This review was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content. It was written by Matthew Call.

The Movies is the latest creation of Peter Molyneux and his Lionhead Studios, creators of Black and White and Fable. The game puts players into the shoes of a movie mogul in the 1920’s who starts the game with a vacant lot, a pile of money, and the dream to rule Hollywood. Gamers begin by building production facilities and sets, hiring actors, directors, and staff, and then creating movies to try and sell to the merciless masses throughout the decades up until the 1980’s. The Movies is really two games in one: on the one hand it’s a movie studio simulation a la Railroad Tycoon, on the other hand the game enables you to actually create your own movies, with a fair amount of customization. The game utilizes both gameplay types fairly well; the only drawback is that each mode is so complex and time consuming that most gamers will be drawn to either one or the other. This may not be a bad thing, as most games only offer one style of play for your hard earned cash.

The most enjoyable aspect of The Movies is the godlike sensation that comes from ruling over your own little movie empire. As your studio expands the screen becomes filled with buildings, sets, trailers, and other movie studio accoutrements. The action takes place primarily from an overhead view, at about 500 feet in the air. However, the game also enables players to drag the screen down to ground level where often humorous shenanigans are visible, which would have been difficult to see from the game’s usual lofty view. To further enforce the almighty feel of the game players can pick up their actors and drag their squirming bodies anywhere in the studio. Got an actor who’s spending too much time in the bar? Drag his lazy pile of pixels back to the set to get some work done!

Managing actors is only one aspect of running a virtual movie studio. Buildings must be maintained, new sets and amenities need to be constructed, new workers need to be hired, scripts need to be written, and films that have been released must be archived once they are no longer making any money. All of these activities keep players extremely occupied as the game unfolds over the decades. In fact, time can seem to slow to a crawl as playing through a single decade of the game can take nearly two hours with all the managing that must occur. It’s not unusual to start playing The Movies in the early evening and suddenly discover that morning somehow managed to sneak up on you, but that’s a large part of what makes the game so enjoyable.

The Movies also knows when not to take itself too seriously. Often the titles the game assigns to your films (which can be customized as desired) are ridiculous. A few of the ones I encountered are Battling Gatlings, Dogharvest, Battlesun Arachnid, Alien Under My Bed, and Don’t Make Me Axe You Again. Another piece of comic relief in the game is the in-game radio station. As time passes in the game the radio announcer will mention historic events that mesh with the era. I’ve heard the announcer mention the Great Depression, World War II, and even tidbits about the Cold War during my time with the game which helps pull the player into the appropriate time period.

While the level of micromanagement that the game requires is precisely what makes it so addictive, it can also become extremely tedious. Actors will frequently cause players grief because they must be pampered and watched over. After making a movie, actors and directors will be slightly stressed and need a break at a bar or restaurant before working again. If actors are forced to work without having an opportunity to unwind they will frequently rebel, storming off the set and refusing to work again until they calm down. Such tantrums can put all the player’s movie making desires on hold until the situation is resolved. Meanwhile there are scripts that need to be written, buildings that need to be built, and more workers need to be hired because the $50,000 restroom you built a minute ago just broke. At times like these the game walks the fine line between fun and annoying.

In addition, the pacing of the game can slow to a standstill. With so many things happening at once, it can take forever to progress from one decade to another, dragging a fun game into monotonous drudgery. This is a minor criticism since the game’s pacing usually moves at a fairly good clip, but time does seem to crawl on occasion.

The game also provides you with an extremely limited number of workers. Even after the studio has earned a few million dollars there just aren’t people lining up at the gates to be hired. Often this forces the player to readjust personnel, assigning former extras to be janitors or vice versa. Unfortunately this will cancel out all experience the worker had made at his previous task, taking a nearly professional extra and turning him into a lousy janitor.

Last of all, the moviemaking features of the game can be easily overlooked. While a nearly full featured movie-making mode is present in the game, it’s easily overlooked in favor of enabling the game to create movies for you. This is especially true when a million things are happening at once, which is often the case. When two actors are upset, one film is being held up, another film is in the works and a script is being written, it’s difficult for the player to call time out and make a movie for an hour before returning to the tasks at hand. This makes the movie editor a tool that gamers will play instead of the main game, not in addition to it.

The Movies offers a unique perspective on moviemaking and its gameplay style is refreshingly original. If you're a movie buff, or love Sims-type games, The Movies is for you. Other gamers will also likely enjoy it simply because of the game's sheer originality. Be warned – The Movies can easily suck hours of your life away without you even noticing. It's that fun.

Addictive, the kind of game that makes 3 hours feel like 20 minutes.

Decent, good art and design for a simulation game.

Again, decent, good orchestral score but nothing that really stands out.

Managing your own movie studio is a unique experience and causes a lot of laughs.

The game will never unfold the same twice, lots of replay value.