Because of how wildly popular and insanely fun these games are, I've decided to make a thread about the Jak series. In my opnion, these are ingenious games and the story line is among the best ive ever seen in a game. It's hard not to like these games, but theyre not for everyone.

The first game, Jak and Daxter, redifned the platforming genre in a whole new way by offering up a huge world to explore and discover secrets in. The gameplay variety wasnt too big, but was more than satisfactory for the time it came out. Gamers and critics everywhere knew this game was an instant classic. It recieved great reviews and sold fast, quickly bringing to the PS2 Greatest Hits.


In 2003, the long awaited second installment of the series, Jak 2, hits stores in October. Because of the popularity and success of the first game, Jak 2 sold even faster than its predecessor. And the game, yet again, redefined the genre. It gave a whole new, MUCH larger world to explore with a good gameplay variety. Jak 2 threw you into a dark and twisted world known as Haven City, controlled by the evil Baron Praxis. The storyline really picks up in this game. It becomes larger than imagined. Jak, Daxter, and the other characters go through many changes in this game. Aside from kicking ass with his stylish melee moves, Jak gets 4 new guns which really come in handy for most of the game. You also get to steal and drive vehicles around the city to quickly reach your destination. Jak 2 really is a fantastic game and, like J&D, is an instant classic.

In the "final" installment of the Jak trilogy, Jak 3, Jak is thrown out of Haven City into the Wasteland desert, where Damos, the ruler of Spargus, the Wastelander city, finds Jak barely breathing, lost in the desert. Upon taking him in, Damos decides to test Jak in his strength and uses him to fight. In Jak 3, you must again unravel a huge, immersive storyline trying to figure out who the Precursors are, Jaks past, and many other questions. By the end of the game, you will come to find that most of the questions will be aswered. The gameplay variety in Jak 3 is much more expansive than in Jak 2. New, wheeled vehicles are available to drive for many missions in the Desert, along with the return of the hovering zoomers upon your return to Haven City. Instead of 4 guns, there are now 12 to choose from, each very unique in its own way, from a Plasmite RPG to an Anti-Gravity gun, from an Electric Arc Wielder to a Blaster mod that ricochets off walls and other enemies. Jak 3, although shorter than 2, really is the best game in the series. It leaves you craving more. Even though the official trilogy is "over", the Naughty Dog team is still working on the latest Jak game: Jak X: Combat Racing.

Jak X continues from Jak 3, where a deceased character Krew, from Jak 2, poisons Jak and his friends, and the only way to get the cure is to participate in a Combat Racing tournament. The story mode features over 100 missions. Suprisingly, the variety of missions is quite big for a car game. There will be 2 player split-screen multiplayer, along with online play, allowing for up to 6 players to compete against eachother. The multiplayer features 24 racing tracks and 8 combat arenas, including various gameplay modes such as Deathmatch and Capture the Flag, to just flat out racing to to get first place. A good touch to the game is that you can create and customize your own vehicle, for looks and performance. There will be 10-12 different areas of each vehicle to customize, along with dozens of different parts per area, allowing for hundreds of combonations. Jak X sounds like quite an amazing game and I will be getting it for sure. It's set to release sometime during Fall of this year.

So overall, the Jak series is amazing. My personal fav next to Resident Evil. I would like to know what others think of it. (please respond as I have spent a very long time typing this up )

The new Jak X racing game looks terrible.

What? How does it look bad at all? Have you actually watched any of the gameplay footage from it? The game looks awsome. Better than any other car combat game made so far, plus it features very Jak like elements in it. I think its gonna kick ass.

I agree with my bud over here. This game looks SWEET!!!

Here are some screenshots from Jak X I found on Gamespot. Theyre pretty damn cool looking.









*drools* I cant wait to play this game.

There are some more screenshots and videoclips which can be foundHERE

Oooooh, those pics look bad-a$$. After I finish with college I think I'll take a look to those videos. Wanna see how the game is "for real".

The footage is amazing. The physics in the game are very very good. Plus it uses the driving system from Jak 3, which was cool. Theres lots of explosions too.

I just watched the intro a couple of weeks ago, and it was AWESOME!!! I hope they put some good songs in it (Rob Zombie anyone?)

Haha. That would be pretty awsome, but character racers usually dont have soundtracks like that. Im assuming it will be a new orignal score for the game, including some older Jak music.

