The Movies: Stunts and Effects expansion pack, in my eyes, isn’t really an expansion pack. It basically adds on all the features that we all “expected” in the original game but were missing when it was released. But boy is the expansion worth every penny. Finally you get to do the movie making that you wanted to do, you get to add stunts, make stars do stunts, train stuntmen and stunt doubles to do stunts etc. Heh... it is so satisfying to actually make one of your stars do their own stunts & when they get injured because of it and end up in hospital. Especially when they have been a pain in the rear end and caused you loads of micromanagement. There are other new features that make the expansion pack well worth adding to your system too. One such new feature allows you to pull off those glorious moments of mayhem is free camera mode. Now basically in a nutshell, it allows you to put the camera exactly where YOU want to put it to show off those stunts. Do you want to create the Bullit scene where the car flies overhead? Do you want to show off some Matrix type effects panning the camera around your star and slowing the film down? Do you just want to show off your female star legs? Well now you can, using the Advanced Movie Mode. I found this feature a bit tricky at first but once I finally got the hang of it, it improved my films from rubbish to rubbish but with nice angles and stunts. Hell my mom's home videos look better than the movies I created but at least I wrote, cast, stunt co-ordinated, filmed, produced, edited and released it to the public. There’s something satisfying about it.
The main games changes include training stuntmen and stunt doubles, hospitals, stunt training facilities and a stunt scripting room added to your writing and editing block. Making sure the doubles look like your stars I didn’t find too difficult as most of the character models in the game seem very similar anyway, just make sure you don’t cast a man as a woman’s stunt double and vice versa and your good to go. Oh, hang on, I forgot the neat things that you can add to your studio as the years go by. Your studio now gets to reflect the technology of the times as the years roll by. Blue screen, green screen and miniature lots become available as they were in the years they came out. By the way, a miniature set isn’t a set for small people, it’s one of those sets where they make a model of a city so they can do pass bys etc, ala Batman Begins when they swoop down over the city. The only downside to the stunt double feature is that you can’t access it until 1960. The new controls in the main game are slightly improved, making it easier and more intuitive but the main changes are in the Advanced Movie Mode and the pack is worth buying just for that.
The official community is still buzzing and lively with films being uploaded daily, new props available to buy (not for real money but points you get from awards in game). Another advantage to following what the community is saying is you get to know some of the neat tricks that people have pulled off to make their films. It is worth visiting the website even if you don’t have the game as it may persuade you to give this game a go, plus some of the films made with this game will surprise you. The URL address is http://themoviesgame.com, so give it a gander.
I recommend this “expansion” to owners of the original game and as both games have come down in price, (well here in the U.K at least) it is time to check out this little gem.
