Jak and Daxter

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Jak and Daxter franchise
The logo for the franchise
Genre(s)	Platform, third-person shooter, vehicular combat
Developer(s)	Naughty Dog High Impact Games Ready at Dawn
Publisher(s)	Sony Computer Entertainment
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable
First release	Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy December 4, 2001[1]
Latest release	Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier November 4, 2009[2]

Jak and Daxter is a video game franchise originally developed by Naughty Dog for the PlayStation 2. There are four games in the main series (with two spin-offs) that have been released, with Jak as the primary playable character in all except Daxter for the PlayStation Portable.

The series is set in a fictional, unnamed world once populated by an ancient race of god-like beings called the Precursors. Centuries ago, the Precursors vanished, though their technology and artifacts still litter the world. A mystical substance called "Eco" permeates their world. Green Eco, the energy of life, Blue Eco, the energy of motion, Red Eco, the energy of strength, Yellow Eco, the energy of power, the deadly and mysterious Dark Eco, and the rare, legendary Light Eco. Eco is very versatile, and is used for everything from weapons to powering technology.

After the events of the first game, the peaceful, idealistic world is ravaged by monsters called Metal Heads, which came through the same Rift Gate that propelled the protagonists forward five hundred years in time. It is here in the future that Jak discovers his origins and his destiny, and the secret of the Precursors finally comes to light.

[edit] Games

[edit] Main Series

• Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy (2001) - The first game, released for PlayStation 2 in 2001. Jak and his best friend Daxter go to Misty Island, despite being forbidden from doing so. Daxter falls into a silo full of Dark Eco and turns into an ottsel. Jak must take him on a journey to return him to his original form.

• Jak II (2003), known as Jak II: Renegade in other parts of the world - The second game, released for PlayStation 2 in 2003. It begins where the storyline left off at the end of the first game. Jak and the gang are catapulted into the future and separated. Jak is thrown into prison for two years and used in the Dark Warrior Program. After Daxter rescues him, he becomes embroiled in a quest for revenge.

• Jak 3 (2004) - The third game, released for PlayStation 2 in 2004. A war broke out in Haven City, with three factions fighting for control. The people, who are distrustful of Jak's Dark Eco abilities, have him banished to the Wasteland. Daxter and Pecker loyally follow him into the desert, where they are rescued and brought to the desert city of Spargus. All the while, a mysterious threat from beyond their world approaches.

• Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier (2009) - The fourth game, released for PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable in November, 2009. The events in the game are after Jak X as it states in the book that comes with the game. Jak, Daxter and Keira go on a soul-searching quest for Keira in her efforts to become an Eco sage, but face many troubles along the way.

[edit] Spin-Offs

• Jak X: Combat Racing (2005) - released for PlayStation 2 in 2005. Jak, Daxter, Keira, Samos, Ashelin, and Torn are summoned to the reading of the late crime lord Krew's will, where they are poisoned and forced to race in the Kras City World Championship for the antidote. This time, Jak is fighting not for the world, but for his friends.

• Daxter (2006) - released for PlayStation Portable in 2006. Chronologically, it is set after the first game. It takes place in the two-year time gap at the beginning of Jak II and details Daxter's adventures as a bug exterminator. The tools he uses for his job come in handy when it comes time to rescue Jak.

[edit] Common gameplay features

While there was a significant change in gameplay between the first and subsequent games of the series, and a noticeable deviation with both Jak X: Combat Racing and Daxter, much of the series shares common gaming elements.

The Jak series is primarily a platformer, requiring the player to control Jak or Daxter in jumping puzzles to reach a final goal while avoiding enemy attacks. The controlled character can only take a few hits before he is down, though health can be recovered using Green Eco. Both characters can double-jump to cross large gaps or reach higher platforms and Jak can perform several melee attacks in combination with his jumping skills. In The Precursor Legacy Jak could use four different colors of "Eco" which would provide him with improved abilities, such as speed and more powerful melee attacks. In Jak II only Dark Eco and Green Eco can be used outside of weaponry, and Jak 3 allows the player to use Light Eco. Jak II introduced shooting elements to the series, using the "Morph Gun" which can transform into four different guns (twelve in Jak 3) and receive upgrades. Jak II also made driving a core ingredient in the series.

[edit] Major Characters

The two main characters of the series, Jak and Daxter.

• Jak - Jak is the main protagonist of the Jak and Daxter series. He is the main character of all 5 games excluding Daxter, although he does make cameos in that game. He accidentally turns his best friend, Daxter into an ottsel (a fictional hybrid of otter and weasel). In Jak II, he is infused with Dark Eco due to being a test subject in Baron Praxis's experiments. In Jak 3, he gets blessed with Light Eco abilities by the Precursors.

