Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy is a
platform gameA platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
developed by
Naughty DogNaughty Dog, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Santa Monica, California. Founded by Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin in 1986 as an independent developer, the studio was acquired by Sony Computer Entertainment in 2001...
and published by
Sony Computer EntertainmentSony Computer Entertainment, Inc. is a major video game company specializing in a variety of areas in the video game industry, and is a wholly owned subsidiary and part of the Consumer Products & Services Group of Sony...
and is the first video game in the
Jak and Daxter seriesJak and Daxter is a critically acclaimed video game franchise created by Naughty Dog for the PlayStation 2.The series consists of four main games and two spin-offs,though they are also considered to be part of the main series...
. It was released exclusively for the Sony
PlayStation 2The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
on December 3, 2001 for North America, December 7, 2001 for Europe and December 20, 2001 for Japan.
Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy spawned two main series sequels,
Jak IIJak II, , is a platform game developed by Naughty Dog...
and
Jak 3Jak 3 is a platform game for Sony's PlayStation 2 console developed by Naughty Dog. It is the third game in the main Jak and Daxter series. Jak 3 was completely localized and dubbed in Japanese, but was not released in Japan due to Jak IIs poor sales...
. A spin-off title,
Jak X: Combat RacingJak X: Combat Racing , is a vehicular combat game video game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2 and first released in North America on October 18, 2005, then in Australia on October 26, 2005 and then in Europe on November 4, 2005...
, and a midquel,
Daxter, were also made. Also a sequel to the spin offs was made,
Jak and Daxter: The Lost FrontierJak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier is a platform game developed by High Impact Games published by Sony Computer Entertainment. It is a part of Naughty Dog's Jak and Daxter series, and was released on November 3, 2009 for the PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 2...
.
Gameplay
Jak and Daxter holds similarities to platform games such as
Banjo-KazooieBanjo-Kazooie is a platform and action-adventure video game developed by Rare and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It was originally released for the Nintendo 64 in 1998...
and
Super Mario 64is a platform game, published by Nintendo and developed by its EAD division, for the Nintendo 64. Along with Pilotwings 64, it was one of the launch titles for the console. It was released in Japan on June 23, 1996, and later in North America, Europe, and Australia. Super Mario 64 has sold over...
in that the objective is to gather items to progress through the levels. The player has access to super-human abilities such as double-jumping, a rapid spinning kick, and sustaining only limited damage through falling from great heights. Injuries are accounted for by way of a
life meterHealth is a game mechanic used in role-playing, computer and video games to give value to characters, enemies, NPCs, and related objects. This value can either be numerical, semi-numerical as in hit/health points, or arbitrary as in a life bar....
, which decreases as the player character is hit by enemies, falls long distances, and makes contact with hazardous surfaces.
The game revolves around the collection of Power Cells, which can be earned by fighting enemies, paying for them via Precursor Orbs, accomplishing platforming challenges, and other ways. The player character "Jak" has punch and kick attacks, and can also utilize various Eco energies to complete tasks, or defeat enemies in gladiator-style arena matches.
Being a platformer,
Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy offers several collectibles for the player to gather. The main objects are "Power Cells", used to energize machinery for use in reaching new levels. Egg-shaped "Precursor Orbs" function as currency, and can be traded in for Power Cells at several locations in the game, while collecting all seven "Scout Flies" in any level rewards the player with a Power Cell. While Precursor Orbs are present in all
Jak and Daxter games, Power Cells would not make a reappearance until
Jak 3Jak 3 is a platform game for Sony's PlayStation 2 console developed by Naughty Dog. It is the third game in the main Jak and Daxter series. Jak 3 was completely localized and dubbed in Japanese, but was not released in Japan due to Jak IIs poor sales...
, where they appear in artifact collecting missions.
The game contains a number of bosses, whose defeat earns the player Power Cells or some method of progressing further in the game. One such enemy is not mandatory, and is only defeated in order to gain a Power Cell, and to cause spiked tentacles across the jungle to wither away, no longer posing a threat to the player. Another boss, a
cyborgA cyborg is a being with both biological and artificial parts. The term was coined in 1960 when Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline used it in an article about the advantages of self-regulating human-machine systems in outer space. D. S...
named Klaww, must be defeated in order to leave the mountain area. To do so, players must collect enough Power Cells to utilize a
levitationLevitation is the process by which an object is suspended by a physical force against gravity, in a stable position without solid physical contact...
device and unblock a path, allowing access to him. Once he is defeated, the areas beyond his lair are accessible.
