Jak II
Mature? Nah, not really. Good? You'd better effin' believe it.
Published: October 27, 2003
Positively speaking, there are probably two major ways to look at Jak II. One is as Naughty Dog intended, as a mature, story-driven platformer that tries to push new ground in a genre that until now was dominated by cutesy characters and laundry lists of fetch quests for items upon items. The other is as a slower progression towards that goal that instead focuses on fleshing out characters and a cohesive world with dashes of mature themes and serious effort put to giving a reason to minor errands.
Both are equally valid ways of looking at the game, but if you can strike a balance between the two, you'll see that Jak II is nothing short of a monumental leap in the progress to push both storytelling and expand the platformer genre beyond the self-contained worlds and quests for 100 coconuts that have been the standard for years. The execution may be flawed in a few ways, but the game's adorable charm and earnest attempts to keep things fresh are just enough to make it a better game than its successor in nearly every way.
It's unlikely that you haven't heard what's going on. Picking up where the first game ended, Jak, Daxter, Samos the Sage and Kira all pile into a ship that will take them through a huge portal discovered at the end of Jak & Daxter. Before they can enter it, however, something else comes through, and with a last-ditch effort to stop it, the foursome head screaming into the rift. As they travel through the wormhole, the ship takes a hit and tosses Kira and Samos out and shoves Jak and Daxter through to a world where Jak is promptly captured.
Two years of torture and experimentation later, Daxter finally finds Jak and frees him, not without seeing him undergo a transformation into the black-eyed Dark Jak first, a transformation willed into being due to the amounts of Dark Eco injected into him during the torture sessions. The pair escape and try to discover what happened to their friends, and how to get back to check on their world.
It's at this point that you're finally presented the world in which you'll inhabit for the next 10-15 hours or so. Right from the get-go, it's possible to jump up, steal one of the hundreds of hovercraft zooming around the city, and tool around just checking out the city. If it sounds a bit like GTA, that's because elements have been more than casually lifted from Rockstar North's gangster epic (right down to the simplified ferrying missions that GTA borrowed from Crazy Taxi).
While it may seem tacked on, the need to "borrow" a vehicle is entirely necessary, because Haven City, this metropolis where the duo now call home, is absolutely massive, and getting around on foot is pretty much out of the question. Much like GTAIII, too, it's unlocked in parts, allowing you to get to know the various different sections of the city in detail before incorporating a more wide area to explore and tackle missions.
This is also a none-too-subtle way to dispose of the more common hub system adventure games have used in the past to deliver different levels, though it falls well short of the more cohesive "if you can see it, you can go there" world of Jak & Daxter. It's also one of the few places the game doesn't best its Precursor predecessor.
Aside from the car jacking and the new found powers Jak has, there's little about the core game that's changed from J&D. All the moves that were there before have returned, joined by occasional spats of vehicle driving (either via hovercraft races or inside a badass walking tank mech) and one or two moments where the pair are separated and run from enemies in a homage to Naughty Dog's Crash Bandicoot games.
There's a lot of poking fun at previous games, something that keeps Jak II impressively light even when it seems all the familiarity would breed boredom. Something about the incredibly hilarious dialogue and masterfully directed cinematics hooks you with a slightly above average story (even the much-ballyhooed more "mature" themes don't really hit all that hard). That's not to say the game doesn't have its more drawn-out sections; about halfway through the game the story seems to drag a bit with what seems to be endless errand running, but the fact that all those tasks you're completing for people give you not only an awesome cutscene, but at least SOME motivation rather than just trying to collect 150 precursor orbs like the first game.
In fact, if it weren't for the transplant in setting, people may have confused the two games at a glance. Luckily, thanks to Jak II's phenomenal engine upgrades, even the brief look at the J&D world of old makes it pretty obvious that the sequel boasts some impressive new features, most notably the game's jump in texture and model detail. Some of the most subtle new effects, like the shiny almost plush toy effect on Dax's eyes do the most to really kick the detail into overdrive. For those on the bleeding edge of technology, Jak II sports 16:9 and progressive scan modes to REALLY show off those tasty new visuals.
