Jak X: Combat Racing

"It would be more fun... if the original trilogy never existed"

Jak X is simplistic on paper. You shoot guns, grab turbos, and speed along the track to beat others to the inevitable finish line. And that is as far as Jak X goes, surprisingly enough to some. Enough characters to please a jak fan, and enough blow-them-up action to entertain the most hardcore heavy players.

Crash Team Racing was genius nearly perfect, with tight perfect controls and respectable enough graphics, where the game was nearly flawless in execution. Jak X, a similar spin-off is not quite as superior. Yes, the weapons are there, and as effective as could be hoped, but the variety in them is greatly lacking. A machine gun power and a large missile-esque weapon is virtually all that is contained in Jak X, as far as projectiles go. We do have mines and mild shields, but there usefulness is equally as lacking.

The largest fault in this game is the painful controls. The powersliding feature, infinitely significant in nearly every other kart racer, is virtually useless here. When used incorrectly and not perfect, your vehicle goes sliding and spinning into a crazed mess, only to end up in pieces and crashed up against the walls. Unnecessary aggravation is conjured here, and with tighter controls, we may have a significantly better game.

The graphics are equally as excellent as the previous titles. Nice flash effects, and the kart designs are well done. But in creating your own kart, to an extent, the replayability makes a large boost. After beating the game, in a measly eight or so hours, you can go earn some extra orbs and buy the secrets, bonuses, and extra vehicular upgrades. Some entertainment can be found in unlocking these various objects and extras, but none of them are more than slightly appealing, and will not keep you wanting to play the game.

Not ONLY do we have racing, but we have other various methods of gameplay. Used to shake up the often stale gameplay of a regular kart racer, we have death match arena based fighting, which is self explanatory in itself. There is also timed races, similar to what we saw in Naughty Dog's Crash Team Racing. other modes are present, but the shining one is the traditional racing, and the others are only used as blatant methods of mixing up the repetitive nature of the title.

It really comes down to the fact that this game has no reason to exist. It IS fun, and it DOES have its moments of extra content and well designed courses, but the trilogy has ended. Jak and Daxter ventured their ways, and completed an excellent and thought-provoking story. This game seems like a license milking, more obvious than others, and is not as exceptional as the previous titles. Maybe it has to do with its different nature, or the fact tha the game appeared to not contain the production values in which Jak 3 so clearly defined and contained. Whatever this title is lacking, it makes up for, slightly, in pure entertaining gameplay. And truly, isn't that ALL we ask for?

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/05