 |
Minority Report | |
| Developer: Treyarch Publisher: Activision Release Date: Out Now Players: 1 |
 |
|
Steven Spielberg's tense and exciting sci-fi action movie starring Tom Cruise was a big hit - I fear the game of the movie may be slightly less successful. The movie tells the story of John Anderton, a police officer put in charge of a special unit called Precrime that uses psychics (they call them "precogs") to predict crimes (specifically murders) before they happen, and arrest the pre-perpetrators before they can commit the crime. It's a fascinating, slightly Orwellian premise, and comes from the pen of sci-fi legend Philip K. Dick. The game of the film comes from Treyarch, the developers responsible for the "quite good" Spider Man The Movie game.
)
)
) And the visual similarities between this and the Spidey game are probably the first thing you'll notice. The next thing you'll notice is that in-game John Anderton looks more like Duke Nukem than Tom Cruise… The game vaguely follows certain events from the film, but it actually plays as little more than a scrolling beat 'em up. You have a selection of weapons as well (some from the movie) but limited ammo means that fisticuffs are the most used (and satisfying) way of making progress through the game. The highlight of MR for us is the way that the game engine allows for massive amounts of destruction to the scenery, either from weapon damage or simply by punching/throwing enemies through it. Windows, vending machines and furniture… few things are safe when "Duke" Anderton starts his precrime prearse-kicking.
)
)
) And this is where the game literally loses the plot completely - Taken on face value, MR is an entertainingly violent, if slightly unimpressive and repetitive game that allows for several different combos, throws and weapons to be obtained as the story unfolds. But as with the central character, the action barely resembles anything in the movie, despite some good efforts at replicating sets and locations. Even the sections that include the jetpack from the movie fail to impress, with some unimaginative level design and less than accurate control. Whilst the game itself isn't all-bad, it will have little relevance to fans the movie, and as such you have to wonder who it would appeal to.
|
||
- Punching enemies through walls and throwing them through windows and off balconies is great fun. |
- It's only great fun for about 10 minutes due to repetition, and bears hardly any relation to the Spielberg movie… |
 |
|