Gaming Trend

Gaming Trend Review

Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier

1. Official Site
2. Platform: PSP
3. Publisher: Sony America
4. Developer: High Impact Studios
5. Release Date: 11/03/09
6. Genre: Action/Adventure

by Mike Repella

The last Jak and Daxter platforming game released was the PSP exclusive Daxter. While the game was good, it was almost entirely missing the series’ hero Jak, leaving all the action and fighting up to the goofy sidekick Daxter. The lack of Jak left a bad taste in long time series fans who wanted a true Jak and Daxter action game. With the release of Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier, High Impact Games has gone back to the tried and true Jak and Daxter gameplay that gamers have been wanting and they have even added in two new gameplay styles to freshen things up.

A True Sequel

Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier is a true sequel to Jak and Daxter 3. The Lost Frontier opens up with Jak and Daxter searching the edge of their world for an ancient Precursor machine that can reverse their planet’s decline due to an eco shortage. Along the way they are attacked by sky pirates and from there the action takes off. While there is a definite storyline in The Lost Frontier, the script isn’t very tight or polished. The story follows a path, but sometimes it seems like the gamer isn’t being told enough and the story advances without being told why it is going in the direction it is going.

For instance, Jak and Daxter start the game by helping out a local government that is being attacked by pirates. The government entrusts Jak and Daxter with their only clue to finding the ancient precursor machine, but that is quickly stolen by the pirates. Jak and Daxter quickly take off after the pirates, but within literally five minutes, our heroes ally themselves with the pirates and are now against the government. There really isn’t any explanation given for this turn of events until later in the game. This gap in story telling is a theme that will reoccur throughout the game, almost as if the developers wrote the game’s script after everything else in the game was complete.

Three Games In One

The Lost Frontier features three different styles of gameplay. The first and most prevalent style is the series' trademark 3D platforming segments. These levels feature Jak fighting various bad guys while exploring large 3D stages. This time around Jak has a gunstaff that will gain new abilities throughout the adventure, including a standard gun, a shotgun, a machine gun, and a grenade launcher. The staff’s stats will also level up throughout the game and you can also select certain power ups by applying dark eco to the staff.

Overall Jak’s levels are pretty good, but I wish the game included a strafe button. A lot of the battles come down to Jak fighting several enemies at once. Even though you can punch the enemies, the preferred weapon in the game is Jak’s gunstaff. Most fights will be shootouts, with you firing at the enemy and the enemy firing back. The lack of a strafe button means that you will have to break your line of sight on the enemy in order to dodge attacks. Ultimately Jak’s adventure segments feel a lot like a Ratchet and Clank game, minus the ability to strafe.

Another problem with the adventure segment is the camera. The left and right shoulder buttons will swing the camera in the corresponding direction, but there is no way to zoom in and out, or to enter a first person view. This lack of camera control often results in you not being able to see more than a couple of feet in front of Jak. The camera also has a negative effect on your ability to judge a jump's distance. Expect to die several times after missing a jump because you couldn’t adequately judge its distance.

Aerial battles are introduced in The Lost Frontier. I am happy to report that this new gameplay mode works pretty well and it’s actually pretty fun. Throughout the main game you will have access to five different planes all with their own design and strengths. The ships all control intuitively; the analog stick is used for the plane’s yoke and the left and right shoulder buttons are used for weapons. The flying sections definitely have an arcade feel to them, but you are free to fly around on fairly large maps while completing your storyline objective. All of the flight maps also contain side objectives which usually give you a specific goal to complete for various rewards.

The third and final gameplay mode has the player taking control of Dark Eco Daxter. Early on in the story Daxter falls down into a sewer that is filled with dark eco. The dark eco transforms Daxter into a hulking eco beast, fairly reminiscent of the Tasmanian Devil on Loony Toons. These sections are all played from a top down perspective and are all fairly short. Their brevity is a good thing though, because the Dark Eco Daxter sections don’t add a whole lot to the story and aren’t that fun to begin with. Each of these levels has Daxter starting at one point in the sewer and progressing in a linear path to the sewer exit. This part of the game definitely feels tacked on and could have been dropped form the game entirely without missing anything.

Great Looks and Sound

Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier is a graphically impressive game. It was developed for both the PSP and PS2 at the same time and the PSP version compares favorably to previous Jak and Daxter games on the PS2. The game world is very bright and detailed and I think this version actually looks slightly better than the series' first outing on the PSP. The characters are larger this time around and seem to have more detail. The texture work is pretty smooth and the draw distance during the flight sequences is pretty impressive for a handheld.

The Lost Frontier also features outstanding sound, especially if you play the game using headphones. The series’ regular voice actors all return for this outing and give their usually good performances. On top of that, the in game sound effects are numerous and actually add to the atmosphere of the game rather than becoming repetitive and annoying. The in game music is nothing to write home about, but it is standard for the series and won’t disappoint.

The gameplay length of The Lost Frontier clocks in at about 6 hours for the main storyline. This may seem short to some gamers. But, people who only play through the main storyline will be doing themselves a disservice, as the game does feature several side missions and objectives. As I mentioned above, all of the flying stages have several side missions that can be completed for extra precursor orbs and for scrap metal to upgrade your ships. The adventure levels feature the series staple of collecting precursor orbs. The orbs can be used to buy unlockable items, like bonus costumes and game effects. On top of that, a bonus hard mode is unlocked after you beat the game. This new mode adds a sixth plane that you can acquire and starts your hunt for precursor orbs all over again. In all, you could easily double your play time by collecting all of the game’s items.

Bottom Line

Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier provides the true sequel to this beloved series that fans have been waiting for. The game is a high mark for PSP platform games and it really shows off just how much graphical performance a developer can get out of the handheld. The storyline, camera controls, and Dark Eco Daxter levels may tarnish this game a little bit, but don’t let these small complaints deter you from enjoying an otherwise outstanding game.

Gaming Trend Score

82

1. Graphics: 90
2. Audio: 90
3. Controls: 70
4. Gameplay: 80
5. Value/Replay: 80
6. OVERALL:82