Ridiculous. There's really no other way to properly describe Appaloosa's intended adaptation of Steven Spielberg's classic Jaws. Just reading the box's description raises an endless stream of questions. Whose idea was this? Did the same mind that decided Jaws needed a video game also pitch Reservoir Dogs to Eidos? Since when are sharks -- even one as awe-inspiring as Jaws -- intelligent enough to incorporate vengeance into their mental vocabulary? A shark attack premise hasn't been this ridiculous since they decided to make the fourth Jaws movie with Michael Caine.

The best part is that none of those questions matter. The developers must have known the idea of turning Jaws into a videogame was so over-the-top, there was no other way to approach the idea than to simply run with it without looking back. It's obvious they really did follow that philosophy from design to execution, but it's unfortunate that they ultimately weren't able to turn their success with Sega's Ecco the Dolphin series during the Dreamcast era into a sterling success with the most powerful underwater predator ever to grace the silver screen. Jaws Unleashed remains a great idea that never manages to rise above its potential.


From the moment Jaws Unleashed begins, the troubles start mounting. Controlling the beast is a complete pain, and the camera does its best job to be an annoyance that prevents you from seeing anything at all. For much of the game, players are swimming through large, open-ended environments with poor draw distance, but many missions require you to navigate small areas that cause the camera to forget its job and simply become stuck. Appaloosa tried to provide alternatives with a first-person mode, but it's even more troubling to navigate from that perspective. When Jaws performs a particularly cool maneuver or comes under attack, the game switches to a cinematic viewpoint, and don't be surprised if the game never switches back. A quick tap of the camera button remedies this, but it's an unnecessary headache that's especially troublesome during the game's scattered boss battles.

The camera causes havoc on the game's most important bit: combat. You're a methodical, dangerous shark roaming Amity Island for the sheer pleasure of causing rampant destruction and personalized pain, but it's a little hard to get enthused about the possibilities when the camera prevents you from focusing in on a target. The game attempts to rectify this with "Shark Vision," which highlights your different edible options on the screen and a specific targeting mode, but when you're forced to move your hand onto the directional pad in order to take advantage of it, it's altogether useless. Players have enough going on with manipulating the shark's jaws, special attacks and movements with the analog sticks and face and shoulder buttons, and moving over the d-pad is hardly a reasonable option -- unless you like endlessly confusing your eye-hand coordination, that is.