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"The Jet Gamer" Game Review:Jak and Daxter The Lost Frontier
10 years ago
Wow, this was quick. Enjoy another one guys.
Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier
Ah, the fourth installment of the Jak and Daxter series. I've played the other three games, and they have been in my collection for awhile now. It has just taken me some time to be able to get around to playing the fourth installment. The big difference though is that this Jak and Daxter game isn't by the same developer anymore. That developer has moved on and someone else picked up this game to continue the series. Sometimes that goes well and other times it isn't a good sign of things to come at all. Let's see how it goes for this game shall we?
Gameplay
Well, when you play this Jak and Daxter game, it does remind you of what the Jak and Daxter series was like, but really, there seems to be a lot of the life missing from the game. Areas seem a lot more empty than the other games, and the game seems a lot more straight forward than others in the series. All the Jak and Daxter games have been a bit on the straight forward side, but this game really takes that even further. Exploring is really almost non existent. All the levels are just follow the path to the end of the level. While some of the other games in the series had these, there were also open world levels where you could do lots of exploring and find plenty of secrets. There are secrets here, but they are minimalistic. That seems to be the key for a lot of the elements in this game. Things seem minimal and not as flushed out as they were in the other Jak and Daxter games. You do pretty much what you did in the other Jak games where you use the same four weapons and run around shooting enemies with a mix of melee physical attacks in there as well. Though most of your weapons and attacks don't seem to be as effective as you would think they could be. You will find yourself relying on certain attacks and techniques often, as others don't seem to be as effective as you think some should be. While the platforming element is there and seems alright, it is only half the equation when it comes to the gameplay in this game. The other half is the aerial gameplay. Unlike in the other games where you could either run around or drive around large open landscapes, in this game you are flying planes around the open environments. Not only is this where you will encounter a lot of your sidequests, but you will also do a lot of aerial combat and dogfights. This area of the game, I honestly was rather surprised that I enjoyed as much as I did. At times I enjoyed it more than the platforming segments, and I'm a bit platformer gamer. You will either be fighting small ships, where you do have to do acrobatic maneuvers at times so that you can avoid being hit or to keep up with them. You can shoot daxter at certain planes to steal powerups to upgrade your ship later as well. Whenever you are at your main base, you can customize, and upgrade the parts to your planes to make them better and more effective for your at fighting. There are five planes in all, but I'm sure certain ones will become your favorite over others. There is also a new section of this Jak and Daxter game where you get to play as Daxter as a large mutant where he has super strength and just wants to pound things. These sections are usually just about killing all the enemies while solving small puzzles. There are puzzles other places in the game, but they are usually not that hard to figure out there or here. Overall, the game isn't bad, but it really doesn't seem like anything to get excited about. At times, it is just a little meh overall and sort of an average platformer. With how short the game is as well, that's honestly not a bad thing either.
Story
The story in this Jak and Daxter does pick up with sort of where the other games left off, but there is very little connection in this story from the last games. Other than Jak still being around Keira who is training to be an eco safe. Jak, Daxter and Keira have gone off to the brink to try and find more eco due to dwindling supplies of eco and the increasing amount of dark eco and storms that are popping up all over the place. The three of them soon join up with a bunch of eco pirates, and together they work to try and find a solution to the problems. Jak and the pirate captain don't really get along that well, but at the same time, they are helping Jak and Daxter out as they work to try and find the eco the world needs before the storms going on around the world get too severe to stop anymore. That is the basic plot of the game, and it is really your main motivation to keep playing. While the story isn't as in-dept as the other Jak games, where they go into a lot more detail on what you are trying to do, it does its job at least. Don't expect too much on the side story though at all. The bulk of the story is about Jak needing to repair a device that will help them find the eco, and then battling the people that want to use dark eco to do bad things and to rule the world. The characters are fleshed out a bit, so you do get to know them rather well by the end of the game. Really, I would have liked there to have been more to this story, but it at least gives you the minimum with a little extra to get into the story. As long as you expect something a bit on the simple side, with some characters you can enjoy and get to know, I think you will enjoy the story. There could have definitely been more to it though.
