Minority Report: Everybody Runs
Score: 70% ESRB: Teen Publisher: Activision Developer: Treyarch Media: DVD/1 Players: 1 Genre: Action
Graphics & Sound: It's no Tom Cruise*, but things look pretty good in Minority Report: Everybody Runs. All the characters in the game are well defined, and have realistic animations when it comes to the fighting actions. The main beauty of the game comes from the detailed, futuristic backdrop of 2054. All of your surroundings, regardless of the level, have a science-fiction twist, usually something involving sheets of glass, which are generally the first things to be broken. I was not as impressed with the audio, or the lack thereof. I was really hoping, and expecting, more with the weapons and sound effects. The broken glass sounded real enough, but that was about it. When you have a beat-em-up game like this, you need to increase the sound effects. Minority Report didn't do that, which left me apathetic for the game. Meantime, the audio didn't seem to match up with the cut scene animations at times. It was almost like watching a bad Japanese Godzilla movie, where the mouths move with no words coming out.
Gameplay: I rented Minority Report the movie prior to starting up its video game counterpart, thinking it would help me as I played through the game. The truth is, it wouldn't have mattered. The premise is the same in both: John Anderton, a member of the Precrime Police Force, has been accused of a future murder. However, that's where the similarity in the storyline ends. Like other movie remakes, video games take on their own version of the film. So don't worry about seeing the movie first, because its video game equivalent has different characters, different enemies, and a different ending. The actual gameplay of Minority Report: Everybody Runs feels like a cross between Spider-Man and State of Emergency. Playing as John Anderton, you will go fight through more than 40 levels to try and clear your name as a future murderer. Like I already mentioned, there are different characters involved in the game, like robots, mall security guards, gang thugs, and new FBI agents. Unfortunately, the different characters are about the only thing that is different in the game. After the first few levels, I was pretty bored with the same idea. Oh sure, you get to use the jet pack to fly around on a couple of levels, but overall, you are running around, beating up the same guys on each level. I thought the combo moves were good, and some of the weapons are downright disgusting (Sick Sticks and Puke Grenades), but each level seemed to be repetitive, and lacking of a new plot. The creators try to mix things up with the addition of Alternate Heroes and Pain Arenas; both need to be unlocked. Sadly, I found the Arena levels to be less than fun, and not worth the time it takes to unlock them.
Difficulty: Minority Report: Everybody Runs has three different levels of difficulty (Easy, Normal, Hard), although things aren't THAT difficult. After a week of playing on the Normal level, I beat the game. Granted, I could have found a few more secrets and cash, but the game was done. And frankly, I wasn't yearning to play it again on the hardest level. The Pain Arenas are actually more difficult than the game itself.
Game Mechanics: One of the most impressive things is that the graphics engine in Minority Report: Everybody Runs never slows down, no matter how much action is taking place at one time. For that, I was very impressed. Meantime, the controller configuration is very easy to pick up, and allows for manageable combo moves. The loading time is minimal, as is the memory space needed for saving purposes. I loved Minority Report the movie; I thought it was a brilliant, new idea in the Sci-Fi/Action genre. The same cannot be said for Everybody Runs, due to the fact that the entire game is the same as the level you just completed. I applaud the graphical work, but I found myself bored with the premise of the game by level five. * I realize saying Tom Cruise is good looking makes me sound a little gay, so I'd like to clarify a few things. I'm not gay, not that there's anything wrong with that. I am, however, engaged to marry a huge Tom Cruise fan. Therefore, I know Tom Cruise is good looking.
-Red Dawg, GameVortex Communications AKA Alex Redmann
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