Jak and Daxter

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Jak and Daxter is a video game series developed by Naughty Dog for the PlayStation 2 and named after its own protagonists. The first game in the series, Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy , was released in late 2001 and resulted in two direct sequels, two offshoots of the series were also released.

Special features of the series

Jak and Daxter already attracted a lot of attention during development as a new game from the Crash Bandicoot developers. Particularly outstanding is the technology behind the game, which, in addition to excellent animations, offers a stream system that can not only load the current level section, but also small versions of the remote environment and, in conjunction with a LOD system, enables extremely high visibility and loading pauses completely eliminated during the game. Jak game technology is also used in the Ratchet & Clank series.

Game principle of the series

Even if there are big differences in the game mechanics between the games and also a genre discrepancy due to the racing game Jak X , they share some game mechanics elements.

The Jak-and-Daxter series is mainly to be assigned to the platforming genre, which requires the player to let the characters run and jump through different levels while avoiding or eliminating opponents. The character can only take a few hits before it is defeated ( game over ). However, lost health points can be restored through so-called green eco. Jak can make some special attacks in combination with various jumps. Sometimes in the games it is required to shoot and race. There are also mini-games in which you have to catch fish or something similar, for example.

Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy

The first part of the series was released in December 2001. The 13 levels merge directly into one another and form a single, large world. With double jumps and various attacks, the game can stand out from the usual platforming games. Some well-made racing sequences loosen up the game. In this part, the main character Jak cannot speak.

The game begins with the prelude to the actual plot - Jak and Daxter drive, contrary to the warnings of Samos, the green eco-sage, with a fishing boat to the gloomy mist island, where they witness an invasion of the Lurker who are planning an attack on their village . In pools made of dark eco, both are attacked by a lurker, causing Daxter to fall into the pool and turn into an Ottsel, a mixture of otter and weasel. Upon their return, Samos tells that only one Daxter can transform back - Gol Acheron, the lord of the dark Eco, who lives far north. At first a trip north seems hopeless, as the only way is through the dangerous fire canyon. Samos' daughter Keira, however, is working on an A-Grav zoomer, a flying device that could withstand the heat with 20 energy cells.

After being briefly introduced to the game at the rock geyser, a tutorial area, the player can move freely within the first section of the game. This consists of the sand village, the guardian beach, the forbidden jungle and the somewhat remote foggy island. In each area you can work through tasks from z. B. Earn an energy cell for the villagers and by collecting precursor orbs. Some energy cells are also distributed in the great outdoors. If you finally have 20 energy cells together, you have to reach the end of the fire canyon to get to the second part of the game. This consists of the rock village, the lost precursor city, the precursor basin and the swamp. Here it becomes evident that the blue sage was kidnapped and that the rock village is being bombarded with burning boulders by the lurker monster Klaww. One of these boulders blocks the further way north through the mountain pass, so that another 25 (45 in total) energy cells have to be collected in order to activate the laser machine that can remove the boulders. After reaching this goal you have to defeat Klaww and fly over the not harmless mountain pass like the fire canyon unscathed in order to reach the third and last section of the game, the volcanic crater, the home of the red sage, who was also kidnapped. Here it comes to light that Gol Acheron, the only one who could turn Daxter back, is leading the Lurker invasion with his sister Maia. In addition to the volcanic crater, there are also the spider cave and the snow mountains as adjacent areas. In order to get through the lava tube to the final destination, the Citadel of Gol and Maia, another 27 (72 in total) energy cells are required for the A-Grav zoomer. After you have collected these and successfully crossed the lava tube, you will be surprised at the destination that Samos was also captured. But Jak manages to free all wise men, and a fight ensues against a giant robot that Gol and Maia have constructed. A combination of all eco varieties creates light eco. Although the bright Eco would be able to transform Daxter back, the latter finally agrees that Jak uses it to finally destroy the robot and thus save the world.

Jak II: Renegade

The successor has been heavily modified in terms of play and received a darker mood. The center of the action is a large city (Haven City), in which missions are accepted, similar to open-world games such as the GTA series. In the missions, the racing sequences come to the fore, while the platformer missions differ from their predecessors due to the massive use of weapons. In contrast to its predecessor, Jak can speak in this game. Only the high level of difficulty of the game with only a few reset points in the missions was criticized.

action

This part tells how Jak and his friends Daxter, Keira and Samos are teleported by a machine to a mysterious town Haven City, which is ruled by the cruel Baron Praxis and is involved in a war against the metal skulls. Samos and Keira are missing for the time being.

Jak was arrested by Erol and it takes two years for Daxter to free Jak. In prison he was experimented with with dark eco, which enables him to transform into the dark yak. In the course of the game you can transform yourself into him by collecting a certain number of dark eco. After the two break out of prison, they meet an old man, Kor, and a little dumb boy. The man tells them that the Krimzon Guard rules the city and spreads injustice. You should join an underground movement led by the so-called shadow . To get underground, you must first complete missions for Torn.

In the course of the game you will also meet other people, e.g. B. Krew, a gang leader who you do assignments for until you finally kill him in a fight; Ashelin, a friend of Torn and daughter of Praxis; Sig, a wasteland who helps Jak with many things; Pecker, a talking monkey bird who speaks for Onin, an old fortune teller and who often argues with Daxter, and many others.

