Jaws Unleashed

Jaws Unleashed
Developer(s)	Appaloosa Interactive
Publisher(s)	Majesco Entertainment
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2, Xbox, PC
Release date(s)	PlayStation 2 & Xbox [1] [2] USA May 23, 2006 EUR October 20, 2006 AUS October 26, 2006 Windows [3] EUR September 22, 2006 USA October 18, 2006 AUS October 26, 2006
Genre(s)	Action-Adventure Survival Horror
Mode(s)	Single player
Rating(s)	ESRB: Mature OFLC: MA15+ OFLC (NZ): M
Media	DVD

Jaws Unleashed is a 2006 video game licensed from the 1975 film Jaws. It was developed by Appaloosa Interactive, developer of the popular Ecco the Dolphin series, and released by Majesco. Like the Grand Theft Auto series, the game is open-ended; the player can roam free throughout the water, feeding on other animals and destroying everything in his path. Jaws Unleashed for Xbox is not currently compatible with the Xbox 360.

Storyline

Amity Island is growing, making corporate connections with prestigious companies like Environplus to improve the Island's economy. Unfortunately the increased population around the Island and recent industrial activity has also attracted one of Earth's most fearsome creatures: a great white shark. When the Environplus CEO's son falls prey to the shark's deadly attacks, the CEO hires renowned shark hunter Cruz Ruddock to track and kill it. Meanwhile, Marine Biologist Michael Brody tries to capture the shark for research. Can Ruddock and Brody stop the shark from causing havoc and killing more people before the 4th of July celebration?

Features

• Take control of Jaws the Great White Shark while playing out themes and in locations from the JAWS film universe
• More than 10 detailed, destructible environments
• Perform a variety of underwater, surface and air attacks via a user friendly combat system
• Dismemberment engine provides multiple points of disconnection allowing for characters and objects to be torn apart piece by piece
• Follow story-based missions or choose to freely roam the island and its surroundings causing havoc
• Encounter multiple side missions/challenges including timed destruction, stealth, chase and others
• Arena bosses including killer whales, giant squids, and powerful boats
• See your victims before they know you’re coming and target lock on enemies from afar with Shark Vision

Reception

Jaws Unleashed received a mixed to poor critical reaction. Most complaints against the game center around the game's glitches and freezing up and its camera problems. One of the most positive reviews came from IGN, which rewarded the game with a score of 7.4 out of 10 while calling it "Grand Shark Auto". Some other reviews however were far more harsh such as GameSpot who gave the game a rating of a 3.8 out of 10, while Official Playstation Magazine gave it a 1.5 out of 5. Game Rankings's aggregate scores for Jaws Unleashed were 54% for the PS2 version and 53% for the Xbox version. Game Informer magazine gave the game a sub-par 4.75, saying, "This game reaches a new level of video game absurdity, going well out of its way to make a complete mockery of the license it's based on." As the game was released on PC, players experienced a better overall performance, handling, and fewer problems during game play were reported, thus indicating the later released PC version to be better than the console versions, with an average score of 60%. The same has been thought to be true in the PAL (Europe) version as indicated by higher reviews scores (such as a 7/10 from OPN UK). Despite this, the game was a commercial success, selling over 250,000 copies on Xbox alone, therefore earning it Gamespot's "Worst Game Everyone Played of 2006" award. ^[1]

References

See also

• Jaws (video game)
• MythBusters Shark Week Special

External links

• Official Jaws Unleashed website
• Official Majesco Entertainment website
• Official Appaloosa Interactive website
• NTSC-uk's Jaws Unleashed Review
• Jaws Unleashed at MobyGames