Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier - Review by Dana Olson - PlayStation fans are tawkn

Tawkn.com Review: Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier

Written by Dana Olson
Published at 2009-11-16 00:42:30

199

933

1-player Action, Adventure, Platform for the PlayStation Portable.
Developed by High Impact Games. Published by Sony Computer Entertainment.
Released 2009-11-03. Rated E10+ (Everyone 10 and Older).

When fans heard that a new Jak game was coming out, a lot of them seemed disappointed that it wasn't a PS3 game. It wasn't shocking, considering that Naughty Dog had their hands full with Uncharted 2 at the time. The Lost Frontier is High Impact Games' take on the series, and they've scaled it down, barely, to fit in the palm of your hands on the PlayStation Portable. If the big screen is more your bag, you can also find the PlayStation 2 port for ten bucks cheaper. But is it worth it?

First of all, if you aren't familiar with the series, the game won't ease you into it; instead, you're tossed into the action and expected to know what is going on. It's not too big a deal, because you can enjoy the game once you get into it, but let me break it down for you anyhow: you're on a world that is running out of Eco, a mysterious substance that is vital to life on the planet. You will play the title characters: Jak, a blonde with lengthy pointed ears, and Daxter, his wise-cracking best friend. Daxter is an ottsel - half weasel, half otter - which was a result of him falling into Dark Eco in the very first game in the series. Jak's also got a girl named Keira, and she spends most of the game studying Dark Eco. Early in The Lost Frontier, she is captured by air pirates, and once things get rolling, you'll be on board their big sky ship, which acts sort of as a hub between missions. You will be given a small selection of planes which are all docked in the ship's hangar.

Most of your time will be spent finding Keira, upgrading your abilities, then upgrading and getting into one of your planes. From there, you'll enter a flying segment, which vary in length from just a few seconds until you land and begin a platforming segment, up to many minutes as you duke it out in the skies. When you're done, you return to the ship and get your next mission. An on-screen mini-map will keep you on track toward your objectives at all times.

In the platforming portions of the game, you're likely to be bitten by many cheap deaths due to no fault of your own; the automated camera rotation means well, but often messes up your jump timing or makes it difficult to see where you're going to land. I never really adjusted to the finicky camera programming, and it was a source of frustration several times. The various ranged weapons Jak gets can't be finely aimed, and are instead relegated to auto-targeting that mostly works, so long as you're facing the right direction. It's imprecise, but it's difficult to do precision aiming in a PSP game such as this due to the lack of second analog stick. Unfortunately, the PS2 version of the game doesn't rectify either of these issues, as the automated camera doesn't seem to be toned down whatsoever, despite having more robust camera control mapped to the right analog stick.

When the camera is working as intended, things flow reasonably well; you take down enemies with your upgradeable melee attacks or weapons, find treasure chests with upgrades in them, collect Dark Eco and scrap metal used for upgrading your abilities and ships, Precursor orbs used to unlock Secrets, and Precursor statues that grant Jak new Eco abilities, such as a shield, a super jump, and the power to construct platforms. Selecting the Eco power or weapon to use is mapped to the directional-pad, and it's tough to select what you need to use in the heat of the battle. You'll sometimes think you have your shield selected, but you'll instead let our a giant red explosive orb instead. All of the platforming segments tend to task Jak with a few objectives, and you'll face a boss baddie from time to time. Overall, it's underwhelming, and on its own doesn't seem to have the allure or fun factor that the held my interest in the first Jak game for the PS2.

It is good, then, that the platforming seems to have taken a major backseat to the flying segments, which are far, far more enjoyable. I am not really one for flight games; though I try them from time to time, I never really find one that controls well. High Impact Games nails it, and on the PSP, no less. The analog stick aims your reticle and steers your plane, while the direction pad provides quick access to various maneuvers: 180-degree turns, 360-degree evasive loops, and barrel rolls. The assorted upgradeable weaponry and boosters for your planes can make all the difference in your enjoyment of the flight missions, so be sure and experiment to find the configurations that you prefer.

While in the skies, you'll sometimes come across an enemy plane that has an item in it. If you want to try and steal it, you need to get them in your sites and hold the circle button until Daxter is launched onto the vessel. From here, you'll play out a series of quick-time events, which are surprisingly enjoyable, even for people like me who aren't usually a fan. If you complete all the QTEs required before Daxter's grip runs out, you steal the item and can later apply it to your own plane. It helps to break up the action and give some much-needed variety.

Speaking of variety, there are some optional side missions, such as bar brawling and timed Precursor orb hunts, but you can skip these if you just want to plow through the story. Although Dark Jak from previous Jak titles is not in the game, you will get to play as Dark Daxter - a super-mutated version of the little orange ferret-like icon. The Dark Daxter segments aren't skippable, but they are more enjoyable than the Jak platforming parts of The Lost Frontier. They also tend to focus more on puzzle-solving, albeit rather basic. Still, it helps to mix things up.

Daxter himself adds a lot to the series overall. Without Daxter, it just wouldn't have the comedic angle that helps liven up otherwise stale scenes in cinematics, and although his dialog can get repetitive at times throughout the flight and platforming gameplay, it will probably make you chuckle here and there, which is much appreciated. The story is rather straight-forward, but you aren't likely to be playing a Jak game for the storyline. The pre-rendered cinematics look great on the PSP, but look distinctly low-res on the PS2, even when in 480p widescreen mode. This also holds true for the in-game graphics engine. The smaller the screen, the better. Playing the game on the PSP will make you think it looks good overall, and great when there are lighting effects going on. On the PS2, it looks rather dated, even compared to some much older PS2 games.

The entire adventure will probably last you somewhere between 7 and 10 hours, depending on if you choose to make the most of it and tackle the sidequests. Once you complete the final battle, you're given the option to start a new game in Hero Mode, where all of the enemies are tougher and you get to retain all of your weapons, for those looking for an additional challenge.

If Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier was made up purely of platforming, I couldn't recommend it to anyone other than the die-hard Jak fanbase. However, the flight gameplay that makes up about half of the game is executed very well, and I'd buy a fully-fleshed out flight game with the same controls and plane customization. The PS2 version comes off as a quick port; a bone to toss to the people still clinging onto their PS2s, despite the PS3's recent price drop. If you have a choice, buy the PSP version. It looks better on the smaller screen and was clearly the primary platform for the game. The Lost Frontier ends with a hint towards a new adventure, so whether this is another sequel designed by High Impact Games, or Naughty Dog revisiting their baby, one thing remains certain: it had better include more aerial combat, because it was the most enjoyable part of this game, and will hopefully remain a series staple from here on out.

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