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| Jak does some fancy footwork. |
Throughout your adventure Jak will meet several people that will
offer him help in one way or another. Some are really just using Jak to benefit
their own selfish desires while others see Jak as a true hero out to save the
city from the Baron. These characters all have different personalities that fit
well into the story and are enjoyable way to dish out the missions to Jak.
Speaking of missions, there are tons of them and they have a great deal of
variety. In it’s own way Jak II is almost a free-form type of game. What I mean
is that while some missions must be done in a specific order, many of them are
left up to you to decide when to address them. Regardless of when you attempt a
mission a very well done cinematic scene sets up the major ones. The missions
range from simple tasks like delivering a package to the more challenging like
protecting a caravan or restarting a water treatment plant. And there are a
great deal of new enemies for Jak to encounter and they do have a wide variety
of attacks to keep you on your toes. Making it a little fairer for Jak this time
around is that he’s packing heat! Yep, now Jak gets four different guns to help
him lay down the smack. Given that the difficulty has been taken up a notch or
two from the first game, having this extra firepower is a great help. Of course
we also cannot forget about Dark Jak, yet another way to dispose of those nasty
enemies. Once Jak gathers enough Dark Eco he will be able to morph into Dark Jak
where you are a stronger, faster, and meaner Jak. While this is a cool alter ego
for Jak, it really isn’t as much of a factor in the game as I was thinking it
was going to be. Heck, you can probably go through the whole game and never even
turn into Dark Jak.
Controlling Jak is as smooth as any game I have played. There were many, many
times where I failed a mission but just about every time I would only have
myself to blame for the failure instead of the controls. Sure it’s irritating to
keep dying, but when the success of the mission lies in your hands and not on
the whim of some shoddy control system I can handle it. Some of the missions
have to be done several times just so you can figure out what it is you’re
suppose to do. For example, in one mission you’re running along and suddenly
this tank is coming at you and your point of view is switched to inside the
tank. I had to have died at least 6-10 times before I figured out what the heck
I was suppose to do. But I wasn’t mad that it took that long because the whole
sequence was just too cool. Oh and as a teaser let me say that you do get to
play some as Daxter and there is a little Bandicoot homage there.
Graphically Jak II is a gorgeous game, although I did run into some funky frame
rate issues. These really only showed up while in some of the busier city areas
and I never noticed them during an actual mission. With the wide variety of
vehicles, city areas, enemies, and such I would say that this is one of the best
looking games on the PS2. Heck even the run-of-the-mill citizens of the city
have better details than most games. The detail given in all areas is very
noticeable. For example, when you’re in a run down section of the city don’t be
surprised if part of a building falls down right in front of you while you’re
walking by. The sound is just as solid from the boom of the guns, to the sounds
of a city alive with action, to the voice acting of the characters. They are all
some of the best that the PS2 has to offer.
In The End, This Game Hath Been Rated:
95%. What do you get when you put
together solid controls, a fun story, great action, beautiful graphics, and a
game oozing with character? Jak II, one of the best PS2 games of the year.
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