The Collection Chamber: BAD BOYS II: MIAMI TAKEDOWN

The official game of the blockbuster movie.

Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett of TNT (Tactical Narcotics Team) are back and oh so bad. Featuring all the fast pace and all-out action of the movie, it's your job to ensure that these TNT cops are not DOA! Somewhere on the streets of Miami something is going down which must be stopped.
Play as Mike or Marcus each with their own personality and characteristics
1st & 3rd person viewpoints
Large variety o weapons
Fully destructible environments
Unique Bad Boy rating system rewards your actions and achievements
Multiple mission objectives

~ from the back of the box

I'm consistently surprised by how long the legs are on the Bad Boys franchise. I wasn't much of a fan of the first, and I've seen the ending of the second so many times while working at the cinema in my youth that I haven't found the bother to watch the rest of it. I forgot part three existed, and part four seems to have snuck up from nowhere when it hit theatres no too long ago. To celebrate my lack of enthusiasm for the franchise, I thought I might display it by playing through the sole videogame adaptation. Bad Boys II got poor enough reviews at the time to be a worthy Kusage entry, but my plans to be scathing were scuppered when I actually played the thing. While it's a far, far cry from perfect, it's actually not that bad.

At its core, Bad Boys: Miami Takedown (as it's known in some territories) is a cover-based shooter. I'm going to assume that you re-enact scenes from the movie (edit: you don't) as you move through the linear stages in search of the best spot to hide. You can't just cower anywhere, though, as only the spots marked with a circular symbol will be possible. From here, you can peek out and aim your gun in the first-person which is supposedly more accurate and safe. It's a decent mechanic that in all honesty could've used a little longer in the testing phase because it does come with some issues.

This blueprint lying on the table is evidence. Collecting it does little to game as far as I can tell (left).
Video Game Logic 101: Toilets are prime locations to stock up on ammo (right).

Bad Boys' biggest bungle is in its aiming. The mouse cursor never seems to move in a consistently predictable fashion, either scrolling a tad too fast or too slow. It's not enough to to break the game, but too many attempts to line up headshots in the heat of the moment fall flat. In some situations, you can steady your aim while under cover if you can see the gun-wielding thug that at. Tapping one of directional keys to peek out in first-person view will automatically focus on where you were already aiming. It's only sporadically useful, as many hidey spots - like in the frame of a door - greatly obscure what you can see. At least you won't be using a joypad like in the console versions. It's so completely busted on those ports that even an auto-lock doesn't solve it.

Graphically, the PC version is also superior over its console counterparts. High resolutions and widescreen hacks result in a crisp, sharp image that does look quite nice to my eyes. Comparisons to the GTA: Vice City are warranted, and not just for the Florida-inspired vibe each game give. Bad Boys, however, is lacking in artistry. Environments are blanketed in flat lighting and filled with generic assets. For 2004, the game does a good enough job approximating the likeness of Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, even if their mostly competent voice actors sound more like each other that the Hollywood stars they're portraying.

If one of those grey ground circles turn orange, press Space to dive for cover (left).
When you are, you can peek out in a first-person viewpoint to mow down bad guys (right).

The linear stages don't do much to satiate the lack of variety in the gunplay. They mostly consist of a series of rooms in which to clear enemies with a half-hearted attempt to make them feel like they could be a real-world location. A video arcade resembles a gulag more than an entertainment destination and the back alley behind a diner doesn't fare much better. When the other side of each door to a fully-furnished living room is nothing more than empty concrete spaces, it makes Miami look bleaker than it actually is. And I'm reliably informed that that's no mean feat.

The game's manual deceptively describes the cover mechanics as 'game modes'. If you're not huddled over an orange circle on the floor (aka Cover Mode), you are in Explore Mode. It gives the illusion that there's more to the game than there is, especially as they pull this trick a further two times. Sniper Mode is basically the first person viewpoint of Cover Mode, except you can zoom. And Boss Mode is just an area with a really big enemy, except you can't leave of Cover Mode.

Shoot their hand to arrest a goon. That's all it takes apparently (left).
Grenades are explosive room-clearing weapons (right).

One of the more interesting, if underused mechanics is choosing to arrest instead of kill. It's a little under-baked, though, requiring you to disarm them by shooting their gun hands. They will then fall to their knees and slowly disappear into the ether like Patrick Swayze at the end of Ghost. This - along with the video-gamey pick-ups mostly found in girl's toilets - tells you that the game was perhaps conceived to be more arcadey than it ended up being.

The result is something of a slight final product that's not bombastic or over-the-top enough for high-score hounds into Max Payne or Gungrave Overdose, nor detailed or expansive enough for those into Hitman or Grand Theft Auto. Bad Boys: Miami Takedown sits blandly in between, and while I don't think it's one of worst games ever as some of the contemporary reviews claimed - that ire was likely reserved for the console versions - it doesn't set the video game world alight. A sentiment I personally think should be placed upon the movies too. What'ya gonna do?

To download the PC game, follow the link below. This custom installer exclusive to The Collection Chamber uses dgVoodoo to run on modern systems. The presence of a real or virtual CD drive may be required to play. Manual included. Read the ChamberNotes.txt for more detailed information. Tested on Windows 10.

File Size: 1.07 Gb. Install Size: 1.82 Gb. Need help? Consult the Collection Chamber FAQ

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