Ah … the beach. The sand, the sun, the ocean, and some woman flailing around in the water in a growing pool of red. While that may not sound like a reason for you to enjoy the beach (and if it does, please seek professional help), this would probably be the ideal vacation or just afternoon for a shark. If you’re wondering what it would be like to actually be a shark, then you’re in luck because one of the scariest sharks from the movies is now on the Xbox, and while it does a great job in providing some gruesome fun and offers open ended gameplay, there are a few major problems that may drown out a good time.

In JAWS unleashed, you play as the famous shark from the movies as he defends his aquatic territory around Amity Isle from the large number of humans moving into the area who, of course, are looking to open theme parks and drilling expeditions and things of that nature. The story mode to JAWS pretty much revolves around you stopping progress while everyone’s trying to kill you (what else would you expect playing as a shark?). Also, if you’re not in the mood to go through the story at the moment, you can simply swim around destroying things and eating people for points to upgrade JAWS’ abilities or play up to 32 different side missions to also earn points or break up some monotony.

The controls to JAWS Unleashed are pretty simple to get into, with the left stick controlling movement and the right stick controlling the camera, and JAWS also has a number of special moves that he can unlock as you progress and build up his stats like a body slam to destroy ships or a corkscrew attack. Outside of eating everything, he can also use a tailwhip attack to demolish things he runs across, so there’s a few ways that you can swim out and cause mass amounts of destruction and chaos. The game also seems to get more difficult the more damage you do and the better you build up JAWS’ abilities, since shark hunters and such will begin to show up more frequently and in greater numbers as you go on.

JAWS, overall, is a great game, and it’s surprisingly fun to swim around destroying everything you can find. It’s also satisfying to devour people and other sharks, it’s a lot of fun to play the side missions and do things like stealth killing swimmers or pulling a boat to a buoy in a certain time period, and it’s cool to visit locations and see people from the actual JAWS movie, so this game sounds like a winner … right? Well, unfortunately there are a couple of major problems with JAWS that can potentially hinder your underwater enjoyment. First off, this game has one of the most annoying cameras that I have seen in a while. The camera tries to stay behind JAWS the whole time, and while you’re underwater in a large open area it’s not too bad. The problems come in when you’re in enclosed areas or up near the surface, since it tends to get confused as to where it needs to be, which causes it to jump over the water when it’s not supposed to so you can’t see what you’re doing. It also seems to get lost in enclosed areas, and at times flailed around the sides or up above JAWS which especially causes headaches and cost me a couple of do-overs during boss battles or even at times of just swimming around.

The controls to JAWS are pretty clean, but another major issue is the fact that he can get stuck in multiple areas that are a little tight since trying to turn a huge shark in a small area just doesn’t work out too well and there’s no reverse button. There were quite a few times that he would get trapped in between a wall and a pier or something like that, and I had to re-load the game since I was getting hammered with harpoons or a gun or something. In addition, the bad camera also caused problems with trying to find enemies up on decks and things like that and cost a loss of life or do-overs.

Overall, I would be lying if I said that I didn’t like JAWS Unleashed or that I didn’t just sit and play it for hours, overall enjoying it thoroughly. Outside of the problems, they actually did a good job of bringing a game based on the movie series to the Xbox, and taking a character like a shark and being able to bring a game out that offers decent open ended gameplay, a decent mission selection, and even some cool boss battles in itself says something for the game and the developers, and it shows that they were trying to give players a fun game. Unfortunately, the camera and control issues may give players a headache and some annoyance, so it really comes down to whether or not you can overlook the problems and put up with some aggravation in order to see a fun game underneath.

Gameplay: 7.0
The controls to JAWS are good for the most part, and the game is open ended and allows you to pretty much do what you want including just swimming and eating or playing side missions. Unfortunately, the camera causes problems and do-overs, and JAWS will get stuck in certain areas and that will also cause do-overs.  

Graphics: 7.9 
The graphics in JAWS looked really good overall, with some decent character modeling (the bodies will flail around and flop pretty lifelike when you get a hold of them) and good additions like bubble masses, blood clouds, and some good water effects. JAWS was also done well, and has some pretty realistic movements.  

Sound: 7.8
The game features music from the movie, and tracks that will increase in intensity when JAWS gets into situations or goes after someone. There was also some great work done on the environmental effects all the way down to people screaming when JAWS approaches and the screams actually changing to that muffled sound when you go back underwater.    

Difficulty: Medium
The game is pretty easy to get into, and there’s a tutorial to go through in the beginning. The game will get more challenging as you progress to a point, but the camera and controls can sometimes make the challenge more difficult than it should be.  

Concept: 7.5 
The whole idea behind JAWS Unleashed is good, and taking something like a shark and making an entertaining and fun title says something in itself, not to mention making it open ended and offering players the ability to do what they like.

Overall: 6.9
If the camera and controls would have been more solid, this game would have been one that I would recommend for players to pick up. Unfortunately, the decision to play it is going to come down to whether or not you can get around the issues. If you can, JAWS Unleashed is a fun title with good unlockables and open ended play. Either way, I would recommend a rental prior to purchase.