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Mark Simons
00/12/0000
We take a look at the first PlayStation2 offering FROM the developers behind the Crash Bandicoot games.
Naughty Dog was a fairly high profile developer for the PlayStation developing the games that featured Crash Bandicoot, the closest thing to a mascot for the machine. It was somewhat of a surprise when they did not officially announce what they were working on for PlayStation2 until E3 2001. When Jak and Daxter was announced it was clear why they took their time to get to grips with the PlayStation2 hardware. Free from the technical limitations of the PlayStation and the limitations of the Crash franchise they were free to create a brand new original platform game.
Essentially Jak and Daxter is a free roaming platform game featuring two main protagonists who are controllable. As it happens you only directly control Jak, his sidekick simply hitches a lift on his shoulders for the most part but can be used to pull of moves when requested. Rather than two separate characters the two behave as if one, rather like Banjo and Kazooie. This gives you a wide reaching set of moves to pull off but keeps the controls as simple as possible. Because of the quite wonderful animation each and every one of the moves looks great and they flow into each other amazingly well due to the animation system.
Jak and Daxter is set in the world of Kinetica, which is a stunning looking place. Perhaps the most unique thing about the world is the fact that once inside there is no loading time and you can go back to visit any of the levels whenever you want. From high vantage points you can see levels from miles away. This level of immersion in the game world is most definitely a good thing and shows the benefits of taking time to become familiar with the PlayStation2. The locations within the game world are you standard platform fare, lush jungles, lava levels as well as the obligatory snow setting. The level of detail and depth of view is rather unique though and the game comes across as a real tour de force of the power of the PlayStation2. Characters are constructed from many polygons, looking great in screenshots and even better in motion. Subtle little effects such as heat haze have been implemented alongside a sweet particle engine. The style of the game makes the world look like an amazingly detailed cartoon and this is part due to the sheer level of detail involved but also the animation.
So far from what we have seen the gameplay seems to be standard fare. Thatās not to say itās bad just at the moment it is rather derivative platform action. You have to collect things such as Eco ā“ which is energy ā“ and power cells, the more cells you have the more you open up within the game world. However the emphasis is not on collection as there is a great deal else to do, plenty of mini-games for a start as well as the main missions for each level. At the moment we know very little about the plot of Jak and Daxter so their overall mission is not clear. Given what we have seen so far we have confidence that it will be an interesting experience and that interaction with characters in the game world will play a key role in unravelling the story.
josh159
Date Added:Tue 6th May 2008 22:52
lee.birch123
Date Added:Tue 25th Mar 2008 11:22