The trailer for the game is pretty sweet. But it's nothing compared to the actual game footage.

Really? I might be considering watching the game footage BEFORE I get outta college then!

I prefer more heavy metal music than the one Naughty Dog used in Jak 2 and 3. That's the only part of those games that I don't like

Well the music in all of the Jak games fit the setting very well. It was atmospheric. I dont think running around in Haven City while Slipknot or Rob Zombie is blasting in the backround would be very comfortable. I like the music they used because it fir the game very well. Although I prefer to turn off the music in all of the Jak games because i like to hear all of the sounds in the backround, plus its more realistic. I do, however, agree that metal music would fit in Jak X, as it does in most racing games. It gives a sense of adrenaline and makes you want to go faster. But thats why i have a stereo in my room.

Yeah, it was atmospheric, but also kinda lame And I agree with you, metal music in games is a great combo!! Also some really cool techno tracks fit in awesomely (The Prodigy, for starters, once you listen to Firestarter you'll understand why- that song is so AWESOME!!)

Yeah Firestarter is a good song, and would go great in the game.

Anyways, I REALLY hope they bring back a vehicle similar to the Hopper from Jak 3 or a vehicle upgrade similar to it. I loved that car. Leaping 100 feet into the air in a car at my own free will is fun as hell. That was easily the best vehicle in the game.

Oooooh yeah, the hopper. My personal favourite too? I just came out to the desert to hop, hop and hop all the time, and few things are as satisfying as throwing a bomb to a car in mid-air and blowing it up!!

fun fun sh** right there! I also loved hopping into the air and trying to land on another car so i could ride on top of it or crush it. The napalm was a good weapon and fun to use, but i think it could have had a better weapon. Maybe missles or something. because the napalm had a short range, it made it hard to kill the objective enemy.

Yeah, that was the only bad thing. But it was so fun to use that I didn't care. Maybe some heat-guided missiles the next time *drools*

We can expect numerous different weapons in Jak X. Like in Twsited Metal, each car comes with Machine guns or some other default gun. I think there will be add-on weapon parts, as well as weapon pick-ups.

Ive been having a lot of fun in Jak 2 messing with all of the Krimzon Guards. I keep getting a large group of them chasing me, then i turn some of the other vehicles in to bombs. I beat them up until theyre about ready to explode, then when a group of guards gets close to it, one Blaster shot and a bunch of them go flying. soooo fun.

I got the Jak X demo today!!! It's by far the best racing/combat game ever made. It's sooo fun!!! They only give you 2 levels and 4 different game modes though. The Forbidden Jungle is a racing circuit where they give you a Circuit Race where its just racing to get first place, and Death Race, where you have to kill a certain amount of racing drones in a limited amount of time. The other level is the Clifftop Battlefield which is an arena level. The game you get in there are Deathnatch and Artifact Race in which you have to race against others to collect the most Artifacts. I own my friend in that every time The best thing about the demo is that it has 2 player mode. I can't wait for the full version so I can play online and customize my vehicle.

That's awesome Shake!!
Btw, do you use guns in the game or it's just "echo" attacks? How fast is it? Is the multiplayer a blast? Tell me more!

1. Yes, you do use guns in the game. For most game modes, you will be given a defualt, weak machine gun. There's 4 types of pick ups in the game. Blue, which is turbo boost, red which is defensive/special items, green which is health, and yellow which is an offensive weapon. Once you get a yellow pick-up, it takes away your default gun and randomly selects a weapon. Other weapons include a stronger machine gun, different kinds of stinger missiles, a grenade launcher, and many more. Same thing with red pick-ups. It will randomly select a defensive weapon. Such defensive weapons include placed machine gun turrets, smoke screens, shields, missile delfectors, plus others. The weapon system is actually very cool.

2. The vehicles in the game can go very fast, depending on what vehicle you use, how far your speed is upgraded, and what customizable parts you have on. When you use the turbo boost, it becomes much faster. A neat blur effect will appear on the screen when you use turbo.

3. Multiplayer is VERY fun. It adds a bigger challenge. I can't wait for the full version so I can play online with everyone, and maybe even Naughty Dog!

4. One more thing. The soundtrack to the game is very cool. It's not metal, but it's a hard rock soundtrack done by the guitarist from A Perfect Circle. Also, Naughty Dog licensed 2 songs from the band Queens of the Stoneage ( I really don't care for them). Overall the soundtrack is pretty damn sweet and really feels like it belongs in this game.


