By now you've read the title of this post and said, "Hey, this is Arcade, not Cinema" and you're absolutely right, there's a method to this madness, check out my most recent post on My Cinema to find out what that method is. Or just keep reading.
Okay, so above we have a theatrical poster for Gods of Egypt. Below we have something that has come and gone in video gaming, reverse box art for games. Typically this happens in video games where you can play as either the good guys or the bad guys, or at the very least, where the two opposing sides receive equal screen time and fan-squealing at convention. So why did I take the time to redesign this poster into those? Well first, it didn't consume all that much time, though it's a little shoddy, I'll be the first to say it, second, because this was a BETTER VIDEO GAME THAN MOVIE!
Here's the thing, to do Gods of Egypt on the scale the company wanted to do it, they had to computer generate literally every moment of the movie, it's ALL shot in front of a green-screen, and even the actors are CG throughout the movie. I'm not really here to critique the movie though, you can find that up there ^. Instead, I'm here to tell you what I think could have been done for this as a game.
So, for starters, how about we look at potentially the simplest method of execution. Do basically the same story (maybe get the names right, fix the setting up a bit, don't butcher the lore so much?) then give us control of our two male heroes, Horus and Bek. Then take a sort of Superman 64 approach to it (no, not wreck it, that's been done once already,) and give us puzzle sequences, and combat sequences. During puzzle sequences we'll control Bek a la Prince of Persia, and during combat sequences we'll rely on Horus, a la God of War, at least...the combat portions. Meanwhile you have some fun side game potential with Thoth and Hathor (did they even call her that?)
This is pretty simple, you start out with really basic abilities for both characters, actually, you START the game as full power Horus, but upon losing his eyes he goes back to "level 1" and has to relearn his abilities through the game. Maybe even give him a Devil May Cry/Dante's Inferno level up system where he gets to progressively get better based off an in game currency. Give the same thing to Bek, and let him be playable in combat as well, but with more emphasis on Horus. Similarly, Horus is necessary to complete some puzzles, but Bek is clearly more reliable when it comes to that. Boom, you have the entire game already laid out, with random encounters with wild mythological beasts (giant scarab beetles and...minotaur goats come to mind) and some of Seth's crimson soldiers (whatever he called those guys.) Boom, done. Need more material? You still have a pantheon of Gods to call upon, heck, maybe even let some of them lend Horus their power, as opposed to Set slaughtering them all and only taking one piece from any of them! You still have an epic final battle too.
The other option? RPG, full blown. Play as Bek, Horus, or even Set in the setting, and follow your own path. Or even have to play any other character, may Horus doesn't live through Set's betrayal, and a mortal has to ascend to Godhood to face off against Set. Unless I'm mistaken, the pharaohs were supposed to be Ra's divine will on Earth (maybe even his embodiment?) so why not another character deemed worthy of this? You can go on random side quests, join a religion, develop the world, let Bethesda build the game and you're basically guaranteed a beautiful experience. Just...get...things right...use one translation for all of you names, and stick as close to lore as possible, while maintaining and understandably enjoyable game, if you have to cut off a few toes (or talons) so be it.
But...just please get that time machine, jump back in time, and correct this mistake (and give me credit? Please?!)
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