A must play for fans of the show, but not much else...
24 is the game that is based the popular television show on FOX. You play the game primarily as 24's lead super agent Jack Bauer, but will sometimes get to take control of supporting characters like Tony Almeida, Chase Edmunds, Kim Bauer, or Michelle Dressler in a variety of different game types. Being a HUGE 24 fan, I had high hopes for this game, but walked away only slightly satisfied.
The games lowest aspects of this game is its overall clunky feel and uninspired gameplay. The game consists of three or four styles, shooting/stealth, driving, and mini-game puzzles, and all needed more time in the oven. The shooting portions reminded me a lot of games like James Bond: Everything or Nothing and James Bond: From Russia With Love. Actually the entire game reminded me of EoN/FRWL, and as much as I'm convinced that Jack Bauer would crush James Bond's martini olives in a cage match, the Bond games are still (even years later) the better games overall. The camera is quite simply broken. A.I. (especially if you're dragging an NPC along for the ride) is one step below that of a garden slug. Puzzles are mind numbingly simple and the car chases are wince inducingly bad. I actually dreaded the thought that the next level might be driving. All marks up for the mentioned Bond games being the superior games because they didn't suffer from any of these problems. The game does have a pretty fresh feeling "interrogation" mechanic that has Jack pressing different criminals for information. Jack has to choose whether to press hard and try to force the information or be more tactful and more gentle. There's a stress meter near the bottom of the screen that tells you if the criminal is over or under stressed and it has to be kept at a medium level or they will clam up and not share anything. It only comes up a couple of times in the game, but it's a fun little mini game none the less.
On the other side of the fence the games highest marks come with the storyline and overall variety of gameplay. The game's story and cut scenes are almost essential viewing for fans and I was shocked when, what I thought would be a complete throw away story, ended up being highly entertaining. The presentation is top shelf with some really nice dot connecting between seasons 2 & 3 of the television show. Throw in the actual actors doing the voice work, and it lends that much more weight to the fairly engrossing storyline. I was also impressed with the overall level design and the feeling that I wasn't doing the same things over and over again. The levels are pretty linear, but none felt as though I were back tracking or going thru the same-ish type environments. From CTU, to subway tunnels, to abandoned hotels, to earthquake ravaged high rises, to enemy lairs, the mixture of levels was a very nice thing. It had a nice blend of styles and forward momentum, just like the show.
All in all, this is absolutely a game made for fans of the show, but doesn't really feel like a game for anyone else but those die hard fans. The potential is there, but with only half the polish. The next game (if they do one) should concentrate less on trying to please only the fans of the television show and more on trying to please the fans of the show and the fans of video games.
+Great presentation that captures the feel of the show
+Good voice acting
+Engaging story
-Shooting controls are sloppy
-Driving controls are horrendous
-Puzzle sections are lame
-Has a very poor, unfinished quality to its gameplay
