Jak and Daxter: Renegade Jak II Demo ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ TABLE OF CONTENTS: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I. Disclaimer II. Where I got it III. History IV. The Precursor Legacy V. The Package VI. The Intro VII. Cast of Characters VIII. Walkthrough i. The Pumping Station ii. Strip Mine IX. The Trailer X. Mini-Review XI. End ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I. Disclaimer ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This is the first time I have ever created a guide for a game, therefore, don't expect too much. Enjoy. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ II. Where I got it ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ E-Bay. It cost me fourteen bucks. It came with a pull-string bag that has the 'Playstation' logo on it. It also has some 'Socom: Navy Seals 2' dog tags, a sixty page game preview book (with no information on Jak II), and a Konami flipbook containing sales information and game descriptions for Konami games only. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ III. History ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jak II is the second game is a two part series (hopefully, it will end up being a trilogy). The first game is called 'Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy'. The second game is officially called 'Jak II', but I like to think that it's full name is 'Jak and Daxter: Renegade'. This makes it link to the first game with the same name structure. The subtitle, 'Renegade', is the official subtitle of the European game, but not the American. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ IV. The Precursor Legacy ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ In the original Jak and Daxter, you played as a young boy named Jak. Jak lives on an island with his uncle and his best friend, Daxter. He is an introverted kid that never says a word and lets Daxter speak for him. Jak is more like the strong silent type while Daxter is a witty, gutless wiseass. One day, out of disobedience, they hijack a neighbor's boat and go to Misty Island, an archaic island south of their homeland. When they arrive, they discover that the native Lurkers, barbaric creatures that look humanoid but are far less intelligent, are being ordered to attack and conquer Jak and Daxter's village by a sickly old man and his beautiful sister. Fearing they will be discovered, Jak and Daxter go exploring elsewhere on the island. They eventually stumble upon a Dark Eco vat. Daxter trips over an old Precursor artifact and falls down. When he gets back up, he grabs the artifact and starts impersonating Samos, the green sage that lives in the same village as Jak and Daxter. Samos is always ranting about the Precursors and how they disappeared without a trace, so Daxter makes fun of him. After he's finished being sarcastic, he tosses the artifact to Jak. When it lands in Jak's hands, it begins to glow. This is the first sign that Jak has some sort of power. What this power is, no one exactly knows, but it enables him to interact with the Precursor relics and a very powerful substance known as Eco. Suddenly, a lurker jumps out of nowhere and charges the duo. Jak, in a moment of heroic haste, throws the glowing Precursor artifact at the assailant. It explodes, killing the lurker instantly, but the explosion throws Jak backward and into the trembling Daxter. Daxter is knocked into the vat of Dark Eco where he is morphed and twisted into what can only be considered an 'ottsel' (half weasel, half otter). Of course, Daxter freaks out and Jak feels obligated (in his muteness) to help his friend get back to normal. Their first stop is Sandover Village, their home, where they visit the aforementioned green sage, Samos. Samos is an agitated old man that has a piece of wood on his head, a bird nesting on the piece of wood, and he floats. Immediately, he chews out the careless pair for disobeying his orders by venturing to Misty Island. He then explains that there are other sages, one for each type of Eco, but their warp-gates have been damaged and Samos cannot transport Jak and Daxter to them; they will have to go on foot. The ultimate purpose of searching out the other sages is to discover the whereabouts of Gol and Mia Acheron, the brother and sister sages of Dark Eco. They may be the only ones that know how to reverse Dark Eco's effects and change Daxter back. The duo set off on their adventure. Along the way, they have to do small deeds to receive power cells that charge up the A-Grav zoomer (a vehicle that can transverse lava, built by Samos' daughter, Keira), fight a giant mutant plant and a gargantuan robot with a deadly claw, use four types of Eco, and save the world. SPOILER: If you have not beaten Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, then do not read the following. At the end of the game, it is discovered that Gol and Mia are actually the duo behind the Lurker attack that occurred at the beginning of the game. They have been warped by Dark Eco and have built a giant Precursor robot capable of destroying the Dark Eco silos. Doing so would ultimately lead to the end of the world. When Jak rescues the sages, who were captured by Gol and Mia, he ascends to the rooftop of one of the massive Dark Eco silos to fight the machine. The Yellow sage fortunately supplies Jak with some Yellow Eco which he can use to shoot the Precursor robot down with. An epic battle ensues. Finally, Gol and Mia, at