Jak X: Combat Racing

"Jak is One Mean Racer"

Jak X: Combat Racing
Review Writing by Thomas Hartley aka Smithy Jones

Jak X is the start of a new chapter in the Jak and Daxter storyline. It starts up after the Jak 3 which was the ending for the Precursor Chapter. Racing isn't new to the Jak series, in both Jak 2 and Jak 3 had racing elements.

Story 7/10

Here is some back story on the game, Jak and co are invited to Kras City to attend the reading of Krew's will. There we find out Krew has a Daughter named Rayn and Yes that floating tub of lard actually had a daughter and to everyone's surprise she is not her father's spitting image. Then everyone is poisoned thanks to Krew's special vintage wine. In the will, Krew issues an ultimatum, Join his Racing Team or die a slow death. If Jak and Co manage to win the for him this year they will be given the antidote by Krew's associates. So the choice for Jak is either Race or Die.

Gameplay 9/10

Jak X is similar to that of Crash Team Racing but with better vehicles. There are 12 normal vehicles found during game play. At first you start off with a few and get the rest later. Not too mention a few hidden vehicles like the Sand shark. There are 12 unlockable character plus Jak himself for a total of 13 regular characters. There are even hidden drivers like Daxter, Pecker and even Ratchet. What make this game different from CTR is the weapon systems, there Red and Yellow Eco weapons. Red Eco are rear weapons or sometimes known as Droppers. they range from Smoke screens to Shields. Yellow Eco is your front weapons, they range from the rapid fire Vulcan fury to the ever powerful Super Nova Strike.
There is also a nifty Car mod system where you can tune up your engine and armor as well as change the parts on your car. Changing ethical parts does not change the overall performance of the ethical, only the outward appearance. There are 24 Race Tracks and 7 Battle Arenas in all. There are 4 types of Tracks and arenas. Kras City, Ice Fields, Haven City, and the Wastelands. Each provides an unique challenge, while other tracks are easier than other some provide a very decent challenge. You can probably beat the game in under 10 hours, that is if you don't play online mode, if you do play online mode it will probably take you 50 - 100 hours to beat the game due the the addictive nature of Online mode.

Controls 10/10

Controls are very well done and easy to remember. None of the buttons are left useless. X for Acceleration, Square for Brake/Reverse, Circle for Hand brake, Triangle for Rear view, You can steer with either the Directional Pad or Left Control Stick, R1 fires Yellow Eco Weapons while L1 fires Red Eco weapons, R2 uses the Blue Eco Turbo system and L2 is jump which is use full for jumping over land mines and getting rid of Sticky mines.

Fun Factor 10/10

This game is very fun and addictive especially when played online. The ability to take your modified vehicles that you have in adventure mode then race them online is a really good thing. Seeing how you match up to other people is another fun plus. Not too mention, unlike with the CPU Humans come up with interesting strategies over time so it is fun the hit the brake from time to time and just finish off the guy in second place with homing missiles.

Audio/Visual 9/10

The Graphics in this game are pretty damn good and the sound is above par. Jak X has some pretty good songs that play. There is a nice blur effect when you use the turbo which gives you a real sense of how fast these vehicles are going which is around 400 km/h some of the vehicles can even go up to 600 km/h

Overall Opinion 8/10

This game is very fun but very short. It can be beaten with on a weekend. Online play is what make this game all worth playing. If you don't have either Broadband/ DSL or some sort of high speed connection or a network adapter for your PS2 then sadly you will get bored of this game rather quickly and wonder why the Hell you spent $40 on a short game like this one. Jak X is a better version of Naughty Dog's earlier creation, Crash Team Racing. Where CTR was lacking this game make up for.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/26/05