We’ve seen a vast majority of anime games over the years from Naruto, One Piece, Dragon Ball Z and so on, and we’ve been lucky enough to have a number of games bring together our favourite characters. That is exactly what Jump Force does. With Shonen Jump home to so many well known characters it just makes sense that they release these kind of titles, especially with it celebrating it’s 50 years of Weekly Shonen Jump.
Straight off the bat you’re given a rosta with a whopping 40 characters spanning from 15 different manga/anime so there’s bound to be a character for you if not multiple, the game isn’t too difficult to get into with it giving you tutorials on how to perform a number of moves and combos and if you have difficulty here you can always go back and brush up on your kamehamehas and rasengans in training mode so don’t be alarmed if you don’t get it the first time around. Picking a team that was right for me was a great experience, with characters having their signature moves, getting to test them all out and find which fighters compliment each other was nothing short of fun, the game gives you the option to play around in a sort of free style mode without forcing you to play through the story which is handy when you don’t want to be too serious and losing isn’t all that bad.
As I mentioned briefly, there is a story mode to this game which is pretty generic, go here, fight this character, return to just repeat once again. With a character customisation at the beginning and I use the word customisation lightly as there isn’t a whole lot of variety when it comes to creating the character but once you’re ready you’re set to go out and save the world with your new found friends Goku, Naruto and Monkey D Luffy. The story starts with all hell breaking loose between the heroes and villains in time square as you’re watching from the ground as buildings are being destroyed all around, there’s no real information as to why this is happening, as it’s showing off this cut scene you are hit from a deflected attack only to be rescued by trunks who tells you, you’ve now got super powers just like those battling around you. You’re then whisked off to the hub World where you can start your journey through the main story helping out those in need. You’re given the option to choose a team you’d like to fight alongside with, choosing between Goku, Naruto and Luffy you’ll buddy up with thus giving you the move set of said leader. Don’t worry too much as you can unlock all other characters moves by purchasing them and editing your move set to what you prefer. The fights keep you interested for a couple of hours before it starts to feel pretty repetitive as you’ve learnt the combos and moves you need to beat your opponent in record time only to have to sit through a loading screen that lasts longer than your fight which can be daunting especially when it’ll go into a cut scene to then be returned to another load screen.
With only partial voice acting it really takes away from the game as you’ll encounter moments between the different characters only for it to be so lifeless and take away any real need to pay attention to what’s going on. Graphics definitely look the best when you’re in a fight with the fast movement and animations that come with doing your favourite attacks, throughout cuts scenes character animation can look pretty weird with no real facial expressions going on and bodies looking flimsy and not proportioned right on certain heroes (I’m looking at you Vegeta). There are issues here and there with the frame rate dropping in load screens and sometimes mid battle but nothing that completely stops you from playing it can just get annoying. Once you’ve played through the story or if it’s just not your thing you can take to the online mode which allows you to compete with others around the World, picking your three favourite fighters to battle it out to see who becomes victor. I would recommend getting in some practice though as you can enter an online match only to never land a single punch on your opponent as they’ve been training non-stop up until this point but never the less it’s still fun and something a little different.
Jump Force could have been more than it was, not living up to what it’s predecessor was, as J-Stars Victory Vs + held a lot more fun to it, with a much more creative over World and variety with its Star Card and extra game modes giving you a bit more variety when playing to keep your interest. While Jump Force gave me it’s few hours of fun, with its repetitive story missions the only mode keeping it alive is its online mode and the announcement of a season pass bringing in extra characters. If you’re looking for similar titles as stated J-Stars Victory Vs + does just what it’s supposed to, it gives you great combat, a large variety of characters, unique maps and a pirate ship to sail around the map (need I say more?). Dragon Ball FighterZ is definitely another title to pick up, with fluid fighting, beautiful graphics, the introduction of new characters and an original story line it isn’t one to miss out on bringing a ton of fun, with characters to unlock, combos to learn and so much more.
Should you pick up Jump Force? If what you’re looking for is all your favourite characters in one place, a play style that allows you to perform all your favourite attacks, compete online to show just who’s the best at pulling off Deku’s Manchester smash, for fans new and old with characters spanning over the last 50 years then Jump Force gives you that.
REVIEW CODE: A FREE Playstation 4 code was provided to Brash games for this review. Please send all review code enquiries to editor@brashgames.co.uk.
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