• Daxter - Daxter is the secondary character from the Jak & Daxter video game series. He is Jak's sidekick, and is always getting into trouble. In the first game he gets turned into an ottsel. He rescues Jak at the beginning of Jak II, and becomes playable intermitently for the first time in the series. In Jak 3 his role grows, and he gets a pair of pants as a reward for his efforts. His self-titled game details his adventures before he breaks Jak out of prison.

• Samos the Sage - Samos the Sage, most prominent in Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, serves as a guide throughout the series. He first appears in The Precursor Legacy as the sage of Green Eco and acts as a rough fatherly figure to the two heroes. In later games, he still serves as a mentor and a source of advice.

• Keira - Keira is Samos' daughter and Jak's main love interest in the series. She appears in every game, acting as a mechanic and inventor (with the exception of Daxter, where she has a non-speaking cameo). In videos for Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier, she is seen traveling with Jak and Daxter in a flying vehicle in a quest to save the world by finding more eco.^[3]

[edit] Universe

• Eco - One of the trademarks of the series is being able to manipulate Light & Dark Eco.^[4] The main plot of The Lost Frontier is that the world is running out of Eco.^[4]
• Vehicles - Given the enormity and variance in terrain of the Wasteland, vehicles play a large role as off-road transportation is introduced, fueled by a true-to-life physics engine.^[5] GameSpy said the vehicles had "sluggish control systems" and thought "a specialized dune buggy wouldn't keep on flipping on its side as much as Jak's vehicles tend to."^[6]
• Weapons - Jak II introduced the "Morph Gun," a weapon with four main "mods": the Red Eco-powered shotgun called the Scatter Gun, a Yellow Eco rifle called the Blaster, a Blue Eco machine gun called the Vulcan Fury, and a Dark Eco-powered lightning gun called the Peace Maker. Jak 3 adds two mods for each gun, giving the gun a total of twelve. In The Lost Frontier the player wields a customizable Gunstaff^[4], which makes use of the same basic mods as the Morph Gun,excepting for the peace maker it replaces such with a grenade launcher which Andrew English stated " is a shitty replacement for the peace maker".

[edit] Locations

• The Old World - The Jak world as of The Precursor Legacy. A fictional planet created by Naughty Dog specifically for the game. It contains a multitude of very different locales for the player to explore, ranging from jungles to volcanoes.
• Haven City - A dystopia ruled by Baron Praxis and his Krimzon Guard law enforcers. Haven City often serves as a hub, whereas the player is given tasks that must often be fulfilled outside of the city, places that are separated via airlocks. In Jak 3 the city is engulfed in war for control of the streets.^[5] This city is the successor of Sandover Village.
• The Wasteland- A desert environment five times the size of Haven City with multiple areas including mines and a volcano.^[5] Given the enormity and variance in terrain, vehicles play a large role as off-road transportation is introduced, fueled by a true-to-life physics engine.^[5] It ranked 8th place on IGN's "The Wednesday 10: Gaming Dystopias."^[7] The city Spargus is also located in the Wasteland, which is one of the main hub worlds in Jak 3.
• The Brink- The brink is the edge of the world and is found in the Lost Frontier. The eco here is highly unstable, and there are a lot of eco-pirates. There is also a race called the Aeropans here. The most common form of transportation appears to be aircraft.

[edit] Jak and Daxter: Limited Edition Complete Trilogy Movie DVD

Cover of Jak and Daxter Limited Edition Complete Trilogy Movie

The Complete Trilogy Movie DVD is a bonus disc given away by Sony Computer Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures for a special promotion. It contains a summary of the Jak & Daxter series with a run of scenes from the game franchise. The 90 minute movie is about the exploits of Jak and his sidekick Daxter, who also provides the cinematic narration by Max Casella, playing Daxter. There is also a behind-the-scenes look at Jak X: Combat Racing and its fully playable demo, developer interviews and footage of Daxter's game on the PSP. The disc is only playable on PlayStation 2 or 3 consoles or the PlayStation Portable due to the demo of Jak X. In Europe and Australia, the Trilogy Movie was released as a bonus with Jak X, and unlike in the US, it is playable on any standard DVD player.

[edit] Awards

The success of the Jak and Daxter series resulted in Guinness World Records awarding the series 7 world records in the Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition 2008. These records include, "First Seamless 3D World in a Console Game", "Most Successful Single Format Platform Series", and "Largest Number of Cutscenes in a Platform Game" for Jak II, in which there are 131 cutscenes, 51 in the first act alone. In Jak 3, there are 213 cutscenes, with 20 in the first act alone.

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• List of Jak and Daxter cast members
• Naughty Dog
• Ready at Dawn
• High Impact Games