"How can Jack Bauer have so many bad days?"

The following game takes place between a score of 7, and a score of 9. It was a lot better than I expected. Yes the TV show itself is well done and has a neat concept, but can it translate to a video game? Surprisingly yes.

STORY
Now I don't watch the show unfortunately, but from what I know of the bonus material, the game apparently takes place between Season 2 and 3, and answers questions a lot of fans may have. You follow Jack Bauer and the CTU as they try to prevent a terrorist group from doing some shady dealings...again. And it all takes place in a 24 timeline...sorta.

GRAPHICS
The game has a HUGE amount of cutscenes, and they are so well directed and so well presented that you'll feel like you're watching the show...even if hours seem to pass like minutes. The graphics are well done. Everyone seems to have a fake mannequin feeling to them, but hey that's video games in general. It's just a great sight to behold. This isn't just a TV show adaptation, this is how video game scenes should be directed period. The locations look great, the character models look great, the menus and overall feel just look great. It's awesome, period.

SOUND
The audio matches the quality of the graphics. Of course all the stars of the show lend their voices to the game. Kiefer Sutherland is Jack Bauer, Elisha Cuthbert is Kim Bauer, that black guy is the president. The great music also translates well, and the sound effects of the timer too. And they also got the great line in between each hour. "The following takes place between 7:00AM, and 8:00AM." I got giddy as a school girl everytime I heard that!

GAMEPLAY
But does the gameplay do justice to the show? Thank god yes, and it makes for one entertaining video game. The game has many different gameplay aspects and some are great, some are horrible. The game is an action thrill ride, so of course there'd be gunplay to match it. While the gunplay is still fun, it has a few problems. I found it really hard to aim on people. When you use the lock-on it follows the area the thug is in, but doesn't really aim on him. So then you have to move the icon closer to the enemy, which gets in the way of the action and makes your likeliness to die increase. It doesn't always get in the way, but it still does.

You also do hacker puzzle missions which are actually pretty fun. They test your brain and make you stop to think, even if you have a timer counting down. And with the timer it really gets your tension going, also pulling you into the story. There are driving missions too. Not too many thank god, since the cars aren't fast, or fun to drive. And then there's the funnest part of the game in my opinion, the interrogations. You're given a certain time limit to beat, and you have to get answers from someone by taking advantage of their stress levels. You must choose to say angry, calm or borderline comments, hoping to make them crack and tell you what you want to know.

And it's just funny to hear Keifer Sutherland yelling at everything. I found myself screwing up the interrogations just to hear Keifer yell. "WHERE'S THE BOMB!? WHERE IS IT!!?" Haha, good times. The game is great, mainly because of the story and cutscenes. There are bonus things to unlock, but the only good things are the 3 interviews with 3 of the stars.

IN THE END...
I came in not knowing what to expect, but in the end I was deeply impressed. It gave me the same feeling as the X-Files game for the PS1. Though I liked the X-Files game better. If you love the show, get it. If not, at least rent it. The gameplay is superb and the storyline will keep you playing for hours. It almost made me wanna start watching the show more often. It's a great game. And with that I'll just say: how many bad days can Jack Bauer have? Seriously. Don't these people at CTU sleep!?

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/10/06