Graphics
The graphics are nothing to really go nuts over, but they aren't exactly bad either. As stated earlier, while things around your environment don't look that bad, it doesn't seem as full of life as the cities in the previous Jak games did at all. There are still people moving around in the populated areas and the ship you are on board most of the game, but there aren't that many people to be seen. Any quotes and saying the people say are also not that varied either. The cutscenes look nice though, and that's where this game does save itself a bit in the looks department. The game still looks good in this area as it always did. Jak, Daxter and all the other characters you interact the most are at all at least done in plenty of detail to let you see that the important people did at least have some thought put into them. But that's about it. Everything else just seems so minimalistic. Once again, that's a trend I noticed around this game. It was never that most of the elements of this game were bad, it just seemed like more could have been done, which results in sort of average or slightly above average elements. There are some noticeable load times though when you go between areas. It was noticeable int he other games, but it was done in a lot better way than in this game. The hidden load time doors are still here, but they just seem to be slower and bit more finicky than the older games. The graphics are in the same league as the gameplay here. They aren't bad, but they could have done and added more. Since slowdown isn't very noticeable, except when there are lots of super flashy things and explosions on the screen when in combat, you would think they would have tried to fill their world up a bit more if it wouldn't cause too much slowdown. The old Jak games did that, so this would could have done something similar.
Sound
The type of music you expect in a Jak and Daxter game is back at least. The music is interesting to listen to, and in the areas where it is more noticeable and not drowned out by combat, it is actually pretty decent. The sounds do their job as well and do sound like what you expect. Though most of the gun sound effects are the same effects from the other games. You expect this though as they are familiar to the types of weapons you are using. There could have been a bit more music, but overall, it is the same type of music from the other games, and in the areas where you can hear it, It's just fine. I'd listen to it for a little while at least if I had to listen to something. It's nothing amazing, but it's still alright.
Control
I normally sort of skim over this section when I review stuff, but oh goodness, here is where some of the real problems with this game come into play. The controls for Jak are a bit confusing as many of the special moves he learns throughout the game use similar button combinations and you end up using the wrong move pretty often. It can be gotten used to, but with how short the game is, unless you are playing the game multiple times in a row, you will still be making some similar mistakes by the end of the game. You will be jumping high into the air instead of using your shield, or you will be freezing time when you want to trade places with statues. It's really confusing with so many button combinations, but I see what they were going for overall. However, the real problems are usually with the camera in this game. They aren't as bad as some games, but the camera will frustrate you at times. It will go to places you don't want it to go. It occasionally does clip into walls, and finally it will get stuck at odd angles which can make seeing where you are supposed to be going really frustrating at times. Many times in this game, the camera will just change angles at very strange times, which can really throw you off your game. The camera wasn't a problem in the other Jak and Daxter games as it followed over your shoulder at just the right angle at almost all times. Here, it just seems to have a mind of its own sometimes. It has been awhile, since I've had to deal with a wonky controlling camera, but this game I do feel does have some camera control problems. They aren't game killing, but they could have used some fixing for sure.
Replay Value
Hmmm, It's average. This is one of those platformers where really, you do most of the stuff in your first play-through of the game, and then after that you are sort of done unless you want to play through the game again for your own enjoyment. There is an extra mode that makes the game harder if you wish to play through it again, and I'm sure you can also make use of all the secrets you unlocked in your first play-through as well. That's about it though. There is little else but playing the game over again for your own enjoyment. There is nothing new to be gained by playing the game again. The game isn't to the point where you don't want to play it again, but I doubt you will be wanting to play it again soon after you finished it for the first time. Enjoy it and come back to this at a far off date if you wish to play through the entire Jak and Daxter series again as this is part of it.
Overall, as stated many times in the review, the game is average really. It's an average platformer, that does have some unique features to it, but it feels they could have just done a lot more. There are some glaring issues when it comes to the controls and the camera, but you can get over that. They aren't game breaking by any means. If you enjoyed the other Jak and Daxter games, I think you will still like this game as the personality of Jak, Daxter and the world is still there. You get more of that series you enjoyed and the world gets more expansion, which is always a good thing. If you aren't into the other Jak and Daxter games or haven't played the others, I'm not sure if this is for you unless you just enjoy platformers. This is just your average platformer. Enjoy it if you can. I did enjoy playing through it, I just wanted more out of it, since the game was less than ten hours to nearly 100% complete. That's very short considering the other games take a lot longer to complete. As I said, average and needs some work.
Overall, in my opinion at least, I give Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier a six point five out of ten.
