24: The Game Review

By Tom Bramwell Published 8 March, 2006

Jack of all trades.

Version tested: PlayStation 2

It's a little known fact, but I actually live on the same street as Jack Bauer. It's true I do. Sometimes I bump into him in the bakery, and he grabs me by the lapels and shouts "TELL ME WHERE THE BREAD IS" and I point over the counter. Then he'll walk out munching a donut and shouting "TELL ME WHICH SIDE THE JAM IS ON". We get on quite well. I mean, there was that occasion I said I didn't know what time it was and he forced me to part-swallow a tea towel and then ripped out my stomach lining, but I understand why he did it. Jack is a man of ACTION.

(And a man of STEALTH and of DRIVING and of MINI-GAMES.)

I doubt he'd like 24: The Game though, because it just won't let you get on with your GOD DAMN investigation. All the time it's grabbing you by the aiming reticule and saying "come on, point it over here" or whispering in your ear that you need to go over here or over there. At times the layout and gameplay styles encourage you to think it's about to open up the whole of Los Angeles for you to explore, but it never gives you any real freedom. It's riding shotgun to the director, basically, and Jack's a man who "plays by his own rules" as one character points out (unskippably over and over and over again every single time, should you reload the mission).

'24: The Game' Screenshot chase

See what Chase got up to 'back in the day' (hint: shooting people etc.)

Mind you, SCEE Cambridge has done a wicked job of the production side of it all. The cut-scenes use the real actors, they're all brilliantly modelled and barrel through the dialogue with all the usual high-speed solemnity (despite having recorded all their lines separately, the script's pregnant pauses and Jack's peculiar ambivalence help suspend disbelief), and the camerawork is full of natty zooms and split-screen; it feels more like a "partner product" than a fanboy fantasy.

We wandered into a bit of marketing babble there, but that probably just reflects the mood: this is 24 done in the same vein as EA's recent James Bond games; a big budget mixture of convincing in-game cinematics and unconvincing gameplay stuffed around the edges. And so, for similar reasons, it falls down. Firstly, it's largely incapable of doing memorable moments outside the cut-scenes. This is bad in general (it's a computer game, remember), but you could still advocate buying it if it offered 18 hours' worth of edgy narrative content like the TV show. But since it's more like an hour's worth of good content with crap gameplay shoehorned in where possible, it just comes off as very cynical for the same reasons the Bond games do.

Put it this way: if you are writing a 24 story for a computer game, which you know you want to include a variety of gameplay styles, why not write one that includes a variety of new ideas, instead of just obsessing over how best to capture Kiefer Sutherland's face? At one point, Tony Almeda's chasing a man through some alleyways behind a row of shops, and the guy is hurling boxes into his trail, rolling out wheelie bins, knocking over ladders - anything - to try and stop Almeda getting to him. It's an easy, straightforward level to complete, but it's arguably more satisfying than any of the others in the entire game because it's handled really well and it doesn't fit into the usual generic range of action game activities.

'24: The Game' Screenshot reality

In reality you just walk round, press L1, R1, flick stick, R1, then move on again.

The rest, unfortunately, do, and they all seem hell-bent and forcing you to follow orders. Any sign of mutiny - use of free-aim, taking a different route in the car, anything - usually costs you health, time or just robs the game of any fluidity. So you run through some rooms toward the objective on your mini-map, and when you see enemies you hold L1 to aim and R1 to fire, and then use the right analogue stick to flick the big yellow dumb-head aiming circle to your next victim. To give it some edge you can crouch behind cover and duck out to fire, move around with L1 depressed so that you're following your gun down stairways and through doorways as though you're a real tactically trained policeman. But there's no point: enemies are so thick that you're amazed they can operate their guns (some of them can't), and auto-aim usually means anything tricky is conquered before it's troublesome. Plus, manually aiming actually put you in greater danger. Observe the rules of 24, Jack! Caution is awkward!

It's not just Jack though; sometimes you get Kim, or Michelle, or Chase, or someone like that. Sometimes you even get techies - with bomb defusal and data recovery mini-games. These are simple logic or reaction games. Data recovery gives you a disk fragmentation chart with coloured blocks and you have to press a particular button that corresponds to the colour selected as the cursor flicks around the screen. Defusal or door-hacking means charting a path for a circuit breaker by picking from one of a few routes. But it's too simple. Are we honestly saying that the best things we can find to emulate CTU activities are Wac-A-Mole and those squiggly line mazes drawn on kids' McDonald's place-sets? In fact, don't insult the kids - at least those mazes had more than three lines.

