Jak X: Combat Racing
Encyclopedia
Jak X: Combat Racing is a vehicular combat game
video game developed by Naughty Dog
and published by Sony Computer Entertainment
for the PlayStation 2
and first released in North America on October 18, 2005, then in Australia on October 26, 2005 and then in Europe on November 4, 2005. The game is a spin off
from Naughty Dog's Jak and Daxter
series, though reference is made to the previous games, and it is considered to be part of the main series (Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier
following suit).
Jak X is modeled after the driving mechanics of Jak 3
. Two songs by rock band Queens of the Stone Age
, "You Think I Ain't Worth a Dollar But I Feel Like a Millionaire" and "A Song for the Dead" (from the album Songs for the Deaf
), are featured in the game (both are heard in the intro). Most of the in-game musical tracks were written by Dean Menta
of Faith No More
and Billy Howerdel
of A Perfect Circle
, which can be recognized as the darker, more ambient tracks. This was the first Jak & Daxter game to feature multiplayer mode, the second being Daxter for the PlayStation Portable
.
, Ashelin, Samos, Keira and Torn receive an invite to the reading of Krew's (one of the villains of Jak II
) last will, as does his daughter, Rayn. After offering a toast, Krew reveals in a recording that everyone present has been poisoned. Krew gives an ultimatum: the only way to obtain the antidote is for everyone to race for him at the next Kras City Championship.
As Jak and friends progress through each race, they find that another crime syndicate led by the mysterious Mizo has it in for Jak. Eventually it is revealed that Krew and Mizo made a deal before the events of Jak 3: both gangs were to make their own racing teams and the loser of the Kras City Championship will submit, making the winner the sole crime family in Jak's world.
Before the final race, Jak and his team learn from Kras City's television race show host G.T. Blitz on TV that a mysterious new driver has entered for the Mizo team. When Jak starts the final grand prix, he realizes that this driver is none other than Blitz himself. After Jak beats the race, Blitz storms over to Rayn, yelling that they cheated. Blitz takes off his toupee and reveals himself to be none other than Mizo. He steals the antidote for the poison and drives off and Daxter tells Jak to go after him, Jak manages to shoot him down and take it back.Upon leaving Mizo to die in his flaming car, it explodes, somewhat similar to Krew's death. Before death, Mizo comments on Jak's habit of leaving people to die and Jak responds with "You get used to it..." Back at the lounge, Rayn thanks her friends for their help, and Samos compliments Keira on her driving. It is also here were Jak and Keira finally show their love interest for each other after a kiss between the two. As Rayn walks away, Daxter realizes she left behind Krew's video diary. Jak and the gang find out that Rayn knew about the poison even before the reading of the will, and was following her father's instructions by making sure that she wasn't poisoned so that their family could be the top crime family in Kras City. As Rayn drives away, she tells some people over the phone to spare Jak, daxter and their crew. Jak and his friends decide not to pursue Rayn, and Jak and Keira share their first unobstructed kiss that Daxter notes to be a "photo finish."
After the credits a secret video with Daxter and Tess plays.
, as well as Daxter
for the PSP, the game remained unreleased in the Japan region. Unlike Jak 3, Jak X went unreleased completely in Asia. However, there is a selectable Japanese audio option for later editions of the game that were printed in the United States. Unlike Jak 3s case when released in Asia, the game does not have an option to set the main language or subtitles to Japanese.
When the game was dubbed into other languages - like French
and German
- subtle changes were made in the dialogue; the majority of the output was tamer than in the English
version.
's Greatest Hits section.
feature will continue to blink for a much longer duration than usual, or when you go to the garage before the race begins. Sometimes the game will no longer load and must be reset, while at other times the game will continue to run as normal. This glitch can potentially corrupt the Jak X save data, causing the game to no longer recognize the data at all. In some extreme cases, the entire memory card can be completely corrupted, or be filled up with space that cannot be deleted or written to. The only solution is to delete the data in the PS2 System Browser and restart the game from scratch.
