24: The Game

Pelit (Finland)

Captures the frenetic atmosphere of the popular TV-show successfully. The game is fun to play, although the controls feel a bit clunky. The car chase scenes could have used a bit more thought. [Mar 2006]

GamingTrend

This game has a few mixed production values, but comes out on top in terms of being an episode in the 24 series.

Times Online

This is more for 24 fans, who will instantly love it — so long as they don’t mind another TV addiction to feed.

GameBiz

The one hundred missions will keep you playing for ages. Unfortunately what could've been a top notch title is let down by poor camera issues and some repetitive gameplay.

AceGamez

It's like one of those paintings by Rembrant (or was it Monet?) where up close it's all dots and squiggles, but when you back away and appreciate the whole thing, it becomes a beautiful composition.

Official U.S. Playstation Magazine

The game's story, written by the show's writers, is also top-notch, with the requisite last-second plot twists. [Apr 2006, p.81]

Official Playstation 2 Magazine UK

No doubt about it, 24: The Game has flaws. That said, it's a quality recreation of the show and is lots of fun to play. [Feb 2006, p.2]

Gaming Target

True, a lot more could’ve been done with this license, but for 24 fans it’s more forgivable and only a hope that another day is in store for the virtual Jack Bauer.

BonusStage

A title meant for the fans, and in that regard it delivers the goods, and then some.

Game Informer

In the world of games, it deserves a body bag. In the world of 24, it's just as good as the show. [Apr 2006, p.122]

Play Magazine

Like the show it's capably siphoned from, 24: The Game rides on a breathless urgency, folding its events around a condensed 24-hour hunt for terrorists. [Mar 2006, p.41]

PSX Extreme

While the disparate elements of 24: The Game aren't stellar, they come together like peas and carrots when combined with the solid and engaging storyline.

IC-Games

Topical, political, preposterous, dynamic, frustrating and addictive in equal measure.

Digital Entertainment News

The game’s story and presentation are good. Really good. And we’d like to be able to see what happens. But the gameplay is just “okay”, and you get the feeling you’re just playing through it for the story.

Games Radar (in-house)

Not remotely as long as its title. Rather, it winds down after about 12 hours or so, with no multiplayer options. Nor is it the most original. But the story is above par for a game or a TV show, and the sum of its parts equals a good, old fashioned, popcorn gaming experience.

GamerFeed

The game features a number of scenarios and a gripping storyline that will suit fans of the series rather nicely. It still comes to an end way too soon, follows a bit of the basics at times, and doesn't really offer anything for the casual fans in terms of innovation, but it could've been a lot worse.

PSW Magazine UK

Being able to play as Jack Bauer and do all the stuff they've seen him do in the show is the most important thing to them, and on those basic terms, 24: The Game is an unqualified success.

WHAM! Gaming

Despite of its flaws, it still works.

Gaming Nexus

24: The Game manages to duplicate the shows frantic pace and distinct look while providing an interesting story fans will want to experience. Unfortunately it also features some bad control and terrible driving missions. But who said Jack's day was going to be perfect?

Sydney Morning Herald

Newcomers to the trials and tribulations of Jack Bauer are unlikely to be impressed by this game's generic shooting and driving action. But fans of 24 will be quaking, thanks to the authentic atmosphere and gripping story, set between season two and three of the TV series.

Boomtown

If you love 24, you’ll get a kick out of the game. If you don’t know 24 from 10, then you’d better drop a couple of points from the score, start from series one, then decide if it’s your thing.

Game Chronicles

As a game, 24 is not that strong of an entry into the PS2 library, but as a videogame treatment of a TV show, it does a remarkable job of nailing the presentation and style of the original content.

Play UK

If you're not a fan of the show then you're probably not interested in feeling like a CTU member. [Apr 2006, p.98]

Electronic Gaming Monthly

With a stellar script from the show's writers and outstanding cinematography and voice acting, it really feels like you're playing through a season of 24. Good show. [Apr 2006, p.100]

Gamer 2.0

While there's real potential in the source material for an outstanding game, the gameplay here just doesn't quite deliver.

PSM Magazine

The look and feel of the show is there, and the story is compelling enough to keep you trudging through the amateur gaming parts. [Apr 2006, p.68]

GameZone

Be prepared for a odd mixture of other games with the 24 presentation and story.

GameSpot

Like the show's action, 24's gameplay tries to throw in everything but the kitchen sink, but in this case, it couldn't make any one of these attempts work well enough to be fun.

