Review #84: Minority Report: Everybody Runs

 It could've been so much worse.

 Minority Report is based on the movie that goes by the same name, that tells you everything and anything you need to know about this game. The game is your standard,  if a bit generic, 3D brawler. You goal is to move from area to area while pummeling dozens upon dozens on enemies ad nauseam.
 The story pits you as John Anderton, a member of a futuristic Agency called "Precrime". Precrime, as the name implies, are to prevent future crimes from taking place, this is done by relying on Precogs, psychics that can see crimes before they are to be committed. Unluckily for John, the Precogs predict him killing someone, so John must find a way to clear his name, while avoiding Precrime from turning him in. The game is somewhat faithful to the movie, there were a couple of changes here and then, namely the fact that during gameplay you will kill people, Precrime officers above all, but the game won't make mention of it. Gameplay-and-Storyline segregation at it's finest, ladies and gentlemen.

 John has access to punches and kicks in order to get the job done, different three-button sequences of these two produce various different combos. You can also block, which feels useless as most enemies and every boss have unblockable attacks, and by using the same button near a dizzied or fallen enemy, you can grab them and then throw them, or pummel them for good measure. Still, the most invaluable technique of all is the slide, when enemies group together, just use and abuse the slide and it'll be alright. You can also use guns, these aim automatically at the closest enemy, or you can use the right analog stick to switch between targets. As a whole, combat feels a bit spotty, hit detection is alright but at times it feels stiff, it doesn't flow just quite right.
 Hidden throughout each level is money, which you can use in order to buy new combos, temporary power ups(Strength Boost, Armor), Permanent power ups(Just clip size and total health) or weapons. You can buy anything at any time by pausing the game, but you need to be careful, as supplies are limited, you really don't want to waste those Armor power ups until the last level! Another cool feature is that you can interact with almost anything, punch bottles and they shatter, punch glass and it will shatter too, kick silverware and it will scatter. They also applied ragdoll physics to John and the enemies, which looks hilarious most of the time. These two gimmicks, as cool as the interactivity is, take a heavy toll on the framerate. It will chug at almost every time, and while it doesn't get in the way of the gameplay, it's hard not to notice it.

 The game is not too hard, even if the last boss is needlessly annoying. The AI is, initially, pretty dumb, but in the latter levels they learn to block and jump over low attacks, still, the game attempts to bring you down in numbers, it will throw large amount of enemies at the player, with a couple of armed enemies, the most dangerous, for good measure. Still, if you master the art of the slide, it's pretty easy to cheese your way through. Enemy variety is a bit lacking, there's about 4 different Precrime Officer type( Color coded for your convenience), a couple of bystanders that only turn aggressive if attacked and the robots(That are immune to the slide). There's also a couple of stages in which you are given a jetpack, which even though it's not too easy to handle, it's fun to use. For what it's worth, the game is pretty lengthy and there's a nice amount of unlockables, from the challenging Pain Arenas to different skins for John.
 As cool as it is how you can interact with almost everything in every stage, the overall graphical presentation is pretty lacking. Characters are pretty ugly, especially bystanders, and some of the animations look pretty stiff. Music is used very sparingly and when they finally play music, it's really bland, and sometimes it doesn't even fit the game. Voice acting is lame, John being at least serviceable, and the audio effects are just as bad, landing blows doesn't feel right!

 Minority Report is not a bad game. It's not good either, but it could've been so much worse! What's more, I had fun with it. There's nothing fundamentally wrong with the game, it's very by-the-numbers, but it's not broken. Minority Report is a rental on a boring weekday, a game to keep you occupied for a little while during the week, you don't expect much of it and you don't get much in return.
 5.5 out of 10.