The Fast & Furious franchise has become one of the most successful movie series in the history of cinema. There are currently eight installments of quick and angry action, and the spin-off Hobbs & Shaw is due out this summer (and looks stupidly awesome). It’s kind of crazy that a bunch of movies about buff dudes driving incredibly expensive cars and hitting sick jumps would end up making over a billion dollars.
Yet, while the movies have proven themselves to be big money makers, the series has surprisingly not branched out into the most obvious of side projects: the licensed movie tie-in video game.
The movies usually devolve into cars crashing through buildings and bullets flying everywhere, which would be a perfect setting for a video game. With the ninth film in production, now would be the time to introduce a Fast & Furious game that we’ve all been waiting for.
Granted, the Fast & Furious series has lightly dipped its toes into the video game pool in the past. Back in the mid-2000s, when there were only three Vin Diesel-powered movies, there was a game released for the PlayStation 2. However, as you might have guessed, it was pretty terrible. There was also that weird Forza Horizon 2 DLC, but that didn’t really show us what a full game featuring the extended Toretto family could be.
So, what exactly would a Fast & Furious game be? There are a few options that would fit the series the best.
The most obvious way to go would be an arcade-like racing game similar to Burnout or some of the Need For Speed games. Considering the series’ history of over the top high-speed chases, being able to crash into cop cars or bad guys with your car would be the kind of insane action that would perfectly represent the things we’ve come to expect from these franchise. There could be score attack modes, time trials, and modes that caused destruction. Heck, there could probably be a mission where you drive a tank like in Fast 6.
Plus, in a game like that, you wouldn’t have to worry too much about the plot. It would just need Vin Diesel to say something about family sticking together before it cuts to you driving a Lamborghini over a helicopter.
Or, if you want more plot, the other avenue to go down would be to do a GTA or Saints Row-esque open world game. This would obviously be a lot more complicated and expensive. However, considering the massive fan base these movies have, the effort and budget would be justifiable.
Imagine driving around an entire city as Vin Diesel, Ludacris, or any other of the other Fast fam members. The movies usually involve some kind of revenge plot or major heist, and a video game could probably include both. If the creators of the series could come up with 9-10 movies worth of plot, then surely there would be enough story and substance to create a full-fledged open world Fast & Furious adventure.
These are just some of the more obvious options, but perhaps there’s a developer out there who has an even more creative idea. After all, no one would have thought about making a tactical John Wick game, yet John Wick Hex looks great and will likely be a good video game representation of the series.
When it boils down to it, it’s surprising that we haven’t already received a big budget Fast & Furious game. Most movie companies would see the value in creating a great game based on the series. It gets the word out about the films, opens up an alternate revenue stream, and beyond all that, who doesn't want the chance to play as a digital Tyrese Gibson? Out of all of the franchises that should receive definitive gaming experiences, Fast & Furious is close to the top of the list.
At the very least, there should be a Hobbs & Shaw game.