Jak II
Encyclopedia
Jak II, is a platform game
developed by Naughty Dog
. Released for the PlayStation 2
game console on October 14, 2003 in North America, October 17, 2003 in Europe and March 11, 2004 in Japan, the game is the sequel
to Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy
and the second game in the Jak and Daxter
series. It was followed by Jak 3
a year later.
The game features new weapons and devices, new playable areas, and a storyline that picks up after the events of The Precursor Legacy. The game's plot is much darker than its predecessor's, set in Haven City, a dystopia
ruled under the questionable fist of Baron Praxis, who is engaged in a war against a techno-organic group of organisms known as the "Metal Heads". As in the previous game, the player takes on the dual role of recurring protagonists Jak and Daxter. There are also a new array of characters such as Torn, Erol, Krew, Kor, Ashelin, and Sig, as well as some returning ones, such as Samos and Keira. Jak II is both a sequel and prequel to the first game.
Jak II is the only game in the series in which the versions for English-speaking regions feature the Japanese
and Korean
voiceover track. The voiceover cast features many notable seiyūs, including Shotaro Morikubo as Jak. The other games in the series did not follow suit, leaving the voices to be exclusive to the Japanese and Korean regions. This is also technically the last Jak and Daxter game to be released in Japan until The Lost Frontier
in 2009.
. The eco based gameplay from the previous game has been removed, in favor of the Morph Gun, a multipurpose firearm. The player will unlock various new gun mods for the gun as they play through the game; the Scatter Gun, for close range fighting, the Blaster, for long range fighting, the Vulcan Fury, which functions the same as the Blaster but with a much greater rate of fire, and the Peace Maker, which fires charged blasts of energy, and is extremely powerful.
Haven City functions as the game hub-world, with various other environments accessible from it. Here, Jak can access new missions by visiting various allied characters. These missions serve as a replacement for the previous game's Power Cell collection gameplay. Throughout the game, the player can collect Precursor Orbs dispersed throughout the various worlds, in order to unlock cheats and other content. Jak can traverse the large city using hover vehicles, and a jet-board, which allows him to hover across water and grind on rails.
Due to experiments conducted on him over two years, Jak can transform into a darker version of himself, known as Dark Jak, by killing enemies for Dark Eco. In this form, his melee attacks become more powerful, but he loses the ability to use the Morph Gun. By collecting Metal Head gems, gained by killing Metal Head creatures, Jak can gain additional abilities for his dark form.
. When activated, the Rift Gate opens a portal, and a large monster appears, declaring "You cannot hide from me, boy!". Jak launches the Rider through the Gate, past the monster. Inside the portal, Jak and Daxter are separated from Keira and Samos and arrive in the segregated
dystopia
known as Haven City. Jak is quickly arrested by the city's 'Krimzon Guard'; Daxter runs off in a panic, promising to rescue him. While Jak is imprisoned, he is subjected to several painful experiments by the city's ruler, Baron Praxis. Praxis plans to turn Jak into a weapon to use in Haven City's war against animalistic creatures called Metal Heads by injecting him with Dark Eco. Two years after his capture
, the experiments appear to have failed, much to the chagrin of Praxis and the captain of the Krimzon Guard, Errol.
Daxter then arrives to break Jak out of prison, only to find his friend has changed drastically; he is no longer mute and is intent on exacting revenge on Praxis, which finally causes his Dark Eco powers to manifest, allowing the duo to escape. Outside, they meet an old man named Kor with a boy referred to only as the Kid. After Jak saves them from the Krimzon Guard using his new powers, Kor informs them of the city's underground rebel movement against the Baron, known as the Underground. After successfully completing a mission for the Underground's second-in-command, Torn, he allows them to join. Torn assigns them other various missions, through which they meet - and form alliances with - a variety of characters, such as Krew (a scheming arms dealer who sells weapons to Underground troops), Vin (an Underground informant in charge of the city's power station) and Onin (a mute soothsayer who knows many of the city's more mystical secrets, using a bird named Pecker to interpret for her). Jak learns from Krew that Praxis has been bribing the Metal Heads with Dark Eco, which they physically require, to attack the city sufficiently enough to keep the war going, and to keep Praxis on the throne.
