"The demolition duo returns!"

The demolition duo returns!

The demolition duo, Jak and Daxter, return in their fourth adventure! This time it is not hardcore gunning and fighting, well maybe some gunning, but they return in some new cars! Those little car fillers in Jak 3 was not just a filler after all, Jak jumps into his car to start a new adventure. This new adventure has a new twist to it, more characters, the lovable characters come back, and things get even more humid on the racing track. Get ready, get set, GO!

Jak and Daxter is a story about a boy who was brought up by the Green Sage. Daxter is Jak's sidekick. Daxter makes the story a lot more funnier than it should be. Every person needs to have their sidekicks, whether it being Ratchet or Sly Cooper. Jak's sidekick just tops everything off. Besides Jak and Daxter being propelled into the future and saving the world two more times, Jak comes back to save his own life and his friends. Jak has come to a new city to read a will from his "caretaker" from Jak 2. Krew, the crime boss that gave Jak missions in Jak 2, has a will that he wishes that is fulfilled. Rayne, his daughter, calls together all of "daddy's" partners from the past. This includes, Jak, Daxter, Keira, Torn, and Ash. They drink to her father's death, but that's when everything falls into line. A few minutes later they find out that Krew had put poison into the drinks! Jak and his friends have to complete a racing tournament and get the antidote from Krew's associate at the end of the line. Jak has no way to avoid this, or he dies! Help Jak through another perilous journey through some old cities, and some new.

The game play is superb. You can do a regular circuit race, death match, death race, speed race, and hunts! You must go through each of these courses just to complete the Yellow, Red, Blue, or Green Eco cup. The difficulty of the races are divided into cups. Each time you enter a new cup, a new racer arrives. Do not worry though, sometimes they are not as competitive as they sound. You can hit the R2 button to boost to the extreme, then you can lay traps for your enemies to fall into. There is no limit to how many angles a camera will go to after a death. The only cheap weapons that are really difficult to pass are the Peacemaker and the Red Eco Shield. Those are some of the most difficult items to get past by. Also, after every kill you obtain dark eco. After you destroy a certain amount of vehicles you will obtain the dark eco mode. You obtain stronger weapons that deal tons of damage, the best weapon is the lock-on missiles. Also you obtain Precursor orbs. When you obtain enough you can upgrade your car's acceleration, top speed, turbo, or armor. Each car has different limits, sometimes a heavy car can have a lot of armor upgrades and less turbo upgrades, while a lightweight car can have less armor upgrades and more acceleration upgrades. However, you can also use these orbs to unlock new characters or pennants. If you have files from Jak and Daxter, Jak 2, and/or Jak 3, you can obtain their costumes as drivers. You can also obtain Daxter as a driver in this game as well!

The graphics are excellent. They match a current day X-Box 360 games graphics. The explosions when you deliver the final blow to a car is unbelievable. Also, if you have the option on, the camera zooms in to the destroyed car. It makes for a happy defeat and a great smile on your face. The weapons and the maps/courses are also amazing. No other company could have made a combat racing game like this! This really is not the best racing game out there, but you can drift corners, that more than makes up for "the best." The sand blowing from the ground as you turn the turbo to the maximum is awesome also. Also, the cut scenes are amazing also. This game has some of the best graphics out there. There is no arguing in this situation.

The sound effects and the music is great. It can go from rock to a gentle melody that can make you go to sleep. That is great, I love games that can do that and pull it off at the same time. The missiles that come out of your car when you shoot them off have an amazing sound effect. The sound is satisfaction in the highest form, because you realize that they can not escape it, no matter how much the try. Unless they pull around a corner at the last second, then they will get away, unfortunately. The explosions a car makes when it is out of eco to support it is great also. This game has great explosions, great sound effects, and great voice actors. Naughty Dog did a great job on this game, no doubt about it.

Replay Value (2)
I replayed this game twice. The second time was horror, I was beat down with my beefed up cars. I stopped because of this reason, not because it got boring. I could have easily made a new file, but then again. The difficulty the second time through is horrible. It is somewhat hard to get through everything. If you are a good drifter and a good driver, you will get passed these events easily.

Rent or buy?
Buy it. If you are a Jak and Daxter fan you must buy it. Even if it does not have Jak fighting with his guns, this is a must buy. You can not say no to this sort of game, the ending gives off a great cliffhanger. If you are a Jak fan you will not want to miss out on it.

Originally written on: Thursday May 17, 2007

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 05/17/07