MindJack

MindJack (マインドジャック, MaindoJakku) is a third-person shooter video game developed by feelplus and published by Square Enix. The game was released for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on January 18, 2011 in North America,[1] January 21, 2011 in Europe, January 27, 2011 in Japan and February 10, 2011 in Australia. The game was originally planned to be released in October 2010 for North America and Europe but it was pushed back to January 2011. MindJack takes place in 2031, when the world's governments are in decline and new corrupt organizations are arising. The player can "hack" into and control enemies, vehicles, robots, or civilians.[2] In the campaign story mode, the game is single-player but "transitions seamlessly" into co-op.[2] The game received negative reviews from critics.

MindJack
Developer(s)feelplus
Publisher(s)Square Enix
Composer(s)Tsuyoshi Sekito
Platform(s)PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Release
  • NA: January 18, 2011
  • EU: January 21, 2011
  • JP: January 27, 2011
  • AU: February 10, 2011
Genre(s)Third-person shooter
Mode(s)Single-player, online multiplayer

Gameplay

MindJack is a third-person shooter incorporating a cover system. The player character can carry two weapons and grenades. The player can mind hack civilians and weakened enemies, controlling them as the player character while the main character is controlled by artificial intelligence. Weakened enemies can also be turned to the player's side, becoming allies. Online players can "hack" into a person's single-player campaign and take control of the AI enemies while Player 1 plays the game's story campaign. The online players may help the solo player by attacking other enemies or they can attack Player 1 themselves.

Development

The writing of MindJack's story and script was outsourced to an unnamed company in the United Kingdom as the game was thought to have a greater appeal to Western players than with a scenario created by a Japanese author.[3]

Story

The game's story focuses on agent Jim Corbijn, and a human rights activist, Rebecca Weiss. Agent Jim is sent to district 7 to investigate reports of a shootout. When he arrives, the government agents attack him. He then meets up with Ms. Weiss. Agent Corbijn and Ms. Weiss then go to investigate the rumors of "Project Mindjack".

Reception

The game received "generally unfavorable reviews" on both platforms according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[4][5]

Eurogamer called it "a strange blend of Resident Evil 5, Uncharted and Minority Report," stating "If you can look past the lack of polish and horrible graphics, there's a compelling and unique take on cover-based shooters here, along with an interesting lesson on how games deal with plot. It's a rewarding little game, if you can hack it."[8] GameSpot praised MindJack's concept and online multiplayer, but concluded "Mindjack does have a few bright spots, but they are smothered beneath the weight of the awkward controls and squandered potential."[12] IGN summed up their review with "Mindjack is ultimately a frustrating and forgettable shooter with horrible presentation, clumsy controls and a plodding campaign. It serves up a next-gen idea with its unique multiplayer design yet delivers it in a horribly last-gen package."[14] Official Xbox Magazine UK's verdict was that "Nobody in their right mind should buy this."[19] In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of two sevens and two sixes for a total of 26 out of 40.[9]

Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw of Zero Punctuation ranked the game fifth on his list of the Worst Games of 2011; he called the game "A succession of square rooms populated by characters who couldn't have reached any level of decent characterization if they had a rocket-powered stepladder. Its sole innovation was the ability to possess other people in the battlefield, a feature which only served to illustrate that absolutely no one was having fun."[20]

References
  1. Spencer (November 2, 2010). "Mindjack (And Its Giant Gorillas) Jumps Into North America On January 18". Siliconera. Curse, Inc.
  2. "Mindjack". MindJack. Square Enix. Archived from the original on November 4, 2010. Retrieved January 25, 2012.
  3. OXMUK staff (December 9, 2010). "Mindjack developers outsourced story & script to UK writers". Official Xbox Magazine UK. Future plc. Archived from the original on April 29, 2012. Retrieved May 20, 2018.
  4. "Mindjack for PlayStation 3 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved January 25, 2012.
  5. "Mindjack for Xbox 360 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved January 25, 2012.
  6. Sterling, Jim (January 24, 2011). "Review: MindJack (X360)". Destructoid. Enthusiast Gaming. Retrieved May 20, 2018.
  7. Edge staff (March 2011). "Mindjack (X360)". Edge. No. 225. Future plc. p. 92.
  8. Jennings, Ronan (February 8, 2011). "Mindjack". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Retrieved January 25, 2012.
  9. Brian (January 20, 2011). "Complete Famitsu review scores". Nintendo Everything. Retrieved May 20, 2018.
  10. Marchiafava, Jeff (January 26, 2011). "Mindjack: It's A Mindjack, Alright". Game Informer. GameStop. Retrieved May 20, 2018.
  11. Cabral, Matt (February 1, 2011). "Mindjack (X360)". GamePro. GamePro Media. Archived from the original on February 5, 2011. Retrieved May 20, 2018.
  12. Watters, Chris (January 21, 2011). "Mindjack Review". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved January 25, 2012.
  13. "Mindjack (X360)". GameTrailers. Viacom. January 27, 2011. Archived from the original on August 31, 2012. Retrieved May 20, 2018.
  14. Ogilvie, Tristan (January 18, 2011). "Mindjack Review". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved May 20, 2018.
  15. Lewis, Cameron (April 2011). "Mindjack review". Official Xbox Magazine. Future US. p. 75. Archived from the original on April 1, 2012. Retrieved May 20, 2018.
  16. "Review: Mindjack". PlayStation: The Official Magazine. No. 44. Future plc. April 2011. p. 75.
  17. Williams, Christian (January 24, 2011). "Mindjack (X360)". The A.V. Club. The Onion. Archived from the original on September 6, 2012. Retrieved May 20, 2018.
  18. Hargreaves, Roger (January 25, 2011). "Mindjack will drive you out of your wits - game review (X360)". Metro. DMG Media. Archived from the original on January 28, 2011. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
  19. OXMUK staff (February 8, 2011). "Review: Mindjack". Official Xbox Magazine UK. Future plc. Archived from the original on January 16, 2014. Retrieved May 20, 2018.
  20. Croshaw, Ben "Yahtzee" (January 11, 2012). "Zero Punctuation: Top 5 of 2011". The Escapist. Defy Media. Retrieved June 22, 2018.
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