Stealth isn't much better: you have a tazer (which is, for the purposes of the level, instant death for anyone within five feet), a special silent walking mode, MGS-style radar tracking, big yellow arrows telling you where to go, and usually a CTU helper whispering instructions like "go slowly through the vents" in your ear. Stealth is meant to be tense: this is just slow. Speaking of slow, all of the cars in 24: The Game are powered by pedals and feel like they're completely clapped out at that. The most challenging thing about the driving missions is the ones about losing pursuers, who crawl along after you like OJ Simpson's parade of paddywagons. It's just boring. The most exhilarating bit of the game is sniping, because it's the only bit that requires you to actually demonstrate a modicum of skill. Everything else is 24 for idiots: at one point Jack has to trick his way into a building by fooling a receptionist into thinking he's someone else, with a conversation branch that offers you an obvious choice like "I need a visitor's pass please" next to alternatives like "LET ME IN I AM JACK BAUER ZOMG".

'24: The Game' Screenshot explode

Sometimes the other cars explode. Probably out of boredom.

It's all competent without being competitive or inventive. And, perhaps predictably, it rarely follows the TV series into the realms of controversy. The baddies might bait Jack a bit by mentioning how purrrdy his daughter is, but when he comes to interrogate a suspect who has live, right-this-second info about people trying to kill the vice president, Jack just paces around the room a bit. Interrogation is handled by trying to coax the detainee into a particular band on the heart-rate monitor by questioning him vigorously, choosing from three levels of aggression for each volley. But its execution is that of a crude videogame idea that doesn't really work in practice, with awkwardly assertive repetition and total 180s in tone and attitude, and very little actual intimidation to justify a breakthrough. Shonkiest of all, the first interrogation bloke continually complains you shot him; I subdued him by running up to him and decking him with a rifle butt. Oops.

24: The Game isn't a bad game, but it isn't a new, interesting or exciting one either. It's one of those depressing tie-in games where the proposal came before the creativity - as, I suspect from the banality of all the interactive sequences, did the script. As a result, fun is had when you are not pressing buttons. Attempts to graft show trademarks onto the generic game ideas come off poorly (split-screen views are disorientating, technical mini-games tediously simplistic), and although 24 fans will enjoy seeing what Jack got up to between seasons two and three, how Chase came into things and what happened on Kim's first day as an intern, here the gameplay needed to provide the tension, drama and excitement to go with the cut-scene foil; instead it just provides the procedural backdrop to the plot events.

6 / 10

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy
Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (67) Latest comment 6 years ago

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

  • ecureuil #1 6 years ago

    Jack Bauer is a legend. \o/

  • therev #2 6 years ago

    ANother 6/10!

    Is the Eurogamer Scoring Computer stuck, or something?

  • dudefella #3 6 years ago

    6/10 seems slightly generous even, given the review. Wasn't really expecting much more of this though, especially after the demo, though I was secretly hoping...

  • Bitkari #4 6 years ago

    This game would have been a 7 if it had Ye Olde Kim-in-Jeopardy sub-plot.

  • UncleLou #5 6 years ago

    Great review. Bit of a shame, but not unexpected.

    On a sidenote, Jack Bauer once arm wrestled Superman. The stipulations were the loser had to wear his underwear on the outside of his pants.


    I am sorry.
    /coat

  • Huntcjna #6 6 years ago

    It does have a ye old kim in jeapordy subplot.

  • Blerk #7 6 years ago

    Sony Cambridge do brilliant graphics and engines, I just wish someone would teach them how to make games.

  • rauper Verified Managing Director, Eurogamer Network #8 6 years ago

    "ANother 6/10!

    Is the Eurogamer Scoring Computer stuck, or something?"

    It just happens from time to time. We have been through periods of lots of 9's, 8's, 7's, 6's, 5's in the past.... bound to happen when we review so many games!

  • Darkedge #9 6 years ago

    "It does have a ye old kim in jeapordy subplot."

    Oh fecking hoo ray.


    4.5/10 from the review but that news puts it down to 3-4 for me.

  • HarryB #10 6 years ago

    Sometimes the other cars explode. Probably out of boredom.


    hahaha, i love it.

  • Furbs #11 6 years ago

    Hey raups, since you're reading, is there going to be a GRAW review this week?

  • smelly #12 6 years ago

    DS FANBOYS!!!

