24: The Game Firstlook May 19,2005 -

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe is developing a game based on the hit television series 24 for the PlayStation 2, and we got some time in with a playable version of it today at the 2K Games booth at E3. Like the series, the game features Counter Terrorism Unit agent Jack Bauer (voiced by Kiefer Sutherland), and like the show, the game takes place in real time. While each season of the series takes place over exactly twenty-four hours, we were told that the game might take an average player around twenty-four hours, though some players might complete the game in less time, and that it's even possible to take longer than the titular length of time to complete the game.

Fans of the series will recognize many of the show's visual stylistic devices popping up frequently in the game, such as the use of multiple panels showing what's going on with several characters simultaneously, and the signature digital time readout periodically appearing at the bottom of the screen. The story, which was developed by writers of the show, takes place between the second and third seasons, and, according to the developers, will be full of the twists and turns fans of the show have come to expect, and will address some unanswered questions fans of the series may have.

The game is a third-person action-adventure. One mission we played had us guiding Jack Bauer through a thug-infested building searching for someone with a vital piece of information on a terrorist plot. Some elements of the gameplay seemed to be coming together quite nicely. Using items as cover figures prominently in the action, and that seems to be working well at this point. When you press L1 to aim, the game switches to an over-the-shoulder perspective similar to that seen in Resident Evil 4. One area where the gameplay seems to be falling a bit short right now is in the enemy AI. While Jack can make good use of the environment, we didn't see any evidence of the baddies doing this.

The game features other gameplay modes, including an interrogation minigame in which we had to extract a piece of information from a prisoner within a set time limit. (We're not certain whether or not the time limit will be in place in the final version, as the demo announced that it wasn't presented in the same real-time format that the final game will feature.) Depending on which button we pushed, Jack would either ask the prisoner an aggressive, calming, or coaxing question, or try to break him. The dialogue during the sequence did a good job of capturing the intensity of similar scenes from the show, and based on what we heard of Kiefer Sutherland's voice acting in this scene, it seems that he‘s done a fine job of reprising his role from the series. The final game will also feature some driving missions, as well as other minigames involving satellite tracking and phone tracing.

Visually, the game looks solid at this point, if not outright impressive. The Jack Bauer model is a great likeness of Kiefer Sutherland, though other characters we saw, such as Michelle Dessler, looked less like their real-life counterparts. The other character models, such as the thugs we fought in the dilapidated building, looked pretty generic. Overall, the game just seems to be lacking a certain amount of visual polish at this point, but the graphics get the job done.

The series, with its real-time elements and its badass protagonist, seems like a'license with tremendous potential for a great game.' We're encouraged to see that SCEE is incorporating varied play styles into the game and setting the game in real time, and we'll be watching this'title closely as its planned'fourth-quarter release nears.' Stay tuned for more.

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