Jaws Unleashed

Jun 1, 2006

Ridiculous. There's really no other way to properly describe Appaloosa's intended adaptation of Steven Spielberg's classic Jaws. Just reading the box's description raises an endless stream of questions. Whose idea was this? Did the same mind that decided Jaws needed a video game also pitch Reservoir Dogs to Eidos? Since when are sharks -- even one as awe-inspiring as Jaws -- intelligent enough to incorporate vengeance into their mental vocabulary? A shark attack premise hasn't been this ridiculous since they decided to make the fourth Jaws movie with Michael Caine.

The best part is that none of those questions matter. The developers must have known the idea of turning Jaws into a videogame was so over-the-top, there was no other way to approach the idea than to simply run with it without looking back. It's obvious they really did follow that philosophy from design to execution, but it's unfortunate that they ultimately weren't able to turn their success with Sega's Ecco the Dolphin series during the Dreamcast era into a sterling success with the most powerful underwater predator ever to grace the silver screen. Jaws Unleashed remains a great idea that never manages to rise above its potential.

From the moment Jaws Unleashed begins, the troubles start mounting. Controlling the beast is a complete pain, and the camera does its best job to be an annoyance that prevents you from seeing anything at all. For much of the game, players are swimming through large, open-ended environments with poor draw distance, but many missions require you to navigate small areas that cause the camera to forget its job and simply become stuck. Appaloosa tried to provide alternatives with a first-person mode, but it's even more troubling to navigate from that perspective. When Jaws performs a particularly cool maneuver or comes under attack, the game switches to a cinematic viewpoint, and don't be surprised if the game never switches back. A quick tap of the camera button remedies this, but it's an unnecessary headache that's especially troublesome during the game's scattered boss battles.

The camera causes havoc on the game's most important bit: combat. You're a methodical, dangerous shark roaming Amity Island for the sheer pleasure of causing rampant destruction and personalized pain, but it's a little hard to get enthused about the possibilities when the camera prevents you from focusing in on a target. The game attempts to rectify this with "Shark Vision," which highlights your different edible options on the screen and a specific targeting mode, but when you're forced to move your hand onto the directional pad in order to take advantage of it, it's altogether useless. Players have enough going on with manipulating the shark's jaws, special attacks and movements with the analog sticks and face and shoulder buttons, and moving over the d-pad is hardly a reasonable option -- unless you like endlessly confusing your eye-hand coordination, that is.

There could have been plenty of minor frustrations avoided if Appaloosa had restructured the way Jaws functions. Case in point: it makes little sense for players to be forced into continually pressing R1 to keep something in Jaws' mouth. Movement requires holding X, holding onto an object requires holding R1 -- you're supposed to keep this awkward hand positioning in place while simultaneously moving both analog sticks to keep Jaws headed in the right direction? Just thinking about it gives me a headache. This quickly leads to endless frustration during the game's otherwise entertainingly set up missions, which have players eating everything in sight, blowing up entire factories and generally ruining the summer for Amity Island's vacationers.

Good luck figuring out what most of the objectives mean, though. Jaws Unleashed has a nasty habit of pointing out what you're supposed to be doing, but giving little-to-no explanation on how to actually do it. The game's tutorial explains the different moves available to Jaws, sure, but doesn't explain advanced techniques such as picking up an explosive barrel in your jaws, placing it in the water and then smashing it with your nose to cause an explosion (one that, if you don't have enough health, can actually kill you).

There might even be an easier, less dangerous way to accomplish what's already been described, but have fun figuring it out on your own; the game does its best to remain mysterious and vague. It's really this criticism that topples Jaws Unleashed; the camera and control problems can be forgiven every time you successfully rip a human to shreds and rip a killer whale a new one. However, spending 30 minutes aimlessly wondering around because you can't figure out what random part of the environment you're supposed to manipulate or sequence of moves to string together to topple a structure is unforgivable.

It's all really too bad. Even though Jaws is just about the last movie you'd expect to make a decent video game, controlling a giant shark with a taste for human blood is an undeniably cool concept. There's no reason a Jaws-like game couldn't actually work, but even die-hard fans are better off waiting for the inevitable price drop and picking up another copy of the movie's DVD.