  • bionutz #13 6 years ago

    Bauer is unhappy, see the picture? ;)

  • tom_macey #14 6 years ago

    does the game take 24 hours to finish

  • rauper Verified Managing Director, Eurogamer Network #15 6 years ago

    Furbs: It'll be a close call whether the review is ready this week or early next as we didn't get code that early. Stay tuned...

  • Furbs #16 6 years ago

    Yeah I thought that might be the case, very few places (only seen IGN/Team*box so far) seem to have been treated to review code!

    Not that it matters, I dont think many people are fussed about waiting for reviews. Would much rather the reviewer had a chance to try it out on Live as well as have a good go on the SP mode.

    Anyway, you can go about your 24 business now :)

  • Psi #17 6 years ago

    hot coffee mod where you get to do his daughter would sell it to me!

  • Artemus #18 6 years ago

    4.5/10 from the review but that news puts it down to 3-4 for me.

    Or you could actually y'know play the game.

  • Kingsadist #19 6 years ago

    Anyone seen the Gamespot video-review of this game? I thought it was hilarious!

    "So, in conclusion...uhm.....ah....6.2!! OH GOD!! *BOOM*"

    Priceless.

  • Darkedge #20 6 years ago

    "Or you could actually y'know play the game"
    well eurogame might as well close down then as there is no point to the reviews then you fool.
    Reviews filter out tedious dross like this so I don't have to play it and find out how slooow and restricted this game seems to be.

  • Artemus #21 6 years ago

    "Or you could actually y'know play the game"
    well eurogame might as well close down then as there is no point to the reviews then you fool.
    Reviews filter out tedious dross like this so I don't have to play it and find out how slooow and restricted this game seems to be.

    Sorry but you're clearly the fool by basing your opinion on a game on someone else's opinion. How about making your own mind up? Reviews are a guide, not the be all and end all.
    Edited by 1 at 08/03/06 @ 15:06

  • dr-gray #22 6 years ago

    lol@ps2

  • PearOfAnguish #23 6 years ago

    Did anyone see episode 11 and 12 of series 5 yet??

  • rauper Verified Managing Director, Eurogamer Network #24 6 years ago

    There's a thread about the latest episodes on the forum, check it out

  • el_pollo_diablo #25 6 years ago

    Artemus:
    Darkedge does have a point. Kim getting into some sort of peril or other has happened, what, 3 times in the tv show? It was starting to become a joke.

    That it happens here, AGAIN, is not to be ignored!

    :)

  • jack_klugman #26 6 years ago

    WHO ARE YOU WORKING FOR?

  • Teeth #27 6 years ago

    WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE GOGGLES?

  • MrAtheist #28 6 years ago

    "SAYS WHO?"

    "IT CAME DIRECT FROM DIVISION"

  • teabagger #29 6 years ago

    Has anyone seen the milkman?

  • Artemus #30 6 years ago

    el_pollo_diablo, sorry but I personally wouldn't knock a game score down because of that. Anyway my issue was with the fact he was passing judgement on a game based on someone elses opinion.

  • the_jamaster #31 6 years ago

    Shame. But I suppose if SCEE Cambridge are making it you can't really have high hopes.

  • smelly #32 6 years ago

    I WORK ON THE PHONE LINES.

  • Kingsadist #33 6 years ago

    OVER TIME, MY HUSBAND WILL FIND ME LESS DESIRABLE.

    Shameless Psychonauts plug ahoy!

  • megastar #34 6 years ago

    censored again

    :o(

    does the clock start at 24 and wind down in this game?
    Edited by 1 at 08/03/06 @ 16:55

  • Spud_leg_wizz #35 6 years ago

    From the makers of Ghost Hunter and Primal!

    Sony must once again be really pleased with the Cambridge team.

  • teabagger #36 6 years ago

    yay for psychonaughts!

    can go home soon to play it... or shadow of the colossus... or katamari...

    *head explodes from excess gaming happiness*

  • El_MUERkO #37 6 years ago

    awe, glad i cancelled my preorder, i'll pick it up in a sale or secondhand, its a real pity, maybe it'll have a worthwhile sequal on the 360 or PS3

  • tengu #38 6 years ago

    I kinda liked the demo. Nothing great by any stretch of the imagination, but it was simple and fun, can't ask for much more than that. 6/10 is a respectable enough score, though I'll likely wait until the game is sub-20 quid before buying.

