Life on Mars is an awesome TV show. Just finished it a couple of nights ago. I reckon it should be made into a video game. Hear me out.
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For those who don't know, Life on Mars is a 2006 British crime/detective series about a policeman Sam Tyler who gets into a car accident that sends him back in time to 1973. Then, lost in a time he doesn't know, where the police force is ruthless and corrupt, he has to find out why he is there and how to get back.
I reckon that using Bioware's Mass Effect 2 engine, an awesome game could be made of the series.
It'll be a mystery-detective game, so you have to walk about crime scenes analyzing stuff, and talking to people. In fact, the talking to people bits are the most important part of the show and the game. Hence, Mass Effect 2's nice conversation wheel can come into play along with the nice cinematics.
There have to be a lot of hard choices to make, right things to say at the right time, be it when questioning suspects, or getting morsels of information out of wary witnesses. Then, like in Mass Effect 2, there'll be a Paragon/Evil mouse icon flashing at the moments when you can pull the Good Cop/Bad Cop move. Maybe you'll throw the guy up against the wall and punch his gut if he's not being helpful, or you can stop DCI Gene Hunt from doing something corrupt, like planting evidence on a bad guy.
In Life on Mars, Sam Tyler always appears in opposition to the police force because his methods of policing are ethical, logical and scientific. So in an interesting twist, every time you do a Good Cop move, the other characters will get really pissed. Gene Hunt especially; not only will some of his conversation options be disabled, he will antagonize you for always going against him.
Life on Mars doesn't have many shoot-outs, but I guess in the interest of making this a mass marketable game, there's got to be some action bits for those short-attention spanned fools. Lots of running after bad guys.
Squad-based gameplay? Sure. You've got Detective Annie Cartwright and Chris Skelton backing you up, and instead of just plain ordering them around to help you shoot stuff, you could assign them tasks such as looking for the murder weapon in a landfill, or interrogating a group of witnesses, so you can get the information faster.
The actual detective gameplay will be to collect enough evidence, or concrete confessions from witnesses, suspects, etc. to put a criminal away behind bars. There'll be no hand-holding in the game, the player has to make connections for themselves. Like if a witness mentions a brother to the killer, the player has to decide to go find this brother, or not. People will lie and lead you down the wrong path. Who can you trust? In the case at hand, and with the wider conspiracy within the police force.
Relationships? Totally. Life on Mars is all about the relationships in the police force, gaining or losing respect from the people by the choices you make. Like when Sam lets Ryan walk towards a bomb about to explode unknowingly, causing the latter's hospitalization. This leads to everyone else on the force being pissed at Sam, ostracizing him. People won't listen to your orders, and as before, conversation choices close off. Relationships are big in this game, and love interests? Sure, you've got just Annie to focus on but she's one tough cookie to crack.
Madness. Sam Tyler is constantly referring to his life in 2006, which is both comedic in some instances and dramatic in others. Like how in one scene, Sam tells Annie he'll reward her with a Kit-Kat for her good work. And she's like "Kit-Kat?" and Sam says, "Yeah, a chunky one." Annie walks away offended. Why? No chunky Kit-Kats back then LOL.
Anyway, Sam in the game will have visions/hallucinations, hear voices in the oddest of places, and you have to juggle police work in 1973 whilst uncovering the mystery behind your time traveling. But the more you chase your madness, the more distance you put between yourself and Annie. An interesting dilemma for the players.
The graphics will be superb. The Bioware team will do their research so well that they'll get the 1970s Manchester vibe down. The industrial feel, the red bricked houses and most importantly, the depressing gray weather.
The music is going to kick ass, just like the TV show, with most tracks from the 60s and 70s. Including David Bowie's Life on Mars, Elton John's Rocket Man, Neil Young, etc.
Voice-acting will be top notch. We'll get all the actors and actresses of the series including John Simm and definitely Philip Glenister. Besides, all of 'em save Liz White and John Simm are still playing their characters for the spin-off show Ashes to Ashes.
Most important thing? Your choices will have an impact on the story. Just like in the first episode, when Sam Tyler chooses to let a suspect walk because of a lack of evidence. And in doing so, the bank robber robbed again and in the process shoots an innocent bystander. The blood is on Sam's hands, your hands. That's compelling gaming right there.
Finally, then Bioware can say "Suck it, Heavy Rain!"
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