GRAND THEFTITIZED PLATFORMING
a review of JAK II, by Mr. funny Shoes
So let me preface this by saying that this game is certainly better than your favorite game because you have very bad taste in everything, especially when you cant fit it in your mouth. That being said, WOW, those developers over at Naughty Dog have got some mad skeelz. This game was probably the most unexpected fun I've had with a game in a long while. And really, in this day and age when developers are so concerned with selling that they seem to forget that their final product is supposed to be fun, I was really surprised at how well Jak2 turned out.
You see, I have all the respect in the worlod for Naughty Dog. I liked Crash ok, and I liked the first JAK a lot, but somehow I was concerned with the changes being made. Turning Jak into a mean car-jacking thug seemed like pandering to all the idiots that make up ps2's base at it's very worst. I mean I really wanted another platformer. I was also concerned about the addition of weapons, I played both jak and ratchet and clank, and i must say that platforming shooters just aren't quite as fun.
But somehow ND pulled it off, creating hodgepodge of a game, but at damn fun one at that. I think the key to success here is in the controls. Jak controls flawlessly, and so do all of the vehicles he steals and or acquires throughout the game. The running, standing, jumping, kicking, spinning, jacking that Jak does are all animated to perfection. I mean why the hell can't other companies program decent control? Anyway, as much of a stupid punk jak has become, he controls great, and you can turn off that damn stupid goatee thank god.
The game has been criticized for being too hard, or too uneven blah blahgedy blah. The simple fact of the matter is: you will die in this game, you will need to play some parts over and over until you can do it right, yes the final boss is not the hardest part of the game. But that's why it's so darn fun! I loved that I had to race across town like 50 times before I could do it in 50 seconds or whatever. It's hard, but since it controls well, it's a good hard(hey baby). I agree that the last third of the gam eis not as hard as the middle, but that's partially because you have to get better to beat the middle parts. The game is cewrtainly not harder or more uneven than battletoads, oh man what a great game.
Voice acting and graphics are top notch. How ND manages to get the PS2 to display a huge town with essentially no loading times is beyond the capabilities of my feeble mind. Some might complain about going back and forth constantly in the city. It's true you do have to backtrack, quit whining the city is fun to run around in and it doesnt load, jeebus. The voice work is pretty good, even is JAK and that tatoo jak like dude sound a bit to dark and cool for their own good. Daxter is great, the lil perv.So yeah go buy this game, especially all you stupid patriots can be proud that american developers are finally caught up to their japanese counterparts. Maybe not in art design, but hey, I guesws that's just a matter of opinion. This game is a beatiful montage of a bunch of different games, wrapped in great control and a beautiful world. Here's hoping more platformers like this will follow.
Rating: 9/10, bodacious