  • Feanor #39 6 years ago

    Hard to take Tom's reviews seriously at the moment without some explanation of the Lemmings debacle. Won't bother reading this one as I've no interest in buying the game.
    Edited by 2 at 08/03/06 @ 17:29

  • el_pollo_diablo #40 6 years ago

    el_pollo_diablo, sorry but I personally wouldn't knock a game score down because of that. Anyway my issue was with the fact he was passing judgement on a game based on someone elses opinion.

    Fair enough, but (1) for a game so reliant on story, story is important! And (2) to be fair, I trust the reviews here in the main. I might have picked up 50 Cent Bulletproof* for example, but without reading the review how would I find out, if nothing else, that the game is totally broken. That's someone else's opinion, and I welcome it.

    * highly unlikely, but there you go.

  • stoopidgreg #41 6 years ago

    another 6... i think 50% of EG reviews over the last 2 months have been 6's

  • stoopidgreg #42 6 years ago

    ok, this has really been bugging me. i started noticing it about 2 months ago, EG started giving way too many 6's. i just checked and of the 10 reviews on the front page (not including electroplankton as it doesn't have a score), 7 of them got 6's. that's 700% more 6's than there should be on average.

    what the hell is going on?

  • Artemus #43 6 years ago

    Fair enough, but (1) for a game so reliant on story, story is important! And (2) to be fair, I trust the reviews here in the main. I might have picked up 50 Cent Bulletproof* for example, but without reading the review how would I find out, if nothing else, that the game is totally broken. That's someone else's opinion, and I welcome it.


    What I'm saying is I find it pretty stupid someone saying "i'd give the game a '4'. I haven't actually played it but that seems about right."

  • Larkhill Jo #44 6 years ago

    They let him do another review?

  • Stickman #45 6 years ago

    stoopidgreg, I think you have me on ignore, but I'll say it anyway: WTF are you on about?

    "7 of them got 6's. that's 700% more 6's than there should be on average."

    Seriously, what?!

  • smelly #46 6 years ago

    I am the milkman. My milk is delicious.

  • smelly #47 6 years ago

    I'm part of the road crew. This is my stop sign

  • Tomo #48 6 years ago

    6/10... Arf. I'm SO tempted, being a fanboi and all.

    7/10 would have been must have, now it's a tough decision :/

  • wolfen #49 6 years ago

    at one point Jack has to trick his way into a building by fooling a receptionist into thinking he's someone else, with a conversation branch that offers you an obvious choice like "I need a visitor's pass please" next to alternatives like "LET ME IN I AM JACK BAUER ZOMG".
    The second is the right one, no? Smoothness and Jack Bauer are two things that don't go along that we... *hears door being crashed*

    A shame, I was expecting this one to be at least interesting.

  • toy_brain #50 6 years ago

    6/10 is the exact same score that Eurogamer gave Ghosthunter when they reviewed it - so at least Sony Cambridge are being consistent :p

    I have to admit to having a soft-spot for their games, though its mostly due to their gothic stylings and light (somewhat americanised) humour, coupled with a solid graphics engine and innofensive (I.E. easy) gameplay.
    Given that this game seems to lack Sony Cambridge's usual gothic flair, I'll probably pass - or get it when it goes below the £20 mark.
    I'm not a fan of 24 either....

  • tenma #51 6 years ago

    does EG have a fixation with the Devil's number or something?

  • Tomo #52 6 years ago

    at one point Jack has to trick his way into a building by fooling a receptionist into thinking he's someone else, with a conversation branch that offers you an obvious choice like "I need a visitor's pass please" next to alternatives like "LET ME IN I AM JACK BAUER ZOMG".

    Massive LOLs.

    I'd agree tho, reading the review - the game sounds pretty shit. More like a 4/10 :/
    Edited by 1 at 08/03/06 @ 23:23

  • stoopidgreg #53 6 years ago

    stickman i don't have anyone on ignore.

    what i said makes sense (in my twisted brain anyway). if you have 10 reviews all rated out of 10 then you could expect that, in a perfect world - not accounting for randomness or anything - one game would get a 1, one game would get a 2, one game would get a 3 and so on. so you should expect that only 1 of the 10 games should get a 6. but EG have given 7 games a 6. i know i know it's all about the quality of the games released this month, etc, but it just seems a bit disproportionate. over the last couple of months there have been a disproportionately large number of 6-reviews, and i noticed it long before any of the reviews on the front page were up.

    anyway, that's just my rant, but it does strike me as a bit odd.

  • Stickman #54 6 years ago

    Ha, sorry, I just didn't get it!

