It’s been a while since the last time we saw our favorite duo, Jak & Daxter on the PlayStation consoles. Their last appearance was several years ago on the PlayStation 2. Finally, Jak & Daxter will make their big comeback. It’s not on the PlayStation 3 just yet, but on the PlayStation 2 and on the PSP as well.
Jak & Daxter: The Lost Frontier takes place several years after the events of Jak 3. The Eco (life, blood, and power source of the planet) supplies begin to disappear making many natural disasters such as the Eco Storm occur. It is now up to Jak & Daxter to restore the Eco supplies and save the world from the brink of destruction. Along with Jak & Daxter, Keira, an Eco sage in training, will join the entourage as they travel around the world searching for a solution.
With the new Jak & Daxter finally hitting the stores this week, is it one of the games on the PSP and PS2 that is worth owning? Let’s take a look on the HOTs and the NOTs of the game:
HOT
Presentation
Prepare yourself to explore the colorful world of Jak & Daxter. I played the PSP version and one of the characteristics I noticed was how vivid the graphics and how well drawn the character models are. Jak & Daxter’s latest adventure will see them traverse through towering mountains and the darkest depths of volcanoes. Everything is detailed and I must say that this game has some of the best graphics on the PSP. There are occasional screen tearing issues, but it’s not a major issue that anyone should be concerned about.
The Lost Frontier offers cutscenes equipped with wonderful voice acting. Characters from Keira, Jak, Daxter, and the pesky pirates will all have the fantastic voice overs that fit their personalities. Similar to the Ratchet & Clank games, Jak & Daxter offers plenty of comedic moments that are sure to please fans of the series. Along with the awesome voice work the soundtrack for this game is nicely done with a remix of tunes from past Jak & Daxter games.
Plane Battles
One of the enjoyable aspects of this game are the plane battles. In order to go from one place to another there will be a variety of vehicles that can be commandeered as the game progresses. These planes can have the parts upgraded or customized as you wish. The stronger the plane, the easier traveling will become outside of the airspace which may get crowded. At this point you will have to battle your way through.
Before any upgrades or customization can be done you must acquire scrap metal that can be achieved by completing certain task challenges. These challenges will appear as you play through missions. Completing various sorts of time trials will reward the player with the much sought after scrap metal.
Quick Time Event
Certain scenes in the game will require you to press specific buttons before the character can initiate a command. We’ve seen Quick Time Events in numerous games in the past and Jak & Daxter: The Lost Frontier follows this trend. From opening doors to stealing plane parts, a fast response is needed in order to succeed.
Unlockables & Secrets
The Lost Frontier should not take you more than 8 hours to complete unless you want to do some extra side missions such as collecting Precursor Eggs. To give a replay value on the game, The Lost Frontier offers some goodies that you can unlock under special conditions. There are multiple Precursor Eggs that are scattered throughout the world and collecting them is one of the methods used to unlock the secrets of the game. One of the things that you can unlock is the “beard” for Jak and a movie player that allows you to watch cut scenes that you’ve previously viewed.
Upgrade Jak’s Skills & His Gadgets
Dark Eco is a crucial component in the game. Collecting Dark Eco allows Jak to upgrade his skills with the help of Keira. From increasing Jak’s health using Green Eco to increasing his Melee Damage using the Red Eco many improvements can be made to Jak’s attributes.
Througout the game Jak will be able to acquire some brutal weapons that he can use to slay bosses and other various opponents. There will be abilities unlocked by using the Eco inside him that allow him to slow down time or teleport himself from one place to another.
NOT
Cliche Story
The storyline in The Lost Frontier does not stand out among today’s newest and exciting stories. It is very predictable so don’t expect any shocking plot twists. The funny moments are there, but the Lost Frontier did very little to suck the player into the story. The stories of its predecessors excelled in this area much more.
VERDICT
Overall, Jak & Daxter: The Lost Frontier manages to excel in the same areas as before making it yet another enjoyable and enthralling action-platformer game. The vast selection of weapons and aerial battles are a welcome addition in the game and something you should look forward to during gameplay. Despite its cliche storyline the gameplay makes up for it. Fans of the Jak series will not be disappointed and it is a must have for any PSP owners who are looking for a great action platformer game.
anonymous
November 2, 2009 at 9:11 PMI am actually surprised. I wasn’t expecting the game to be any good since ND isn’t making it. Secret Agent Clank was terrible, so I was expecting the same with this game. Guess I have another Jak and Daxter game to add to my library.
k-mitch
November 2, 2009 at 11:04 PMHow is the difficulty in this one? Because Jak 2 and 3 were darn near impossible for me!
yez
November 3, 2009 at 9:35 PMIt is actually much easier is what i heard.
Matt
November 4, 2009 at 9:18 AMSo, it DID come to ps2??
D
November 5, 2009 at 7:22 AMI don’t like the game that much. All the things in the game have you done before, but better. I don’t expect the game to do whole new things, but this is just very standard. Little bit shooting on weird animals, little bit jumping, little bit flying and shooting. Also the story is just redicoulus. I don’t get it with al the eco things and whatever, it’s just not exciting. Also the camera is pretty annoying sometimes.
I would give the game a 7.
Gordon
November 5, 2009 at 5:57 PMI’m a big fan of the Jak and Daxter series, I’ve played and beaten them all many times. I mostly agree with this review. One thing seemed strange tho he says “the soundtrack for this game is nicely done with a remix of tunes from past Jak & Daxter games.” I don’t think it’s true at all. The music in this one is WAY better than previous Jak games and I didn’t notice any “remixes” it all seemed completely new. If you are a game music fan be sure to check it out.
Carrie
November 8, 2009 at 2:47 AMAw, I’m 60% through and I love it. D:
Then again, I’m a really big fan and understand Eco Theory from top to bottom. So for us hardcore Jak nerds, it was a really easy storyline to follow. Also, Jak/Keira. Absolute win. :D
Dark Daxter was stupid, though I think that was just High Impact not understanding Dark Eco. -facepalm-
Fernando
November 9, 2009 at 3:01 PMHey people, I never really cleared this up. do we have dark/light jak?
guillermo
November 18, 2009 at 12:26 PMno, “the eco is too unstable”
MikeC
November 20, 2009 at 4:06 PMPretty easy to beat game, much easier than 2 or 3. No Jetboard, that was disappointing. Overall, if you’re a fan of the series, you’ll enjoy it. If not, you could take a pass.
phantominho
May 27, 2010 at 2:03 AMhow can I get to the secret eggs in the volcan in The lost frontier???