the helm of the machine, charge up a giant blast that cannot be blocked by Yellow Eco alone. In a last attempt, the four sages of Blue, Green, Red, and Yellow Eco fire their energies towards these four towers that line the silo rooftop. When they do this, the Eco combines to form something that no one knew existed: White Eco. Daxter, seeing the enormous power of this new substance, realizes that this could be his only chance to change back into his humanoid form, but the giant robot is a bit more of a pressing issue. So, Jak quickly absorbs the White Eco, powers up (in a very cool way, I might add) and fires a sudden, but enormous blast at the robot, destroying it instantly. The head of the robot, where Gol and Mai were at the helm, falls into the Dark Eco silo. It then closes up, forever. Jak and Daxter go back to the citadel (where the sages were imprisoned) and meet up with Keira and the four sages. There, they notice a gargantuan door. If you had collected all 101 (100 was acceptable due to a bug in the game, which is a whole 'nother story) then the door will open, for a second ending. Inside was an extremely bright, white light. This is where Precursor Legacy ends. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ V. The Package ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Jak II demo disc came in a CD cover slip. On the front is a picture of Jak, dressed in his new clothes, with his bandana over his mouth, his foot on his floating hover-board, and his transforming gun (in it's blaster rifle form) strapped to his back. He's standing in a cool pose, contraposto to be exact (for those who have studied Roman art). He's dark, as if Jak is standing in the shadows. Below him is Daxter, grasping to Jak's grounded leg as if he's swinging around it. One eye is wide open in classic 'sarcastically bad' Daxter form. Then of course there's the 'Playstation 2' and 'Playstation' logo above as well as a rating pending and Sony symbol below. All of this is set to a dark grey background. It looks like stone with Precursor symbols engraved. Then, in the foreground, there is the Jak II logo in orange with Dark Jak and New Jak's facial reflection in the 'II' Roman numeral (I'm sure you've all seen it). Below all this are the words 'Demo Disc' and 'Not for sale' (heh). On the back is a brief description of the game, four screenshots, a cool render of Jak and Daxter, and the same Precursor symbols on both back flaps (where it's glued together). The description reads: 'FRIENDSHIP. BETRAYAL. LOVE. REVENGE. Prepare for an epic adventure unlike any other as the world of Jak and Daxter unveils some drastic and amazingly radical transformations. Travel to a future alive with drama, conflict, uncertainty and boundless possibilities. Something BIG is about to unfold.' The pictures can be found on Gamespot.com or IGN.com. They include one of Jak running towards the camera with Daxter on his shoulder, one of the first screenshots of Jak and Daxter running from the Krimzon guard, one of Dark Jak being shot by a Krimzon guard with a stun gun, and another of Jak and Sig shooting a metal-head at the pumping station (which is playable on the demo). The render of Jak and Daxter shows Jak, with his face fully exposed, goatee and all, holding his gun on his shoulders. Daxter stands monotone beside him. On a cool little side note, the Precursor symbols found on the front and back of the package can be decoded using the key found on NaughtyDog.com. If you translate it, it simply says: 'Demo Disc' (surprise, surprise). The actual disc is a sort of montage, showing Jak shrouded in darkness with Daxter to his left looking cool with his arms folded and a serious look on his face. It is a DVD, so it has a silver back, if it's of any relevance. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ VI. The Intro ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The game begins with a 'Jak II is a registered trademark of Sony', disclaimer. Then you see a bird's eye view of one of the streets of Haven City. The camera swoops down and shows pedestrians walking around, a few hover cars zipping by, and some armed Krimzon guards out on patrol. The camera then swoops back up to get a close up view of one of the many signs. It simply says in white letters on a black background: 'Sony Computer Entertainment America presents.' The camera then zips underneath the sign to come to another that says 'A Game by Naughty Dog', with the trademark paw print in between 'Naughty' and 'Dog'. The camera then pans back and right to show a dark 'Jak II' billboard. It stands enormous in front of the Baron's tower in the background. Search lights illuminate the night sky and neon signs flicker. There's also a torch lit to the right of the billboard that shows off a nice particle effect. Suddenly, Daxter shows up. The music to this point had been distant, ambient bongo drums, but when Daxter comes into view, the tempo quickens and a melodic beat picks up. Daxter jumps right in front of the camera, he looks back suspiciously, then hops up (amazingly high) onto the billboard. He gets onto the 'II' and grabs these two power cables. He then connects them and is shocked by the flowing electricity. He pauses for an instant and the billboard lights up. It's now apparent that the 'Jak II' lettering is orange and has a slight 'hole' texture on it's surface. The 'II', like the packaging, shows Dark Jak and New Jak's facial reflections. Eventually, the sky becomes lighter. Clouds can be