If there's anything else you wish to know, just ask and I will answer to the best of my knowledge.

I played he first one once, for like a half hour, and was like 'i want a PS2 just for hti game!' lol

i love platformers... call me lame, i dont care

Why should I call you lame? Platformers rock!! Mario rocks, Sonic rocks, Crash Bandicoot rocks, the Jak games rock!

But I didn't want a PS2 for Jak and Daxter. I only bought it for Metal Gear Solid 2.

*squeals with excitment* I am soooooo looking forward to this game, Jak rocks!

*will admit* The little dance that Jak and Daxter do at the end of the first game, my 11yr old bro and I learnt it and we do it all the time lol

Really? LOL

Yeah, we loved it, we sat there watching it and then both just looked at each other like this:
.... and then just did it lol

I wanted the PS2 just for that game at the time too. Luckily enough, when by grandparents bought me the PS2 bundle package, it came with just that game. I thought it was the greatest thing ever. But of course its nothing compared to Jak 2 and 3.

Of course, Jak X will also own, but in a different way than the trilogy did. It's shaping up to quite possibly be the best racer of all time, in my opinion.

I found a REALLY cool new video of Jak X. It's 15 minutes long and it shows a lot of previously unreleased stuff. It shows (i think) every vehicle model in the game, all of which are really cool. Also, it shows some new tracks which are also pretty sweet. And the coolest thing it shows in the customizing screen. Whoever is doing this chose really gay colors though. It's like dark pink with lime green stripes. But the parts they chose were really cool.

Here's the link to the video: http://media.ps2.gamespy.com/media/737/737571/vids_1.html

Enjoy!

Mmmmm... interesting.... *starts downloading*

Gamespot got a new video. It's called Developer Interview 3, and it's all the way at the top of the page. It pretty much just explains everything that we've been told about the game before, just with slightly more clarification and detail. It's still good. Also, theres some new gameplay footage videos, but all they are are more 1 minute clips that show almost nothing, just like the 2 videos preceeding these new 3. I didn't even bother watching them. But the interview video is good. Here's the link: http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/driving/jakx/media.html

*is extremely pumped*

The new Jak X website is up. You can view it at this adress: http://www.us.playstation.com/Content/OGS/SCUS-97429/Site/

It has trailers, gameplay footage, screenshots, and wallpapers, and also a countdown timer until the exact release of Jak X! As of right now, Jak is 13 days, 8 hours, and 2 minutes from being released. Kick ass!

Oooh yeah, I'll be checking this site

EDIT: Just watched the trailer. This one looks completely badass!

Yeah, it does! It's much better than the original one. It actually shows more footage and destruction, and makes it seem more like a movie rather than a game.

Damn I am so excited for this game!!!

A week from tomorrow!!!

Approx. 7 days, 2 hours, and 14 minutes. SWEETNESS!. I'm so pumped! The only problem....I don't know if I will have enough money to get it. I DO have it pre-ordered, however, and I can probably get my parents to give me 20 or so extra bucks. But I'm still in need of money for a network adaptor and USB headset. It really sucks not having a job. I seriously don't want to wait till Christmas to get them, and then be getting Jak X online that late. I would be so behind and everyone would have tons of practice fighting and racing with their customized vehicles. There's always normal multiplayer, though that's not nearly as good or fun. Anyways, this game will own everything coming out at this time, even Ratchet Deadlocked, even though that game is awesome too.

Look at the bright side of it... you'll give them plenty of time to make them feel they're the best until Master Shake shows up and humiliates them all with his super car.


(That's because I won't be able to play online )

Lol thanks for the enthuseasum.

Ok, someone on the J&D IGN board posted this review from Gamespy for Jak X. Evidently the dumbass who wrote this must be retarted. He calls Jak X a kart-racing game that has basically brought back the way that Mario went when Mario Kart came out. WRONG! He also states that Sony made an empty promise by saying that Jak X will combine the series and combat racing to make a refreshing new game. WRONG! This game is very different from others and it has lived up, and even passed its expectations. Then this idiot says that the vehicles are too "bouncy" when going across rough terrain......NO SH**, GENIOUS! It's realistic. What do you expect drive along smoothly when driving down a rough road with dirt and rocks?! Theres several other stupid points this douche bag made. You can read them all here: http://ps2.gamespy.com/playstation-2/jak-x/657417p1.html