Moreover, the attention to detail in animation – both in-game and in the cutscenes – can't be overstated. This is easily the most impressively animated game ever seen on any console. Period. Naughty Dog brought in a former Disney animator for the project, and it shows, though there's really no way to convey how well the nuanced movement and picture perfect lip-syncing add up to an incredible storytelling experiment. Suffice it to say this is the closest games have gotten to Disney-quality animation and if nothing else, sitting through all the comedic bits (nearly everything Daxter does will budge even the most steely smile-resistant mouth) is probably worth the price of admission.
All of this detail, however, comes at a heavy cost. Unlike the first game that ran an almost unfailingly steady 60 frames a second, Jak II probably averages somewhere around 30, and at times can dip into the single digits – usually when things are getting hot and heavy, precisely when you need that smoothness. I wish I could say it doesn't detract from the game all that much, but aside from the fact that I'm just a whore for smooth framerates, it detracts from what could have been one of the PlayStation 2's most visually flawless games. Perhaps a bit of detail should've been sacrificed in the name of at least locking the game into a steady framerate.
Dolby Pro Logic II support is just about standard in games these days, and Jak II boasts it with aplomb. While I'm still a firm believer in discrete sound channels and will always take a DTS setup over anything in games, there's plenty to tickle your eardrums should you listen for it. The voice acting is once again top-notch and say what you will about the choice for Jak's new voice (there's even a couple in-jokes for fans of the first game), but little criticism about the delivery can be leveled against any of the voice cast. Aside from the constantly repeated comments from soldiers, there's little about the audio that's left to be desired.
Jak II is a damn fine effort from Naughty Dog, and while it might not have shattered the boundaries of the platform genre like they were hoping, it is a nice improvement over the first game – at least technically and presentation-wise. A more hub-oriented (if well-disguised) approach to level design and shortcomings in the game engine keep it from being as truly expansive and impressive as it really should have been. There are doubtlessly going to be people disappointed by the GTA elements the game employed, and I can't really blame them. But for sheer entertainment value, Naughty Dog is still absolutely at the top of their game. Head out and pick up this game pronto.
Both are equally valid ways of looking at the game, but if you can strike a balance between the two, you'll see that Jak II is nothing short of a monumental leap in the progress to push both storytelling and expand the platformer genre beyond the self-contained worlds and quests for 100 coconuts that have been the standard for years. The execution may be flawed in a few ways, but the game's adorable charm and earnest attempts to keep things fresh are just enough to make it a better game than its successor in nearly every way.
It's unlikely that you haven't heard what's going on. Picking up where the first game ended, Jak, Daxter, Samos the Sage and Kira all pile into a ship that will take them through a huge portal discovered at the end of Jak & Daxter. Before they can enter it, however, something else comes through, and with a last-ditch effort to stop it, the foursome head screaming into the rift. As they travel through the wormhole, the ship takes a hit and tosses Kira and Samos out and shoves Jak and Daxter through to a world where Jak is promptly captured.
Two years of torture and experimentation later, Daxter finally finds Jak and frees him, not without seeing him undergo a transformation into the black-eyed Dark Jak first, a transformation willed into being due to the amounts of Dark Eco injected into him during the torture sessions. The pair escape and try to discover what happened to their friends, and how to get back to check on their world.
It's at this point that you're finally presented the world in which you'll inhabit for the next 10-15 hours or so. Right from the get-go, it's possible to jump up, steal one of the hundreds of hovercraft zooming around the city, and tool around just checking out the city. If it sounds a bit like GTA, that's because elements have been more than casually lifted from Rockstar North's gangster epic (right down to the simplified ferrying missions that GTA borrowed from Crazy Taxi).
