Jaws Unleashed

I’ve got to say straight away that I’m a little disappointed. Not with this game, but with most of the reviews I came across for this title.

I guess to each their own. But I’m glad I gave it a shot even after reading some of the comments out there.

I’m playing the PC version, so I can’t really say how similar or different the console versions may be. But other than how you go about controlling this, it’s probably much the same experience all in all.

To briefly sum up my thoughts: I’m having a hell of a good time with this!

I will have to agree on some of the finer points the reviews made about small game annoyances: Like the camera being kind of spazzy, and the control system. But all in all I think this is a somewhat under rated game, in my opinion. And not the total flop that some people seem to think it was.

‘Course, I like gratuitous violence. And I especially like playing a game from the perspective of the story villain when the chance is there. And I’m not all that nit picky about the storyline in a game where I get to go around chomping on people. I mean seriously. It’s a game where you’re playing as a giant man eating shark. The premise alone buys it a lot of leverage with me as far as expectations go.

Jaws Unleashed plays a little like GTA genre titles in the sense that you go around completing story missions and side missions, while still allowing lots of free form play if you need a break from missions and just want to cruise.

Once you get past the tutorial, the game becomes open ended, and you’re allowed to explore the area or hit up missions as you please.

The graphics are nice. The music (which you’ll recognize, of course) in the background can be exciting when it changes suddenly to match what you’re doing. And the gore is great.

One of the first things I saw was a panicked swimmer dog paddling his way back to the beach post haste. Of course, he was doing it with two arms and only one leg, as I’d just nibbled off the other one a second before.

What sold it for me, was that he didn’t just bob up and down in the water like a buoy and wait for me to finish him off after my initial attack; The little bastard must have a fantastic wife at home or something, because he was determined to make it out of the water. And he did, belly crawling his way up the beach, his stump showing.

How cool is that? Pretty cool I’d say. And even cooler that I could Orca (beach) myself onto the sand and snatch the little tosser back into the water to finish my meal. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard of sharks beaching themselves like killer whales can to grab a seal (or in this case a human), but it was fun(ny) all the same.

(To really appreciate the gratuitous violence this game has to offer, you just have to play it and see for yourself. Words do it no justice! And I’ll tell you at the end of this how you can get and play this for free.)

I know this is not the kind of title some people could ever fully appreciate without nitpicking at all the developers oversights or mistakes. And I guess I can understand the bad reviews in part, because this isn’t an epic game in any sense. There could have been a lot more done with it, to make it a real block buster like its movie counterpart.

However, some people really need to dislodge the splintery plank from their asses, because this is hardly a total crash and burn as far as game releases go. Opinions are like assholes, everyone has one. And this is just mine, after all.

Again, I’m really glad I gave this one a try even after seeing the discouraging reviews. It’s proving to be pretty entertaining in the same way that GTA’s have been entertaining even after you’ve completed the game.

As mentioned above, if you’re interested in giving this a shot, head over to GameTap and get an account. Jaws Unleashed is part of their free collection of games you can download and play for no cost at all.

Happy hunting.