24: The Game

This Game Takes Place Between a 3.0 and a 4.0...

The track record for movie/TV tie-in games has been hit-or-miss at best. So when a videogame tie in for one of the most successful television shows in recent history was announced, I, like a lot of people, was very skeptical. I am and always will be a huge 24 fan. An addict from the first airing of the program, I always tune in for a helping of the Jack Bauer Power Hour. This title promised to be everything that the show was. Exciting, Tense, fast-paced, action packed. Is it? Unfortunately, the answer is both yes and no. 2K games tried to throw every thing into this game that even remotely resembles anything that has to do with 24. While ambitious and comendable, the game falls short in some of these areas. In the game you play as Jack Bauer and some other characters from the series in levels that involve shooting, stealth, driving, hacking, and interrogation to name a few. We'll start with what works. The shooting portion of the game is very fun to be a part of. You, as a gamer, feel like you've stepped into the shoes of Jack Bauer. You can duck, dodge, take cover, and, on a whim, shout "CTU, drop your weapon!" to make characters give up. You can arrest suspects, break necks, and pistol whip enemies senseless all while looking totally bad-ass, as only Jack Bauer can. Pistols, tasers, shotguns, sub-machine guns, and assault rifles are teh weapons of the trade and each work just as you'd expect them to. Targeting an enemy is as easy as hitting the L1 button and you can fire with R1.While the camera in these portions can be a little wonky, it's nothing that really hinders the gameplay and only becomes a real problem in rare occurences. Driving on the other hand is a problem in every occurence. Imagine trying to drive a boat on land. That's like trying to drive any of the cars in 24:The Game. It's just bad. I'm only happy that the driving doesn't take up the bulk of the game or else this game's score would have been much lower. Finally we come to the mini-games. These are very interesting and fun deteors from the main game. Hacking mini-games as well as satellite searches and anything that the computer nerds at CTU do are represented here and represented well. But the real mini-game tour-de-force is the interrogation portions. In these, you pull out all the stops as Jack Bauer only can to get information from a suspect. These interrogation sequences are both original and fun and mix up the action and keep the game fresh. The main draw for the game is definately the story. Taking place between seasons 2 and 3 of the show, the story, penned by writers of the program, fills in some of the gaps that were left between the two seasons. Things such as how Chase Edmunds came to LA CTU and how David Palmer survived his assassination attempt are all answered as the storyline progresses. The story is told very well through cutscenes that are shot as if they could have been pulled right from the show. All of the major characters from the show, from Jack, to Tony, to Kim, lend their voices and likenesses to the game. Their performances are exceptional and really breathe life into the story. You can tell that from start to finish, the developers were trying as hard as they could to remain faithful to the series. It shows in the story, presentation, and dedication. However, while the game does look, sound, and feel like 24, 24:The Game falls short in a few areas which blemish the experience a bit. While hardcore 24 fans will gobble this one up faster than you can say "Mr. President I feel your life may be in danger", more casual fans or those gamers looking for a good shooter may not find the satisfaction that others would. Still, this is a must have for 24 fanatics.