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Jak & Daxter: The Precursor Legacy is the first game in the Jak & Daxter series, and is the second best one.
You start out as Jak, a young boy, whom the developers were too lazy to voice. The game claims him to be a mute. Anyway, you start out by going to an evil island, where you witness some bad guys talking to the local monster tribe. Daxter falls into a pit of black ooze, which turns him into a squirrel thing. You go back home and tell the local sage about what you saw. He tells you that, in order to stop the baddies, you must go get help from a more powerful sage. So, you and Daxter go off to find precursor orbs, which are magic, energy-producing artifacts. You need to complete various tasks, like giving money to a guy so he can buy pants. These orbs power stuff you need to use, like a flying jet-bike. The game is pretty fun, and is good for all ages. Even my mom played it.
The gameplay is solid, and it’s not too difficult to start. The game gradually gets harder, and some of the acrobatic stunts take a few tries. One of the best aspects of the game is that it slowly lets you get used to the game, before throwing anything too hard at you. The areas are large and not too linear, meaning that you can take different paths and go to different areas, but some don’t progress the story, and just give you precursor orbs. There are not very many boss fights, and most of them include using some kind of cannon or vehicle, seeing as Jak isn’t exactly the best fighter around.
The game follows the design for the PS2’s early games: rather tame violence, and a likable, honest main character, with a quirky partner. Jak & Daxter reminds of Ratchet and Clank, but with the personalities switched. The game lasts about 7-8 hours, without getting all the orbs, and other secret stuff.
My cohort doesn’t exactly have the highest opinion of Guitar Hero. So, in order to give you another viewpoint, I will provide my own opinion of the series.
With the exclusion of the expansion pack, Rock the 80s, I have played every Guitar Hero game. I can play Easy, Medium, Hard, and I can attempt Expert. I’ve put in around 12 hours, which is very decent for someone who doesn’t own any of them. I feel that even with my relatively minor amount of time put into playing it, I can provide a good summary of the game.
In Guitar Hero, you play the part of one of around eight characters who attempt to become a rock star. They do this by playing guitar in a supposed band, although you don’t get to play any other instrument (excluding instruments similar to the guitar, such as bass).
As the story continues, you play song after song, each one getting progressively harder. At the end, supposedly you get the whole shebang-booze, chicks, and drugs.
How do you play a song, anyhow? Each game is packaged with a guitar peripheral for the console you buy it for. It’s plastic and small, but it gets the job done. The peripheral has five coloured buttons at the top of the “neck”. There’s also a “strum” button you push up or down. On-screen, circles of colours fly down the “road”, and you press the coloured button it correlates to and press the strum button at the same time it flies over a part of the screen.
When I first picked up RaC: UyA, I was expecting the same thing I rented: a nice platformer/shooter. I was correct!Let’s start with the single player adventure. It has over 12 weapons. They each can be upgraded to level 5. Basically, single player mode pits you against Dr. Nefarious, who plans to turn all organic life(which he’s dubbed “squishies”) into robots. The single player mode is short(10-15 hours), but it’s hilarious.
The multiplayer mode is a new addition to the series. It has online play, local play, and an option to create a profile. A profile is basically default options. The local play has no bots, meaning if you plan on playing multiplayer alone, you’ll play it alone. The three modes are Siege, Deathmatch and Capture the Flag. The online play can be enjoyed with up to 8 players while the local play can be played with up to four players if you have a multitap. The game is compatible with Dual Shock 1 controllers so you don’t need to spend money on Dual Shock 2 controllers if you’re low on cash. Overall, the multiplayer is a good addition.
The graphics in the game are great. They really show the PS2’s capibilities. From the deaths of enemies to jumping off the ship, the game is beautiful. The framerates stay the same about 98% of the time.
The sound in the game is excellent. The background music matches each area nicely and the gun sounds are great. Sound is better with surround sound, of course.
The replay value is above average. When you beat the short single player mode, you can play Challenge Mode, which features new upgrades to weapons and an overall harder single player mode. The multiplayer will keep you busy for a long time.
Overall, this game is an experience you have to play. If you need a good game in your library, this is it. If you need a good shooter and you don’t like blood/gore, this is it.
