Mad Max game "a couple of years" off

By Oli Welsh Published 9 March, 2009

Director says games no longer "poor cousin".

George Miller, the Australian film director of the Mad Max series and that one with the talking pig, has revealed that the Mad Max game he's working on with God of War II director Cory Barlog is around two years from completion.

Speaking to MTV, Miller said: "I’ve got a couple of years left. We're in the early stages writing and designing. A really good game you need two and half years."

Miller said he'd been impressed with the growing maturity of games as a storytelling medium.

"Games were the poor cousin to feature films when it came to storytelling but I think it’s flipping. Games allow you be much more like a novelist," the director and screenwriter said.

On the exact nature of the game, Miller was elusive. "It's a hybrid game. I'm really interested in both the gameplay but the actual emotional engagement. I'm curious how much you can engage with the characters through the gameplay," he said.

"A live action storyteller who understands story can do a lot to influence the evolution of games," he finished.

Miller's also working on an animated Mad Max film to be released around the same time as the game.

No word of versions, development studio or publishing partners for the game yet. Stay tuned.

Picture of Oli.

About Oli Welsh

Oli is Eurogamer's acting deputy editor and reviews editor and likes to take things one word at a time. He is among the best dressed people in South London.

Read more articles from Oli by visiting the Oli Welsh archive page.

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Comments (14) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Razorus #1 3 years ago

    First!
    Count me interested. I recently got into the whole post-apocalyptic thing and rented the Mad Max trilogy on DVD, the first of which I watched last night. The 4th movie is going to be anime apparently and a game could be great.
    The only issue is that Fallout 3 is the king of post-apocalyptic scenery right now, so rather than imitate the gameplay, Mad Max should try to be unique and combine the Outback and Desert landscapes of the movie with the long roads in a kind of sandbox game. Could be very special if done right.

  • rudedudejude #2 3 years ago

    It'll be like Interstate 76!

    But not set in the 70's!

  • Optimaximal #3 3 years ago

    Colour me unimpressed, but I can't help but feel they missed the boat by a few years...

  • TOOTR #4 3 years ago

    Baah Ram Ewe! Baah Ram Ewe! To Your Flock you must be true. Baah Ram Ewe!

    Gears of War 4 - Babe 'the pig' Fenix Vs Major Ram

    ahem - sorry needed to get that out...

    I'm all for good film directors getting involved with gaming. For example, witness the progression between Spielbergs storytelling in 'the dig' to ...um....Boom Blox which is excellent gameplay but Steve where's the plot? And I'm this brick right...where's my emotional motivation? What's my backstory?

    on this topic - WHERE is Jackson's Halo project eh? EH?

    Enough with the 'movie director praises games and gets involved - you'll see the results within two decades'! stories please.

    Off topic : Is Sam Mendes really going to make a movie of 'Preacher' is the question? umm no gaming link but Preacher could be a great episodic game.....or even a flash iphone version....hmm ok no gaming link at all there forget I brought it up.




  • Dan234 #5 3 years ago

    In a couple of years time the economy will have collapsed and we'll have real-life Mad Max anyway...

  • Ranger101 #6 3 years ago

    They're making an Anime 4th film?!

    But... it was already made in the 80's... called The Fist of the North Star.

  • schnide #7 3 years ago

    Fallout with cars!

  • bodypopper #8 3 years ago

    Well at least they're not re-making the first film.
    Anime doesn't suit Max though. I wonder if Gibson will still voice it?
    As for the game. I think iD may have beaten them to it with Rage. If they'd thought of this three years ago I'm sure Carmack and co would have jumped at doing a Mad Max game instead.

  • Pastici #9 3 years ago

    God no, not anime. Its a western film, use a western animation style. Angles and big eyes will be awful, they'd probably bring back the feral child and make him all cute and shit.

  • Razorus #10 3 years ago

    Pastici, what the frakk are you talking about? There are many styles of anime, it's not all cute and cuddly.
    Each director has their own artistic style. Watch Batman: Gotham Knight or the Animatrix; both are short movies made by different companies. Some of them are awesome, others not so.

    An Anime Mad Max would be great. It would be like Fist of the North Star but without the martial arts.

  • Pastici #11 3 years ago

    I don't mind anime but to be honest there hasn't really been any western animated films or cartoons for ages. They all use anime styles, its just a bit too much for me.

  • Fizzog #12 3 years ago

    I was just thinking the other day that a Mad Max game would rock!

    They should get Rock Star involved and get the people who did The Warriors to do it.

  • smelly #13 3 years ago

    prediction: it'll be shit

  • smelly #14 3 years ago

    >They should get Rock Star involved and get the people who did The Warriors to do it.

    How about gettign a company who can make a GOOD fun driving model?