While serving the Underground, Jak finds Keira working as a mechanic at the Stadium, where she owns a race team. Jak learns that the championship winner gets to meet the Baron in person, and agrees to drive for her team. On another Underground mission, the duo discover that the decrepit Dead Town outside the city walls is actually their old home, Sandover Village, and that therefore they must be in the future. Soon after this revelation, the Underground's leader, the Shadow, offers to meet the pair, and is revealed to be a younger Samos. Partway through the game, the Underground learns of Praxis' plan to sabotage and defeat the Metal Head army: Break open the fabled Precursor Stone, using the out-coming energy like an immense bomb. However, according to data found, doing so would destroy all of existence. The main goal of the Underground is to find the Tomb of Mar, the founder of Haven City, where the stone is said to be. But only the true heir to the throne (the Kid) may get it.
Later, after finding the tomb in the heart of the city, Praxis sabotages Jak while attempting to get the stone (because the Kid was too young), and steals it himself. The Baron leaves the destruction of the stone to Krew, who indiscriminately aids Praxis in exchange for money and rights to the heads of dead Metal Heads (as trophies to decorate his bar). Jak finds Krew and, despite trying to talk Krew out of activating the weapon, they begin battling which destroys the 'Piercer' Bomb and kills Krew in the resulting explosion.
After Krew’s death, Metal Heads invade the city. Jak finds Praxis and the Krimzon Guard at the construction site, confronting Kor. Kor is then revealed to be the leader of the Metal Heads, after transforming into the huge Metal Head type beast seen at the start of the game. He fires his energy beam at Praxis and flies off. Before he dies, Praxis shows Jak another Piercer bomb, this one containing the Precursor Stone. Daxter rummages through the bomb and deactivates it, and Jak takes the stone.
As the Krimzon Guard and the Underground fight the Metal Heads in the city, Jak travels to the Metal Head nest to confront Kor. There, he finds that Kor has the Kid and a Precursor Ring like the one that brought Jak and his friends to Haven City. Kor informs Jak that the Kid is in actuality, a young Jak. Jak had been sent into the past to learn the skills necessary to defeat Kor. The young Jak, because he is innocent and untouched by Dark Eco, is able to release the Precursor entity trapped in the stone.
During the battle with Kor, Kor is decapitated by the Precursor Ring, which damages it. Before it breaks up, young Jak releases the Precursor entity, which enters the Ring. Samos and Keira arrive and send young Jak and young Samos back in time through the Ring, leaving Jak, Daxter, Samos and Keira to live out their lives in Haven City. Daxter takes over Krew's bar, and renames it the "Naughty Ottsel."
ruled by Baron Praxis and his Krimzon Guard law enforcers. Haven City often serves as a hub, although the player is often also given tasks that must be fulfilled outside of the city, places that are separated via airlocks.
) is the game's protagonist, along with his sidekick Daxter
(voiced by Max Casella
). When they first arrived in Haven City, Jak is captured by Krimzon Guards and became the subject of Baron Praxis' "Dark Warrior" project. He became subject to several experiments, ultimately giving him the ability to become Dark Jak, a beast-like version of him which is unleashed when Jak has gathered enough Dark Eco. Daxter is an otter-weasel hybrid (known as an ottsel) and is the game's comic relief
. After two years of searching for him, Daxter finally sneaks into the prison holding Jak and rescues him. This is also the first time we hear Jak speak in the series.
Other important characters include Torn, the gravelly-voiced second in command of the resistance movement known as the Underground; Sig, a Metal Head hunter/Wastelander (someone who gathers artifacts outside the city); Krew, the overweight gang lord; Tess, the barmaid; Erol, the Baron's right hand man and commander of the Krimzon Guard; and Ashelin, the daughter of Baron Praxis who helps the Underground behind her father's back. Baron Praxis and the Metal Head's leader Kor are the story's antagonists.
and GameSpot
, was nominated for Best PlayStation 2 Game by GameSpot and received aggregate scores of 87/100 on MetaCritic
and 88% on Game Rankings
.
Jak II was added to Sony's Greatest Hits lineup on September 8, 2004, signifying at least 400,000 copies sold in its first 11 months.
A sequel called Jak 3
was released in 2004.
