24: The Game

"Due to some minor flaws, Buyer discretion advised..."

First off let me say that I am a huge 24 fan. When I first heard about this game last summer I was ecstatic to say the least. I waited anxiously for my favorite show to get its own game and when I finally got my hands on a copy, well...

Graphics 9/10

As a fan of the series I absolutely loved the graphics in this game, mainly due to the excellent rendering of Jack, Tony, President Palmer, and Michelle's faces. They were absolutely brilliant copies of their true life counterparts. The flaws in this game's graphics come mainly with *shudder* Kim's face. Elisha Cuthbert is a very attractive girl and the designers basically just made a very generic looking face for her.

As far as the gameplay graphics they are better then average for the PS2 but they aren't anything spectacular. The animations of the "Bad guys" getting sent flying by Jack's arsenal are excellent. The driving missions also have very nice graphics especially when looking at the images of the city you are driving in. All in all very nice graphics for this game.

Gameplay 8/10

The gameplay in 24 is mainly of the third-person shooter variety. The controls seem to fit the controller very nicely and I really liked the strategy I had to employ as far as what weapons to choose. In the more confined spaces I generally stuck to the shotgun while in areas where good cover was provided I found the pistols to work and in long range situations or when I was outnumbered I generally stuck to the rifles. I found myself often switching between weapons in levels, something I don't generally do in shooter games.

Another thing I enjoyed about the gameplay was the way cover was employed. It gave a very "24 ish" feeling to have to constantly search for things to hide behind and pop up at the righ times to blast people. The use of cover becomes a must which I felt was a very good contrast to the genral fare of shooters which employ a run around and blast everything in sight *cough* *cough* *Black*....

As mentioned above I liked the control scheme of 24 and I found that the use of the right analog stick to target by flicking in the direction of the target was not near as bad as I suspected. It cost me a couple of times but most of the time I had no problem with it.

While I've heard a lot of complaining about the driving missions I didn't find them near as bad as I had expected. The cars do handle slugishly but once you get used to it it's not so bad.

There are also several minigames throughout the game which are supposed to represent the various CTU gadgets that Jack employs. While they seem novel at first they get tedious and eventually you just want to get on with it. The only minigame that really seems any fun is the interogation levels which are few and far between. It's just great to have Jack talk in that quiet "I can help you voice" then suddenly grab the persons throat and yell "TELL ME WHAT I NEED TO KNOW".

I found the biggest flaw in the gameplay to be a result of the desigenrs putting to much 24ness into the game. At times the main playing window would shrink and other windows would open as we saw something else or the main character from a diffrent view. This seemed to be a major problem as it never helps and often just made the game annoyingly difficult until it went away, especially on the driving missions.

Sound 10/10

The sound gets high marks mainly because I'm a 24 buff. All the sounds are here including the great musical score and the sound effects we've come to know and love(the CTU ringer, the clock beep).

The gameplay sound effects are alright, that is to say I never noticed they were bad. The cars, guns, helicopters , and enemies all seem up to par with other games on the system though I didn't see them as standing out.

The voice acting was great in the game and all the voices are voiced by their real life counterparts.

Story 9/10

I was really excited about the story for this game and frankly it surprised me at times and dissapointed me at times.
SPOILERS!!!
The storyline is of coures classic 24. I was really surprised at the direction the story takes, even bringing in people like Kate Warner and Ryan Chappelle. Chase Edmunds (who if you watched this week's two hour event, you will know is a complete tool) is a major part of the story and its nice to get to see his begginings. Unfortunately I was a little dissapointed at the unoriginality of the plotline surrounding the assasination attempt of Palmer in season two. I was really looking forward to some dynamite stuffe here and it just was bland. Otherwise the story delivered and anyone who wathces the show will love it.

Overall 8/10

Overall I enjoyed my short time with 24. The game really captures the feel of the TV show and is moderately challenging and very entertaining. All the 24 element are there including all the little boxes, the timer, and the characters(even a couple of shots of Erin Pearce, one of my favorite characters). Unfortunately I see this game having little replay value. I played it mostly for the story which I now know and frankly Isn't quite good enough to make me want to play it again.
It only took me two days of a rental and I don't think I'll ever play it again. At most I see someone playing this twice which is why I recomend a rental. If your a huge fan like me you should consider possibly picking this up and even them make sure its a forty bucks you're willing to blow. If your not a fan of the series then your life is incomplete and you should immidiately go rent seasons 1-4 and prepared to be blown away.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/07/06