Jak II (Throwback Thursday)

I'm very sorry for the late Throwback, I actually wrote one on Thursday, not one I was going to post this week, so I completely forgot that I needed to write one to post...I'm stupid. This whole blog thing can get stressful sometimes, okay?! Okay.

Anyways, this week I decided to follow-up last weeks (Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy) Throwback and play the awesome sequel, Jak II. I know you're all wondering "Where's Daxter?" Well, never fear, because Daxter is in this sequel and he is still just as witty. But why has the title changed so drastically?

Not only is Daxter left out, but there's just a wimpy II, not something epic like The Precursor Legacy. Well, I have a theory. The game is so different than the original that they might have just wanted people to be able to distinguish it better. Does that make sense? I hope so.

On the back of the case they sure sound a bit humble as they explain the game...

"Something BIG is about to unfold in a ground-breaking action-packed adventure from Naughty Dog, creators of the multi-million seller, Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy." "A deep and involving storyline with fully integrated gameplay." And other self-compliments that slap you in the face while glancing at this cover.

That's a lot to live up to, in my opinion. If you're going to hype like that, I'm expecting everything to be true and possibly better than you make it seem. So I was ready to beat on this game. Not only for that, but I was also expecting it to be completely different than J&D and not to even possess the qualities of a sequel.

So let's get to it.

My main fear, being that this sequel doesn't connect with the first one, was washed away in the beginning cut-scene. You're back in your home village with Kiera and Uncle, trying to go into a portal (Not really sure what for, though.) and they accidently release this eco monster thing, so while trying to get it back in the portal, Jak and Daxter get sucked in with it. They end up in a fancy pants city, and they get thrown in jail. Daxter escapes, but Jak gets caught. Two years later, Daxter finds Jak, after two years of Jak getting eco pumped into his system, (Eco being the somewhat bad substance of the game, since most monsters are made up of the stuff) So, Jak can Go Hulk and turn into Dark Jak (See picture of disk) when he collects enough eco. So that's new.

Also, arguably the most awesome part of the whole game is when Daxter first finds Jak on some kind of table, and he grabs Daxter by the neck, pulls him close, and yells "I'm gonna kill Praxis!" Did I mention that's the first time Jak has ever talked? Yeah, he was mute beforehand. That gave me chills. EPIC.

One thing that bothers me is this: If Daxter was in the jail looking for Jak the whole time, how the heck did it take two years for him to find Jak? And, if he left the jail to, I dunno, eat, wouldn't it be the smart thing to find a home? Of course, he does borderline rodent, so he could have just lived in the dumpster outside the jail. But still, it bugs me.

After that epic moment, we get to play the game and escape the jail. With no help from Daxter. In fact, Dax hasn't helped at all so far...But whatever. He's comic relief.

The gameplay is pretty well-done, the movement is fluid and just plain nice. A good addition is the giant jump and the tuck-and-roll jump. It's cool and very helpful. Since you're in the city and not in the country, there are hover cars you can steal and ride around. That's such a good addition. It's awful walking everywhere, and driving is super fun. I'm not that good at driving, though, so I wreak them pretty bad and just steal another one. The trick is not to hit a cop or accidently steal a cop car...That causes unneeded trouble.

So yes, the gameplay does live up to the hype in the box.

As for the storyline...It's pretty awesome. Deep and involving? Kinda. It is deeper than you'd think, impressively so, but it's not that involving. I didn't get too sucked in, honestly. It's no Kingdom Hearts, but the storyline is better than most and it actually makes sense. And yes, it connects with J&D: The Precursor Legacy.

But it is so different than the first one. The city atmosphere is a huge change from the "country" atmosphere. Seriously, very different. I can't stress that enough. And the biggest addition is you get guns. Yep, it got all Black Ops up in here real quick. Also, you get to join this secret underground organization whose against Praxis, and that's just super cool.

One word to describe this game: Cool.

The new additions and atmospheres just make it cool. Not to mention fun and awesome.

Naughty Dog is at it again with a good sequel and an even better game. I would recommend this game no question to anyone who likes shooting people, joining underground rebellious organizations, riding around being awesome on a hover board, and being and angry jail-breaker on a mission to murder the guy who got him in jail and turned him into a dark werewolf-like Hulky thing. Yeah, it's worth a second look.

See you guys next week when I play the finale of this awesome trilogy, Jak 3.