Platform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
developed by Naughty Dog
Naughty Dog
Naughty Dog, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Santa Monica, California. Founded by Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin in 1986 as an independent developer, the studio was acquired by Sony Computer Entertainment in 2001...
. Released for the PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
game console on October 14, 2003 in North America, October 17, 2003 in Europe and March 11, 2004 in Japan, the game is the sequel
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
to Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy
Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy
Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy is a platform game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment and is the first video game in the Jak and Daxter series. It was released exclusively for the Sony PlayStation 2 on December 3, 2001 for North America, December 7, 2001 for...
and the second game in the Jak and Daxter
Jak and Daxter
Jak and Daxter is a critically acclaimed video game franchise created by Naughty Dog for the PlayStation 2.The series consists of four main games and two spin-offs,though they are also considered to be part of the main series...
series. It was followed by Jak 3
Jak 3
Jak 3 is a platform game for Sony's PlayStation 2 console developed by Naughty Dog. It is the third game in the main Jak and Daxter series. Jak 3 was completely localized and dubbed in Japanese, but was not released in Japan due to Jak IIs poor sales...
a year later.
The game features new weapons and devices, new playable areas, and a storyline that picks up after the events of The Precursor Legacy. The game's plot is much darker than its predecessor's, set in Haven City, a dystopia
Dystopia
A dystopia is the idea of a society in a repressive and controlled state, often under the guise of being utopian, as characterized in books like Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four...
ruled under the questionable fist of Baron Praxis, who is engaged in a war against a techno-organic group of organisms known as the "Metal Heads". As in the previous game, the player takes on the dual role of recurring protagonists Jak and Daxter. There are also a new array of characters such as Torn, Erol, Krew, Kor, Ashelin, and Sig, as well as some returning ones, such as Samos and Keira. Jak II is both a sequel and prequel to the first game.
Jak II is the only game in the series in which the versions for English-speaking regions feature the Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
and Korean
Korean language
Korean is the official language of the country Korea, in both South and North. It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in People's Republic of China. There are about 78 million Korean speakers worldwide. In the 15th century, a national writing...
voiceover track. The voiceover cast features many notable seiyūs, including Shotaro Morikubo as Jak. The other games in the series did not follow suit, leaving the voices to be exclusive to the Japanese and Korean regions. This is also technically the last Jak and Daxter game to be released in Japan until The Lost Frontier
Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier
Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier is a platform game developed by High Impact Games published by Sony Computer Entertainment. It is a part of Naughty Dog's Jak and Daxter series, and was released on November 3, 2009 for the PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 2...
in 2009.
Gameplay
The gameplay of Jak II is significantly different from the previous gameJak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy
Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy is a platform game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment and is the first video game in the Jak and Daxter series. It was released exclusively for the Sony PlayStation 2 on December 3, 2001 for North America, December 7, 2001 for...
. The eco based gameplay from the previous game has been removed, in favor of the Morph Gun, a multipurpose firearm. The player will unlock various new gun mods for the gun as they play through the game; the Scatter Gun, for close range fighting, the Blaster, for long range fighting, the Vulcan Fury, which functions the same as the Blaster but with a much greater rate of fire, and the Peace Maker, which fires charged blasts of energy, and is extremely powerful.
Haven City functions as the game hub-world, with various other environments accessible from it. Here, Jak can access new missions by visiting various allied characters. These missions serve as a replacement for the previous game's Power Cell collection gameplay. Throughout the game, the player can collect Precursor Orbs dispersed throughout the various worlds, in order to unlock cheats and other content. Jak can traverse the large city using hover vehicles, and a jet-board, which allows him to hover across water and grind on rails.
Due to experiments conducted on him over two years, Jak can transform into a darker version of himself, known as Dark Jak, by killing enemies for Dark Eco. In this form, his melee attacks become more powerful, but he loses the ability to use the Morph Gun. By collecting Metal Head gems, gained by killing Metal Head creatures, Jak can gain additional abilities for his dark form.
Plot
The game begins with Jak and Daxter, the protagonists, and Samos, their guardian, watching as Keira, Samos’ daughter and Jak’s love interest, demonstrate the Rift Rider and Precursor Rift Gate that they found in the previous gameJak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy
Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy is a platform game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment and is the first video game in the Jak and Daxter series. It was released exclusively for the Sony PlayStation 2 on December 3, 2001 for North America, December 7, 2001 for...