While it may seem tacked on, the need to "borrow" a vehicle is entirely necessary, because Haven City, this metropolis where the duo now call home, is absolutely massive, and getting around on foot is pretty much out of the question. Much like GTAIII, too, it's unlocked in parts, allowing you to get to know the various different sections of the city in detail before incorporating a more wide area to explore and tackle missions.
This is also a none-too-subtle way to dispose of the more common hub system adventure games have used in the past to deliver different levels, though it falls well short of the more cohesive "if you can see it, you can go there" world of Jak & Daxter. It's also one of the few places the game doesn't best its Precursor predecessor.
Aside from the car jacking and the new found powers Jak has, there's little about the core game that's changed from J&D. All the moves that were there before have returned, joined by occasional spats of vehicle driving (either via hovercraft races or inside a badass walking tank mech) and one or two moments where the pair are separated and run from enemies in a homage to Naughty Dog's Crash Bandicoot games.
There's a lot of poking fun at previous games, something that keeps Jak II impressively light even when it seems all the familiarity would breed boredom. Something about the incredibly hilarious dialogue and masterfully directed cinematics hooks you with a slightly above average story (even the much-ballyhooed more "mature" themes don't really hit all that hard). That's not to say the game doesn't have its more drawn-out sections; about halfway through the game the story seems to drag a bit with what seems to be endless errand running, but the fact that all those tasks you're completing for people give you not only an awesome cutscene, but at least SOME motivation rather than just trying to collect 150 precursor orbs like the first game.
In fact, if it weren't for the transplant in setting, people may have confused the two games at a glance. Luckily, thanks to Jak II's phenomenal engine upgrades, even the brief look at the J&D world of old makes it pretty obvious that the sequel boasts some impressive new features, most notably the game's jump in texture and model detail. Some of the most subtle new effects, like the shiny almost plush toy effect on Dax's eyes do the most to really kick the detail into overdrive. For those on the bleeding edge of technology, Jak II sports 16:9 and progressive scan modes to REALLY show off those tasty new visuals.
Moreover, the attention to detail in animation – both in-game and in the cutscenes – can't be overstated. This is easily the most impressively animated game ever seen on any console. Period. Naughty Dog brought in a former Disney animator for the project, and it shows, though there's really no way to convey how well the nuanced movement and picture perfect lip-syncing add up to an incredible storytelling experiment. Suffice it to say this is the closest games have gotten to Disney-quality animation and if nothing else, sitting through all the comedic bits (nearly everything Daxter does will budge even the most steely smile-resistant mouth) is probably worth the price of admission.
All of this detail, however, comes at a heavy cost. Unlike the first game that ran an almost unfailingly steady 60 frames a second, Jak II probably averages somewhere around 30, and at times can dip into the single digits – usually when things are getting hot and heavy, precisely when you need that smoothness. I wish I could say it doesn't detract from the game all that much, but aside from the fact that I'm just a whore for smooth framerates, it detracts from what could have been one of the PlayStation 2's most visually flawless games. Perhaps a bit of detail should've been sacrificed in the name of at least locking the game into a steady framerate.
Dolby Pro Logic II support is just about standard in games these days, and Jak II boasts it with aplomb. While I'm still a firm believer in discrete sound channels and will always take a DTS setup over anything in games, there's plenty to tickle your eardrums should you listen for it. The voice acting is once again top-notch and say what you will about the choice for Jak's new voice (there's even a couple in-jokes for fans of the first game), but little criticism about the delivery can be leveled against any of the voice cast. Aside from the constantly repeated comments from soldiers, there's little about the audio that's left to be desired.
Jak II is a damn fine effort from Naughty Dog, and while it might not have shattered the boundaries of the platform genre like they were hoping, it is a nice improvement over the first game – at least technically and presentation-wise. A more hub-oriented (if well-disguised) approach to level design and shortcomings in the game engine keep it from being as truly expansive and impressive as it really should have been. There are doubtlessly going to be people disappointed by the GTA elements the game employed, and I can't really blame them. But for sheer entertainment value, Naughty Dog is still absolutely at the top of their game. Head out and pick up this game pronto.
