Films based on videogames have generally got a reputation for being pretty lousy yet Hollywood continues to churn them out. However, one franchise that has so far managed to avoid being turned into film is “Metal Gear Solid”. This is somewhat surprising when you actually look at the games.

“Metal Gear Solid” is known in the gaming industry as one of the most cinematic and innovative franchises ever. The series sees secret agent Solid Snake tasked with challenging missions to defend the world from a variety of memorable bad guys. The franchise jumps around the timeline and sometimes, you play as other characters such as Naked Snake, Raiden and Venom Snake. Lots of explosive actions, giant robots and political thriller elements help to make it something unique. The games are also known for their sometimes bizarre yet somehow genius design choices that help set them apart from countless other games on the market.

With a slick espionage premise, tons of exciting moments and memorable characters, it seems like a better candidate for adapting into a film than most videogames. It also owes a lot to cinema with creator Hideo Kojima being inspired by an array of movies including “Escape From New York” and the “James Bond” series.

It’s really a shock that there has not been a film yet but in some respects, it is understandable. The franchise is known for having one of the most convoluted plots in all of fiction. The games also have several hours’ worth of cutscenes in them. Trying to cram all of that into a single movie could be very challenging. You would maybe need multiple films just to cover a single game’s story. That presents a significant financial risk.

However, there are some reasons to be optimistic. The recent success of “Sonic The Hedgehog” shows that movies based on videogames don’t always have to fail. Also, who is to say that this has to be a Hollywood production or even a live-action one? I could easily imagine a Japanese anime movie based on “Metal Gear Solid” working as effectively.