24 fans will certainly appreciate the game's attention to detail. Visually, it accurately captures the seedy buildings, claustrophobic interrogation quarters, and gritty backroad aqueducts that color the show's portrayal of L.A. in crisis. Authenticity is key here, and the levels played certainly re-create situations and locales that will satisfy even the most diehard viewers.
Throughout scenarios (some in the form of mini-games) native to the spirit of 24's serpentine plot twists and double-crosses, players will immerse themselves in yet another harrowing day in the life of CTU's ultra-stressed employees. The game will run on a real-time engine, although details weren't as clear at press time as to whether it might take that literal amount of time to complete. In one level that could be snatched out of any given episode, Jack finds himself in a run-down building that teems with goons working under a drug lord. Abandoned furniture, tattered curtains, and rotting floorboards all help gamers feel as though they're in a slice of a Monday night episode.
The show's familiar split screens of simultaneous action (which have also influenced upcoming titles such as Eidos' Hitman: Blood Money) will also be in the game. SCEE's Cambridge Studio took extensive care to ensure that the show's cast is rendered as faithfully as possible. As a result, the likenesses of cast members Kiefer Sutherland, Elisha Cuthbert, Carlos Bernard, and others have been recorded and motion-captured to retain authenticity.
Just as an episode of 24 twists and turns through a multitude of worst-case scenarios, the game keeps players on their toes through an action-oriented core with some genre-bending mini-games thrown in to spice things up. Among its many missions, which include stealth, sniping, and phone tracing, the 24 demo's meat and potatoes are third-person action.
Reminiscent of kill.switch, Jack uses his environment to his advantage. Sofas, shelves, and walls all made up his cover from enemy gunfire in the level played. While at first, the targeting system felt a little awkward -- the auto-targeting doesn't feel as intuitive as it could -- with a little practice, there were dead henchmen strewn all over the floor. Jack could use some melee attacks in close quarters, as well; there were a few occasions in which gunmen got too close and forced him to dive and roll to cover or die.
Some of the other mini-games, however, might need more fine-tuning before they're ready for prime time.
