as Conan the Conqueror which was originally published in 1935. Age of Conan was the first game to really tap into the rich history and lore of the Conan universe

8 Lord Of The Rings: Battle For Middle Earth (Metascore 82)

Lord Of The Rings: Battle For Middle Earth is a real-time strategy game that was released on the PC in 2004 and developed by EA Games. It was based on both the Lord of the Rings novels by J. R. R. Tolkien’s novel of the same name and the movies directed by Peter Jackson.

It was developed by many of the team members that worked on EA’s Command and Conquer: Generals. The gameplay translates well into the Lord of the Rings universe. Battle For Middle Earth recreates many battle scenes and locations that will be familiar to fans of the films and is still a great looking title all these years later.

7 Lord Of The Rings: Battle For Middle Earth II (Metascore 84)

battle for middle earth 2 - storming castle walls

Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth II is a real-time strategy game that was released in 2006 on the PC and the Xbox 360. Like its predecessor, it is based on The Lord of the Rings novels and the Peter Jackson movies.

The game’s story is split into two campaigns that represent good and evil allowing players to command armies of Elves, Dwarfs, Humans, Goblins, Orcs, Ringwraiths, and the Shelob. Battle for Middle Earth II is mechanically similar to its predecessor but offers far more units and options with a longer campaign.

6 American McGee’s Alice (Metascore 85)

American McGee’s Alice is a psychological horror game with elements of action and platforming. It is based on the Lewis Carroll novels Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. It was originally released on PC platforms but a PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 port was released in 2011.

This dark version of the Alice in Wonderland story that incorporates a unique and horrifying art style with puzzles and games featured in the book. It also features a sanity meter mechanic instead of a depleting health bar.

5 Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Vegas (Metascore 88)

Rainbow Six: Vegas was developed by Ubisoft Montreal and released in 2006 on the Xbox 360 with PlayStation 3 and PSP version released the following year. It’s a tactical first-person shooter that favors strategy and planning instead of the running and gunning seen in games like Call of Duty.

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The Rainbow Six novel was written by Tom Clancy and published in 1998. Rainbow Six: Vegas and its direct sequel Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 was based on the elite special ops team from the same novel who also happen to appear several times in Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan books too.

4 The Witcher 2: Assassins Of Kings (Metascore 88)

The Witcher 2: Assassins Of Kings was developed by CD Projekt Red and first released in 2011 for the PC with an Xbox 360 port that followed in 2012. It’s based on The Witcher fantasy novels written by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski.

Once again, the player takes control of the Geralt of Rivia an enhanced human that hunts monsters. The game’s story is filled with multiple choices and branching paths giving players a unique experience every time and a second playthrough is definitely warranted to see most of what the game has to offer.

3 The Witcher (Metascore 86)

The Witcher was released on PC formats in 2007. It was the first game in the series based on The Witcher novels by Andrzej Sapkowski and was built using a modified version BioWare’s Aurora Engine seen in the Neverwinter Nights series.

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The implemented the importance of making big decisions that affect the world around Geralt. The Witcher’s world very rarely has a black and white moral choice, as even the actions taken with good intent can have larger consequences later on.

2 Metro 2033 Redux (Metascore 90)

Metro 2033 is the first game in the series and it was released on the Xbox 360 and the PC 2010 and its sequel Metro: Last Light in 2013 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. A remastered version called Metro 2033: Redux featuring both games were released in 2014 for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

The games are survival horror first-person shooters based on the post-apocalyptic novel by Dmitry Giukhovsky. The setting is based in the war-torn ruins of Moscow where the Earth’s surface is uninhabitable due to nuclear fallout, meaning survivors are have no choice but live in the underground Metro tunnels.

1 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (Metascore 92)

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was released on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in 2015 with a Nintendo Switch version hitting the shelves in 2019. It is the direct sequel to The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings and features narrative choices that even new players to the series can make at the start of the game.

The Witcher 3 is a bigger and more open experience than its predecessors and the focus on character choice and interactions have a much larger impact over how the world develops around Geralt. The game went on to be considered one of the greatest and most games of all time.

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