Jak II (PS2) Review

With the success of Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy and the ending hinting of a sequel (if you collect all Power Cells in the game), a sequel was obviously going to be made. However, with the success of another popular franchise, Grand Theft Auto, Jak II was made. Is it as good as the original, let alone surpass it? Let's find out.

Story and Characters

Picking up where the first game left off, Jak, Daxter, Keira, and Samos test out the Rift Gate they discovered in Gol and Maia's Citadel. When it gets activated, several dangerous creatures called Metal Heads come out and they use the vehicle to enter. Jak and Daxter get separated from Keira and Samos and end up in the dystopian Haven City. Jak immediately gets captured by the Krimzon Guard and is imprisoned for two years.

Daxter finally locates Jak, only to find him injected with Dark Eco, giving him the ability to transform into a Dark Beast when he gets angry (and he can finally talk). They escape the prison and find themselves working with the Underground to overthrow Haven City's ruler, Baron Praxis and destroy the Metal Head leader. In the meantime, they also have to find Keira and Samos and find a way to get back home.

You can already tell there is a change in tone in contrast to the previous game. The Precursor Legacy was light-hearted, but full of adventure; Jak II, on the other hand, is dark, post-apocalyptic, and mature. Heck, there's even swearing, though the first game was guilty of that, too ("Where did they go? Why did they build this crap?"). Although the story was trying to take itself more seriously, there are still a lot of comedic moments in the game all thanks to Daxter, who does his job providing comic relief.

The game features a pretty engaging story, full of twists and turns, leaving you wondering what will happen next. It also features new characters that are even more welcome and memorable the first game. Each one has a purpose to the plot, and there's even some decent character development involved. Baron Praxis has to be a worthy adversary in the series; he's ruthless, doesn't care for other people's safety, and has a bit of a sense of humor:

Baron Praxis: [The victor] will be awarded a month's supply of Eco (to himself) and a short tour of my palace to see how the other half live.

Gameplay

Unlike the first game which was, as Gexup would classify it, a "task and exploration" platformer, where you have a non-linear world and you gather as many collectables as you can, Jak II is a GTA-style sandbox platformer game. You have this huge open world to explore and do a bunch of story missions. When you want to take a break from story missions, there are a bunch of side missions which involve locating a Precursor Orb (the main currency), ring challenges, racing missions, and the like, which all award you 3 Precursor Orbs for each record you break, Bronze, Silver, and Gold. The more Precursor Orbs you collect, the more unlockables you unlock.

The Krimzon Guards are the police force in Haven City. If you attack a Krimzon Guard, hijack one of their vehicles, or kill an innocent bystander, they will come after you and try to kill you. You can evade them and if they can't find you, the alarm dies down and everything goes back to normal.

Dark Jak

The Eco Powers, except for Green Eco which restores your health, are all gone and replaced with Dark Eco. Dark Eco fills up Jak's Dark Eco meter and when you have enough, you turn into Dark Jak. You can pick up Dark Eco from crates or enemies. You can also unlock new moves for Dark Jak by trading a certain number of Skull Gems, earned by killing Metal Heads, to the Oracle by the docks.

I love the look on Jak's face when he receives the Scatter Gun.

A new feature in the series is the Morph Gun, powered by certain types of Eco. The Scatter Gun, powered by Red Eco, is a shotgun that can take out multiple enemies. The Blaster, powered by Yellow Eco, has a laser sighting that helps Jak automatically target enemies, making it easier to fire at them. The Vulcan Fury, powered by Blue Eco, is a machine gun that also has a laser sighting. Lastly, the Peace Maker is a Dark Eco-powered weapon that fires charged particles of electricity. If there are multiple enemies, the electricity will arc and separate, hitting multiple enemies. Throughout the game, you receive gun upgrades for damage or ammo capacity.

There are various vehicles you can use, like the Zoomers, JET-Board, and Titan Suit. The Zoomers come in different shapes and sizes. The bigger ones are slow and cumbersome but take more damage, while the smaller ones are quick and agile, but are easily damaged and destroyed, so watch it. The JET-Board serves as a skateboard-type of transportation, used for maneuvering obstacles and to do a bunch of tricks for fun. The Titan Suit is a large mech that Jak will use a couple of times in the game, used for getting through obstacles with its brute strength.

Graphics and Design

Haven City

The environment in Jak II is really stunning to watch. Haven City looks really grim and depressing, adding to the dark tone it was going for. The day-night cycle from the first game returns, and to add even more life in the city, there is also a weather system. It can be sunny, foggy, or even rainy.

The character models are even more top-notch, and each character has their own distinct appearance. Metal Heads, like the Lurkers, all come in different shapes and sizes and most of them resemble different types of animals.

Audio

Mark Mothersbaugh and Josh Mancell team up again to compose the score of Jak II. The music matches the dark, post-apocalyptic, steampunk tone it was going for. The music for Haven City sounds grim and depressing, while music for other locations like Haven Forest and the Mountain Temple are calm and peaceful. The game still features an interactive soundtrack. When there are enemies, the music changes to a more dangerous tone; another example is when you ride a vehicle in Haven City, a new instrument is added.

The voice-acting is still great. Mike Erwin provides the voice for Jak and I have to say he seemed right for the role. Jak is very angsty, but also caring for his friends, and Erwin seemed to deliver. And may I just say that casting Phil LaMarr as Sig and Clancy Brown as Baron Praxis are all really awesome choices. I know Clancy Brown is often typecast as a villain in various forms of media, but I couldn't imagine anyone else for the role.

Final Verdict

One common complaint I hear all the time concerning Jak II is that it's one of the most difficult games of all time. Even two YouTubers I know made a top 10 list on the hardest missions in the game. I'm not gonna lie: while I don't think it's as hard as they say it is, I myself had difficulty with some missions as well, like the one mission where you had get yourself past an army of Krimzon Guards after retrieving a piece of Mar's seal.

I do have some complaints with the game other than the difficulty: I found the racing missions to be really chaotic to play through. I also think that playing as Dark Jak can be a waste since you can't transform anytime regardless of the current amount of Dark Eco you have (Jak 3 would later fix that). The escort missions also leave a lot more to be desired, especially the mission where you have to escort three men in the sewers. Those guys can't hit anything!

Those racing missions... ugh!

I also hate the Gold Orb challenges in the JET-board challenge, racing mini-games and gun courses. If you already know by now, I hate Gold Medal challenges in video games. In the JET-board challenge, you have to earn a number of points in order to beat the Gold record, but you don't have enough time which almost makes it impossible. In the racing challenges, in order to get a Gold Medal, you have to beat the record time, which is also nearly impossible. With Gravity Rush, gold medal challenges were done right because they encourage you to upgrade your abilities and try again later. You do receive upgrades for the Morph-Gun, but avoiding friendly targets and hitting every target in the gun courses is just difficult.

Daxter is finally a playable character, but only in one mission (not counting the Metal Head Mash mini-game and Class 2 race), and that section doesn't really amount to anything or move the plot forward that much. The Ratchet & Clank series did it right when playing as Clank and giving him special abilities. I hear in the PSP game, Daxter, his gameplay is way better, though.

Complaints aside, I still really love the game. Jak II has an engaging story, memorable characters, good (if not sometimes frustrating) challenge, great platforming, good action, great environments and great music. In my opinion, I still think the first game is the best in the series, but I still appreciate the changes made in the game and enjoy it for what it is. It's worthy to add in your PS2 library.

*Jak II is also available under the Jak and Daxter HD Collection for the PS3 and PS Vita.