Review of Jaws for the PS2

Jaws taught us to be afraid to go into the water with the first movie in 1975, and then in the 1980's we were introduced to the video game version of the movie with Jaws for the Nintendo Entertainment system (NES). The game was good for the time, but the graphics were bad, the sound was compiled of only a few notes and the game was repetitive. Now we have a new Jaws video game and it is good! Jaws Unleashed for the PS2 would make Peter Benchley proud. In this game you're faced with an interesting yet inviting twist, you are the shark!

Jaws has amazing graphics on the PS2. The fish look realistic and the underwater environments are incredible! Even the way fish and other aquatic life move has an uncanny realism. During game play you also have the option of switching in and out of "Jaws vision" where you look through the eyes of the shark. Seeing the world through the eyes of Jaws is tough for control, but greatly enhances the environment around you.

I'll just be honest, the controls are hard. This takes just a bit away because as you try to preform advanced moves you'll find yourself extremely irritated at times. Of course to most of use this will present little or no problem as most of the game will be spent pressing two or three buttons, X is to swim, R1 is bite, and start lets you save, see easy a pie. As you move through the game, you'll earn points for killing people, animals, destroying boats, you can then use these points to upgrade the abilities Jaw's has. After completing certain upgrades you'll unlock moves that Jaws can now preform, but like I said before the controls are hard, and biting works just as well as anything.

After accomplishing the first couple of training levels you get to roam the waters around Amity Island. The ocean is a big place, and so is the case in this game. You have almost unlimited free roaming capability as you travel around the island stalking, and scaring all it's occupants. You can terrorize the beach, destroy dock's, blow boats up, eat water skiers, and much more. There are two kinds of missions you have the option of completing. A lighted buoys' signal side mission that can earn you big points. The missions can be as simple as eating a few swimmers, or as complex as jumping over nets and destroying the right boat.

Story mode is a bit lame. You follow Jaws on his rampage around the island and Michael Brody trying to capture the beast. These missions are hard, and have some really strange objectives, like Jaws destroying a chemical waste facility? It was almost like the game made a vague attempt at showing Jaws as a hero, but it doesn't work. I can't be sold on that angle, not while watching Jaws rip a person limb from limb, it's just not fitting.

Jaws is a fun and very interactive game. It did however get an M rating because of the excessive amount of blood and gore featured. Each time you bite into a person or animal they bleed uncontrollable for long periods of time, you can hold a person in your mouth for thirty minuets and they never stop spuing blood. So needless to say it's not for a younger crowd. Jaws delivers on many levels but falls short in a few as well. While the graphics are great, and game play fun, the story is lacking depth and the controls are rough at points. If you play through the game and find a few secret items you'll unlock many scenes from the movie and be able to catch many fun facts about the movie you may not have known.

This game is great just to pass the time away, so casual and hardcore gamers alike will enjoy this title. With it's amazing environments, and entertaining game play it's worth renting, or buying if the price is right. I got my copy pre-played for about fifteen bucks and have really enjoyed it. If you liked the movie, then you will really find playing from the other side amusing and enjoyable, which I think is the games strongest feature.