Just before Christmas, Jackass the game came out on the PS2 and the PSP from little-known publisher Red Mile Entertainment, in association of course with MTV. Well, on the other side of the year the DS game comes to the shop shelves and, despite not being very good, at least it’s not as bad as I thought it was going to be which is a saving grace seeing as I had to play it.
In a way, the game plays a little like a Tony Hawk game. You run and ride around six locations full of cars, tress, buildings and launch ramps which I’ll come to in a minute, chatting to Jonny Knoxville, Wee Man, Bam Margera and the like, doing tasks for them. These usually involve you causing some chaos like scratching cars whilst riding on a trolley or collecting items from roof tops.
You also get points for breaking bones here as the idea is to crash and do it in style. A bit like Richard Hammond last year. Trouble is, the idea is to break all the bones in your body and I did this within the first ten minutes of playing, so no further incentive with that task then.
To get some air you must find launchers, trampolines and the like around the tow. It’s like a kids’ party gone wrong! When you find one, you have to mash the A button as quickly as possible to get power, then guide your little daredevil where you want him to go. You get combo points if you manage to string falls together either by hitting vehicles to land on, ride and bail out of, or by landing on more launchers.
When it comes to graphics, the 3D engine is smooth but everyone looks like Max Headroom and Kryten from Red Dwarf. When you chat to characters the 2D images are nice enough though and have that little bit of cheeky charm you get from the TV show.
You can also choose whether to be fat, thin or a dwarf when choosing your character and you can pick up new clothes like Santa Outfits and chicken costumes along the way which let you get better stats in the air, and you can learn new poses to pull in the air so you can act like a real Jackass, or Jackarse as we say in the UK.
When it comes out in the wash, this is nothing but a lazy copy of the Tony Hawks format with the object of the game not to be skilful, but to fall off whatever you’re riding in a sort of skilful way. It’s mildly amusing but you’re not going to want to pick it up and play it for long. If you’re curious, I’d hire it. Buy it, and you may actually feel like a Jackass for shelling out the dosh.
Jackass the Game gets a below par 3 out of 10.
Get the game now
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