"Back into the Water"

Good day, you may remember me from such reviews as the WWE Series, and Micro Maniacs, and here is, if I remember, my first PC review, so here goes

Jaws Unleashed was released in 2006 by Appaloosa Interactive, whom anoraks will recognize as the developer of the Ecco the Dolphin series. You play Jaws, a Great White shark. (Megalodon comes in here, as Jaws in the game is massive, he is half the size of a Blue Whale), and, aptly enjough, you live a shark's life. Swimming, diving, eating fish, decapitating beach babes, y'know, the usual.

Some have called this Grand Shark Auto, a title I feel that this does deserve, as the game takes a sandbox style, in that it is not linear, and the missions are completely optional. What, however, sets this apart from GTA is that it is part RPG, as you can upgrade the shark in the following areas; Health, Hunger, Power, Accuracy and Speed. As each are upgraded, the shark can, respectively, take more hits, go for a longer period without food, take on more, hit with more accuracy and swim faster and stealthier.

Now for the breakdown yo

Story

As I alluded to above, this is a sandbox game. This game takes place some time after the events of all the Jaws movies. The main character is Chief Brody's son (Whom some of you may remember being a strapping young lad in the original movie). Amity, not learning from it's mistakes, is claiming that there have never, and is not, any sharks on Amity Island, and Brody Jr is trying to convince them otherwise. In the meantime, a major corporation is running a shark hunting corporation backed by the Amity Council (Odd, since they claim that they are nos harks). I have only got to the fourth mission, but from the looks of things, most of the story mode consists of sabotaging the island, and devouring it's people.

This is not without punishment though, whilst there is not a star system, the coast guard will come after you if you cause too much havoc.
Whilst not in the story, you can roam about the waters of Amity, and do side missions, such as defending a dead whale carcass from Hammer Sharks.

Graphics 9/10

I may be at a disadvantage to say, being that I have a really powerful gaming PC, but the graphics are rather good for a 2006 game. The water is pretty good, and whilst the draw distance is not spectacular, it usually draws before you get to where you are going.

What I was most impressed by was the attention to detail this game received. When you are feeding, Jaws' eyes roll into the back of his head, which is realistic. (When Sharks feed, they put their eyes to the back of their head so only the whites are visible). Also, if you are bit somewhere, you will trail blood for a while. When you bite a whale, bits will come off.

Sound - 8/10

It has the theme tune playing throughout, which is awesome.
The voices could be improved, but they are certainly nothing to shake a fin at. The cutting point here is the water, as you can hear the shark cutting through the water.

Controls - 10/10

Top notch. The game is really easy to control, and easy to pick up and play/assimilate into. W to swim, and the mouse to control direction.You bite with the left mouse and charge with the right, and, whilst not a pokemon game, you can do an equally cute tail whip with space.

Overall - 9/10

I really enjoy the game, and it should be commended to all. However, the best thing is, you don't have to buy it. Download the Gametap service, and you can get it for free, all paid for by TBS

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/17/08

Game Release: Jaws Unleashed (EU, 09/22/06)