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Minority Report
Score: 6.0 / 10
Videogames based on movies usually don’t
turn out well, especially for some reason if the movie in question was
directed by Steven Spielberg. E.T. and Jaws are two of the worst
movie-to-game adaptations ever. So it shouldn’t be a big surprise that
the latest Spielberg movie-based game, Minority Report (while nowhere as
bad as some games based on movies) is plagued with enough problems to
fall prey to the same dreaded movie-to-game jinx as so many before it.
The third-person action game follows the plot of the 2002 movie starring
Tom Cruise. It’s the year 2054 and as Precrime Officer John Anderton who
heads up the police division that can predict murders and arrest
would-be killers before they can commit the act. But after being framed,
Anderton must set out to uncover the conspiracy that has led to his
betrayal while avoiding the close pursuit of the very Precrime
department Anderton headed. Curiously, the character that Cruise played
in the movie, John Anderton, is in videogame form a completely non-Tom
Cruise looking gruff and gritty gray-haired gent. (Turns out to be a
good move on Cruise’s
This is a game that in short stretches I had a lot of fun playing. It
has a few strong points worth mentioning. The gameplay is similar in
some ways to Max Payne and other ways State of Emergency, with a arcade
feel (hidden power-ups galore) to it.
Now, one of my favorite features of Minority Report (MR) is the
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violent ability to annihilate you opponents. I particularly thought it
was a hoot to be able to grab and throw enemies through plate glass
windows in huge buildings, sending them plummeting quickly to their
demise. I like having an interactively breakable environment that can be
used to your advantage. But this brought up an issue that only someone
who saw the movie (which doesn’t include me) is able to address. Why is
the supposedly good guy Anderton gleefully killing the Precrime officers
that he once was a fraternal brethren of (who incidentally, are only
doing their jobs)? Maybe it’s just me, but I don’ t think the best way
to prove your innocence of murder is by offing a bunch of law
enforcement officers.
Controlling Anderton is relatively easy particularly when it comes to
punching, kicking, and throwing enemies, but the weapon control was
badly devised. Instead of equipping yourself by simply pressing a
controller button and having the weapon in your hands unless you ran out
of ammo or put away your weapon in favor of the fisticuffs, you must
hold the trigger on the controller constantly and then try to
effectively fire at targets. It’s not that easy to do. The game should
have stuck to more hand-to-hand combat action, which it does relatively
well.
I personally thought that the Xbox version’s graphics were surprisingly
good, which is a contrast to how fellow Armchair Empire reviewer
Siddarth Masand perceived them (albeit for the PS2 version of the game).
To me, they were rendered nicely, but more so in the well-designed
levels versus the character models. There’s some decent level design in
MR.
But then there’s the bad. What can really bring a third person action
game down quicker than a roundhouse to the back of the head is a bad
camera that makes it difficult or impossible to keep track of your
placement within the game, and MR has one of the worst cameras I’ve seen
in a while. Even the tough-to-handle camera work seen in another title,
Hunter: The Reckoning can’t compare to MR’s schizophrenic camera,
especially when you have to fight in tight quarters.
Another problem with Minority Report is that even with 40 levels, you
will most likely be able to complete the entire game in about five
hours. That’s not exactly a lot of gaming for your money. The levels and
missions just go by too quickly until you reach the
sometimes-frustratingly-hard latter levels of the game. There are some
extra unlockable stages and characters that are supposed to get you
interested in replaying MR, but if you are able to complete the game,
once through will be enough for most gamers.
At least there are a variety of futuristic settings – there is still a
generic collection of enemies that will bore you. None really offer a
big challenge unless you are careless enough to get surrounded by a few
of them at a time. The easiest way of getting rid of each wave of
enemies is by first killing off any that have weapons, which can really
inflict a lot of damage to your health meter. Then simply mop up the
remaining enemies before going on to the next stage of the game. You
won’t exactly find the smartest artificial intelligence on the block in
Minority Report.
My last complaint is with the poorly thought-out upgrade system. By
collecting dollar sign icons, you can build up your bank funds to buy
additional fight moves and both temporary and permanent upgrades such as
weapons and health function-related goodies on the Black Market. But
there wasn’t enough of the icons around that I could really build up
enough money to make it worthwhile to collect them. As well, there only
a limited number of upgrades (both temporary and permanent) that once
they are gone, they are gone for the rest of the game.
I didn’t see the movie, so I probably had more enjoyment out of the game
than those who actually saw the well-received Steven Speilberg flick and
may be more critical as to how closely the game followed the movie’s
plot. Minority Report has its moments, but due to the reprehensible
camera, loose weapon controls and repetitive gameplay, there’s just not
enough here to warrant a purchase. A double rental of both Minority
Report the movie and Minority Report the game, however, at the local
Blockbuster could give fans of the film a good way to spend a winter
weekend while avoiding the minority of people that pay full price for
this game.
