The game begins with a tutorial, where the player learns the controls and abilities of the shark, such as biting, thrashing, tail-whipping, jumping, and using a special ability called "shark vision" that allows the shark to sense nearby prey and objects. The player also learns how to attack swimmers at a beach, destroy a set of docks, and kill several divers. Brody shows up at this point, captures the shark, and transports it to Amity's marine theme park, similar to SeaWorld. The shark escapes from its holding tank and destroys the waterpark. In one of the exhibit tanks, the shark kills the resident Orca.
After this, the player is free to roam around the island and its surrounding waters, completing missions and side quests that involve killing humans and animals, destroying structures and vehicles, fighting other predators, and exploring underwater caves and wrecks. The player can also collect hidden items such as license plates, treasure chests, and body parts that unlock bonus features such as concept art, videos, and cheats. The game has a health bar that depletes when the shark takes damage from enemies or environmental hazards. The health bar can be replenished by eating prey or finding health crates. The game also has a hunger meter that decreases over time and affects the shark's speed and stamina. The hunger meter can be filled by eating prey or finding food crates.
The game's story progresses as the player completes main missions that advance the plot and reveal more about the characters and their motives. The player learns that Brody's research has discovered that the subsonic frequencies emitted by Environplus's Seaseeker submarines are causing the sharks around Amity to become more aggressive and attack humans. The mayor brushes off Brody's complaint and decides to have the machines stay. The shark causes more carnage, such as destroying an underwater facility, destroying an oil shipment, killing Shaw and Mayor Vaughn by ramming his yacht into a barge filled with fireworks, and fighting Raddock in his submarine.
The game's final mission takes place at Environplus's offshore rig, where Brody has been taken hostage by Shaw's men. The shark infiltrates the rig and frees Brody, who then helps the shark destroy the Seaseekers and sabotage the rig's core. The shark then faces Raddock for the last time in his submarine equipped with torpedoes and a drill. After defeating Raddock, the shark escapes from the rig before it explodes. The game ends with a cutscene showing Brody watching the rig's explosion from a helicopter, while saying that he hopes the shark will find peace somewhere else.
Reception
Jaws Unleashed received mixed reviews from critics. The game was praised for its open world gameplay, its faithful recreation of the film's atmosphere, its variety of missions and activities, its humor and gore, and its fun factor. However, the game was also criticized for its technical issues such as bugs, glitches, camera problems, poor graphics, long loading times, repetitive sound effects, and voice acting. The game was also deemed too violent and disturbing for some audiences.
The game sold over 250,000 copies in North America in its first month of release. It was also nominated for several awards such as Best Action Game of 2006 by IGN and Best Licensed Game of 2006 by GameSpot. However, it did not win any of them.
Jaws Unleashed is considered by some fans as a cult classic and one of the best shark games ever made. It is also regarded as a guilty pleasure and a fun game to play despite its flaws.
References
: [Jaws Unleashed - Wikipedia]
: [Jaws Unleashed - GameSpot]
: [JAWS Unleashed - IGN]
: [GameSpot's Best and Worst of 2006 - GameSpot](https://www.gamespot.com/articles/gamespots-best-and-worst-of-2006/1100-6163330/)
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