Jak also finds out that he has traveled into the future. He finds Keira, who is a mechanic, and gets the jet board from her to race for her. He meets Erol again, who dies after the final race because he flies into a pile of barrels filled with dark eco. Jak freed Samos and the "young" Samos, who turns out to be the leader of the underground "the shadows".

The little boy they met at the beginning is said to have been the heir of Mar, the builder of the city, which can be deduced from his amulet, the seal of Mar. He is supposed to pass two tests. Since the boy is too young, Jak does this for him and receives a precursor stone as a reward. But Baron Praxis arrives at this moment and steals the stone in order to be able to use it to build a bomb that is supposed to destroy the metal skull nest.

When the metal skulls invade the city, it is revealed that Kor is the metal skull leader. He kills Baron Praxis. Keira built a new time machine. Samos and the Lurker bring the time machine to the metal skull nest. wherever Jak goes. Kor waits for him there and holds the little boy prisoner. He explains to Jak that the little boy is Jak himself. Jak kills Kor, and young Jak and young Samos travel back to the past, where the scenario from the first part takes place. At the end everyone celebrates and Sig, believed dead, returns, ending with fireworks.

Jak 3

The third part of the series is a direct successor to Jak 2 . The gameplay is essentially the same as its predecessor. The main character Jak and his friend Daxter are banished to the desert in this part of the trilogy. Eight vehicles are used to get around here and there are jump lizards in the city of Spargus. With the introduction of the desert, the developers had in mind not to restrict the player with the confusing and winding streets like in the 2nd part. There are also more weapons (twelve instead of four) and Jak's Eco Powers are used more often.

action

War is raging in Haven City. Jak is accused of being the cause of the war due to his contact with the dark eco and the resulting outbursts of anger, which are sometimes uncontrollable, and is banished to the desert by Veger, the original representative of the ruler Praxis, who was murdered by the metal skulls, to die there. Daxter and Pecker volunteered to join him. When the three lose consciousness, they are found by Damas, the king of the desert city of Spargus City, and brought to his city.

Jak has to do jobs for Damas there. He also meets the precursor monks who tell him that the world is being attacked by the dark creators. He also gets to know Kleiver, a wasteland and Damas's right-hand man, who doesn't like Jak very much at first, and races against him to earn his respect. Jak also has to fight in the arena of Spargus City in order to gain reputation with Damas. He also meets Sig again. When both are supposed to kill each other, but do not do it, they are punished by having to destroy all the eggs in a metal skull nest that lies in the desert. As Jak explores the desert, he discovers the temple of the precursor monks and, in return for his dark powers, receives the power over light eco, with which he can heal himself, for example. He also observes how Count Veger is talking to the “leader” of the precursor monks. In the temple he also finds a way back to Haven City through a disused eco mine. When Veger discovers Jak, he sets a precursor robot on Jak and disappears.

When Jak and Daxter are back in Haven City, they see the extent of the war. The whole city is devastated and killbots and metal skulls march together against Torn, Ashelin and the Freedom League. It turns out that Erol, who allegedly died in Part 2, is still alive and, now under the name Errol, leads the army of the killbots. Jak manages to destroy the robot war factory and the metal skull tower. However, Errol has found a way to abuse the technology of the dark creators and is able to flee from Jak.

In Haven City Jak and Daxter manage to use Damas to get into the catacombs that lead into the interior of the planet, but Damas is hit by a bomb. When Damas is dying, he tells Jak to find his son. His name is Mar. Jak knows that he means the little boy from the second part, but Damas dies before Jak can tell him that he is his son himself. Suddenly Veger comes and drives through the catacombs to the precursors. Jak follows him and sees the precursors upon his arrival. But Veger threatens him with a gun.

Through an accident Jak, Daxter and Veger see that the precursors are just like Daxter Ottsel. Thereupon Veger is also transformed into an Ottsel. They ask Jak to destroy the Dark Creator's ship. After Jak destroys it, Errol, who was on board the ship, flees back to earth with a robot. Jak then finally kills him there and saves the world again.

Jak X

Jak X is an action-packed racing game that was released in 2005. After Jak and his friends have successfully survived their adventures, Krew receives an invitation to open his will. He was a guy who did anything for money, or had someone done it. In Kras-City, the setting, they meet his daughter who is entertaining them. In a holographic appearance, he announces that the championship of Kras-City is coming up and the assembled team should participate and win for him. After they would never voluntarily drive for Krew, he poisoned the wine served. They only get the antidote for the championship cup. In the course of the game, like in the predecessors, there are some cutscenes that push the plot forward.

Daxter

Daxter was released in 2006 for the PlayStation Portable and was developed by Ready At Dawn . Jaks Sidekick Daxter takes on the lead role in the jump 'n' run . The story bridges the gap between the first two parts and tells what Daxter did during the two years of separation and how he freed Jak from prison.

Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier

In April 2009 it was officially confirmed that another Jak-and-Daxter game called Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier will be released for PlayStation 2 and PSP . It was released on November 20, 2009. This part of the series was not developed by Naughty Dog, as before, but by High Impact Games.

Jak and Daxter HD Collection

Jak and Daxter HD Collection for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita contains the first three Jak games. All three games are included in HD ( 720p ) on a Blu-ray Disc . There is also a 3D function ( stereoscopic 3D ). As a new feature, additional trophies are to be collected, which unlock further game content.

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