    I suppose though, if you look at the median score as being a 5, and add in personal knowledge that, basically, most games are just above average fun to play, then 6 probably will crop up more than, say, 1-3 or 8-10. I think it just so happens that most games released recently have been bog-standard, by-the-numbers fare.

  • MrAtheist #55 6 years ago

    Right dudes - history lesson coming up...

    Since the dawn of time (computer mags early 80s) 'reviewers' have reviewed games on some sort of 1-10 scale (out of ten, percentages, out of 1000 etc etc.) Now you would think that 'reviewers' would use the entire range of scores available eg crap game scores 1/10, decent game scores 7/10...

    BUT NO HOLD YOUR HORSES. The mighty game publishers have this ENORMOUS SPANNER and by god its going to get thrown into the works. Now this spanner may have printed on the side "adverts" or maybe "local pub lunch and free booze" or even "trip to New York for you and the other half". Its like a free lucky-dip, all you have to do is give cack games 6/10. Anyways a mighty champion arose and said "I aint like those other mags giving 7/10 to shite games our reviews are HONEST" but what this shady bastard didnt let on was the new reviewing scale was only used WHEN IT SUITED HIM (no stuff)...

    So the average score of all game reviews ever is 7/10, because all games are mint & stuff...BUT THEN a newer mightier stylez champion arose and proclaimed "Ignore the scores, who cares, apples & oranges, i will call you back when I get back from New York" but he got kicked in the nuts before an even newer champion proclaimed "lets do away away with the scores full stop im tired of this pin the tail on the donkey crap" but the publisher kicked him in the nuts and all was ok with the world in the end, from this day forward cack games got 6/10...

  • Dirtie #56 6 years ago

    LET ME IN I AM JACK BAUER ZOMG

  • Teeth #57 6 years ago

    LOL ANUTHER 6 LOLz DO I DETECT A PATTARN

  • stoopidgreg #58 6 years ago

    I JUST GASSED CTU ZOMG LOL

  • Daikon #59 6 years ago

    Any word on the Japanese version, is it dubbed? Once saw 24 in Japanese, the voice of the guy doing Jack Bauer's voice was at least two octaves lower than Kiefer Sutherland's. Hilarious!

  • Carrybagma #60 6 years ago

    I like the way the number 24 remains in the corner of all the screenshots. Is that a feature?

    /ticks the "tell me what game I'm playing" box

    PS. regarding scores, has anyone actually averaged EG scores? Has anyone actually averaged gamerankings scores?

  • Triggerhappytel #61 6 years ago

    "Sony Cambridge do brilliant graphics and engines, I just wish someone would teach them how to make games." - Blerk

    Very true. All of their PS2 games are some of the finest looking on the system (Primal, Ghosthunter and now 24), but seem to be vacant of any gameplay, so to speak. They do flawless design and production, but the action/exploration elements are awkward and poorly implemented.

    Here's hoping they can sort themselves out for PS3...

  • reality_cheque #62 6 years ago

    Reviews that are based on a 1-10 scoring system would have more 4-6 scores than anything else, assuming game quality is evenly distributed across a bell curve.

    However released games will generally not fall into the lower categories, as people who deal with the money will rarely want to release a game that's poor enough to warrant a 1 or 2 out of 10; it hurts their reputation and they can save money by not having to produce the actual game or do any serious marketting for it - making the project less of a huge write off.

    Bearing this in mind, I expect that 6/10 is probably the mean (average for the non maths geeks) for released games, with maybe 50% of games falling into the 5-7 group.

  • Carrybagma #63 6 years ago

    I suspect that many review sites feel uncomfortable giving scores of 5 or less, preferring 6 to 9 as a means of offending the least number of readers. EG isn't quite like that though, but given that it doesn't appear to even bother with the typical tat that warrants

  • Zuiyo #64 6 years ago

    Eurogamer to be renamed as Sixoutoftenmer.

    Sixoutoftenmer.net domain is available!

  • Lagto_Soa #65 6 years ago

    Once saw 24 in Japanese

    I can't even begin to imagine. But I'd buy the box set.

  • dudefella #66 6 years ago

    I work in the sewers. Although I often smell of excrement, I should not be discriminated against as I provide a valuable service.

  • ChocNut #67 6 years ago

    I bought this game and played it for about 20 minutes. It sucked so much balls I couldnt be arsed playing any further.

    Returned it for the Godfather - which is pretty good so far.

    24 the show is fantastic this season btw