The mid-00s compressed onto a DVD ROM.
It's got attitude, a grumpy protag who transforms into a rage monster, and his constant sexual innuendo cracking sidekick. Flying cars in a still-impressive realised cyberpunk city bustling with pedestrians, guards, propaganda, and the world-building logic to include farmland.
But if you don't want to ride a jet engine hoverbike (which you do, because it rules), then you can opt for a futuristic skateboard that has a far too in-depth trick system and level design to pull off crazy platforming runs with it. It can be pulled out any time, including the final boss to escape their attacks. A videogame where you can do kickflips and shoot a giant insect golem in the face at the same time.
Jak II is also in the rare genre of "platforming game with shooting" - which is probably one of the greatest genres ever made. Some great combat moments, with a tight selection of satisfying weapons that are great fun to combo with melee attacks. And Naughty Dog still flap their Jak-&-Daxter-Crash-Bandicoot platforming chops, with some climb-tastic setpieces.
Credit to Naughty Dog for completely nuking the magical fun time elf world of Jak & Daxter, because screw it, lets do GTA instead. They somehow wrangle what plot they can to make a story that satisfies when the credits roll, especially for those who did play the first.
The game is far far from perfect however. The difficulty is all over the place, with some of the most ridiculous missions and checkpoints I've seen in a game. The part where you have to fight your way through the rickety docks against infinite Krimzon Guard (it's really spelt that way) is an absolute hair-ripping out nightmare. All boss fights will take multiple tries, lots of platforming will take multiple tries, the racing will take multiple tries.
There's also a bit where you pilot a mech with sluggish controls, (which the game also kinda just drops on you, like no explanation, "have fun with this mech we designed) and it sucks and a whack-a-mole game you need to perfect to progress among other things.
However, by far the most egregious aspect of this game is the layout of the city. It's lots of winding streets, and you come to know it well and truly appreciate how it is designed to be long and tedious to traverse. Maybe this is an attempt at an illusion to make the city feel bigger? Or make the game longer? (which it really doesn't need to be, and you WILL be spending lots of time driving to missions). Or maybe, Naughty Dog just want you to appreciate the city, soak in that dreary, damp vibe,and get good at driving that jet engine motorbike.
But who cares?!
Jak II is a game for teens who play games. Naughty Dog asked what games said teens liked, and just put them all in. You gotta play it. You gotta kill Praxis.
It's got attitude, a grumpy protag who transforms into a rage monster, and his constant sexual innuendo cracking sidekick. Flying cars in a still-impressive realised cyberpunk city bustling with pedestrians, guards, propaganda, and the world-building logic to include farmland.
But if you don't want to ride a jet engine hoverbike (which you do, because it rules), then you can opt for a futuristic skateboard that has a far too in-depth trick system and level design to pull off crazy platforming runs with it. It can be pulled out any time, including the final boss to escape their attacks. A videogame where you can do kickflips and shoot a giant insect golem in the face at the same time.
Jak II is also in the rare genre of "platforming game with shooting" - which is probably one of the greatest genres ever made. Some great combat moments, with a tight selection of satisfying weapons that are great fun to combo with melee attacks. And Naughty Dog still flap their Jak-&-Daxter-Crash-Bandicoot platforming chops, with some climb-tastic setpieces.
Credit to Naughty Dog for completely nuking the magical fun time elf world of Jak & Daxter, because screw it, lets do GTA instead. They somehow wrangle what plot they can to make a story that satisfies when the credits roll, especially for those who did play the first.
The game is far far from perfect however. The difficulty is all over the place, with some of the most ridiculous missions and checkpoints I've seen in a game. The part where you have to fight your way through the rickety docks against infinite Krimzon Guard (it's really spelt that way) is an absolute hair-ripping out nightmare. All boss fights will take multiple tries, lots of platforming will take multiple tries, the racing will take multiple tries.
There's also a bit where you pilot a mech with sluggish controls, (which the game also kinda just drops on you, like no explanation, "have fun with this mech we designed) and it sucks and a whack-a-mole game you need to perfect to progress among other things.
However, by far the most egregious aspect of this game is the layout of the city. It's lots of winding streets, and you come to know it well and truly appreciate how it is designed to be long and tedious to traverse. Maybe this is an attempt at an illusion to make the city feel bigger? Or make the game longer? (which it really doesn't need to be, and you WILL be spending lots of time driving to missions). Or maybe, Naughty Dog just want you to appreciate the city, soak in that dreary, damp vibe,and get good at driving that jet engine motorbike.
But who cares?!
Jak II is a game for teens who play games. Naughty Dog asked what games said teens liked, and just put them all in. You gotta play it. You gotta kill Praxis.
ProudLittleSeal
2 years ago