We're shuddering now. 'It's over, it's over', we tell ourselves.
Griffin's Story begins with a set of still frames which sets up the storyline for the game. The game doesn't follow the events of the film, but rather focuses on Griffin. At the very beginning of the game Griffin's parents and killed and Griffin is off to get vengeance. What else is there to discover of Griffin's Story? Well, that's pretty much it, which is rather disappointing for a game that is supposed to be focusing on the one character.
Griffin's Story begins with Griffin moving around an area, which serves as a basic training ground. Unfortunately, the errors with the game become immediately apparant. There are several different attack options, such as jump attacks along with light and heavy attacks. The problem is that when executing heavy attacks Griffin teleports a little, which means if you're fighting more than one enemy Griffin is bouncing around and teleporting and attacking enemies, which makes it rather difficult for the player to keep up with what is happening.
The environments may end up looking the same, but we'd swear this screenshot is taken in the exact same spot, with the camera rotated.
Considering the source material, or the premise of the original film, Griffin's Story could have been quite enjoyable to play, but the game sucks any possible enjoyment out of the experience by doing all of the potentially cool stuff for you. Early on in the game you'll come across a police block - sorry a police car - with a helicopter hovering above. Now, in a potentially enjoyable Jumper game the player would be able to move into the police car and then take a jump and drive the car into the helicopter, exploding it in the process. In Griffin's Story you'll fight three similar looking enemies, then you'll pause for a second while a short gameplay video shows you doing exactly that. You'll then be back on the ground, ready to fight even more similar looking enemies. The game does contain a few basic puzzles, but they just become boring.
The problems with the game don't stop there. Aside from the fact that the single player mode is a linear and extremely boring adventure, Griffin's Story checks every possible box of bad game design. Yes, the camera is terrible, yes you'll get lost, yeah the visuals are drab and are worse than some of the worst Nintendo 64 games and yes, you'll be bored about ten minutes in. The AI doesn't stand up very well either; sure there will be three men after you in a room, but they'll hang back. If they don't, they won't attack; they'll just get in the way.
Then there is the technical glitches, which will have you wondering whether Brash Entertainment put the game through QA at all. Often the sound cuts out for a few seconds and in its place is a horrible, glitchy noise. It's difficult to describe, but it sounds like someone forget to include sound and in its place is screeching. The game is also extremely glitchy; menus appear twice, when you die you can see into nothing and sometimes the controls don't even respond.
And the same for this screenshot. What, they can't even take screenshots properly?
Most games have some redeeming features, but it's no stretch to say Griffin's Story has none. Anyone who wants to experience what it is like to play Griffin's Story should grab their Wii Remote, move the control stick on the nunchuk and then press the B button on the Wii Remote repeatedly. To extend your lifespan, press the C button occasionally. If you can do this, then you'll be able to easily complete Griffin's Story.
If for some reason this review hasn't been clear enough, we'll reiterate. Jumper: Griffin's Story is not only one of the worst movie to game adaptations we've ever played, it's quite simply one of the worst games we've ever played. It's the kind of trash that would turn someone off gaming forever and with an RRP of $99.95 it's not only a rip off, it's crime against gamers worldwide. If this is how Brash Entertainment will be approaching movie to game adaptations in the future, then we're steering clear... and we advise you do too.
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