seen floating, rather quickly, overhead. There is no weather in the demo, it was before Naughty Dog added the program, but there appears to be plenty of realistic cloud coverage. Like the previous game, when the sun comes up everything looks different. The browns and reds of the rooftops below the billboard can be viewed in glorious color and the Baron's tower, while faded from the fog (which looks natural) can also be seen better. There appears to be several suspension cables running to the roof of the tower, which were not visible when that game was in night mode. Unlike the intro to Precursor Legacy, the day/night cycle of the main menu is in 'game time' (it isn't sped up), so one hour is equal to one minute in real time. Below the Jak II logo is the word 'Demo' stylized in a Precursor symbol font. You are given three choices: Pumping station, Strip Mine, and Watch Trailer. All of this you can view for free off IGN.com; they posted the video when they received the demo at E3. It shows the intro, a few cut-scenes, and several parts of the demo levels. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ VII. Cast of Characters (note: these are only the characters from the demo) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jak In Precursor Legacy, Jak is a silent, introverted young boy. He has blondish green hair, fair complexion, and medium build. He's a pretty uninteresting character as he is supposed to represent the player in the game world; therefore the designers did not want to push any emotions on the player by giving Jak a personality. In Renegade, however, Jak has a full fledged heroic personality. He is mad because Baron Praxis, the false ruler of Haven City, imprisoned him after he and Daxter jumped through the portal at the end of Precursor Legacy. He now sports a goatee, longer hair, more rigid features, and an attitude that convincingly expresses his hatred for the Baron. Daxter The little annoying boy that was accidentally turned into an ottsel. He is Jak's friend and a prime motivator for the progression of the story in Precursor Legacy as Jak feels guilty for Daxter's transformation and attempts to find the Dark Sages to turn him back into his humanoid/elfish form. Daxter is annoying, witty, and sometimes rather funny. He is the perfect partner for the otherwise boring Jak. Crew This incredibly obese merchant scum ball is a very demanding individual that really enjoys collecting Metal-head skulls as trophies. He assignes Jak one of his early missions: to protect one of his agents as they take out five Metal- heads at the pumping station outside Haven City. Crew is so fat that he cannot walk by his own power, therefore he travels in a hover-craft while his bony legs dangle below. He always has a fan in his right hand which he uses to blow cool air on his overly insulated body. Sig If there is one really cool character in the demo, it's Sig. Crew assigns Jak to protect him while he charges up his massive gun, the peacemaker, to take out Metal-heads. He's a beefy guy with heavy silver armor and shoulder pads that look like bronzed miniature alligator heads. Sig is a pretty funny guy. He's pretty straightforward, but he never misses his chance to put in a crack word or two. Vin The crazy, paranoid scientist. He's a genius, but at the price of his smarts comes insanity. Vin is extremely high strung. Even the smallest thing will set him off. He notices some Metal-head eggs near the strip mine and asks Jak and Daxter to dispose of them as one of the missions on the demo. Vin is constantly typing on his massive computer, which is so big that it takes an elevator to reach all the buttons. It's not presented who Vin exactly is, if he's with the underground or what, but if the cut-scene he is in is any indication, he is probably against the Baron and the Krimzon guard. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ VIII. WALKTHROUGH (In order of presentation) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ i. THE PUMPING STATION ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The opening cut-scene for this level starts with Jak and Daxter walking into Crew's quarters. Crew swoops down and says "Excellent shooting Jak, ever think of being a waste-lander, hmm?" Jak turns to see Sig with his peacemaker walking towards him. "Can't say that I have," Jak says. "Waste-lander's find items for me outside the city walls, eh. Any artifact or weapon worth having comes through my hands. Work for me and I'll throw some of the sweet items your way. Hmm?" Crew suggests. Jak puts his hand on his chin. "Kill Metal-heads, get toys. Sounds good to me." Suddenly, Daxter climbs up on Jak's shoulder and says, "Slow down Jak and the fat man. You two had better run that by me again. 