Santa sure left me some goodies under the tree this year. All kinds of Lord of the Rings merchandise, DVD's...and, oh yeah, video games! The new Return of the King game, Jak 2, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds and the Italian Job game were all unwrapped and ready for me to play. Hmmm, which one should I play first though? What a tuffy. Well, seeing as my brother was glued to ROTK, I popped in the Jak 2 disc and started playing.
Wow! Vastly different from the first Jak game, but change is good. Basic controls are easy to use from the start and are exactly as we all remember them from the first game. However, the world Jak is in this time is not so familiar. You start the game escaping from a futuristic prison that takes place in an industrialized city. How did Jak get there?
Well, at the end of Jak and Daxter, all the power cells you collected open up a door with something inside. This game picks up where the last game left off. A beginning movie lets you know that inside the door was an ancient precursor ring. You open up the ring and are pulled inside a swirling vortex. Jak and Daxter are separated from Kiera and Samos and our heroes find themselves in Haven City, that futuristic city I mentioned. Guards, saying that they were waiting for Jak seize him and take him off to prison. Two years pass. During those two years Jak had been a lab rat for Dark-Eco infusion experiments that our villain, Baron Praxis, needed to make a secret weapon. As Jak is left unattended by the Baron and his head soldier, Erol, Daxter finally gets inside the prison and helps Jak escape. Jak isn't his old self. First off, he talks now and is also sporting a goatee, giving him a meaner look. Oh yeah, and that Dark-Eco gives Jak dark powers, which are very cool to use.
Jet Boards, Titan Suits, Zoomer Races and all sorts of cool Weaponry give Jak 2 very good gameplay with variety. After escaping from prison you meet an old chap that asks for your protection from the Krimzon Guard, the cities main police force, in exchange for information. You help out, of course, and the elderly guy, Kor, tells you to go to the slums and talk to The Shadow. He's leader of The Underground that is rising the people against Baron Praxis. Remember the zoomer from the old game? Well, this city is filled with zoomers of all kinds that you can "borrow" to get from one place to another. You'll be doing a lot of driving from place to place, which is fun at first, but the commute can get tiresome, especially when you run into the Krimzon Guard. The city is huge, and crawling with police. If you happen to just bump your vehicle, whether accidental or purposeful, into a guard, you got the whole police force alerted to your presence and after you. It's so scary to have the Krimzon Guard on your tail for the first time, but it happens so often in the game that the police become annoying, rather than frightening. Anyway, the game is filled with missions and tasks for you to complete, like the old game, except you aren't doing good deeds for kindly townsfolk. This time you're pretty much causing trouble to stir up the Barons forces, but you're still the good guy. I keep talking about change here, and another one that you'll notice right off is the Teen rating for the game. Now Daxter can say "crap" and get away with it! With the Teen rating, Daxter is able to be a lot more mischievous and fun. Daxter even gets to go on a couple missions by himself, which is good news for all you Daxter fans! Another great thing is the Jet Board. Once acquired, you can pull out the board whenever you like and use it to cross lakes of Dark-Eco, grind across pipes to new areas...the good stuff. Oh, and don't forget, the Morph Gun. You'll be using the gun a whole lot in the game. Shooting is a very big part and you can upgrade this baby for four different gun modes. Yet, my favorite thing to do in the game is using the Titan Suit; A big mechanical suit that Jak can hop in to break down walls, throw things, knock stuff over and even go to an underwater level. I just love this thing!
A colorful cast of characters offers different voices that bring the game to life. Daxter especially makes the game interesting with his quirky humor and sarcastic nature that makes us love him. Music is well done, but some tracks, such as the "police chase theme" get overplayed. If you pull out your gun or board while in an area, the tone of the music changes a little twinge, which I thought was good detail to the game.
A slight tweak up from the previous game, Jak 2 has good graphics and even better environments. The areas, especially Haven City are huge. You might get lost if it were not for the City Map Radar, which is smart enough to move you in the right direction and guide you around all the complicated corners and paths.
Altogether, Jak 2 is a great game that is a must have. The story will keep you wanting more and the gameplay will as well. The game is so vast, I can't even cover it all. You'll have to experience it for yourself. All I can say is, yes precursor orbs are still in the game, and secret goodies are a fun bonus. If you don't have it, go to the store and buy it now!
