Minority Report – GBA – Review

After a weak showing on
all the major home consoles, Minority Report comes to the Game Boy Advance.
Could this video game rendition of the excellent Spielberg film finally due
justice to the license?  Eh, not really.  Not to say that Minority Report
doesn’t do some things right.  The game does have some pretty detailed 2D
graphics and nice sound, but the frustrating combat system and repetitive action
make the overall presentation of the game lackluster.

The storyline follows the
movies pretty closely, while adding a few original touches.  You play as
pre-crime officer John Anderton (a detective in a department that uses psychics
to stop murders before they can happen) as he arrests a few people guilty of
future murders.  However, you soon find yourself being pursued for one such
future murder.  You go on the run from the cops and try to unlock the mystery of
your crime on the way.

The gameplay is fairly
simple, yet very frustrating at times.  As John Anderton, you neutralize perps
by shooting them with the various weapons you pick up.  In order to do so, you
must target them using your shoulder buttons.  This can be tough, because
various innocent bystanders tend to get in your way and if you shoot them,
you’ll lose a life.  This combat system tends to be very frustrating, as in the
heat of battle, you’ll probably end up shooting a few innocent people.  Also,
many times you’ll be right next to a foe and the targeting system will not
target it, leaving you open to enemy fire.  You can duck behind some objects,
but this only seems to get you stuck in place and swarmed by enemies.  If the
fighting system weren’t bad enough as it is, the action is awfully repetitive.
Aside from a jetpack section, you just walk around shooting the same bad guys
the entire time, which can be very boring.

The graphics fare a little
better than the gameplay.  The sprites are nicely detailed and well animated.
The backgrounds are also nicely detailed, featuring nice touches like
holographic Lexus ads.

The sound is also done
fairly well.  The soundtrack is high quality, and the game features some degree
of voice acting.  Innocent people will yell “No! Don’t shoot!” if you get them
in your sights, which is a very nice touch.

While it looks and sounds
nice, Minority Report isn’t very heavy on gameplay.  The combat system is pretty
trying, and the game structure is redundant.  However, it does fare somewhat
better than its console counterparts.

#Reviewer’s Scoring Details

Gameplay: 6.0
The gameplay is simple to grasp, but
very frustrating.  The combat system is quite trying, and the action is very
redundant.

Graphics: 7.0
The character sprites look pretty
good, and are very nicely animated.  The levels feature some nice touches like
animated billboards.

Sound: 7.0

The soundtrack sounds
good, and the voices are a nice touch.

Difficulty: Medium

Concept: 6.5
The game does a somewhat better job
of telling the film’s story than the console outing, while interjecting some of
its own original sub-plots.  

Overall: 6.5

Minority Report has some
nice graphics and sound, but the frustrating combat system and mundane gameplay
will likely turn away gamers looking for a game with a little more substance.