If you have ever wondered whether you are an 'Achievement Whore', consider giving Jumper a shot. No game in the young, growing history of Xbox 360 will more accurately answer this question for you. It has an easy-points / terrible-gameplay balance that will put your addiction to Microsoft's magic number scheme to the test.
As the title suggests, the game puts you in the shoes of Jamie Bell's character from the film, Griffin. They show the history of the young jumper, and almost completely ignore the film's lead, Hayden Christensen as David. The developers deserve kudos for delivering a story that branches off from the movie by focusing on a secondary character; expanding on the concept of 'jumpers', without retelling the same story. At the same time, they drop the ball somewhat, by forgetting to tell you exactly why the paladins and jumpers are at odds. All they really explain is that paladins will stop at nothing to get to jumpers, and Griffin has a well-earned hatred for them.
Cut-scenes deliver the limited story in a stylized blocky cartoon look, which does a better job setting the stark tone than impressing you visually. They also fail to mention exactly what a 'jumper' is, or what makes them so special; rather, they assume that you have seen the film. The basic premise is that 'jumpers' can travel anywhere instantly, just by thinking about it. They hint at their special powers with some lame, randomly accomplished 'drop zone' kills, where you grab a hold of your enemy, 'jump' to a location ripe with impending doom, and jump back alone. This leaves your enemies in various deadly situations, ranging from painfully slow death (atop a frozen mountain) to immediate doom (standing in fiery lava flowing from an active volcano).
As cool as those 'drop zone' kills sound, the game is not. Your skills as a jumper come in handy both in these mildly amusing kills, as well as in the game's fighting mechanics. Each baddie you encounter has a circle at the base of their feet, broken into four quadrants. Each quadrant corresponding to one of the four buttons on the controller. Since you can 'jump' anywhere you want, it makes quickly hitting an enemy from behind easy. The problem with the system is that even the slightest enemy movement seems to shift the quadrants. This, combined with a rather sluggish combat engine, means that when you think you are hitting an enemy from behind, you may really end up hitting them from the side by the time your attack happens. This might sound like a minor issue, but thanks to the game's inclusion of enemy counter-attacks, it becomes rather troublesome. Most times, you will find yourself running away from the enemies, to ensure that you are really hitting them in the right spot.
When taking on paladins, the quadrants can be either red or green. The red quadrants represent the enemy's ability to counter your attack, dishing out a beating to you. Early on, most of the paladins feature just one red quadrant, leaving only frequently shifting quadrants the issue. Later in the game, boss battles and tougher paladins offer two to three red quadrants; making fighting rather frustrating. Still, even the final boss is rather easy if you just take your time and attack the green quadrants smartly. The game makes even this final challenge a breeze by offering up a handful of checkpoints mid-battle.
