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Platform Filters:   All Platforms  Xbox   GameCube   PlayStation 2   PC   Game Boy Advance   Site Sections:   Updates  News   Games   Publishers   Developers   Reviews   Previews   Release Dates   Editorials   Glossary   Contact Us		Review:       12th December 2001: Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy  Naughty Dog’s masterpiece is finally here, join Jak & Daxter in a quest to learn the fate of the Precursor civilization Posted by John Grothier - PlayStation 2 - UK and Europe After years of secrecy under the title ‘Project Y’, Naughty Dog – the creators of the ‘Crash’ series have just released Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy for the PlayStation 2. Jak & Daxter is set in a vast and truly beautiful land, which really is a living cartoon. The story starts with our heroes Jak & Daxter disobeying the village Sage to explore the forbidden ‘Misty’ Island to find some mysterious Precursor ruins. The Precursor civilization is shrouded in mystery, no one knows just how old it is, or what happened to them – only their ruins are left. Jak & Daxter soon discover the evil Gol and his sister Maya briefing their troops on collecting the Precursor relics. Suddenly they are discovered and Jak accidentally knocks his friend Daxter into a large vat of dark matter, transforming Daxter into a weasel-like rodent. After he has calmed down just a bit, they both return to the Sage, Samos, for help. Samos realises that Daxter has been exposed to Dark Eco, a rare and dangerous substance left over from the creation of the universe. The only way to change Daxter back is to trek far north to find a fellow sage who studies the Dark Eco, Gol Acheron. Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy has elements from most of the classic games from our recent past, including Mario, Zelda and of course Crash Bandicoot. Jak & Daxter have a whole Island to explore, and they can go from one side of the Island to the other, with no loading times and without any pop-up. Jak & Daxter was three years in the making, with a budget that you might expect for a Hollywood film, a team of over thirty people worked on the project, including two lead Disney artists, and it really shows. Jak & Daxter is visually stunning and has incredibly detailed characters and environments for you to explore. After the stunning introduction, which looks just as good as any recent Disney cartoons I’ve seen, you are immersed into a living world with complete freedom of movement. Naughty Dog have really pushed the PlayStation 2 to its limits – never before have I ever seen a game of this standard. It looks stunning, has a great story, first class voice acting, and plays like a dream. You play the part of Jak, a silent but strong hero-type, while Daxter is your sidekick and makes up a comic duo that will be remembered for many years. Daxter drapes himself around Jak’s shoulders and occasionally helps by telling Jak just what he should be doing. Daxter has some fantastic and funny animations, especially when collecting the Magic Orbs hidden around the island. Collecting the Magic Orbs is the main part of the game, think ‘Stars’ from Mario, and using the various form of Eco is also very important. Unlike other platform games before it, in Jak & Daxter there is a reason for collecting these orbs, a strong story flows throughout the games and you will meet many different characters on your quest. Jak & Daxter really is more than just another platform game; it has many more adventure elements that make it stand out from any other game of this genre. In each area there are around eight Magic Orbs to collect, these puzzles range from simply collecting Precursor relics, to much more complex puzzles involving manipulating the environment. Everything that you change in the Jak & Daxters world is remembered, there is no resetting of the levels each time you enter the many different areas, and wherever you are on the island, if you climb a bit higher you can see everything clearly around you, every animation is still going on far into the distance. The graphics in Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy are never short of stunning. I’ve used the phrase living cartoon before, but this is the closest I’ve seen yet to perfection. The environments are beautiful and full of variety – from the leafy villages on the coast to the aptly named Misty Island through to the Lava pits and Snowy Mountains – it all looks stunning. Day turns to night and even the weather changes. The character animations are fantastic, they look incredible but also move so well, when they speak they actually use body language and interact with their surroundings. Sound too is superbly done, each character has a perfectly sounding and delivered voice, most of which are extremely funny – Daxter is just like a Disney sidekick. Music changes depending where you are on the island, and sound effects are all spot on; it really is so easy to loose yourself within this world. The PAL conversion of Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy is one of the best I have seen. You have a 60htz refresh option, a widescreen mode, and the screen calibration option. The only downside with this, (and in fact the whole game), is that it does not remember your settings - so you will have to manually change these each time you start. It really is a small price to pay though. Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy is a true masterpiece; it really does show us all just what the PlayStation 2 is capable of. I have never given a game a perfect score before now – but this game truly deserves it. Even my girlfriend likes it, believe me when I tell you – that’s very high praise indeed! John Grothier             Latest Images:		Review Scores:    Graphics:   Sound:   Gameplay:   Length:   Overall: Click here for our Review Score Guidelines.  Review Summary:  Jak & Daxter is an action adventure game that combines a variety of diffrent game styles, including action, platform and adventure. An absolutely fantastic new world with vibrant enviroments bring this masterpiece to life. The best action adventure/platformer on any system so far!  Related Games:  Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy for PlayStation 2  20  Screenshots  1  Review Click here for All Game Information.
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