Gameplay: 6
Story: 7
Graphics: 7
Sound: 8
Control: 5
Replay Value: 6
Overall: 6.5
Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier
Ah, the fourth installment of the Jak and Daxter series. I've played the other three games, and they have been in my collection for awhile now. It has just taken me some time to be able to get around to playing the fourth installment. The big difference though is that this Jak and Daxter game isn't by the same developer anymore. That developer has moved on and someone else picked up this game to continue the series. Sometimes that goes well and other times it isn't a good sign of things to come at all. Let's see how it goes for this game shall we?
Gameplay
Well, when you play this Jak and Daxter game, it does remind you of what the Jak and Daxter series was like, but really, there seems to be a lot of the life missing from the game. Areas seem a lot more empty than the other games, and the game seems a lot more straight forward than others in the series. All the Jak and Daxter games have been a bit on the straight forward side, but this game really takes that even further. Exploring is really almost non existent. All the levels are just follow the path to the end of the level. While some of the other games in the series had these, there were also open world levels where you could do lots of exploring and find plenty of secrets. There are secrets here, but they are minimalistic. That seems to be the key for a lot of the elements in this game. Things seem minimal and not as flushed out as they were in the other Jak and Daxter games. You do pretty much what you did in the other Jak games where you use the same four weapons and run around shooting enemies with a mix of melee physical attacks in there as well. Though most of your weapons and attacks don't seem to be as effective as you would think they could be. You will find yourself relying on certain attacks and techniques often, as others don't seem to be as effective as you think some should be. While the platforming element is there and seems alright, it is only half the equation when it comes to the gameplay in this game. The other half is the aerial gameplay. Unlike in the other games where you could either run around or drive around large open landscapes, in this game you are flying planes around the open environments. Not only is this where you will encounter a lot of your sidequests, but you will also do a lot of aerial combat and dogfights. This area of the game, I honestly was rather surprised that I enjoyed as much as I did. At times I enjoyed it more than the platforming segments, and I'm a bit platformer gamer. You will either be fighting small ships, where you do have to do acrobatic maneuvers at times so that you can avoid being hit or to keep up with them. You can shoot daxter at certain planes to steal powerups to upgrade your ship later as well. Whenever you are at your main base, you can customize, and upgrade the parts to your planes to make them better and more effective for your at fighting. There are five planes in all, but I'm sure certain ones will become your favorite over others. There is also a new section of this Jak and Daxter game where you get to play as Daxter as a large mutant where he has super strength and just wants to pound things. These sections are usually just about killing all the enemies while solving small puzzles. There are puzzles other places in the game, but they are usually not that hard to figure out there or here. Overall, the game isn't bad, but it really doesn't seem like anything to get excited about. At times, it is just a little meh overall and sort of an average platformer. With how short the game is as well, that's honestly not a bad thing either.
Story
The story in this Jak and Daxter does pick up with sort of where the other games left off, but there is very little connection in this story from the last games. Other than Jak still being around Keira who is training to be an eco safe. Jak, Daxter and Keira have gone off to the brink to try and find more eco due to dwindling supplies of eco and the increasing amount of dark eco and storms that are popping up all over the place. The three of them soon join up with a bunch of eco pirates, and together they work to try and find a solution to the problems. Jak and the pirate captain don't really get along that well, but at the same time, they are helping Jak and Daxter out as they work to try and find the eco the world needs before the storms going on around the world get too severe to stop anymore. That is the basic plot of the game, and it is really your main motivation to keep playing. While the story isn't as in-dept as the other Jak games, where they go into a lot more detail on what you are trying to do, it does its job at least. Don't expect too much on the side story though at all. The bulk of the story is about Jak needing to repair a device that will help them find the eco, and then battling the people that want to use dark eco to do bad things and to rule the world. The characters are fleshed out a bit, so you do get to know them rather well by the end of the game. Really, I would have liked there to have been more to this story, but it at least gives you the minimum with a little extra to get into the story. As long as you expect something a bit on the simple side, with some characters you can enjoy and get to know, I think you will enjoy the story. There could have definitely been more to it though.
