Sometimes, it takes more than an actual game to tell the story for all its characters. In a lot of franchises, games often show major things that happen to the world. Sadly, these stories don’t necessarily show the bigger picture. Thankfully, some publishers and developers take the time to release extra media to present the “hidden stories” that shed more light to some of the best game worlds out there. And sometimes, comics and graphic novels offer the best balance between art and narrative for these titles.
RELATED:10 Great MMORPG Games That Flew Under The Radar At Release (But Still Hold Up Today)
However, with many games having their own comics adaptations, which stand out among the rest? For gamers out there, here are some graphic novels or comics of hit games and franchises they should add to their reading lists.
10Hellgate: London
Despite its current struggles,Hellgate: Londoncaptivated dark fantasy fans for its modern take on an ARPG roguelike experience. The gametakes players to a post-apocalyptic 2038 where London—alongside the rest of the world—struggles to survive amid an ongoing invasion from Hell itself. As expected from a team composed of some formerDiablodevs,players canenjoy fighting demonsand saving the world in replayable randomly-generated maps and missions.
In addition to a trilogy of novels, Dark Horse Comics also published aHellgate: Londonseries of comics. Despite its lack of a separate narrative, its pages leave a lasting impression about the game’s world. These include insights towards player factions such as the warrior Templars, the ex-military Hunters, and the demon magic-empowered Cabalists.
9Mirror’s Edge: Exordium
Fans ofMirror’s Edgelove the series not just for its unique take on a dystopian setting. Rather, players love it for its intuitive take on parkour mechanics. Unlike other games, protagonist Faith Connors needs totraverse obstacles perfectly and with precisionto avoid enemies and other dangers. As a result, players constantly feel that “flow” as they move around each level. Interestingly, WildStorm Productions released six tie-in comics that give the same feeling—even if they happen in still drawings.
As with the games, the comics also showcases the adventures of Faith as she uncovers a mystery surrounding her parents. Additionally, supporting characters from the game such as Mercury, Kate Connors, and even Clarence expand their stories outside the games.
8Warcraft
Blizzard’s acclaimedWarcraftRTS stunned the world with its unique and compelling setting. After all,Warcraft’s Azeroth is nothing like popular settings such as Middle-earth. And withWorld of Warcrafttaking the MMO scene by storm, Blizzard has all the time in the world to expand on its hit franchise’s story. However, aside from the RTS and the MMO, Blizzard entered the comics scene with a number of comics.
The originalWorld of Warcraft: The Comicshappened concurrently with theBurning Crusadeexpansion. Meanwhile, other comics and graphic novels triedto expand the loreas tie-ins to other expansions. As a result, a lot of these comics reveal unique insights about characters and events that questlines in the game couldn’t immediately explore. Essentially, fans would appreciate the depth of scope of theWarcraftcomics—especially since its story is ongoing.
7Dragon Age: Magekiller, Knight Errant
Fans of BioWare praise theDragon Ageseries for its unique take in the dark fantasy aspect of RPGs. After all, the publisher took such a deep narrative dive into making Thedas a living and breathing world with its complex intertwine of races, clans, factions, and magic.
RELATED:10 Best Free To Play MMOs Of All Time
The series has two sets of comics under its belt. Its first series,Magekiller, talks of the adventures of mage-killer Marius and his handler Tessa as they eliminate maleficarum, or blood mages, all while the Venatori faction slowly rises to power. Meanwhile,Knight Errantfollows the elven thief Vaea and knight Ser Aaron Hawthorne as they steal various artifacts. Aside from their self-contained stories, readers praise the solid world-building and exposition involved in these comics series.
6Tomb Raider
Adventure fans love the recentTomb Raiderseries and its attempt to put a modern spin to Lara Croft’s adventures. Thankfully, fans can get a few hundred pages' worth of stories to read with Dark Horse Comics’sTomb Raiderline. The comics fleshed out her character as well as her relationship with the various parties related to her hunt for treasure.
In the comics, Lara discovers the existence of new organizations, allies, and even enemies. A lot of her adventures offer valuable insight towards individuals and factions in the series. The comics sheds light to the true nature of the death of Lara’s father, and even had Lara pursue the Mushroom of Immortality.
5Silent Hill
WithSilent Hill, horror fans get a wildly terrifying experience as they play as protagonists in the eponymous towns where their nightmares turn into reality. As such, players and critics praiseSilent Hillfor its remarkable lore-building—both in the personalities of their protagonists, and the chilling past of Silent Hill itself. Thankfully, theSilent Hillseries of comics did much of the same throughout its run from 2004 to 2008.
This series of comic books follow the experience of different individuals inside Silent Hill. These stories take place across nine volumes, each highlighting various facets of Silent Hill’s culture. These include stories about the inner turmoil of a doctor, a disgraced artist, a criminal gunslinger, andvarious horrific entities- among others.
4The Halo Graphic Novel
Thanks to Marvel Comics, Bungie managed into their combined teams' passion towards theHalofranchise to bring the Master Chief’s adventures in the form of comics. The resultingThe Halo Graphic Novelhas four stories that further expand various important elements of theHaloverse.
RELATED:10 Forgotten RTS Games That Deserve A Reboot
Its first story, “The Last Voyage of the Infinite Succor,” explores the Covenant answering a distress call from an eponymous Covenant agricultural ship in the events ofCombat Evolved. Meanwhile, “Armor Testing” takes place beforeHalo 2whilethe UNSC try out new SPARTAN Armor. “Breaking Quarantine” highlights a human soldier’s efforts to escape the Flood outbreak with a unique story structure. Lastly, “Second Sunrise over New Mombasa” explores a reporter’s perspective prior to the New Mombasa attack inHalo 2.
3Cyberpunk 2077: Trauma Team
Fans ofCyberpunk 2077likely had a blastexploring Night Citywith Johnny Silverhand and protagonist V. However, fans know one playthrough isn’t enough to explore the vast expanse ofCyberpunk 2077’s world. Thankfully, Dark Horse Comics teamed up with CD Projekt Red to give another short but impactful look towards the colorfully-terrifying skyscrapers of Night City.
InCyberpunk 2077: Trauma Team, readers follow Nadia and her work with Trauma Team International. Unfortunately, an encounter with their most recent customer leads to a shootout killing everyone in Nadia’s team. In the story, sole survivor Nadia had just been reassigned to a team after therapy, but their new client won’t make recovery easy for her.
2Injustice: Gods Among Us
When NetherRealm Studios createdInjustice, fans simply wanted DC Comics' best heroes to bash each other in goryMortal Kombatfashion. However, its comics adaptation puts a new face to DC Comics' most prominent superhumans. This time, Superman decides that “enough is enough” and kills the Joker after the latter killed the former’s family. Where could the Man of Steel find truth and justice?
As a result, fans of DC Comics won’t just see Batman assemble his team to combat Superman’s reign of forced peace. Rather, the story forces readers to look into their favorite heroes and villains as their perspectives on trust, loyalty, and justice become constantly tested.
1Metal Gear Solid
Espionage fans would fondly remember the adventures of Solid Snake throughout theMetal Gear Solidseries. However, aside from its story and revolutionary gameplay, fans also love the series' take on comics-style cutscenes for some of its games. In fact, the series itself would release comics of two games.
As such, theMetal Gear SolidandSons of Libertycomics had the equivalent of top-grade spy-fi suspense in its pages. Interestingly, the comics do a retelling of the plot of the two games. Additionally, the unique art featured in the comics definitely sets theMGScomics apart from its contemporaries.