. When activated, the Rift Gate opens a portal, and a large monster appears, declaring "You cannot hide from me, boy!". Jak launches the Rider through the Gate, past the monster. Inside the portal, Jak and Daxter are separated from Keira and Samos and arrive in the segregated
Geographical segregation
Geographical segregation exists whenever the proportions of population rates of two or more populations are not homogenous throughout a defined space...
dystopia
Dystopia
A dystopia is the idea of a society in a repressive and controlled state, often under the guise of being utopian, as characterized in books like Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four...
known as Haven City. Jak is quickly arrested by the city's 'Krimzon Guard'; Daxter runs off in a panic, promising to rescue him. While Jak is imprisoned, he is subjected to several painful experiments by the city's ruler, Baron Praxis. Praxis plans to turn Jak into a weapon to use in Haven City's war against animalistic creatures called Metal Heads by injecting him with Dark Eco. Two years after his capture
Daxter (video game)
Daxter was very well received by critics. IGN gave it a 9/10 and GameSpot gave it a 9.1/10. It has a 86.2% at Game Rankings. As of June 11, 2008, the game has sold 2.3 million copies.-External links:*...
, the experiments appear to have failed, much to the chagrin of Praxis and the captain of the Krimzon Guard, Errol.
Daxter then arrives to break Jak out of prison, only to find his friend has changed drastically; he is no longer mute and is intent on exacting revenge on Praxis, which finally causes his Dark Eco powers to manifest, allowing the duo to escape. Outside, they meet an old man named Kor with a boy referred to only as the Kid. After Jak saves them from the Krimzon Guard using his new powers, Kor informs them of the city's underground rebel movement against the Baron, known as the Underground. After successfully completing a mission for the Underground's second-in-command, Torn, he allows them to join. Torn assigns them other various missions, through which they meet - and form alliances with - a variety of characters, such as Krew (a scheming arms dealer who sells weapons to Underground troops), Vin (an Underground informant in charge of the city's power station) and Onin (a mute soothsayer who knows many of the city's more mystical secrets, using a bird named Pecker to interpret for her). Jak learns from Krew that Praxis has been bribing the Metal Heads with Dark Eco, which they physically require, to attack the city sufficiently enough to keep the war going, and to keep Praxis on the throne.
While serving the Underground, Jak finds Keira working as a mechanic at the Stadium, where she owns a race team. Jak learns that the championship winner gets to meet the Baron in person, and agrees to drive for her team. On another Underground mission, the duo discover that the decrepit Dead Town outside the city walls is actually their old home, Sandover Village, and that therefore they must be in the future. Soon after this revelation, the Underground's leader, the Shadow, offers to meet the pair, and is revealed to be a younger Samos. Partway through the game, the Underground learns of Praxis' plan to sabotage and defeat the Metal Head army: Break open the fabled Precursor Stone, using the out-coming energy like an immense bomb. However, according to data found, doing so would destroy all of existence. The main goal of the Underground is to find the Tomb of Mar, the founder of Haven City, where the stone is said to be. But only the true heir to the throne (the Kid) may get it.
Later, after finding the tomb in the heart of the city, Praxis sabotages Jak while attempting to get the stone (because the Kid was too young), and steals it himself. The Baron leaves the destruction of the stone to Krew, who indiscriminately aids Praxis in exchange for money and rights to the heads of dead Metal Heads (as trophies to decorate his bar). Jak finds Krew and, despite trying to talk Krew out of activating the weapon, they begin battling which destroys the 'Piercer' Bomb and kills Krew in the resulting explosion.
After Krew’s death, Metal Heads invade the city. Jak finds Praxis and the Krimzon Guard at the construction site, confronting Kor. Kor is then revealed to be the leader of the Metal Heads, after transforming into the huge Metal Head type beast seen at the start of the game. He fires his energy beam at Praxis and flies off. Before he dies, Praxis shows Jak another Piercer bomb, this one containing the Precursor Stone. Daxter rummages through the bomb and deactivates it, and Jak takes the stone.
