Jak II

The most inventive, entertaining action-platform set pieces I've ever seen in a 3D world... One of the best games of 2003. [Nov 2003, p.50]

There are a lot of difficult levels, a lot of difficult enemies. It’s awesome. I appreciate a good challenge in today’s games, and JAK II offers it. It’s plenty long too, and will keep you playing for a good time.

Visually the game is absolutely stunning, with in-game character models that are at least three times as detailed as those seen in the first game. Level design is artistic as it is functional. [Nov 2003, p.32]

A platformer only by heritage, Naughty Dog’s latest is an enormously entertaining, surprisingly dark, and enduring shrine to what makes games fun.

This may be the best adventure game you have ever played, or will play in a long while.

Incorporating elements from a number of other titles, this highly polished and incredibly playable title has taken the bar and kicked it up a notch, and is definitely one of the best platformers currently available.

Plays like a dream! It feels like the controller melds with your hands and you become one with it! The game is really that smooth for two main reasons: Jak responds to the slightest touch of a button and the frame rate is at a steady 60 fps and never drops.

Naughty Dog's expansion of Jak and Daxter's world to include different forms of gameplay has been seamless, and should open up their adventures to those who find the very concept of platform games anathema.

Of course, the story is what drives this game forward, but it's the perfect blend of platforming elements and action-shooting that are so good, feel so right -- and with guns that feel so good -- that in the end, I don't give a damn what genre this game actually falls under.

I have to be honest with you – this is what you own a PlayStation 2 for.

What do you get when you put together solid controls, a fun story, great action, beautiful graphics, and a game oozing with character? Jak II, one of the best PS2 games of the year.

Matches the scope of the "GTA" games but still manages to look incredible. Jak II is heavily detailed, highly stylized, and holds a lot of personality.

With over 20 hours of core gameplay within, and every minute of it more fun than the last, I can't help but enthusiastically recommend Jak II.

Having the freedom to tackle challenges in a less linear fashion is definitely a strength, but the open-ended play that comes with traversing a massive city is more of a curse than anything. [Nov 2003, p.136]

It's a fan-frikken-smabulous game. It's the kind of game that'll feed your gaming needs and desires no matter what level you enter it at... The best platform... sorry, character action game on PlayStation 2 to date? You bet your spring loaded arse it is.

Great graphics and animation, A+ voice acting, and fun gameplay makes Jak II a definite winner.

This is the evolution of platform games that we've waited nearly ten years for, which is great news for everyone.

The gameplay is rewarding, the story twists and turns more than you'd expect from a game like this, and everything comes together to produce one of the best-looking, best-playing games on the PS2 so far.

For what it is - the Jak universe plugged into a juiced "GTA" mold - Jak II is damn close to being a perfect game. You just have to want this game. I took some convincing, but the way has been opened. I'll live with the boogie. [Oct 2003, p.64]

This is a long game, trial and error or not. The problem is you may become so frustrated that you have to play this game in spurts or destroy your controller. I'm glad they made this game more difficult, but it borders on the maddening.

A great storyline, excellent delivery, top-notch voice acting and fun, varied gameplay help Jak II continue Naughty Dog’s tradition of high quality games. It’s simply not to be missed.

This game has everything for everyone whether you’re into those car-jacking ways, killing innocent pedestrians, or just enjoy humor and huge exploration. Either way, you can’t go wrong with this title.

While some players might not like the drastic change from the original Jak and Daxter, I found it to be very fun and absolutely loved it.

Had Jak II delivered a gameplay revolution as dramatic and massive as its graphics (BEST LOOKING ACTION PS2 GAME... EVER!), excellent sounds (which take into account non-English speaking players), buttery-smooth controls and solid interface this could have become the PS2 equivalent of "Super Mario 64."

Curse Naughty Dog for creating what is - at times - an almost unplayably hard game, but if you can dig deep into your well of persistence and climb this mountain of a game, you'll get a great view of the most involving, rewarding and momentous platform game ever created.

It's full of charm and character, it’s fun to play and includes a wide range of gameplay styles, more importantly we can’t think of a single aspect that lets it down – truly "Jak2" is a perfect game.

Graphically, Jak II resembles a colorful cartoon, with a hero that moves with grace and agility, and an intelligent camera that never gets in the way.

Our other issue with the game is that the city where the game takes place, despite having hundreds-if-not-thousands of people, feels very empty.

Extremely colorful and detailed, the environments and character models will make you think you're playing an Xbox game - and an excellent Xbox game at that. The environments are huge and imaginative.

The execution may be flawed in a few ways, but the game’s adorable charm and earnest attempts to keep things fresh are just enough to make it a better game than its successor in nearly every way.

The addition of weapons and dark powers to Jak’s arsenal of attacks make combat more intriguing; however, the grandiose Haven City is quite the opposite, serving only as a presentation piece and an inhibitor to tackling the superb gameplay found in the missions.

It tries to to do too much at once, and while it generally succeeds, there's still some room for a bit of spit and polish.

Less successful is the convoluted city design that forces you to spend considerable time in transit between levels. Put up with this annoyance - the missions are an addictive blast. [17 Oct 2003, p.L2T 20]

These new free-roaming, carjacking Haven City segments are both Jak II's triumph and biggest failing. They're a triumph because they add variety and give you some control over what you tackle next, yet they fail because they're punch-you-in-the-gut difficult. [Nov 2003, p.182]

8 / 8 / 8 / 8 - 32 gold [Vol 796; 19 Mar 2004]

Still derivative, and slightly bizarre, but better than the previous game, Jak II is a trip worth taking. [Nov 2003, p.82]

It's remarkable how skillfully so many different ideas are blended together into one game. It's equally impressive that it looks and sounds great, has no noticeable load time, tells a decent story, and doesn't saddle the player with restrictions on where to go and what to do.

The nuisance of the overworld and the poorly controlled vehicles are the biggest drawbacks, causing a good deal of headache. And yes, the game is much more difficult than the original.

It’s undoubtedly a bold (if not brazen) attempt to entertain, and while Gamestyle found itself striving to collect every last item from the first title, it is hard to see the same happening with this one. Which leaves its technical achievements looking rather muted.

Featuring more complex subject matter and a much grittier feel than virtually every other platformer out there, Naughty Dog has fully capitalised on the popularity of 'mature' games by producing a similar title that younger players will legally be allowed to play. But there's something about the GTA-cum-platform gameplay that just doesn't gel. [Nov 2003, p.112]

Despite what Naughty Dog's crack programmers might think, you can't encode fun-ness into a videogame. Yes, there's lots of 'fun' to be had here, but is it really more fun than the original? Probably not. [Nov 2003, p.96]

Its charms, however, such as they are, are mostly lost on me.

It isn't proper to expect us to be perfect in order to make up for your game's many imbalances... Life might not be fair, but I certainly expect my games to be. [Nov 2003, p.128]

I personally could have done without the majority of the hovercar and weapon-based missions, but overall the game works well, looks and sounds fantastic, and provides many hours of mostly enjoyable gaming.

These new elements seem to have been thrown in merely for the sake of being different, and the result is a confused mishmash of ideas that is more banal and frustrating than fresh or exciting.