Naughty Dog was the developer of the first 3 Crash Bandicoot games, which drew favourable responses from both critics and game fans alike. Now that the Crash Bandicoot license has been passed onto Universal Interactive, Naughty Dog have taken it upon themselves to create a fresh new franchise for the Playstation 2, which comes to us in the form of Jak and Daxter.
Jak and Daxter are two boys who crave adventure, and have a knack for getting themselves into a bit of trouble. During a small expedition to Misty Island, which the Green Sage warned them not to go to, Jak finds an ancient artifact. In a wicked twist of fate, the artifact explodes in Jak’s face, which causes him to bump Daxter into a pool of Dark Eco. When Daxter emerges from the pool, he discovers he has suffered a rather problematic outbreak in body hair. Unfortunately for Daxter, he has been transformed into a small weasel-like creature. After Daxter recovered from the initial shock of his transformation, he and Jak returned to their home in Sandover Village, to consult the Green Sage on what could be done about returning Daxter to normal. The Green Sage informs Jak and Daxter that they must find Gol, the Master of Dark Eco, as he is their only chance of transforming Daxter back to his normal self.
Jak and Daxter follows the basic elements set out by more successful 3D platformers over the years, and then adds a few elements of its own. Your main objective is to collect Power Cells for the A-Grav Zoomer your friend Kiera has provided for you. The A-Grav Zoomer is your method of transportation over certain parts of the landscape, mainly those which would cause Jak and Daxter to burn up upon touch. There are a variety of ways to earn power cells, such as performing tasks for villagers, trading Precursor Orbs with villagers or Precursor statues, defeating bosses, finding them out in the middle of nowhere, and so on.
The control and basic mechanics of Jak and Daxter are easily accessible for gamers of all types. Control method is very tight, and Jak will respond fairly quickly. He has a variety of moves available, the standardized jump, double jump, high jump and long jump, as well as a few fighting combos. Jak can also utilize various types of Eco found throughout the world; Green Eco will refill your health, Blue Eco will increase your speed and activate special Blue Eco switches, and Red Eco will enable you to shoot fireballs.
The camera featured in the game is one of the best ever, as it is almost completely user controlled. It adjusts itself quickly, and doesn’t get caught behind scenery. The game also features an easy to use, yet intuitive interface and menu system. Finally, a 60 Hz mode has been included which will allow you to play at the speed the developer intended, without borders occupying the screen.
Naughty Dog have managed to create a game that utilizes massive draw distances, yet doesn’t cut back on speed or detail. Jak and Daxter has astonishing draw distances – you can pretty much see one side of the world from the other in a scene, and even more amazing – it doesn’t ever stop to load, apart from cutscenes. The world itself is massive, and filled with many smaller types of environments synonymous with platformers. These include beaches, jungles, mountain tops, inside volcanoes, and so on. These environments are heavily detailed too, including bump mapped sand, reflective water, as well as plenty of flora and fauna.
Character designs and modeling are particularly interesting, as they seem to reflect some degree of inspiration from Disney and other popular children’s animation. Jak and the other more human like characters have an appearance that is slightly similar to Gelflings from The Dark Crystal, while Daxter could be mistaken for being Timon’s (The Lion King) brother, in both appearance and attitude. Animation on these characters is smoother than a baby’s backside; every single animation moves smoothly and translates well into the surroundings. There are a wide variety of enemies in the game, and although slightly formulaic in their design, they have seen the same degree of care in their modeling and animation that the main characters received.
The music in Jak and Daxter is rather dynamic. The music will change to suit the environment or situation you are in, for instance, if you were running around a jungle level, you would experience all sorts of African drum beating – but if you were to fall out into the water, the music would change into something more like the Jaws theme, as a rather disgruntled fish tries to devour you. Sound effects are comprised from sounds you might recognize from a Warner Brothers cartoon, and are surprisingly suitable for the game. Voice acting is pleasing across the board. Jak is the silent type, as he doesn’t mutter a single word throughout the game, but Daxter does enough talking for the both of them. Daxter has a little bit of a habit of whining too much, and getting the duo into trouble by saying too much. The other characters voices are satisfying, despite some fairly weak dialogue in places.
The major downfall of Jak and Daxter is its difficulty. There isn’t any. The game revolves around the collection of the power cells, which are relatively easy to get. There are a few boss battles, and you will die during these, but the patterns are easily dismantled, and finding a weakness is not hard at all. To complete the game with 101 Power Cells should take an average skilled gamer little more than 12-15 hours. At its Platinum Range price of $49.95, however, length really shouldn’t be too much of an issue, as the experience is relatively enjoyable throughout the entire game.
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