A large part of the gameplay revolves around "Eco", a type of colored energy which comes in six different forms. The player is able to utilize Eco by way of glowing particles which bestow a small amount, or Eco vents which grant a fully charged burst of Eco energy. The Green Eco, the most common, restores health. Blue Eco increases Jak's speed, attracts Precursor Orbs and small amounts of Blue Eco towards him, and activates certain machinery. Rare Red Eco increases attack power, while Yellow Eco allows the player to fire bursts of energy.
The other two types of Eco only make appearances, and are not actively used by the player during the main game. Small amounts of Dark Eco cause damage upon contact with the player, and falling into a pool of Dark Eco results in instant death. White Eco is seen and used only during the final boss battle, and is a combination of all other types of Eco with the exception of Dark.
Plot
The story begins with a narration by Samos the Sage, master of Green Eco. He speaks cryptically of the Precursors, the masters of the
universeThe Universe is commonly defined as the totality of everything that exists, including all matter and energy, the planets, stars, galaxies, and the contents of intergalactic space. Definitions and usage vary and similar terms include the cosmos, the world and nature...
and creators of all life on the planet, and the powerful substance known as Eco. Meanwhile, Jak and his mischief-making best friend, Daxter, are making their way to Misty Island, against Samos' warnings. After arriving, they see two people plotting with an army of evil creatures known as Lurkers. The duo, worried by what they are seeing, prepare to leave, but are attacked by a large Lurker. Jak manages to destroy it using a barrel of Eco, but the explosion throws Daxter into a pool of Dark Eco. Daxter flies back out of the pit, transformed into an ottsel (a hybrid of an otter and a weasel), but miraculously unharmed. Returning to their village of Sandover, they seek help from Samos who states that only Gol Acheron, the Sage of Dark Eco, could change Daxter back.
The route North towards Gol is blocked by Fire Canyon, which can only be traversed with Keira's Zoomer (essentially a hoverbike) equipped with a heat shield fueled with enough Power Cells (spheres of energy). After Jak and Daxter collect enough Power Cells they make their way back to the Blue Sage's village. The village at the end of the canyon has been mostly destroyed by a giant cyborg Lurker named Klaww, while the Sage of Blue Eco who watches over the village has mysteriously vanished. Jak and Daxter find themselves in search of more Power Cells to energize an anti-gravity device and unblock the way to Klaww's lair at the peak. After opening a path up the mountain, they defeat Klaww and ride their Zoomer down the mountain to the Volcanic Crater.
Jak makes his way to the Red Sage's laboratory, where he learns that all of the sages except Samos have been kidnapped by the same people who Jak and Daxter saw speaking to Lurkers on Misty Island. The people turn out to be Gol Acheron and Maia Acheron, Gol's sister, who wish to flood the world with dark eco using the dark eco silos. Jak recovers more power cells so Keira can upgrade the Zoomer heat shield in order to navigate a lava-filled tunnel.
On the other side in the Yellow Sage's lab, Keira declares that Samos has been captured as well. Journeying through Gol and Maia's citadel, Jak and Daxter first run into Samos (who is the last one they save), and he tells them that Gol and Maia are using all the sage's energies to power their robot, which is powerful enough to break open the Dark Eco silos. Jak and Daxter succeed in freeing the Sages, and then travel to the top of the Dark Eco Silos to confront a retouched Precursor Robot controlled by Gol and Maia. Jak battles the robot, but only defeats it when they destroy the robots weapons. After this, 4 mini-silo's, that are attached to the large silo, which each contain a different eco (excluding dark eco) shoot beams of light towards the middle of the silo in the air for, clashing and forming a pyramid like shape. This combines all the ecos and forms into white eco. Daxter realizes that the White Eco would change him back to normal if he were to absorb it, but ultimately allows Jak to use it and disable the robot.
Trapped in the robot, Gol and Maia sink into the Dark Eco silo, which then closes and traps them inside, possibly killing them both; Samos, however, is not certain that this is the case. The group's attention is then directed toward an immense Precursor Door, which can only open with the energy of 100 Power Cells. With the cells, the door opens to reveal an ambiguous large object enveloped in a blinding light; the details are explained in the
next gameJak II, , is a platform game developed by Naughty Dog...
.
Setting
The game is set on a fictional planet created by Naughty Dog specifically for the game. It has different areas that have various themes such as snow, swamp, jungle, beaches, and volcanoes.
Characters
Like all subsequent games in the series with the exception of the
PlayStation PortableThe is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
game
DaxterDaxter is a fictional character and a protagonist of the Jak and Daxter series. First introduced in Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, Daxter is Jak's best friend, and was accidentally transformed into an ottsel . Daxter is voiced by Max Casella and Richard McGonagle . Daxter stars in his own...
