Even after playing videogames for 20 years and being a reviewer for the last 7 years, I still hold out hope whenever a new movie licensed game comes across my desk that it is going to be good. Sort of like comedian Lewis Black’s bit about candy corn (warning: Mild language), I approach movie games with unexplainable optimism only to be disappointed. Jumper: Griffin’s Story is the latest movie game to hit the Xbox 360 and, unfortunately, it follows the same formula as just about every other ho-hum movie game out there. Find out all about it right here.
Quick Hits
- Title: Jumper: Griffin’s Story
- Platform:Xbox 360
- Publisher: Brash Entertainment
- Developer: Red Tribe
- ESRB Rating: “T” For Teen
- Genre: Fighting
- Pros: Cool fighting game-ish concept; teleporting enemies into deathtraps
- Cons: Gameplay is repetitive and boring; last-gen graphics and sound; $60 price is a cruel joke
- Achievements: Very easy (and fast!) 500 points, but you have to work a bit for the rest.
Features
Jumper the movie follows a character named David (Hayden Christenson) as he discovers his newfound teleportation powers. Jumper the game, on the other hand, instead follows a secondary character from the film, Griffin (Jaime Bell), who is a more experienced jumper as he tries to avenge the murders of his parents.
As far as features go, Jumper: Griffin’s Story is pretty bare bones. There isn’t any multiplayer to speak of, and the 3-hour single-player campaign makes the $60 price tag very tough to swallow.
Gameplay
Brash Entertainment
Graphics and Sound
Jumper’s biggest failing comes in the presentation. The game just plain looks awful and was clearly developed with the PS2 in mind. The framerate also tends to chug along not only during battle but it is even jittery during cutscenes when the camera is just panning around to show you the level.The sound is a little better than the graphics, but not by much. Generic sound effects and music don’t really hurt things, but they obviously don’t help. The voice acting is also pretty flat and uninspired.
Bottom Line
Brash Entertainment
