Having spent much of my elementary school and high school years as a dedicated gamer, it was probably a smart move to avoid video games as a college student and for much of my early adulthood. In fact, it wasn't until 2013 that I returned to gaming to take up The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (which is amazing) and it wasn't until 2016 that I finally bought a Playstation console to check out No Man's Sky (which is also amazing). The difference in ambition and gameplay in these newer games, as compared to ones on an N64 or an original Playstation, is simply stunning. First-person shooters continue to be excessively popular but finding an existential journey amongst the guns and puzzles is less and less rare these days. No Man's Sky, as an example, hinges on little more than exploration, both of a gorgeous, sprawling world and of the self, to bring about its myriad, invigorating pleasures.

Years ago, an Apocalypse Now video game would have likely been a Contra-type war game, but now, the idea sounds just crazy enough to work. That's the gamble that Francis Ford Coppola is taking, as he headed to Kickstarter this week to get $900,000 together to make a video game based on his ultimate masterwork. Coppola's American Zoetrope will be co-producing the project and the Kickstarter page includes videos that he's narrated about the making of the movie and the ambitions to make the game. There are also some impressive images of early test footage for the game, including the famed dilapidated church that Martin Sheen's crew passes by and the imposing kingdom of Kurtz, played by the late Marlon Brando.

One can easily imagine Apocalypse Now meeting somewhere in between the Uncharted series, Call of Duty, and Mist or a similar puzzle-based adventure mode but will the game actually be fun to play or grab the attention it requires? We'll know better when the game has finished its run on Kickstarter but for a galvanized gamer and longtime cinephile like this writer, it's an instantly fascinating proposition worthy of more than a little consideration.

Here's how the game is described on the Kickstarter page:

Francis Ford Coppola is excited to announce the game adaptation of Apocalypse Now directed by Montgomery Markland, executive produced by Lawrence Liberty and written by Rob Auten.

 

The game will be an immersive, psychedelic horror RPG from the creators, designers, directors, writers and producers of Fallout: New Vegas, Pillars of Eternity, The Witcher, Neverwinter Nights 2, Wasteland 2, Torment: Tides of Numenera, Everquest, DC Universe Online, PlanetSide, PlanetSide 2, Star Wars Galaxies and many more classic games.

 

This team of game development veterans have come together and obtained the approval of Francis Ford Coppola to bring Apocalypse Now to a new generation as a game.

 

We want your help because the traditional game publisher system won't let this happen.