I got my new GameInformer today. I knew there would be a Jak X review in it, so I immediately ripped it open to find it. For a few seconds, I glared at the score in shock.....THEY ONLY GAVE IT A 7.75! Why? Although the review is somewhat small, the entire thing is nothing but bad points about the game, with a tiny blurb about the good points. I mean, 7.75 is still quite a good score, but why would they just talk about the bad points then? It really throws you off into thinking it's a mediocre game, which for some reason, is what they describe most of it as. I don't know why no one can understand how great and awesome this game truely is. Of course, there are stupid points about the game being bad such as the game relies too much on the weapons. Yeah, that's why it has the words COMBAT Racing in the title. I know a lot of it is about racing too, but they wanted to make weapons almost necessary to win, which I find is a rather good point about the game. Another is about the average story that was apparently pulled from the "Bucket of Bad Ideas" as they put it. It's really not that bad of a story. Of course it's not incredible and epic like the other games, but did you ever think that ND may want to save the great stories for the main games? One bad point taht I can actually understand is how the AI sometimes does the "catch-up" thing, where it's almost like they wait for you or get worse at racing if you fall too far behind so it's easier to get back into the lead. I see where they are coming from with this one, but they make it seem worse than it actually is. As for the good points, they mention the huge variety of fun events, the great Online play, and the fun and lengthy campaign mode. There's other things in the review not really worth mentioning. But I also heard that PSM only gave this game a 7, which is surprising, and dissapointing. Oh well, at least I know this will be an excellent game.

One more day till Jak X. Will you survive the wait Shake, or are you gonna take the free day just for playing? I dunno, pretend you're sick or something

I can't give ya an opinion of the game yet, since I won't be playing it in a while (*beeeeep* university)

I WISH I could take a day off and go get the game at like 10 am, right when the mall opens. But my parents wouldn't let me do that, and I kinda need to go to school. ( I can't believe I just said that. )

I'll have the game at around 430-530. My dad's taking me when he gets home. And then I'll be playing it all night long. Screw homework.

And don't worry, you'll get the game eventually. Maybe we'll even meet up online someday so I can whoop ya candy ass!

Mmmm... that seems unlikely to happen. Between the game and the rest of the stuff it would cost me around 200 bucks. Can you lend me some?

I don't have that kind of money.
You could probably find a Network Adaptor real cheap online.

I'm just a couple hours away from going to get the game!!! I can't believe that day is finally here.

So, how's the game Shake? Tell us!!

I wouldn't know....I haven't played it yet.

I went to Gamestop only to find out that today is the shipping day. O yeah! I forgot how easy it was to mistake "release date" for shipping date. BULLSH**! They said it'll be in tomorrow. And then like 30 mins ago, I get a call from Gamestop comfirming that it will be in tomorrow afternoon. I BETTER be able to go get it, or I will be mega-pissed. I was so looking forward to it today. Infact, that was the only thing I was looking forward to. Now that didn't even happen. Toally freaking stupid.

Man that sucks! But well, it's better to wait one day than, say, seven months. That was the time I waited for "Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness" and boy did it suck . But this one will be good, I'm sure of it

Hell yes it will! It's completely worth the wait, although I wish it didn't havwe to turn out like this. Lets just hope my dad will actually want to take me tomorrow. What's another day, eh? I guess it ain't THAT bad, but something like this ALWAYS happens to me involving a videogame. It happened to me with RE4 when it first came out and with several other games. But yeah, tomorrow will once again, suck like this one did, probably worse, in fear that the same thing will happen, even though I'm almost positive it won't this time. School was so hard to get through today. All I kept thinking about was the game all day. Found myself not paying attention several times. Anyways, I can FEEL IT this time. Tomorrow is the day! Hell yeah, biatch!

Hey biatch, what happened today? Did you get Jak X or are you gonna plant a bomb on Gamestop?

HELL YES! I got it!!!! I finally got the long awaited Jak X! I'm about to start playing. i'm creating a profile at the moment.

Oh yeah, and I also pre-ordered Ratchet Deadlocked, which comes out next week. I doubt I'll have enough money, but we'll see.

Groovy mate. After you finish playing you tell me how it is

Well, I just did my first race, and I have to say, I really wasn't expecting it to be as hard as it was. I only got in second place! And I died 8 times. But GODDAMN was it fun as hell!!! This is definately the best racing game I've ever played!