A workaround is to take the memory card out after the game has successfully loaded and continue to play as usual, as the autosave cannot function without a memory card inserted into the system. When players need to save their game, they can return to the menu, replace the memory card, and save Jak X manually. The memory card should then be removed once the save process is complete if continued play is desired.
In the second week of April 2007, an e-mail was sent out from Caley Roberts, an associate producer at SCEA, to several users who had written to Naughty Dog about this issue, confirming that they have fixed the bug and are offering exchanges to those users who were affected. However, as of this time, a return e-mail address to actually contact Caley Roberts has not surfaced and any e-mail sent to SCEA only results in a response asking the sender to call their customer service, who is not informed first-hand how to help with the exchange program and suggest that the sender e-mail them instead. An issue of Official PlayStation Magazine stated that if the player's memory card is corrupted, the player can send in their copy of the game and memory card for a free copy of Jak X: Combat Racing, a new memory card, and a copy for free of a selection of SOCOM: Navy SEALs
games.
The "Platinum" release of Jak X still has autosave errors. Neither SCEA nor Naughty Dog decided to take any responsibility for broken memory cards. SCEE's solution was to send a new memory card to victims of the glitch.
(Faith No More
, Sparks
) and Billy Howerdel
's (A Perfect Circle
) soundtrack for the game:
Mirror to soundtrack listing.
Alternate mirror.
Vehicular combat game
Vehicular combat games are typically video or computer games where the primary focus of play concerns automobiles or other vehicles, normally armed with guns or other weaponry, attempting to destroy vehicles controlled by the CPU or by opposing players...
video game 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...
and published by Sony Computer Entertainment
Sony Computer Entertainment
Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. is a major video game company specializing in a variety of areas in the video game industry, and is a wholly owned subsidiary and part of the Consumer Products & Services Group of Sony...
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...
and first released in North America on October 18, 2005, then in Australia on October 26, 2005 and then in Europe on November 4, 2005. The game is a spin off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
from Naughty Dog's 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, though reference is made to the previous games, and it is considered to be part of the main series (Jak and Daxter: 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...
following suit).
Jak X is modeled after the driving mechanics of 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...
. Two songs by rock band Queens of the Stone Age
Queens of the Stone Age
Queens of the Stone Age is an American rock band from Palm Desert, California, United States, formed in 1997. The band's line-up has always included founding member Josh Homme , with the current line-up including longtime members Troy Van Leeuwen and Joey Castillo , alongside Michael Shuman and...
, "You Think I Ain't Worth a Dollar But I Feel Like a Millionaire" and "A Song for the Dead" (from the album Songs for the Deaf
Songs for the Deaf
-Production and release:In September 2002, Josh Homme explained the band's goals with the release of the album:In the same month, Nick Oliveri explained the band's aims in an interview with retail company HMV:...
), are featured in the game (both are heard in the intro). Most of the in-game musical tracks were written by Dean Menta
Dean Menta
Dean Menta served as the guitarist for the rock band Faith No More from 1995 to 1996. Menta had been a keyboard tech for the band and was recruited to handle guitar duties after Trey Spruance declined to tour for the album King for a Day... Fool for a Lifetime. He appears in their videos for...
of Faith No More
Faith No More
Faith No More is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, formed originally as Faith No Man in 1981 by bassist Billy Gould, keyboardist Wade Worthington, vocalist Michael Morris and drummer Mike Bordin. A year later when Worthington was replaced by keyboardist Roddy Bottum, and Mike...
and Billy Howerdel
Billy Howerdel
Billy Howerdel is the founding member, guitarist, songwriter, and producer for the bands A Perfect Circle and Ashes Divide. He has recorded three acclaimed studio albums with the former, and in 2008, Ashes Divide released their debut album, Keep Telling Myself It's Alright.-Early life:Howerdel was...
of A Perfect Circle
A Perfect Circle
A Perfect Circle is an American rock supergroup formed in 1999 by guitarist Billy Howerdel and Tool vocalist Maynard James Keenan. The original incarnation of the band also included Paz Lenchantin on bass, Troy Van Leeuwen on guitar, and Tim Alexander on drums...