Graphics
The graphics are nothing to really go nuts over, but they aren't exactly bad either. As stated earlier, while things around your environment don't look that bad, it doesn't seem as full of life as the cities in the previous Jak games did at all. There are still people moving around in the populated areas and the ship you are on board most of the game, but there aren't that many people to be seen. Any quotes and saying the people say are also not that varied either. The cutscenes look nice though, and that's where this game does save itself a bit in the looks department. The game still looks good in this area as it always did. Jak, Daxter and all the other characters you interact the most are at all at least done in plenty of detail to let you see that the important people did at least have some thought put into them. But that's about it. Everything else just seems so minimalistic. Once again, that's a trend I noticed around this game. It was never that most of the elements of this game were bad, it just seemed like more could have been done, which results in sort of average or slightly above average elements. There are some noticeable load times though when you go between areas. It was noticeable int he other games, but it was done in a lot better way than in this game. The hidden load time doors are still here, but they just seem to be slower and bit more finicky than the older games. The graphics are in the same league as the gameplay here. They aren't bad, but they could have done and added more. Since slowdown isn't very noticeable, except when there are lots of super flashy things and explosions on the screen when in combat, you would think they would have tried to fill their world up a bit more if it wouldn't cause too much slowdown. The old Jak games did that, so this would could have done something similar.
Sound
The type of music you expect in a Jak and Daxter game is back at least. The music is interesting to listen to, and in the areas where it is more noticeable and not drowned out by combat, it is actually pretty decent. The sounds do their job as well and do sound like what you expect. Though most of the gun sound effects are the same effects from the other games. You expect this though as they are familiar to the types of weapons you are using. There could have been a bit more music, but overall, it is the same type of music from the other games, and in the areas where you can hear it, It's just fine. I'd listen to it for a little while at least if I had to listen to something. It's nothing amazing, but it's still alright.
Control
I normally sort of skim over this section when I review stuff, but oh goodness, here is where some of the real problems with this game come into play. The controls for Jak are a bit confusing as many of the special moves he learns throughout the game use similar button combinations and you end up using the wrong move pretty often. It can be gotten used to, but with how short the game is, unless you are playing the game multiple times in a row, you will still be making some similar mistakes by the end of the game. You will be jumping high into the air instead of using your shield, or you will be freezing time when you want to trade places with statues. It's really confusing with so many button combinations, but I see what they were going for overall. However, the real problems are usually with the camera in this game. They aren't as bad as some games, but the camera will frustrate you at times. It will go to places you don't want it to go. It occasionally does clip into walls, and finally it will get stuck at odd angles which can make seeing where you are supposed to be going really frustrating at times. Many times in this game, the camera will just change angles at very strange times, which can really throw you off your game. The camera wasn't a problem in the other Jak and Daxter games as it followed over your shoulder at just the right angle at almost all times. Here, it just seems to have a mind of its own sometimes. It has been awhile, since I've had to deal with a wonky controlling camera, but this game I do feel does have some camera control problems. They aren't game killing, but they could have used some fixing for sure.
Replay Value
Hmmm, It's average. This is one of those platformers where really, you do most of the stuff in your first play-through of the game, and then after that you are sort of done unless you want to play through the game again for your own enjoyment. There is an extra mode that makes the game harder if you wish to play through it again, and I'm sure you can also make use of all the secrets you unlocked in your first play-through as well. That's about it though. There is little else but playing the game over again for your own enjoyment. There is nothing new to be gained by playing the game again. The game isn't to the point where you don't want to play it again, but I doubt you will be wanting to play it again soon after you finished it for the first time. Enjoy it and come back to this at a far off date if you wish to play through the entire Jak and Daxter series again as this is part of it.
Overall, as stated many times in the review, the game is average really. It's an average platformer, that does have some unique features to it, but it feels they could have just done a lot more. There are some glaring issues when it comes to the controls and the camera, but you can get over that. They aren't game breaking by any means. If you enjoyed the other Jak and Daxter games, I think you will still like this game as the personality of Jak, Daxter and the world is still there. You get more of that series you enjoyed and the world gets more expansion, which is always a good thing. If you aren't into the other Jak and Daxter games or haven't played the others, I'm not sure if this is for you unless you just enjoy platformers. This is just your average platformer. Enjoy it if you can. I did enjoy playing through it, I just wanted more out of it, since the game was less than ten hours to nearly 100% complete. That's very short considering the other games take a lot longer to complete. As I said, average and needs some work.
Overall, in my opinion at least, I give Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier a six point five out of ten.
Gameplay: 6
Story: 7
Graphics: 7
Sound: 8
Control: 5
Replay Value: 6
Overall: 6.5