As the Krimzon Guard and the Underground fight the Metal Heads in the city, Jak travels to the Metal Head nest to confront Kor. There, he finds that Kor has the Kid and a Precursor Ring like the one that brought Jak and his friends to Haven City. Kor informs Jak that the Kid is in actuality, a young Jak. Jak had been sent into the past to learn the skills necessary to defeat Kor. The young Jak, because he is innocent and untouched by Dark Eco, is able to release the Precursor entity trapped in the stone.
During the battle with Kor, Kor is decapitated by the Precursor Ring, which damages it. Before it breaks up, young Jak releases the Precursor entity, which enters the Ring. Samos and Keira arrive and send young Jak and young Samos back in time through the Ring, leaving Jak, Daxter, Samos and Keira to live out their lives in Haven City. Daxter takes over Krew's bar, and renames it the "Naughty Ottsel."
Setting
Jak II takes place in the same science fiction universe created by Naughty Dog for Jak and Daxter, though hundreds of years in the future. The plot largely revolves around happenings in and around Haven City, a dystopiaDystopia
A dystopia is the idea of a society in a repressive and controlled state, often under the guise of being utopian, as characterized in books like Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four...
ruled by Baron Praxis and his Krimzon Guard law enforcers. Haven City often serves as a hub, although the player is often also given tasks that must be fulfilled outside of the city, places that are separated via airlocks.
Characters
Jak (voiced by Mike ErwinMike Erwin
Mike Erwin is an American actor who is best known as Colin Hart in the now cancelled WB television series Everwood. He has been more widely heard as the voice of Jak in the Jak and Daxter series from Jak II onward except in the case of Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier in which he did not reprise...
) is the game's protagonist, along with his sidekick Daxter
Daxter
Daxter is a fictional character and a protagonist of the Jak and Daxter series. First introduced in Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, Daxter is Jak's best friend, and was accidentally transformed into an ottsel . Daxter is voiced by Max Casella and Richard McGonagle . Daxter stars in his own...
(voiced by Max Casella
Max Casella
Max Casella is an American actor. He is known for his roles on the television series The Sopranos, Doogie Howser, M.D., and as the voice of Daxter in the Jak and Daxter video game series.-Life and career:...
). When they first arrived in Haven City, Jak is captured by Krimzon Guards and became the subject of Baron Praxis' "Dark Warrior" project. He became subject to several experiments, ultimately giving him the ability to become Dark Jak, a beast-like version of him which is unleashed when Jak has gathered enough Dark Eco. Daxter is an otter-weasel hybrid (known as an ottsel) and is the game's comic relief
Comic relief
Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension.-Definition:...
. After two years of searching for him, Daxter finally sneaks into the prison holding Jak and rescues him. This is also the first time we hear Jak speak in the series.
Other important characters include Torn, the gravelly-voiced second in command of the resistance movement known as the Underground; Sig, a Metal Head hunter/Wastelander (someone who gathers artifacts outside the city); Krew, the overweight gang lord; Tess, the barmaid; Erol, the Baron's right hand man and commander of the Krimzon Guard; and Ashelin, the daughter of Baron Praxis who helps the Underground behind her father's back. Baron Praxis and the Metal Head's leader Kor are the story's antagonists.
Critical reception
This game received generally very positive reviews from critics. It won Editor's Choice from IGNIGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
and GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
, was nominated for Best PlayStation 2 Game by GameSpot and received aggregate scores of 87/100 on MetaCritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
and 88% on Game Rankings
Game Rankings
GameRankings is a website that collects review scores from both offline and online sources to give an average rating. It indexes over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 games.GameRankings is owned by CBS Interactive...
.
Jak II was added to Sony's Greatest Hits lineup on September 8, 2004, signifying at least 400,000 copies sold in its first 11 months.
A sequel called Jak 3
Jak 3
Jak 3 is a platform game for Sony's PlayStation 2 console developed by Naughty Dog. It is the third game in the main Jak and Daxter series. Jak 3 was completely localized and dubbed in Japanese, but was not released in Japan due to Jak IIs poor sales...
was released in 2004.
External links
- Official North American website (www.jakii.com)
- Official European website
- Naughty Dog's Jak II website
- Jak II (PS2) at GameSpotGameSpotGameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...