24 to get the videogame treatment?

By Kristan Reed Published 10 January, 2005

Presumably featuring 24 hours of backstabbing, double crossing gameplay, Trust no one.

24 is set to get the videogame treatment late this year, with Sony reportedly bagging the license to Fox's all-action counter-terrorist-busting TV hit starring Keifer Sutherland.

News of the title slipped out some time ago when one of the show's stars Elisha Cuthbert mentioned it during a BBC Radio One interview, but recent months have put Sony in the frame - and most recently those whispers have turned into more concrete reports, with the normally reliable UK Official PlayStation 2 magazine including the game as part of its 100 Most Wanted supplement in the January issue.

Sony's Cambridge Studio (Medieval, C-13, Primal, Ghost Hunter) has reportedly been working on the title for some time, with UK development sources close to the studio confirming our suspicions recently.

Official word has been less forthcoming, though, with Sony's own press office apparently out of the loop with developments. Sony's UK representative Jennie Kong could offer no official confirmation at this point. "I don't have it on my schedule," was the most recent comment we could extract. "[We did see] it in OPS2M on their schedule but there isn't anything official on it. I have no idea where they have got that from."

Excitable rumour or no smoke without fire? Given the snippets of information we can gather so far and reliability of sources, we'd say this was more unconfirmed fact than idle gossip.

As a game, it'll be interesting to see how the TV show's time-based dynamic translates to a videogame. Having watched all 72 episodes (so far) of the escapades of the Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU) it's fair to say the explosive subject matter at hand lends itself exceptionally well to numerous videogame genres, particularly third or first-person combat, stealth, driving, and even flying.

With the pressure of real-time decision-making playing a key role in the show (each series being a real-time enactment of a day in the life of the CTU) and a large number of core characters to choose from, there's a large amount of rich source material to pillage. But how the game's 24 hours will be structured is likely to be a logistical headache that no other development team has previously faced. For example, how do you structure a coherent game that runs in real-time with multiple story threads all running concurrently? Needless to say, with most events in the TV series always being mission-critical and time-sensitive, expect a series of tense, against the clock set-pieces that all interweave towards averting certain global disaster.

With a sizeable budget behind it and a large potential worldwide audience, there's every chance Sony will be able to get the full voiceover support from the original actors, including Kiefer Sutherland (Jack Bauer), Dennis Haysbert (David Palmer), Carlos Bernard (Tony Almeda) and James Badge Dale (Chase Edmunds). But with various characters having been written out of the series at the end of the third run, it'll be interesting to see which of the cast will make it into the game, and in which timeline the game will be set in.

With a release date reportedly set for the end of this year, we're expecting to hear full confirmation in the run up to E3, with the game's premier likely to coincide with the LA-based event. More news as soon as we hear more.

Picture of Kristan.

About Kristan Reed

Kristan is a former editor of Eurogamer, dad, Stone Roses bore and Norwich City supporter who sometimes mutters optimistically about Team Silent getting back together.

Read more articles from Kristan by visiting the Kristan Reed archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (33) Latest comment 7 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • dadrester #1 7 years ago

    snakeeeeeeee!!!!! i mean jaaaaaack

  • rauper Verified Managing Director, Eurogamer Network #2 7 years ago

    /smart ass mode on

    There's been 74 episodes so far ;)

  • krudster #3 7 years ago

    72 over here!

  • MonkeyMatters #4 7 years ago

    hmm....

  • Blerk #5 7 years ago

    Will it really last 24 hours?

    Aaaaaaaaaaanyway. 24 turned rubbish at series 3. And pardon me if I don't get dreadfully excited by the prospect of another Cambridge Studio game.

  • MonkeyMatters #6 7 years ago

    i agree with Blerk that series 3 was definately not upto par with the 1st two series(which were excellent)

    I'm hoping season 4 is gonna be a lot better.

  • krudster #7 7 years ago

    Series 3 was a bit letdown after the first two excellent series. Apparently series 4 has a very different cast, so we'll see. Looking forward to the new Six Feet Under series, personally.

  • dadrester #8 7 years ago

    i thought c-12 was meant to be really good. never played it myself but still. for me the closest thing to 24 in terms of games would be metal gear solid, about the right length, highly cinematic, twisty (sometimes convoluted) plot. right on

  • Blerk #9 7 years ago

    Looking forward to the new Six Feet Under series, personally.

    Me too. Please don't make a game about it, though.

  • tengu #10 7 years ago

    Actually, on the subject of TV show games, whatever happened to the game of 'The Shield'?

    Haven't heard anything about it in ages.

  • Tyronne #11 7 years ago

    Will this game have those `oh ffs` moments where every hour things could of been different had people met up by just seconds, which you can believe for a few times but once it reaches 24 episodes you want to kick the telly in.

