24: The Game PS2 Review Philadelphia PA

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It's universally accepted that Jack Bauer's a very, very hard man that you don't want to cross. Ever. Well, unless you enjoy the idea that your last few seconds on this earth will be spent staring down the barrel of his gun - and that the proceeding twenty minutes of your existence will have been spent being pistol whipped by this very same firearm. What then, would Jack Bauer make of Sony's game of his televisual exploits?

Well, on the one hand, he'd probably be quite captivated by its attention to detail, especially when it comes to recreating the "feel" of a season of 24. Naturally, the ever-present ticking clock is on hand, although sadly there aren't that many instances where time is truly pressing on Jack's time. All the voicework is correct - including the stilted but accurate performance of Keifer Sutherland - and the plot's even been written by a genuine 24 hack. For those that care, the action takes place in-between seasons 2 and 3, so as long as you can deal with the rather odd premise that the events within aren't really mentioned at later times in the series chronology, you'll find it as engaging plotwise as the "real thing". The plot is quite core to the game, so this will be one of those reviews that skips over it - just be assured that you can play as most of the main cast of 24 at one time or another in a fairly realistic fashion.

Jack would also be able to instantly recognise the in game people and settings, as there has been a lot of care taken to recreate the world of 24. This runs from decently pre-rendered scripted scenes featuring the entire CTU cast, to action sequences with that jerky handheld look that the series does so well. The classic sets of the series - including the CTU offices - all pop up, and there's plenty of action involving cracking codes, smashing down doors and firing wildly at the bad guys through explosions, doom and gloom. There are even a few classic villains popping up from place to place, although it'd be churlish to spoil any of the surprises on hand.

It's worth noting that, just like the TV series, you won't be sitting through 24 hours of real game time to play 24: The Game. Where the TV series substitutes advertisments (and the occasional time jump for the hell of it), each game sequence in a given hour takes up a set amount of time, with anywhere between two to four mini-missions to be completed in each hour. Action begins at 6am; we'll let the mathematically inclined amongst you work out when it's going to finish.