Clock watching
James Fryer sets his stopwatch and hijacks the joypad for a day of counter terrorism unit fun and games in 24.
24: The Game
PS2
The verdict is still out on what the best video game of 2005 was, with King Kong, Battlefield 2 and Resident Evil 4 all tussling for the title. But, no matter which one had you buttonbashing into the wee hours, we’re not even a quarter of the way through 2006 and already there’s a strong contender for this year’s trophy. The March 17 launch of 24: The Game sees the adventures of Jack Bauer and his crew transferred to interactive form. But can the Sony title live up to the Hollywood hype?
As those of you who are currently glued to the fifth season of the show (aired in TV Land) will know, all the priority lists and time management classes in the world couldn’t prepare you for 24 hours in the life of Los Angeles CTU agent Jack Bauer. While the average Joe Bloggs spends nine-to-five in the office followed by an evening on the sofa, a day with Kiefer Sutherland’s character might take in everything from sneaking into a terrorist base and rescuing a high-profile hostage to taking hours of relentless torture before saving the president from yet another assassination attempt.
Set between seasons two and three of the television show, PS2 gamers can expect a story built around 24 hours of real time action encompassing a climactic period of twisting plots, double-bluffs and cliff-hangers. The game borrows the voices of 16 of the small screen stars, including the hero (played by Kiefer Sutherland), his strongwilled and beautiful blonde daughter Kim Bauer (Elisha Cuthbert) and President David Palmer (Dennis Haysbert). In-game character appearances are fantastically lifelike, with Jack maintaining his rugged good looks and his daughter keeping male pulses racing.
Smoke and mirrors aside, the actual game playing experience seems to borrow heavily from the likes of chart-topping Grand Theft Auto, incorporating more than 100 missions, both on foot and in vehicles, with Jack involved in anarchic gun fights, stealth-like sniper missions, environment exploration and puzzle-solving antics. 24: The Game is also not a far cry from the likes of recent releases such as James Bond: From Russia With Love or True Crime: New York City. The fact that it’s based on the gripping series might mean gamers actually watch the ingame movie sequences, follow the story and embrace the characters.
Sony’s new release doesn’t break the mould and gamers who haven’t been a fan of the series probably won’t get any added value from the release. Like numerous other titles in the action genre, 24: The Game follows the ‘take charge of a central character and punch, shoot or jump your way through waves of enemies’ formula. Nevertheless, gamers never seem to tire of this age-old recipe for success and it does look like the new release will prove as addictive as the television series.
This month’s release of 24: The Game could be the catalyst for a starstudded line-up of small screen conversions. Movie games were big in 2005. TV games might just be the next big thing.