JAWS Unleashed

Having been created by Appaloosa, the team responsible for the Ecco the Dolphin games, you’d think that JAWS Unleashed would be a great game within the same vein as their previous efforts. In fact, even though licensed games carry their own negative stigma for being rushed hack-jobs out to make a buck, JAWS Unleashed didn’t even begin as a licensed game, but rather was a shark simulator called Sole Predator (it didn’t grab the JAWS license until a few years into it’s development). Needless to say, JAWS Unleashed had a lot going for it and could’ve been a great game, presenting an open-ended undersea world and putting you in the role of the shark. Unfortunately, a great concept can’t save a game from frustratingly bad controls, a lousy camera, bugs and glitches galore, and an overall lack of polish.

JAWS Unleashed takes the player to Amity, the infamous town plagued by a great white in the original JAWS. The town has changed quite a bit in 30 years, converting from a tourist-driven summer town to an industrial area run by a huge, polluting corporation. Needless to say, the pollution ends up disturbing the local marine life, and attracts the attention of another great white shark. As the shark, you must make your way around the island, eating everything that moves (or rather, swims) and dispersing vigilante-shark justice against polluters.

Gameplaywise, JAWS Unleashed has some high points. The game’s open-sea approach allows you to go through the game area sinking boats and eating swimmers however you want, and the dismemberment system, where you can grab people and whip them around getting extra points for the body parts you rip off, is a nice touch.

Unfortunately, the game quickly falls prey to numerous issues. The camera is the biggest pain. It will get caught on things constantly, and is especially troublesome when you breach the surface of the water or get too close to the surface, as the camera will go above water and you won’t be able to see anything that’s going on below, which can be extremely frustrating.

The controls are also quite painful. While the mechanics of a great white shark wouldn’t exactly lend itself to being extremely quick and nimble given their sheer size, but the controls are very trying in a lot of the missions.

The missions themselves are also pretty lame, with nonsensical and oftentimes boring goals. The game has a copious amount of bugs and glitches, too, with clipping problems galore and issues that make the game stop dead in its tracks and require a reboot.

JAWS Unleashed doesn’t deliver graphically, either. While the JAWS avatar itself looks pretty good, and is well animated. However, the rest of the presentation is fairly lousy, with bland environments and poor character models. Some of the people in the cutscenes even have lines going down their faces, which looks weird.

The music is the classic JAWS theme, albeit “MIDI-fied”, sounding a little too synthesized. The voice acting is very repetitive, with people saying random things over and over again even when they don’t make any sense in the context of what’s happening in the game.

JAWS Unleashed could’ve been a great game, given it’s unique premise and experienced developer. Unfortunately, the game is too buggy and has too many issues to make it one to recommend.

Gameplay: 4.5
While swimming around in an open-ended ocean and eating people and destroying boats certainly sounds fun, the lousy camera, weak missions and frustrating controls turn this game into more of a chore than a fun gameplay experience.

Graphics: 5.0
Graphically, the game has a fair amount of problems, like dipping framerates and bland environments.

Sound: 5.0
The music sounds a little too synthesized, and the voice acting gets very repetitive.

Difficulty: Medium

Concept: 4.5
While the idea of playing as a shark is a fun and interesting one, JAWS Unleashed just doesn’t pull it off right in practice.

Overall: 4.5
JAWS Unleashed could’ve delivered, given a bit more polish. Unfortunately, the game suffers from many problems and isn’t much fun for anyone, even hardcore JAWS fans.