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Jason Ocampo fills you in on The Movies.

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Just before Activision announced this week that The Movies had finally finished production, we had the opportunity to get our hands on this anticipated strategy, simulation, and moviemaking game. Quite simply, we've never seen a game quite like The Movies before, because it blends so many different types of genres together, along with a completely new and innovative ability to actually create your own movies using 3D actors and sets. And, as we discovered from our time with The Movies, this is a game that offers something for pretty much everyone, and it is one of the most promising PC games of the year.

The Movies is a game that has something for everyone, including fans of Tycoon games, The Sims, and movies in general.

The Movies feels like several different games wrapped into one package. But perhaps the easiest way to understand The Movies is to imagine it as a blend of The Sims and a Tycoon-style building game. The story starts in 1920, and you, as a budding Hollywood studio boss, must develop a vacant lot and turn it into a studio that will produce movies for the decades to come. This will involve hiring and nurturing stars and other talent, as well as dealing with the inevitable problems that crop up with celebrities. And, if you're successful, you'll not only make money, but you'll also clean up when it comes to award time.

The first thing that you do is create a name for your studio, and then select a logo from the more than 50 possible icon choices. You are then dropped off at your studio's vacant lot. The first structures that you must put up include a stage school, casting office, crew facility, production office, and at least one generic set. Also, you should think about crew amenities. Restrooms are an obvious must, and you'll also need a catering stand so your crew can eat. (And, as the game progresses, you'll unlock plenty of other types of buildings and structures.) You must then link these facilities together with pathways to help your cast and crew get between buildings quickly.

Once the facilities are in place, you'll need to start hiring your studio personnel. Builders construct and maintain buildings and sets, janitors help keep the place looking clean, and crew members operate the camera and do all the behind-the-scenes work on movies. You also need writers to work in the script office to start producing scripts, directors, and, of course, actors, who you can divide into stars and extras.

You also need to start thinking about the aesthetics of your lot, because the more beautiful your studio lot, the more prestige you'll earn, which is one of the things that helps determine the best studio. Heck, there's even an award given out to the best-looking lot. A studio lot can be transformed with lawns, trees, pathways, and flower beds. You can place various objects down as well, including lampposts, benches, and trash cans. Some of these items also play a role in letting your cast and crew blow off steam, such as fancy town cars and limousines, as well as private trailers for your stars.

Of course, this is all set up so you can get in the business of making movies, and once the infrastructure is in place, your movie studio can become a moviemaking machine, though one you'll also need to constantly monitor and adjust. The first step of making a movie is getting a script, and for that, you need to dump writers into the script office. Simply pick up a writer and drag him or her over the script office. The walls and roof disappear, leaving a layout of the building on the ground. The building layout has different rooms for different genres, such as sci-fi, horror, action, romance, and comedy. Drop the writer onto the type of movie you want to make, and he or she will start hacking away at a script. You can drop multiple writers into the process to speed things up. Keep in mind that writers gain experience over time, and that can affect the quality of the script. Also, you can build more advanced script offices that let you create better scripts. And, if you want to create your very own movie, there's a custom script office that lets you create a movie scene by scene, but we'll get to that later.

The game starts in Hollywood in 1920, and from there, you must build a cinematic empire.

The writers will create scripts that take advantage of any of the sets that you've already constructed on the lot. Each set is specifically geared toward a certain genre (though the sets can be used for other genres as well). If you want a horror movie, then it's best to put up the gloomy cellar set, or if you want a romance movie, then the Western saloon is perfect for that. Once a script is in hand, you need to drop it into the casting office, where you assign a director, stars, and extras. Crew members are automatically assigned to the movie. Once all the personnel are in place, the cast and crew will begin rehearsing the movie. When rehearsing is done, pick up the script again and drop it into the "begin shooting" room of the production office, and the cast and crew will head off to the soundstage to start shooting.