, which can be recognized as the darker, more ambient tracks. This was the first Jak & Daxter game to feature multiplayer mode, the second being Daxter for the PlayStation Portable
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
.
Gameplay
In Jak X: Combat Racing, the player controls characters from the Jak and Daxter series, all of which race in customizable dune buggy-like vehicles. The two main modes of play in the game are Adventure and Exhibition. Jak, the main character of the series, is the only playable character in the Adventure mode, and must participate in a series of Eco Cup Championships in the game's story to obtain an antidote to a poison he and his comrades have consumed. Jak can also take part in a variety of Events in the Championships as to earn Medal Points and advance through the ranks. The main Event of the game is the Circuit Race, in which Jak must finish a set of laps in a course while avoiding the wrath of the other racers. The player can destroy these racers as well by picking up Yellow and Red Eco weapons, with Yellow Eco acting as an offensive weapon made to attack and destroy opponents, and Red Eco acting as a defensive weapon made to protect the player from incoming attacks.Plot
Taking place one year after Jak 3 , Haven City has been steadily rebuilt after the defeat of the Dark Maker menace. Combat Racing became a sport over time in the dangerous Kras City. Jak, DaxterDaxter
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...
, Ashelin, Samos, Keira and Torn receive an invite to the reading of Krew's (one of the villains of Jak II
Jak II
Jak II, , is a platform game developed by Naughty Dog...
) last will, as does his daughter, Rayn. After offering a toast, Krew reveals in a recording that everyone present has been poisoned. Krew gives an ultimatum: the only way to obtain the antidote is for everyone to race for him at the next Kras City Championship.
As Jak and friends progress through each race, they find that another crime syndicate led by the mysterious Mizo has it in for Jak. Eventually it is revealed that Krew and Mizo made a deal before the events of Jak 3: both gangs were to make their own racing teams and the loser of the Kras City Championship will submit, making the winner the sole crime family in Jak's world.
Before the final race, Jak and his team learn from Kras City's television race show host G.T. Blitz on TV that a mysterious new driver has entered for the Mizo team. When Jak starts the final grand prix, he realizes that this driver is none other than Blitz himself. After Jak beats the race, Blitz storms over to Rayn, yelling that they cheated. Blitz takes off his toupee and reveals himself to be none other than Mizo. He steals the antidote for the poison and drives off and Daxter tells Jak to go after him, Jak manages to shoot him down and take it back.Upon leaving Mizo to die in his flaming car, it explodes, somewhat similar to Krew's death. Before death, Mizo comments on Jak's habit of leaving people to die and Jak responds with "You get used to it..." Back at the lounge, Rayn thanks her friends for their help, and Samos compliments Keira on her driving. It is also here were Jak and Keira finally show their love interest for each other after a kiss between the two. As Rayn walks away, Daxter realizes she left behind Krew's video diary. Jak and the gang find out that Rayn knew about the poison even before the reading of the will, and was following her father's instructions by making sure that she wasn't poisoned so that their family could be the top crime family in Kras City. As Rayn drives away, she tells some people over the phone to spare Jak, daxter and their crew. Jak and his friends decide not to pursue Rayn, and Jak and Keira share their first unobstructed kiss that Daxter notes to be a "photo finish."
After the credits a secret video with Daxter and Tess plays.
Japanese
Like Jak 3Jak 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...
, as well as Daxter
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:*...
for the PSP, the game remained unreleased in the Japan region. Unlike Jak 3, Jak X went unreleased completely in Asia. However, there is a selectable Japanese audio option for later editions of the game that were printed in the United States. Unlike Jak 3s case when released in Asia, the game does not have an option to set the main language or subtitles to Japanese.
When the game was dubbed into other languages - like French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
and German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
- subtle changes were made in the dialogue; the majority of the output was tamer than in the English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
version.
Reception
Jak X: Combat Racing has met generally positive reviews from critics and was in the SonySony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
's Greatest Hits section.
