Minority Report (PS2)
I've never actually seen Minority Report the movie, though I probably should considering I'm about to write a review of the game based on it. I was considering on buying or renting the DVD before I reviewed it, but at the last second I decided not to. Why? It's not because I didn't want to pay the six dollars it costs to rent a newly released DVD; it's because I wanted to see if I could judge the Minority Report game on its own merits as a game, without my likes or dislike of the movie clouding my judgment. It's a grand experiment, and you the reader of this review are my unwitting guinea pigs. So without further ado, submitted is my review of Minority Report for PS2.
Minority Report is probably as close as you can get to a sheerly mediocre game. It doesn't standout in any major area: originality, gameplay, graphics, story. It doesn't make draw you in and make you want to play it any more than you feel like at the time. It's one of those games that you can simply pick up and play whenever you feel like and put down just as quickly. All in all it's not a particularly bad game, it's just a little bit arcadey and a lot derivative. I feel like I've played this game before, and inevitably I know I'll play an action/adventure/beat-em-up game like this again.
From what I've heard, the Minority Report game doesn't follow the story of the blockbuster Spielberg epic. Unable to get the license to use Cruise's likeness, the developers invented a new character who looks almost diametrically opposite to the diminutive, raven haired pretty boy mega star with the Samson-like shoulder length locks. Instead our hero Chief John Anderton is a statuesque, muscular platinum blond with a crew cut. He's a future crime officer who is charged with a murder that he didn't commit. It's much like the movie in that respect.
The story is a bit confusing and hard to keep track of. I know something about the movie from all of the commercials and seeing the preview trailer, but definitely not enough to make sense of everything that's going on. I'm sure it's all interesting, and the premise of psychics predicting crimes is great, but I assume you had to have seen the movie to really appreciating everything that's going on here.
While I was playing, I kept thinking I've played a game that felt a great deal like Minority Report. Thinking about it further, I realized that Minority Report felt a lot like another one of Activision's movie based action games, Spiderman: The Movie. Albeit Spiderman was a better game with better level design, but believe me that the feel of both games are pretty parallel.
Graphically, Minority Report is squarely in the middle of the road. There's a lot of blockiness and jagged polygons. Some of the textures are low resolution. A few of the environments are really too cluttered and full of objects that get in the way of the action. The things that save the visuals from crossing the line from average to the land of no return is the fluid animation, lighting, and a sense of visual consistency throughout the game.
There's not much more to say about such a mixed bag title as this. The AI is dumb and masochistic as it finds no problem in mowing down friendlies in order to get to you. The game is balanced poorly. It's too easy to run away from some enemies and the enemies you do encounter can be easily dispatched by continuously repeating the slide tackle move. There are a few simplistic combos, so the guns Anderton gets provides a needed change up to the gameplay.
The Bottom Line: Minority Report is a great game for all of you who like to settle for mediocrity. For anyone else, you would be better off parting with your money elsewhere, or giving it to me. As for myself, I'm about to rent Minority Report the movie.
Rating: 4.9/10
