Countdown to 24 The Game begins @ Gaming Target

Written by John Scalzo on March 30, 2005

News: Sony officially announces a game based on the hit TV show 24.

After tons of rumors (most of them true apparently), 24 The Game is coming to the PlayStation 2 this fall. Set between the second and third seasons of the show, the game purports to answer several dangling plot threads that were just hinted at in the show and show the inner workings of Jack Bauer and the Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU).

The questions who tried to assassinate President Palmer, how did Kim get a job at CTU, and how did Jack Bauer and Chase Edmunds start working together will supposedly all be answered. (Although as a student of 24, I feel it's my duty to inform everyone that the show has already answered why Kim works at CTU. Jack got her the job to keep an eye on her.) With this many plot threads, we may also see the beginnings of Tony and Michelle's marriage and the planning of season three's undercover mission. But that's purely speculation.

24 The Game will incorporate many of the action setpieces that make 24 such a great show. Missions will consist of on foot stealth and shooting action (including sniper missions). Other missions will be vehicle based and interrogation missions will require Jack to morph into "the baddest man on the planet" as he uses any means necessary to coerce information out of a suspect. Finally, the game will use the show's high technology quotient by having players examine satelite imagery and decode documents.

Furhtering the connection between game and show will be the full cooperation of the cast including Kiefer Sutherland (Jack Bauer), Elisha Cuthbert (Kim Bauer) and Carlos Bernard (Tony Almeida). All of them have agreed to provide voice acting and their likeness and for the game. Other characters are said to appear as well and I wouldn't rule out James Badge Dale (Chase Edmunds), Sarah Clarke (Nina Myers), Mary Lynn Rajskub (Chloe O'Brien), Reiko Aylesworth (Michelle Dessler) and Dennis Haysbert (President David Palmer). Again, that character list is all speculation, but Sony has promised "the most extensive cast of Hollywood actors ever seen in a game". And Dennis Haysbert is no stranger to video game voice acting, having previously appeared in Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow, Call of Duty: Finest Hour and currently appearing in Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory.

The final piece of the puzzle is an authentic 24 experience and Sony has taken steps to include every part of it. The show's composer, Sean Callery, has been tapped to provide the music for the game. Duppy Demetrius, one of the show's writers, will provide the script, with full approval and cooperation of the 24 production team. Finally, 24 The Game will borrow several sound effects (the Ticking Clock of Doom!) and the visual style the show is famous for including the splitscreen device and several signature camera angles.

24 is being developed by Sony's Cambridge Studio and as someone who has been waiting for this game for a very long time I will keep a close watch on all things 24 related.