Jackass: The Game PS2 Review

Apart from the second movie that was released last year, there hasn’t really been much Jackass since 2002. It seems a strange time for Empire Interactive to release the game. Usually there’s something to motivate the consumer to buy the license product, be it a movie or a popular TV show running at the time. There’s no denying that Jackass was a big property back in the day and a lot of people still remember the cast and crew. If you’ve never seen the TV show, Jackass featured a few guys doing stunts and pranks that were either dangerous, disgusting or a combination of both.

It’s probably already jumped into your head that the show just seems about right to be turned in to a game full of…well stunts, and you’d be right. Jackass: The Game is basically a collection of weird-arse mini games that would pleasure even the most extreme sadist. Most of the major cast members are included and one thing the game does right is capture the spirit of the show, be it the intro to the stunt with Johnny Knoxville, or the silly pranks played by the characters. I couldn’t help but smile as I was dancing along to the Party Boy theme, one of my favourite sketches in the show. It doesn’t break any new ground as the game plays in the same simple and easy way as other short game collections you’ve seen before. It’s just that this comes with a gross out coated presentation.

The game is split into different modes. The main section is the story that plays out like a new season of Jackass. Basically the director has been injured and you’ve been told to fill in his place while he’s healing his… well let’s just say some sexual part is mentioned, in hospital. There are seven episodes each filled with five mini games to play. To pass them you need to accomplish the goals given to you. Passing them gives you money to move onto the next challenge and eventually moving onto the next episode.

The games themselves are a mixture of ones from the show and crazy new ones which would probably never appear on it. During the stunts they are challenges to complete ala Tony Hawk style, which add bonus cash to your final income. For example the first stunt in the game is throwing your character down a cliff side trying to rack up as much body damage as possible. The challenges chucked into that are things like hitting a bed mattress on the way down and landing in the pool of water at the end. Other mini games include been flung from a catapult, driving around a golf course and everyone’s favourite, trolley racing!

Just like most other games of this type, you always find yourself having some favourite ones that you’ll play again and again and then some stinkers which you just won’t touch because they are pretty much rubbish. It’s the same here. Controls are usually always simple and they are no tutorials to show you what to do. The game chucks you straight into the mini game with the buttons showing in the bottom corner of the screen displaying what each one does. They are quick to learn so there isn’t really a worry about messing up so much.

Once you’ve beaten the stunt in the episode that stunt then becomes unlocked in challenge mode. Challenge mode is basically a harder version of the same mini game. From both challenge mode and the story mode players can earn cash for finishing the stunt. Money is used to unlock characters, props, costumes and video clips from the Jackass television show. There are a lot of things that can be unlocked so if you enjoy some of the mini games you can keep trying to beat the harder version of them to earn the dough to unlock goodies. There’s also a multiplayer mode which allows up to 4 players to confront each other in the stunts. This mode feels like it was tacked on and it was rushed in at the last minute and forced on to some of the mini games.

Graphically the game isn’t anything special; actually it’s pretty bland in most places. The character models close up are decent enough, you can tell who it is and they’re fairly convincing in the cut-scenes. Once the camera pans far away though things become generic looking, but they do get the job done most of the time and rag doll physics give a laugh. Sound wise the game has a licensed soundtrack, mostly rock based. Annoyingly though only one song plays throughout the mini game. So if you aren’t in a game that’s fairly short, you’ll be hearing the song loop and loop. This includes retries so completing those challenges will no doubt get songs drilled into your head because the song is repeating itself over and over.

Jackass: The Game isn’t the worst attempt at the mini game genre, far from it, however it’s not that good either. The content will appeal to fans as it manages to capture the comical and crazy aspects of the show. However it quickly wears thin, and with the story mode only lasting a couple of hours, the game is too short and repetitive.

Only worth a rent at the most.

6.5 out of 10