Right from the start this ad is given the same feel as we might have gotten from the original Jaws movie, and it’s a mix of hilarity along with something else, nostalgia perhaps, that makes it work somehow. B. Alan Orange from MovieWeb might agree with that assessment since the game not only brings back the memories but it offers up a nice little twist, you can play as the people attempting to stop the shark, or you can play the shark itself. Now that’s something you don’t happen to see all the time when it comes to board games, as the protagonist of the whole thing is usually something that everyone is trying to avoid, not emulate. But in this instance one player can actually simulate the shark and force the others to think and act quickly before a feeding frenzy occurs.
Whatever you might be thinking, this is not an old game that’s been brought to the attention of the current generation. Instead this is a new game that’s been given the look and feel of the 1975 movie and allows people to play as Quint, Brody, and Hooper as a combined team, or the shark. It’s basically a race to see just who can outsmart who as each character takes on their designated role and seeks to outsmart the other. There are two sides to this board that simulate different parts in the movie and with both sides the players are working against the clock as the shark keeps homing in on the unsuspecting victims, which on one side will obviously be the trio of men that have taken after it. Board games might not be all the rage these days but this one would certainly be worth trying since it would no doubt provide some entertainment for as long as it lasted, which would depend on the actions of the players.
What’s really fun about this is that in this version of the classic movie the shark might actually win if the other player aren’t quick enough, as the two scenarios involve Amity Island where the shark is set to attack the swimmers and evade capture, and aboard the Orca where the trio finally seek to take the shark out. In either situation the speed and skill of the players that are working against the shark are the determining factors of whether or not the shark will finally get its due or if the humans will once again outsmart it and save the day. Quite honestly this sounds like a fun game and even better is that you can order it online or find it in Target as of now. Something seems to tell me that a lot of people might notice this game simply out of nostalgia and grin at it as they pick it up off the shelf, but there are going to be a lot of others that might just glance at it and move on.
Why though? Well that’s kind of simple, Jaws is now and will always be a classic movie, and there’s been plenty of merchandise that has revolved around it for a long time now, but it’s still a movie that belongs mostly to the 70s no matter that it’s influenced a great deal of pop culture since it was released. It could have something to do with the fact that ever since Jaws came out that shark movies have sought to reach the same heights and have gone sailing over them, going from deadly serious to outrageous and goofy in a very short amount of time. Think of this way, after Jaws we’ve been given movies such as Deep Blue Sea, Sharktopus, MegaShark, Jaws: The Revenge, Sharknado, and so on and so forth. While a lot of people would gladly argue that a lot of these movies have their redeeming qualities, and they do without argument, they’ve still watered down the whole idea that Jaws really kicked off and have made a bit of mockery of the original terror that was unleashed and actually made people fearful of open water.
This game is a pleasant nod back to the days when the shark movie was something that set your teeth on edge and really did make your skin tingle as you tried to anticipate just what was going to happen and to who. It’s actually interesting to note that while the horror of seeing women and children being subjected to the same treatment in horror movies today is kind of hard to fathom, back then it wasn’t any different. Keep in mind that one of the shark’s first victims was a woman, and a young boy came not long after that. This kind of horror didn’t discriminate by gender or age, so it’s fair to say that Jaws really helped to set the tone that no one was off limits.
The game does look like fun though.
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