Autosave Memory Card controversy
Early copies of Jak X contained a programming glitch that can potentially affect a PlayStation 2 Memory Card. The first symptom of the glitch occurs sometimes after a race, during which the AutosaveAutosave
Autosave is a function in many computer applications or programs which saves an opened document automatically, helping to reduce the risk or impact of data loss in case of a crash or freeze...
feature will continue to blink for a much longer duration than usual, or when you go to the garage before the race begins. Sometimes the game will no longer load and must be reset, while at other times the game will continue to run as normal. This glitch can potentially corrupt the Jak X save data, causing the game to no longer recognize the data at all. In some extreme cases, the entire memory card can be completely corrupted, or be filled up with space that cannot be deleted or written to. The only solution is to delete the data in the PS2 System Browser and restart the game from scratch.
A workaround is to take the memory card out after the game has successfully loaded and continue to play as usual, as the autosave cannot function without a memory card inserted into the system. When players need to save their game, they can return to the menu, replace the memory card, and save Jak X manually. The memory card should then be removed once the save process is complete if continued play is desired.
In the second week of April 2007, an e-mail was sent out from Caley Roberts, an associate producer at SCEA, to several users who had written to Naughty Dog about this issue, confirming that they have fixed the bug and are offering exchanges to those users who were affected. However, as of this time, a return e-mail address to actually contact Caley Roberts has not surfaced and any e-mail sent to SCEA only results in a response asking the sender to call their customer service, who is not informed first-hand how to help with the exchange program and suggest that the sender e-mail them instead. An issue of Official PlayStation Magazine stated that if the player's memory card is corrupted, the player can send in their copy of the game and memory card for a free copy of Jak X: Combat Racing, a new memory card, and a copy for free of a selection of SOCOM: Navy SEALs
SOCOM (series)
SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs is a series of third-person tactical shooter/real-time tactics video games for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, and one for the Cell Phone created by Zipper Interactive, with the PlayStation 3 game being created by Slant 6...
games.
The "Platinum" release of Jak X still has autosave errors. Neither SCEA nor Naughty Dog decided to take any responsibility for broken memory cards. SCEE's solution was to send a new memory card to victims of the glitch.
Music
Dean MentaDean Menta
Dean Menta served as the guitarist for the rock band Faith No More from 1995 to 1996. Menta had been a keyboard tech for the band and was recruited to handle guitar duties after Trey Spruance declined to tour for the album King for a Day... Fool for a Lifetime. He appears in their videos for...
(Faith No More
Faith No More
Faith No More is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, formed originally as Faith No Man in 1981 by bassist Billy Gould, keyboardist Wade Worthington, vocalist Michael Morris and drummer Mike Bordin. A year later when Worthington was replaced by keyboardist Roddy Bottum, and Mike...
, Sparks
Sparks (band)
Sparks is an American rock and pop band formed in Los Angeles in 1968 by brothers Ron and Russell Mael , initially under the name Halfnelson...
) and Billy Howerdel
Billy Howerdel
Billy Howerdel is the founding member, guitarist, songwriter, and producer for the bands A Perfect Circle and Ashes Divide. He has recorded three acclaimed studio albums with the former, and in 2008, Ashes Divide released their debut album, Keep Telling Myself It's Alright.-Early life:Howerdel was...
's (A Perfect Circle
A Perfect Circle
A Perfect Circle is an American rock supergroup formed in 1999 by guitarist Billy Howerdel and Tool vocalist Maynard James Keenan. The original incarnation of the band also included Paz Lenchantin on bass, Troy Van Leeuwen on guitar, and Tim Alexander on drums...
) soundtrack for the game:
- Theatre
- Slide
- To The Death
- Whiplash
- Ancient
- Fragfest
- Run The Table
- Heli
- Turbofield
- Missile
- Fracture
- Rev-Up
- Turbulence
- Survive
- Angles
- Steel
- Goodnight
- Bird
- To Be Reborn
- Crash and Burn
- Hybrid
- Choose
- Tempest (Transitions Version)
- Run The Table (Exclusive Remix)
Mirror to soundtrack listing.
Alternate mirror.
External links
- Official North American website
- Naughty Dog's Jak X Site
- Jak X: Combat Racing (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...
- Jak X: Combat Racing on the Jak and Daxter Wiki