, the main character is Jak, a silent
protagonistA protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
who is 15 years old. His best friend is Daxter (voiced by
Max CasellaMax Casella is an American actor. He is known for his roles on the television series The Sopranos, Doogie Howser, M.D., and as the voice of Daxter in the Jak and Daxter video game series.-Life and career:...
), a loudmouth who is transformed at the beginning of the game into a fictional hybrid of an otter and a weasel, called an ottsel. The two boys live with Samos Hagai, the Sage of Green Eco, and father of Keira, who is Jak's self-decided love interest. She builds the flying Zoomer vehicle that Jak and Daxter use multiple times during the game.
The
antagonistAn antagonist is a character, group of characters, or institution, that represents the opposition against which the protagonist must contend...
s of the game are Gol Acheron (voiced by
Dee SniderDaniel "Dee" Snider is an American singer-songwriter, screenwriter, radio personality, and actor. Snider is most famous for his role as the frontman of the heavy metal band Twisted Sister...
) and his sister Maia, researchers who have been turned evil by the effects of the Dark Eco they studied. Their goal is to open a giant silo full of Dark Eco and use it to shape the universe to their liking. Other characters are the Blue, Red, and Yellow Sages, all of whom are masters of the Eco they take their name from. Along with Samos, they are captured by Gol and Maia near the end of the game in order to power a giant robot, which they hope to use to open the Dark Eco silo.
Development
Development on
Jak and Daxter began in January 1999. As the rest of the Naughty Dog team were working on
Crash Team RacingCrash Team Racing is a racing video game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation. The game was released in North America on September 30, 1999 and in Europe and Australia later the same year. It was re-released for the Sony Greatest Hits line-up in...
, only two programmers were allocated to the project. The rest of the team began work on
Jak as well after the release of the
PlayStation 2The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
. Because of the PS2's status as a new console, Naughty Dog felt they had to create a unique character for it. Before the main development of
Jak and Daxter, Naughty Dog confirmed the idea with
Sony Computer EntertainmentSony Computer Entertainment, Inc. is a major video game company specializing in a variety of areas in the video game industry, and is a wholly owned subsidiary and part of the Consumer Products & Services Group of Sony...
, and after showing them a character they dubbed "Boxman" to demonstrate their animation engine, they came up with
Jak and Daxter.
The game was in development for almost three years, and throughout this time numerous changes were made to almost every aspect of the game, while the various engines used in the game were all tweaked to optimize their performance. The engine tweaks allowed
Jak and Daxter to have no loading times or fogging and be able to display high quality textures in a seamless, multi-level world.
The main characters also went through changes. Originally there was going to be a third main character that would develop as the game was played in a
TamagotchiThe is a handheld digital pet, created in Japan by Akihiro Yokoi of WiZ and Aki Maita of Bandai. It was first sold by Bandai in 1996 in Japan. As of 2010, over 76 million Tamagotchis have been sold world-wide...
style. Instead Naughty Dog concentrated their efforts on two main characters in order create the exact characters they wanted. On the website
Computerandvideogames.com Naughty Dog stated
"The character inspiration was more Joe Madureira who did Battle Chasers, the comic book, than anything else..." in an interview. After the release of
Jak and Daxter, Naughty Dog was prepared to create a sequel as long as the first did well enough to warrant it. After the game did go on to sell admirably, development of
Jak IIJak II, , is a platform game developed by Naughty Dog...
was begun shortly thereafter.
Reception
The game has been given positive reviews from game critics. Before its release SCEA gave
IGNIGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
a demo build of
Jak and Daxter. Douglass C. Perry, a member of IGN’s staff said that
"...Jak and Daxter is a breath of fresh air, a funny, light-hearted, but no less epic action-adventure game all its own..." after reviewing the demo build for twelve hours.
Game InformerGame Informer is an American-based monthly magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of popular video games and associated consoles. It was formed in August 1991, when FuncoLand started publishing a six-page magazine, free in all its retail locations...
gave the game a high score of 9.25 out of 10, highly praising its graphics and the absence of load times. IGN listed the game 8th on their list of "The Top 25 PS2 Games of All Time".
After its release in late 2001 it went on to sell over 1 million copies promoting it to "Greatest Hits" and reducing the price. To date,
Jak and Daxter has sold almost 2 million copies (1.97million) in the US alone. Three sequels followed in 2003, 2004 and 2009 respectively along with two spin-off games,
Jak X: Combat Racing in 2005 and
Daxter in 2006. In 2006 a
Jak and Daxter Trilogy Movie DVD was a prize at an official website which also features a trailer to the DVD. It contains movie scenes from the series telling the story up to the end of
Jak X: Combat Racing.
External links