There could have been plenty of minor frustrations avoided if Appaloosa had restructured the way Jaws functions. Case in point: it makes little sense for players to be forced into continually pressing R1 to keep something in Jaws' mouth. Movement requires holding X, holding onto an object requires holding R1 -- you're supposed to keep this awkward hand positioning in place while simultaneously moving both analog sticks to keep Jaws headed in the right direction? Just thinking about it gives me a headache. This quickly leads to endless frustration during the game's otherwise entertainingly set up missions, which have players eating everything in sight, blowing up entire factories and generally ruining the summer for Amity Island's vacationers.

Good luck figuring out what most of the objectives mean, though. Jaws Unleashed has a nasty habit of pointing out what you're supposed to be doing, but giving little-to-no explanation on how to actually do it. The game's tutorial explains the different moves available to Jaws, sure, but doesn't explain advanced techniques such as picking up an explosive barrel in your jaws, placing it in the water and then smashing it with your nose to cause an explosion (one that, if you don't have enough health, can actually kill you).


There might even be an easier, less dangerous way to accomplish what's already been described, but have fun figuring it out on your own; the game does its best to remain mysterious and vague. It's really this criticism that topples Jaws Unleashed; the camera and control problems can be forgiven every time you successfully rip a human to shreds and rip a killer whale a new one. However, spending 30 minutes aimlessly wondering around because you can't figure out what random part of the environment you're supposed to manipulate or sequence of moves to string together to topple a structure is unforgivable.

It's all really too bad. Even though Jaws is just about the last movie you'd expect to make a decent video game, controlling a giant shark with a taste for human blood is an undeniably cool concept. There's no reason a Jaws-like game couldn't actually work, but even die-hard fans are better off waiting for the inevitable price drop and picking up another copy of the movie's DVD.