10 video games that would make great TV shows

5. Mass Effect

When it comes to story-based games, it’s hard to find a better series than Bioware’s Mass Effect. The original trilogy injected a shot of adrenaline into choice-based gaming, revolutionizing it by having the decisions you make in one title carry over to the next. And while that decision-making couldn’t carry over to a show (unless it’s one of those crazy interactive Netflix thingies), the morally gray decisions are perfect for TV.

Mass Effect is a space opera in the best way. Commander Shepherd is the first human “spectre,” a special forces agent that takes on impossible tasks. When another spectre goes rogue, Shepherd is sent to track them down. Along the way, he ends up befriending a broad and varied cast of characters that range from lovable aliens to psyonically enhanced humans to robots. He (or she) eventually uncovers a galaxy-wide threat called the Reapers…and the rest is history.

Mass Effect could work like a Star Trek show with the plot of The Expanse. The interplay between all the different alien species is fascinating, and clashes of culture and customs are common occurrences in this complex galaxy. But the Mass Effect games also have some huge action set-pieces and thrilling plot twists, including the second game’s famous “suicide mission,” which is still one of the best sequences in any video game ever. Fight me.

Of all the games on this list, Mass Effect might even be one of the easiest to adapt, plot-wise. The story in these games is already on par with anything made for television. All a studio would have to do is not mess it up.