Granted, tearing a dolphin in two never got old, but generally, you will only spend time in the ocean while traversing from mission to mission.Ĭontrolling Jaws works fairly well, and his abilities can be upgraded as you progress through the game. I just didn't find the open-world aspect to be very appealing. Boats and jet skis can be knocked over in search of delicious humans, and if you're lucky, you may find a pair of scuba divers to munch on. Each area is populated with fish, dolphins, and other aquatic animals. Sure, the loading screens have some interesting trivia, but if I wanted film trivia, I would go to Wikipedia, not my PlayStation 2. Instead, the ocean is segmented into parts with significant loading in between. Grand Theft Auto may have been used as an inspiration, but Jaws Unleashed doesn't quite embrace the idea of a wholly open world. Pair these faults with a shoddy camera, and you have the recipe for Jaws Unleashed. While ripping people apart and head-butting boats is initially quite amusing, the game becomes repetitive, and the mission objectives become ridiculous and implausible. Sure, 'Reservoir Dogs' and 'Scarface' both seem like totally plausible game licenses, but what about 'Jaws?' How do you make that work? Appaloosa looked to the success of games like Grand Theft Auto to create an open world to explore as the shark in question, with decidedly poor results. However, there seems to be a recent surge in acquiring older film licenses upon which to base games. Licensed games are nothing new – dozens are released each year to coincide with new films or popular television shows. Luckily, Majesco realized the overwhelming need for a shark simulation and recruited Appaloosa to develop Jaws Unleashed, based on the 30-year-old film franchise (which was based on a novel). In fact, the only game to really deliver the sensation of an underwater creature is Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future, developed by Appaloosa Interactive and published by Sega. Everblue 2 and Finny the Fish & the Seven Waters did little to quench my thirst for shark action. Sure, Shark Tale was a decent title, but the game is much more about fighting or evading sharks than being them (not to mention it has a dancing mini-game – yikes). The PlayStation 2 has weathered a serious drought of shark-related games.

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