FINALLY finished Jak II: Renegade on PS4 two days ago. Motherf...

I very much enjoyed Jak and Daxter which I also finished recently. I had only minor complaints about this 3D platformer. Jak II on the other hand is one ugly ugly game - and I'm not talking about the graphics. How do you make a sequel to an innocent platform game? According to Naughty Dog you turn it into a "GTA for kids" with a dystopian setting where everything sucks, the hero is a growly asshole out for revenge after being continually tortured for two years, you steal vehicles, use guns to kill evil dudes and passers-by and the cynical sidekick from the previous game appears heart-warming compared to everything else. That's Jak II.

It's not the first time I consider a game by Naughty Dog distasteful but frankly it's the most extreme example in one of their games I have seen. I do often enjoy ultra violent games with lots of black humour - my problem with Jak II is how oblivious the game is to its moral implications. First off, it's kinda moronic to go in this direction in a sequel to a perfectly child-friendly game that still looks like a child-friendly game due to its style and lack of blood. Secondly the game is unaware of its moral implications. Characters barely acknowledge that Jak is now a psychotic asshole - there's a few surprised reactions from other characters throughout the game but that's it. Even the resistance fighting for the people don't care at all how many passers-by you run over or gun down in cold blood which makes no sense whatsoever. The only character critical of Jak's new psychological condition forgets all about it once the final boss is dead - with no change on Jak's part. It's the most cynical example of character development I have ever seen.

And mechanically the game is less moral than even the GTA series. There are literally no consequences for killing civilians, you only get into trouble by attacking the bad guys. And you will slaughter hundreds of civilians with the way vehicles are implemented, whether you want it or not. And throughout large portions of the game your only mode of replenishing ammo is slaughtering these almost human enemies. And we're talking about a "T for Teen" game here. Plus, they totally messed up the dynamics of the two heroes. Daxter was the cynical counter-weight to the innocent Jak. Now Daxter is still the "lovable rascal" but he appears tame next to the blood thirsty but boring Jak. In my opinion they pretty much messed up the foundations of this duo.

But is it a good game? No, it is not. It's a pointless sandbox with a city that's not there for exploration nor a fun gameplay area - it's just an excuse for stretching out the gameplay by several hours as you have to pass the same streets over and over again. Ironically the city is the one area where there's no collectables and thus no rewards for exploration which is downright moronic. And a gigantic portion of the game is vehicle sections - the only problem: the vehicles in this game suck. They have shittier handling than Jak 1, they are super floaty, there's no sensible brake (they even removed the handbrake from Naughty Dog's previous games, Jak 1 and Crash Team Racing). And comparably light collisions can make your vehicle explode which is a terrible combo with the handling. Plus the city's architecture is super claustrophobic and the remaining space is almost entirely filled by traffic, there's no fun in navigating the city. You get the minimal amount of space necessary for some okay navigation if you fly on ground level - where you will run over not only legions of civilians but also inevitably some enemies which will cause combat (much like getting two stars in GTA). And the designers decided to include numerous obligatory vehicle missions, including actual races, which are some of the most frustrating and least fun sequences in the game.

But what about the platforming, exploration and combat? Well, the melee combat hasn't really changed at all but you will mostly use guns in this one. It's not really a shooter, though, as much as it is a "3D run 'n' gun" game - you shoot in the direction you run with some auto aiming. It's actually a pretty fun mechanic at medium distances but it's pretty bad at small range, since you can't evade enemies while aiming at them, and it becomes atrocious at large distances. Ironically they removed the ability to shoot in first person from the first game, which would have made more sense in this one than there. Go figure. The areas outside the city play much like the original game at first glance but they are far more scripted and linear, exploration is limited to looking for some secret areas that hold "precursor orbs" which are basically of no relevance anymore - they are only used for unlocking cheats and bonus content. So it's the opposite of what I love about 3D platformers. Now it's mostly simplistic dexterity challenges, ironically much like in Uncharted, rather than fun exploration and using your brains to get ahead. Admittedly the platforming isn't all bad. They improved the character behaviour a slight bit, as far as I can tell, and came up with some decent platforming challenges. However...

Jak II is one of the most frustrating games I've ever finished. The difficulty curve is all over the place, many sections involve lluck, ammo and health drops are sometimes absurdly scarce, occasionally enemies get spammed senselessly and the checkpoint placement is often outrageous - seemingly placed not where the level design allows it but to artificially make the game longer and harder. There were actually areas where you got several platforming, puzzle and combat sections, separated by several cutscenes, without a single checkpoint.

As for the story: it's pretty basic stuff with no surprises or character development, many missions don't contribute anything to it and feel forced into it. And the fact that many missions were of no relevance to anything only made the game drag on and on even harder.

So that's Jak II: a pretty mediocre and superbly frustrating game. I see why people loved it back in the day - it surely was a pretty novel and ambitious game at the time but I like to think that modern gamers, without their nostalgia goggles on, would be less forgiving of the game's many problems. After the first game I was almost sure I'd finish the whole trilogy in one run but after this pile of crap I seriously need a break form the series.