Edge Magazine

With design lifts from here, there and everywhere peppered throughout, it’s safe to say that the developer has rather appropriately played things by the numbers. [Mar 2006, p.88]

GamePro

24 isn't the ambitious action opus it should've been, but its engaging quirks and variety of gaming experiences still raise it above the cash-in gutter.

1UP

If you're a gamer wondering what all the fuss over 24 is about, the game is not the right place to find out. Without the connection to the characters and the twisting, turning style of 24, you're left with an average third-person action game with simple gadget puzzles and bad driving.

Eurogamer

24: The Game isn't a bad game, but it isn't a new, interesting or exciting one either. It's one of those depressing tie-in games where the proposal came before the creativity - as, I suspect from the banality of all the interactive sequences, did the script.

3DAvenue

In terms of TV series adaptations, it's incredibly faithful, nailing the look and feel of the series, and big fans of the series will want to add the game to their collections pretty sharpish. Gamers, on the other hand, would be better suited to renting the title, as (aside from the annoyingly stupid driving sections) it's not that hard, and the replay value is suspect.

Jolt Online Gaming UK

For all its faults, 24 is strangely compelling largely due to the snappy story-telling, but non-fans of the show may well disagree.

G4 TV

The gameplay experience is a little too ho-hum, even with the many different mini-games. It’s a nice effort, but a fairly average experience.

VideoGamer

The story is brilliantly told and it's great to see some of the gap between season 2 and 3 being filled in. Sure, it should have been a better game, and it's not exactly a challenging game to play through, but if you're a fan of the show it'll keep you hooked from start to finish.

GameBrink

Bottom line is that when you’re in the game you’ll be angry and want your money back but as soon as the cutscenes roll around fans will be pleased. It’s amazing how one side of this game got so polished while the other was all but neglected.

Cheat Code Central

The game will only take you about eight hours to complete and with no multi-player modes or unlockables, there is no actual replay value. If you want to get 24 hours out of it, play it three times.

RewiredMind

Nothing comes across as 24 except for the plot and the cut scenes which is only a small part of it. I’m now off to get a Happy Meal and to watch Judy Garland sing with a bunch of midgets with funny hats.

The Onion (A.V. Club)

For once, you'll wish you could skip the action to get to the cutscenes.

games(TM)

If Sony Cambridge had placed as much emphasis on the gameplay mechanics as it had recreating the show’s style, then 24: The Game would have been an excellent action title. [Apr 2006, p.102]

Deeko

The developers were a bit too ambitious with the project and crammed in far too many gameplay styles, none of which are terribly exciting. This game is an injustice to the phenomenal TV series.

Total Video Games

Calling 24: The Game a disappointment is a bit of an understatement. Its uninspired third-person shooter gameplay and sluggishly dull driving sections really do fail to capture the brilliance of the TV show, with the mini-game puzzles and the rare idea representing the only spark of creativity in the entire game.

Game Revolution

So take our irritable advice, and leave this half-cooked “kernel” unpopped.

Detroit Free Press

The controls are just too unpolished to make it worthwhile, though. Movements are flaky, and aiming is far too loose. Sometimes, I got into a tight firefight where I couldn't hit a terrorist a few feet in front of me. And the driving missions are worse.

DarkStation

Coverting a trully engaging and action-packed TV show should have been a no-brainer, but sadly so are the AI and controls in the game.

netjak

The game never truly matches the intensity of the show itself though, mostly because it's placed between seasons of the show which have already aired, so you know from the beginning that certain characters are going to be ok, even when their lives are supposedly threatened.

Gamezilla!

The camera is a constant pain, general movement can be challenging at times, and even aiming can be extremely cumbersome.

PALGN

24 lacks the focus and innovation to make it stand out from the crowd, and is yet more proof that throwing as many ingredients into the pot as possible rarely yields favourable results.

IGN

But the actual game itself really is simply poor. There's almost nothing redeeming to find during any section where the analog sticks are in use, and being that this is a game and not a TV show, that simply doesn't cut it.

ZTGameDomain

Apart from the occasional distraction of a mini-game such as diffusing a bomb or the excellent cut scenes this game is poorly constructed even for a budget title.

GameSpy

It's really a bummer to see 24: The Game fail so miserably at being a competent title. It seems that the main focus of the game was on making it look cool and impressing fans of the show when they looked at it.

Gaming Age

As a game, 24 The Game is absolutely horrible, an unfinished, barely playable, multigenre wreck. But judged as a lost season of 24, the game fares notably better. In this sense, 24 The Game is simultaneously one of the best and worst licensed titles to hit in some time.