Jak II: Renegade (PS2)

Jak and Daxter was an instant hit, the best platformer on PS2, leaving rival Ratchet miles behind. Now the sequel has been released, it's badder, bigger, better and, most importantly, mush more enjoyable. Rather then focusing on collecting items, Jak 2 is more GTA structured, with much more varied mission goals and a huge city to explore. The various gameplay types include the obvious platforming, shooting out of a turret, boss battles and other regular platform stuff. But new to Jak and his pal Daxter are such things as hovercrafts to steal, guns to fire, a huge city to traverse and a dark mysterious side-effect on Jak from the dark eco experiments performed on him by the games main villain, the baron. Jak now has a (mostly angry) voice and his side-kick Daxter is just as funny and witty as ever. The many characters in this game all have their own agenda and act differently to Jak (although most dislike him at first). Hoverboards are a fun Tony Hawk style affair, grinding and flipping and jumping are all on the menu.

Jak 2 has managed to successfully combine many different gameplay types from many different games. GTA style city, cars and police (the nasty krimzon gaurd), the old platforming style, the Devil May Cry style dark, powerful form and Ratchet & Clank style weaponry.

Pros

Huge city
Fun platforming
Vehicles to steal
Weapons
Huge arrray of characters
Jak has a voice and Daxter is genuinely funny
Great dark, shady plot

Cons

4 weapons is a bit sorry compared to Ratchets massive arsenal
Insanely difficult at points
It ends!

5\5, 10\10, 999999\999999, whatever you want to rate it, it's pure perfection in a box. Buy it.

Now.

My God ! This game has restored my faith that the PS2 is still king of the Hill . On graphics & eye candy alone I think Jak 2 gives the X-box a run for its money . PS2 users may agree that liquid & water effects have always been a little bit of a hit & miss affair when it comes to the PS2's graphics engine. Jak 2 delivers some devasting punches on the 'water front'-Beautiful rippling portals, shimmering lakes of Dark ecco & rolling lakes of lethal lava. Hold on a moment , lets get to the game. I haven't played Jak & Daxter so you'll have to forgive the fact that until this point I've never seen anything like this on the PS2.

Jak 2 plays a lot like Vice City except on an alien world in a city called Haven city, this place is VAST & believable. Within half an hour of learning the ropes I was in absolute awe , flying cars that you can hijack , highly populated streets & alleyways . You get to free roam & explore to your hearts content . Like GTA you'll need to find your way to points on the map to embark on missions that will progress the story . The developers have obviously taken note of the success of Pixar movies in terms of pleasing adults as well as kids. The humour is sharp & acccessible whatever your age.

I've been more than impressed with the seamless way the game offers new environments away from Haven city, dark caves, sewers, a forest , mining facilities & so on. No loading screens , no waiting around, no watching the scenery pop up out of no where (GTA3,Vice city)Jak 2 provides a fully immersive alien world.Lovers of detail & eye candy will really appreciate the use of perspective is employed; for example on many missions you will find yourself at a high point in the scenery which provides a vista to look at the city from afar , you then notice that you can see other environments from other levels outside of the city walls . Its jawdroppingly seamless & highly satisfying. You'll be left wondering 'How did they cram it all into the PS2 ?'

In terms of content , Naughty Dog have pulled a few aces, there's the 'GTA 'style of game play , there's the 'Tony hawk' style of gameplay , there's "Wipeout" style of gameplay, Space shooter style, smash & collect , jump & grab style and so on . Once again , the jumps in styles have been seamlessly blended , so much so you don't even question it when it happens.

Another review criticised the 'Time trial ' missions, its your reviewers opinion that this style of mission only takes up a small fraction of the game , yes some of them are hard & frustrating but would'nt you feel short changed if a game was too easy ?

In every way so far this game has presented beautiful graphics & smooth gameplay . Wonderful particle effects used appropriately , every trick the PS2 can produce with graphics has been carefully added to the world of Jak 2 with consideration instead of overkill . The music & sound suit the style & pace , the story is excellent , the jokes are funny ...I could ramble on . In summary ..

10/10 graphics.
10/10 Gameplay/plot
9/10 Sound
10/10 Upgrades & weapons
11/10 Value for money

For anyone who thought the GTA series is as good as it gets ,Jak2 pushes the envelope 100 miles further .A most surprising & overall mega-satisfying purchase.Buy it !

1) FANTASTIC! The whole look of the game is great from the characters to the setting. The storyline's cool too even though I havent played the first Jak & Daxter.
2) I love the cutscenes (especially Dax's humour) all the voices fit the characters perfectly.
And 3) the only bad thing about this game is: the difficulty. Sometimes you can get right to the end of a really hard level (and theres a few of them), miss a platform or something and die. And then you have to do the whole thing over again!!! ARGH!!!!!!!!

Although Jak 2 does have its annoying parts it gets my thumbs up! Buy it, NOW!!!!