Three-time Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Toro has revealed some of his favorite video games, including BioShock, Death Stranding, Red Dead Redemption, and God of War, among others.
Appearing on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, del Toro said Sony’s God of War series had some of the “best cinematic experiences” he’s ever witnessed.
“When [Kratos] fights Odin [in God of War Ragnarok] and Odin keeps coming back and he looks like a Peaky Blinders brawler. He beats the crap out of Kratos. What a great video game. And the way they use the budget of data on the console to create atmospheric dispersion and light. That is lit like a film,” he said.
The filmmaker went on to say BioShock is the “most immersive” game he’s played, while he singled out Death Stranding (a game he is featured in) as another one of his faves. The game with the best universe is Metal Gear Solid, he added.
Some of his other favorite games include Left 4 Dead and “big sandbox games” like Red Dead Redemption. He also called out Shadow of the Colossus and labeled it a “masterpiece” that is “poetic and tragic.”
Del Toro himself was for a period of time working on a game called Insane that he was making alongside Saints Row studio Volition until THQ canceled the project. He aimed for it to become a trilogy, and after it was canceled, the director said he was not giving up on it and looking to find another way to bring it to market. That never happened, however.
At The Game Awards in 2021, del Toro seemingly hinted at a Silent Hill project, but he later clarified that he was only trying to “tickle the ribs of Konami” after the publisher shut down his Silent Hills project. AKA P.T.
Following the cancellations of Insane and Silent Hills, del Toro said he gave up on trying to make a video game. “I have proven to be the albatross of video games,” he said.
“I have decided, in order not to destroy anyone else’s life, I will never again get involved in video games. Otherwise, I’ll join someone and his house will explode, or something,” the filmmaker explained.
Del Toro is known for making scary and unsettling films, including Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy, and Nightmare Alley. He won two Oscars for The Shape of Water and one of Pinocchio. His newest movie, Frankenstein: The Anatomy Lesson, stars Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi, and Mia Goth, and is streaming now on Netflix and playing in select theaters.