24: The Game
The following was written between 3:00 AM and 4:00 AM.
Tags: 24: The Game Categories: PS2 Reviews, Reviews
Posted by Jake McNeill on Jun 26th, 2006
| Title | Players | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 24: The Game (title page) | 1 | ||
| Developer | Publisher | Genre | Online |
| Action | No | ||
 |
Look, I’ll cut right to the chase here. Any minute a bomb is going to go off that will cause a virus to spread that will kill millions of people, there have been three attempts on the President’s life this morning, we’ve lost seven good agents, including two men I’ve known for years, and to top it all off, I haven’t slept, eaten, or gone to the bathroom since 7:00 AM yesterday. So you’ll understand that I don’t have the patience for any of your crap in this review.
Here’s the deal. As you probably know, 24: The Game is based on the hit TV show starring Kiefer Sutherland, with a story that takes place between seasons two and three. The game is presented in the same way as the show, with the entire game cut into hour-long snippets, and the clock reappearing every now and then, just like in the show. Are you getting all this? In addition, the game often changes into the same kind of split-screen as used in the show. Whoever was making this game knew what they were doing.
 |
The game’s story was written by the same guys that write the TV series, and all of the actors from the show reprise their roles in the game, with full voice-over. The graphics aren’t particularly exceptional, but all of the character models are really good, and resemble the show’s stars about as well as could be expected from a PS2 game. I’m thinking that someone is trying to replace the original actors to get close to the President. He’s in danger, and he needs to be warned immediately!
The game itself is mostly a combination of third-person action sequences and driving sections, with occasional minigames to add a little variety. Every one of these gameplay types is pretty solid, although they all have their own problems too. These guys might be experts, but it looks like they were a bit sloppy, so we still might have a chance.
 |
The third-person action sequences make up the majority of the game, and that’s just as well, because they’re probably the strongest gameplay this title has to offer. Players take the role of Jack Bauer, Tony Almeida, or Chase Edwards as they generally shoot their way through enemy territory using a fairly decent lock-on system, although you can also try to play it stealthy, and you can occasionally try to get enemies to surrender rather than blowing them all away.
The driving portions aren’t quite as good, as the vehicles don’t act very realistically, and have a pretty poor sense of speed. They’re generally tolerable, but nothing you’ll look forward to. Oh, and as for the other minigames, they’re not bad, but you won’t be spending too much time on them, so I wouldn’t worry about it.
The problems the game has are largely design issues. The camera in the third-person action stages, for example, leaves something to be desired, and the whole “split-screen” thing actually gets in the way of the gameplay, reducing your screen size and distracting you at the same time, often when time is tight and you can’t afford to mess around.
 |
The real issue here is this: the game gets repetitive really fast. After gunning down your hundredth would-be terrorist, it starts to wear thin. The enemy AI isn’t extremely bright (and neither is the AI of your backup when you have it), and… *sigh* the gameplay doesn’t have quite enough depth or variety to make it fun for twenty-four hours, let alone four or five. Damn it!
That’s our big problem right now. The game’s story and presentation are good. Really good. And we’d like to be able to see what happens. But the gameplay is just “okay”, and you get the feeling you’re just playing through it for the story. So here’s what I need: I’m gonna’ need you to rent the game, and just play through it so you can see the story. You think you can do that?
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
|
+ Great presentation + Nice character models + Voice acting from the show's actors is great |
7.0 |
| What Doesn't | |
|
- Repetitive gameplay - Some camera issues - Vehicles control unrealistically - The "split-screen" thing looks great, but gets in the way of the actual gameplay |
|
| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
| It’s gonna’ blow! We have the time it takes to rent this game and play through it once, and then we need to return it to the rental place right away or we’re going to be seeing some seriously bored people here. And I’ve lost too many good agents today to see that happen. Let’s move! | |
[ Post the first comment | View related posts ]
Tags: 24: The Game
Posted by Jake McNeill on Jun 26th, 2006 and is filed under PS2 Reviews, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
