• Take control of Jak and enter a new game world for all-new missions in fantastic new platformer levels

• Meet a cast of characters with personal agendas, entangled motives and mysterious relationships

• Fight your way through hordes of enemies using the classic attacks and tail-bashing, or use a new arsenal of weapons

• Ride Jak's new hoverboard up mountains and ramps, or across large gaps, for a new level of freedom in gameplay

• Explore visually stunning and intricately detailed environments, including a massive metropolis three times larger than the original world of Jak and Daxter!

Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy was a great game, and so is the sequal, Jak II. One of the first things that you will notice is that the "hub" world, Haven City, is HUGE! There are numerous alleys, shops, buildings, caverns and dark places for you to explore. The city is massive and covers a lot of ground. The setting has been darkened up a bit as well, Jak has gone through some...interesting changes since we saw him last. His powers have increased...as well as his attitude.

The majority of gameplay is taken up by mission structured objectives. You need to go to point A and do B and your reward is C. The missions range in scope from racing to escort missions. The game developers have obviously taken a hint from the Grand Theft Auto series in terms of gameplay. Virtually every vehicle can be hijacked and ridden around the city. Guards are patrolling the streets, and if you make trouble, they will chase you down and shoot some pretty wicked weapons in your general direction- to avoid them you need to either hide or outrun them.

The camera is great, and can be repositioned to help you out with the trouble spots. As expected, the graphics are smooth and lush, with a great style of animation incorporated into the final product. There are no load times and the scenery flows together nicely. As I mentioned earlier, the world on which we find outselves is massive and there are many objectives to accomplish before we can unlock all its secrets. The addition of a map option is a great help as the size of Jak II's world(s) can sometimes be overwhelming and confusing.

The only thing that detracts from the game is the difficulty level on some of the missions. I have found myself trying for over an hour at times to clear one objective or another. The game can be downright brutal, cruel, sadistic and even petty...yet I always find myself going back into the fray for more. This game is unique and by all means shoud be rented before you go and buy it. Naughty Dog has tried something new, they have tried to grow with the times and create something that stands on its own. As mentioned earlier, some might be put off by the new direction that Jak and Daxter have taken, others will applaud the developers for the fresh new look.

Its a mixed bag...some like it, some hate it...the best advice: rent before you buy...its safer that way.

27 of 28 found the following review helpful:


They're back!  Oct 21, 2003 By musiqstar87 "Erick"
I'm gonna start off by saying i loved the first Jak & Dexter game, i thought it was the BEST platformer of the PS2 until this one came out (yes, i thought it was better than Ratchet & Clank). When i heard the confirmation of Jak II i was the first to pre-order it at my local Gamestop store. I thought immediately that it would be like the first one until i heard and saw the commercial trailers for the game.

Jak II borrows from several different current game titles, but for the most part it is mainly influenced by Grand Theft Auto. I'm not even sure if you can still consider this a 'platformer' game. The game is consistant of Jak and Dexter running around this town trying to do missions for people who will help them overthrow the ruler of the kingdom (or at least that's what i'm getting from where i'm at in the game). The game starts out (i guess) where the last one left off (but according to Dexter when he finds Jak he says "i've been looking for you for 2 years" so i'm not sure). Jak was captured by the ruler of the kingdom (forget his name) as his 'secret weapon' to destroy the creatures threatening his town, he pumped Jak full of Dark Eco to make him a powerful threat, unfortunately, Jak resisted. The ruler wants Jak dead by the night so he and his men leave Jak alone in the prison where he is being kept. Dexter finds Jak and sort of helps him out of the prison, afterwards you must find different people and do different missions to earn the respect of the slums and an underground figure named 'The Shadow' who will help overthrow the evil ruler.

Gameplay, as i said before, is completely different from the first JAD. Forget about seeing the bright, colorful islands and hearing the tropical drum beats on the background music, that is now replaced by a depressing, ominous sounding music. The bright, colorful islands are replaced with a dingy, grimy looking city with very repulsive monsters. Instead of doing what is normally required in a platformer, you instead can now do almost everything available in the GTA series (minus blood, hookers, gangs, etc.). Instead of an on-foot journey, you are equipped with a choice of hovercrafts (only after you steal them from unexpecting people in the town) and a new selection of weapons. You can now have the option of killing innocent pedestrians, outrunning the local authorities and roaming about the very large town (once again, the basics of the GTA series). This game is not the 'child-friendly' game JAD was, it is more hardcore, like another reviewer said, most things turn very harsh in this game (Example: "Kick some butt" turns into "kick some ass", borrowed from another reviewer). If your looking for a family game, don't look here.

My overall reaction to Jak II is mostly positive, i enjoy the 'cartoonish' GTA experience very much and find the graphics very much improved from the original JAD. I think i prefer Jak like he was in the first one, however, instead of the now 'hardcore' Jak. Overall, this is a fun 'platformer?' game that you can enjoy for under $40.

(Also, i didn't understand why this game is titled Jak II when it still features an equil amount of Dexter? Maybe because it revolves more around Jak, not Dexter? I'm not sure, i would've been happy with Jak & Dexter II.)

9 of 9 found the following review helpful:


Jak II is a lot better then the original  Sep 28, 2004
Jak and Daxter did not top Crash Bandicoot, but this one can. Packed with better graphics, better music, better sound effects, better voices, better gameplay and just plain better everything. This game contains an little bit from the first game but in a darker style. You can slam enemies with your weapon, you can punch and spin like in the fist game and you can hi-jack Zoomers. This game is great and all the bad reviews are NOT true. This game is maybe only for hardcore gamers but it' s really fun. You need this game. Really.

12 of 13 found the following review helpful:


This Game is Huge  Oct 11, 2003
I've been playing JakII for over 15 hours and I'm barely 50% complete! Everything about this game is amazing... from the graphics, to the story, to the incredible variety of things to do. Jak now has Dark Powers he can use, weapons, a hoverboard, and a huge city to explore. This is a must have for all PlayStation2 owners and if you don't have a PS2 you should buy one just to play this game!

16 of 19 found the following review helpful:


Not as good as the first  Oct 19, 2003
My family was looking forward to this sequel to Jak and Daxter. THe first game was colorful, fun, and a nice change of pace from all of the games where you run around and shoot people. Unfortunately, the sequel is simply a game where you run around and shoot people. The biggest dissappointment is the lack of color- almost the whole game is set in a dark and futuristic world. Parents- they have also added some mild profanity, probably to make the game seem "cool" and "edgy". All it does is take away the charm of the first one. The things we enjoyed about the first one- colelcting power cells, scout flies, etc. are all gone. Now you hijack cars and shoot people with your gun. All of this is also more difficult, and you usually cannot move on to anything else until completing your mission. The first game gave you plenty to do, and then come back to tough spots later. All in all, Jak 2 is a frustrating game.

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