Gamer's Perspective

Oh 24, how I love thee. When I heard the best show on television was to be made into a game I was admittedly, a little worried. For one, Fox seemed all too happy to sign a contract for the highest bidder making sure this only appears on one system; which immediately sets alarm bells ringing that perhaps some big deals have been signed to make some big bucks, rather than make a great game.

But enough of the conspiracy; we'll save that for Jack Bauer and Co. 24:The Game aims to throw you into the race-against-time found on the television equivalent by recreating the various nuances that have become commonplace within the TV series. Some real effort has been put into making the game feel like an authentic 24 experience, including voice performances and a genuine storyline. Everything from the voice acting to the character models is right on, backed up by the recreation of the show's handheld camera tricks and other various trademarks. The mood is certainly there. Had they decided to allow the game to appear on say, the PC or the XBox as well however, you cant help but think how it could have looked a lot better. The graphics aren't bad, to say the least, but there's a distinct feeling that they've been somewhat restricted by the abilities of the console. The frame rate dips frequently, and lighting effects are... well, there are no lighting effects.

One instant delight is the apperance of 24's infamous digital clock during the opening scenes. This simple, ticking clock made up so many ultra-tense moments throughout the show, and holds so much potential as a gameplay feature. Sadly, it's not really used here to any degree, which is a shame as there are so many wonderful, creative uses for it. Instead, the developers opted to just have it come up more or less randomly, mostly between levels, serving no purpose what so ever. Where's the tension, guys? Indeed, unlike the beloved television series, time plays no part in 24:The game, which is a disappointment to say the least.

Looking past the visual recreation of the show, we have the gameplay itself. There's just no cohesion to it at all. You're playing a series of mini-games, sewn together by cut-scenes. Each mini-game sits right on the line between good and bad; mediocre. None of them are especially bad, but they dont do anything to make you feel like you're playing a quality game. It's bog standard third person shooting or boring car chases - which occasionally border on the out-right impossible in terms of difficulty. When you aren't shooting or driving, you find yourself playing strange problem-solving games in order to hack security consoles or perform some other form of technical task. One thing I wasn't aware of is the fact that CTU employees have to play a Tetris-like puzzle game every time they want to use the satellite system.

The AI is also highly questionable, with the stealth sections of the game coming dangerously close to "unintentionally funny" as you stroll right by a guard, firing your weapon like a maniac, only to find that he hasn't noticed you because you're not in his direct line of sight. If you can stick with it and not let the repetition coax you into an early trade-in, you should find a single player storyline of around six hours in length; which doesn't include a certain driving level which will take you at least four hours of furious trial and error to finally complete. An attempt to make the game more challenging maybe? Perhaps a way of fleshing it out? Either way, it's absolutely terrible and will undoubtedly result in 75% of players seaching for their receipt.

But it's not all bad news. The storyline is decent, at least. It's not up to scratch with the TV show itself, but i dont think anybody would expect that. It at least has the nice twists and turns that you expect from the show, and does a good job of answering some questions you may have had regarding the one year gap between seasons 2 and 3.

My Final Score is a 4.9

Dan Larossa Contributing Writer Gamer's Perspective