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Developer: Ready at Dawn
Publisher: SCEA
Genre: Platform
Region: NTSC
Format:
Release Date: 21 Mar 06
User Rating
10 (4 votes) -
- Jak's loud sidekick gets his own gig, and it is one heck of a platformer. Lush visuals, solid gameplay and tight controls makes this one of PSP's best thus far.
Overview
When the PS2 was released, it was blessed with an amazing platformer that turned the genre on its head with a free-flowing approach that encourages the player to venture around and open environment and discover things for themselves. Starring the silent and heroic Jak with the chatty and comedic Daxter, Jak and Daxter quickly became a classic, and spawned two more sequels to complete a trilogy. After that the series went to different directions, with the PS2 getting an action racing title, while Daxter gets his own platformer for the PSP. So how does the sidekick fair on his own? Read our full review to find out!
Gameplay
When I heard Daxter was going to get his own gig on the Playstation Portable, I have to say I was a bit intimidated by the fact that no longer would the series have the buffer of Jak. Instead we had to listen to the somewhat annoying/loud character of Daxter in his lonesome. What is kind of neat however about Daxter is that you are actually playing as him during the trilogy. Therefore the game kind of rewards fans who have played through the series with some extra pieces to the Jak and Daxter puzzle. The game starts off with you of course playing as Daxter who has just got a job with an exterminator company, which kind of ties in with other events that Jak fans already know about. The story takes off from there and without giving away too much, the story is very well done, and surprisingly I never got too fed up with Daxter. To me they seemed to find a good median between Daxter's very "loud" side and just having an fun and engaging storyline.
For those expecting a Jak and Daxter formula of gameplay you may be in for a bit of surprise because playing as Daxter can give a bit of a different feel then what the series has been like. With that being said, Daxter is still an action platformer that manages to bring a whole bunch of variety along with some very fun and easy going platforming action. I have to say that the way the game develops as you play is by far the best aspect of Daxter. The game manages to bring in a huge variety of mission objectives and keeps you kind of on your toes throughout the experience. The developers added a lot of varying mission types and in typical Jak and Daxter form had a lot of weapons to take a hold of and use.
The game of Daxter is not very long, as I would say for the average gamer, Daxter would take less than ten hours to complete. If you spend more time collecting all the items in then game, there's plenty of unlockable content made available as rewards for your commitment. There's also a multiplayer mode here, but suffice to say that while it is an interesting idea that just works, it doesn't really add much extra value to the game. I was happy to see the developers added this multiplayer support, as it shows they were really trying to take this game as far as it possibly could.
I must also say that I was extremely impressed on how the developers took what to me seems like a console game and transported it beautifully onto the PSP. The controls that were translated onto the PSP for Daxter were some of the best I have laid my hands on thus far. The camera and controls for Daxter are not 100% perfect, but they manage to use the PSP better than any other game thus far. In the end Daxter is a good solid platforming game that has a great deal of variety and manages to bring in great controls and a camera that tends to work the majority of the time. I have to say Daxter surprised in more ways then I expected it could.
Graphics
Visually it is hard to deny that Daxter is one of the, if not the best looking game on the PSP thus far. I say this because first off the use of color in Daxter was just dead on gorgeous. I loved how he game managed to bring in all of these different environments as well to the mix, to really keep the game feeling fresh and exciting. The character models, especially for Daxter, are beautifully done with a ton of detail and great textures. Like I said before this game is one of the best looking games on the PSP, just because it manages to bring so much quality to the table and make it all flow beautifully throughout the experience.
Fun Factor
I was a huge Jak and Daxter fan, but going into this game, I will be honest enough to say that I did not expect Daxter to fair as well as it ended up. I just had a blast while playing Daxter because of all the variety and smooth platforming action that the game contains. If you have enjoyed the series before, this game manages to be just as fun as those games have been. I should also mention that Daxter manages to keep you interested after you complete the main mode by offering a plethora of unlockables.
Overall
I have to say that I was extremely impressed with Daxter from start to finish. Like I mentioned before, I was not sure really what to expect from this game but in the end it showed me that there was a lot to respect about this game. If you have liked the Jak and Daxter series in the past, then I would highly recommending picking up Daxter it is one of the best games the PSP has to offer.
- Gameplay
9.0 - Graphics
9.0 - Fun Factor
9.0 - Overall
9.0
