JAWS Unleashed is one of those games that, despite being riddled with problems, is too tempting to ignore. It's a Mario 64/Grand Theft Auto-style sandbox adventure, except instead of playing as a huggable Italian plumber or an Italian maniac, you swim around the ocean as a mighty great white shark. And instead of jumping onto enemies' heads or riddling them full of holes, you're using your razor sharp teeth to rip them into bloody chunks. The game's a guilty pleasure, no question, but it's held back from greatness by a few nagging bugs which, after more than two years in development, should have been harpooned long ago.

Ironically enough, Jaws was developed by Appaloosa, the makers of the family friendly Ecco the Dolphin series, so it's a bit odd to see a game from them that involves gruesome executions and wanton destruction. But that's not to say that I have any issues with that, as I find the game to be quite delightful. I just enjoy swimming in the ocean shredding marine life, propelling myself onto boats and making them explode/sink, and consuming hundreds of hapless beachgoers who scream in terror as I'm sinking my teeth into their soft, warm bodies. There's an excessive amount of blood, a plentiful stock of live food to eat (the menu consists of seals, orcas, people, and lots of fish), and a nice assortment of missions to complete.

Ah yes, missions. Appaloosa went so far as to create an entire story around the game. It's about as basic as the JAWS novel that I wrote when I was ten (I wrote the unofficial novel JAWS 5 and it sucks ass), but considering the circumstances, I really wouldn't have wanted a complex narrative laced with Amity politics. It's Fourth of July weekend, people are trying to kill me, and it's my job to kill them first. That works for me.

Similar to most sandbox games, you don't have to do all of the missions, so you're free to just swim around and cause havoc. Plus, there's a host of secret items to collect. But the missions are quite varied. One involves destroying a pier, another killing an orca. Another (an early one), asks you to locate a key card in order to escape a tank. Not sure why a shark needs a key card, but it is a videogame, so f*ck it! The point is the game's not boring. Jaws can bite things, swallow them whole, use his tail to bust things up, toss people hundreds of feet into the air, and use his nose to break stuff. There's enough variety and at times the game is quite humorous because everything is done to excess. If there's one thing that JAWS Unleashed isn't, it's boring.

Unfortunately, JAWS suffers from some troublesome bugs that hamper the fun beginning with the camera. It sucks that in 2006 I need to complain about something that's been a problem since the early nineties, but it needs to be addressed. While Appaloosa has done an admirable job, the camera can be all over the place. It's very easy to miss a target and then need to reign in the camera to keep it from going AWOL. It's not the worst that I've seen, but it does make the game a lot harder than it should be, especially while in close quarters. Many times I'll go to eat someone and miss out on all the fun because the camera goes haywire. And I'm a sick bastard, so I want to see the teeth sinking into the skin and the body parts floating to the ocean floor, so this road block is extremely disappointing.

Being stuck and/or having to reboot are some more issues that are just a huge pain in the ass and there's no excuse for them. Not for a game that's been in development for so long and by a developer that in the past has made some remarkable technical achievements. For whatever reason, there were times when I got trapped and couldn't shake myself free. Thus, the reboot was necessary.

As for the graphics, I'm not that impressed. Several years ago, when Appaloosa finished Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future for the Sega Dreamcast, it was a beautiful looking game. But JAWS Unleashed only looks marginally better than that game, and Ecco was released in 2000! It's not my place to say anything about what it's like to develop on the PS2 hardware, but I was expecting better visuals from a developer that has in the past wowed audiences with its mastery of certain pieces of hardware.

Despite its technical shortcomings, I've still got lots of love for this game. Part of it has to do with my love affair with JAWS and great whites in general, but the bottom line is this is a different take on a stale genre and I appreciate Appaloosa's efforts. It's also $29.99, which is why I wholeheartedly recommend that you buy or at least rent the game, just so you can partake in the carnage.