  • Cyclone #12 7 years ago

    24 got a lot better towards the end of season 3 i have to say. Hopefully season 4 will be quite good as well. The mostly new cast should make it interesting as we'll not know who's going to get it next.

  • Tiitiz #13 7 years ago

    I've only seen series 3 and I thought that was rather good :)

    I have 2 on DVD which I plan to watch sometime but I guess I really should see the 1st first

  • Mr_Sleep #14 7 years ago

    "Presumably featuring 24 hours of backstabbing, double crossing gameplay, Trust no one."

    Don't you mean 18 hours?

  • Thamuhacha #15 7 years ago

    >"Is this what will happen to gaming?

    Licensed games based not only on movies, but TV-series as well?"

    Erm ... like Knight Rider and Miami Vice?

    We are well on the way ...

  • krudster #16 7 years ago

    Well, with no ad breaks, maybe we will get 24 hours instead of the less-snappy "18"...

  • tengu #17 7 years ago

    Another thing, isn't it a bit odd how all those cliff hanger moments in 24 always seem to happen 'on the hour'?

  • dadrester #18 7 years ago

    Sounds pants
    without wishing to sound like i'm having a go... what the fuck are you on about "sounds pants"? No details on plot, gamplay, genre or if it's definitely even being made! (although it blatantly is)

    at least blerk waits until there's at least one solid fact before dismissing stuff ;)

  • Tomo #19 7 years ago

    Is it to much to think that this could be promising?! What with usual licensed efforts...
    Anyway...I'm feeling twinges of excitement! If this is any good I'll be a very happy man.

    Edited by 1 at 10/01/05 @ 17:44

  • malloc #20 7 years ago

    Pikmin with terrorists then?

    Sounds a good idea with the 'cult' success of the series. Not sure how the game would work though. An out and out shooter wouldn't be faithful to 24, but not sure an adventure style game would be either.

    Hope they do it justice. BTW which platforms? Just PS2 or multiplatform?

  • Artemus #21 7 years ago

    The final half of S3 was at very good if finally anti-climatic. Saunders was easily the best enemy they've had.

    As for the game - 24 guaranteed levels or it takes 24 hours to complete! Or its a GTA affair with loads of ridiculous time limits.

  • Royal Fool #22 7 years ago

    Christ, how could Sony possible hand such a valuable license over to their Cambridge studio? They've proven themselves capable of producing nothing but mediocre half-arsed attempts at games.

    Ok, I'll admit that their Medievil games were successful. But Ghosthunter, Primal and C-12 are all evil, evil games that don't deserve praise of any sort and any available copies of them should be recycled for plastic. Seriously. I want my money back for Ghosthunter, it's so awfully made.

    "Hope they do it justice. BTW which platforms? Just PS2 or multiplatform?"

    It's a Sony studio, do you have to ask? :)

  • malloc #23 7 years ago

    I guessed it would be PS2, but was wondering if there may be a PC version.

  • tengu #24 7 years ago

    I suppose so, but the ones the shows tend to finish on are always the 'big' cliffhanger moments, like when a traitor is revealed (Which, admittedly, is quite often) or someone is captured.

    I realise that it's TV show mechanics at work and they need these cliff hangers, but when you're selling a show like 24 on it's real time 'realistic' structure, then stuff like that is obviously going to stand out a bit more than it would in something like, say, Alias.

  • nicktids #25 7 years ago

    season 4 has just started in america now and play are doing the first 3 series for 17.99 each in there sale.

  • space_ace #26 7 years ago

    24 to life?

  • Eighthours #27 7 years ago

    All killer no filler please. If there's a single level of Kim running away from a puma or a character getting amnesia.......

  • Dougs #28 7 years ago

    They're all the bleeding same, all 3 series. The most frustrating experience being seeing what scrapes Kim will get herself into (dunno if she's in Series 4 though), and totally ridiculous scenarios. All good fun though.

    And I bet most junkies wish they could kick the scag as quickly as Jack did.....

  • BradlayLaw #29 7 years ago

    76 episodes now.

    Nice to see Jack going from upstanding citizen to loose cannon in the space of 40 minutes.

  • Captain Fetid #30 7 years ago

    24 is teh suck.

    No, really.

  • Kiigan #31 7 years ago

    Jack Bauer is still a cool hero. And CTU is cool. And stupidly elaborate conspiracies are cool. I think you can make a good game out of this.

    Can't wait for series 4.

  • Madder-Max #32 7 years ago

    24 got boring before the end of the 1st series with everyone looking miserable and pious with the odd half-smile cracked here and there in a manner that suggests that smiling had been outlawed!

  • 3william56 #33 7 years ago

    There's no way anyone will finish this: each time you come to a level playing the irritating daughter, you'll immediately run under a truck.

    Would love to play as the Evil Presidential Wife though. B*tch of the decade.