'Cause there's no way I'm goin' outside the city to face more Metal-heads!" Crew looks over to his right hand man. "Sig will show you the ropes." Crew hovers off while Sig confronts Jak. He crosses his arms, keeping a firm grip on his peacemaker. "So you wanna be waste-landers, huh dough-boys? Well, we'll see what your made out of when we get out in the thick. Crew wants some new trophies to put butts and chairs in the Hip Hog, so I'm gonna bag him five nasty Metal-heads at the pumping station." Daxter gulps. "Don't wet your fur, chili pepper, 'cause we're rollin' with the peacemaker!" He holds up his giant gun. Daxter's eyes open wide. "Woo! I need one of those." He puts his hand to his mouth as if to tell a secret. "Where'd cha get it?" Crew swoops down again. "Don't ask. Sig needs someone to watch his back while he tracks the Metal-heads, eh," he says in a gasping, raspy voice. "We'll meet at the pumping station," Sig says. "Listen Cherries," he points at Jak sternly, "don't you leave me danglin' in the wind out there." "Let's do it," Jak says. Now, what the Hip Hog is, I don't know. The scene ends, though, and your left with a screen that tells you what button does what. (Note: If you die during this mission, all the Dark Eco you collected before you died will not be lost. So you may be able to gather up enough to use Dark Jak before I suggest in the walkthrough. Feel free to do so, but be warned, some parts are much harder than others.) Left stick: Move (Run/Walk) Right stick: Camera X: Jump Square: Punch Circle: Spin Kick Triangle: Unused (this is the hijack car button) R1: Shoot R2: Hover-board (unused in this level) D-pad: Up is your shotgun (scatter gun, whatever) the other guns are unavailable L1: Duck, Roll L2: Dark Jak Select: Nothing Start: Pause (all this does is of course freeze the screen and give you the option to quit) You start in a door way that leads outside Haven City. If you look to the left, you can see the outer wall, which is massive with it's flying buttresses. There is a narrow strip of sand that leads to the pumping station. On either side of the ground, there is the dark, murky waters of the ocean. Sig is waiting under some palm trees, watching what appears to be quad-pedaled lurkers and two Metal-heads pacing ahead. Behind Sig are some ammo boxes for your scatter gun. In the distance are a few archaic wind mills and a few elevators leading up to a water tank. Your going to have to get past the creatures and the two Metal-heads to get there. The lurker monsters are no big deal, they will merely jump at you, then when you knock them back, they will shoot their very long tongue at you with surprising accuracy. The Metal-heads, however, have stun guns that shoot out electricity and take away one life point. You only have four life points, which is one up from the last game, but that still isn't much. Fortunately, Metal-heads are slow and clunky. They are quite fat and stupid, but they are rather resilient. They can take up to five hits to kill. The orange lurker things only take two hits to kill. Walk forward to meet Sig after getting the ammunition from the boxes. When you reach him, he says: "Hello, Cherries. Ready to hunt a few Metal-heads?" He stands up and grabs peacemaker. "Follow me, stick close, and watch my six. It,s gonna be fun!" (Note: There is a health bar for Sig in the middle left of the screen. He's obviously stronger than you, so don't play nanny too much. Keep an eye out for his health at all times though. If he dies, it's game over.) THE FIRST METAL-HEAD The game starts. Let the mayhem begin. "Here we go!" Shouts Sig, as he charges the Metal-heads. "Here comes trouble!" He usually attacks the Metal- head on the right, so split up and take the one to the left. Sig can handle himself in this section. The little lurker guys are no problem, your main concern is the Metal-head. Run towards it and hit R1 to pull out and fire your gun quickly at the Metal-head. The lurker guys (I really need to give them a name, don't I? Let's see, Hell knows what they are, but they're orange and have long tongues. I'll call them spitters, for lack of anything better.) will attack you, but they are easy to out maneuver. Focus, instead, on the Metal- head, hitting him with your scatter gun. Once he is stunned and thrown back a little, go short range and punch or kick him to death. This should take about four hits. Afterwards deal with the (usually) two remaining spitters. This takes all of three seconds, in which time you'll notice that Sig has completely slaughtered his baddies. Grab the Metal-head brains (the little yellow orbs that go bouncing around) and the Dark Eco clusters that the spitters left behind. Then, follow Sig up the elevator platforms. Cool Trick: The same combos from the first game still work in Jak II. Try hitting punch, jump, punch again, then spin kick quickly. This will cause you to lunge out punching, jump up in the air, nose dive to the ground then spin kick. It's quite useful, if you can pull it off. Once above, there are two small, green frog-like creatures. They take one hit to kill if you have to face them. I'd suggest letting Sig take care of it and conserve ammo. After this, Sig yells, "Get behind me while I toast that tank!" He starts charging the peacemaker to destroy the water tank blocking your path. Get used to this, it won't be the last time Sig is useless. Nothing attacks you here, so just stop to smell the roses while you can (this level is pretty fast paced). What follows is a cut-scene showing Sig shooting the tank which explodes into a watery mess. Daxter turns to Jak as if to say something, but debris nearly lands on him, so instead he just smiles sarcastically. Up ahead are two more Metal-heads just like the last. "Toast those bad boys up ahead," orders Sig. Do so. Just keep firing your gun. Do not get too close, trying to punch or kick these guys will result in getting shot. Sig will stand back while you take care of them. Kill them and grab some nearby ammo boxes. "Great, Kid, great! Don't get cocky," Sig says. "Did you miss me?" Cover him over the bridge till you get to a ledge only Jak can reach by double jumping. Here, some spitters will attack Sig. Don't worry about him, focus on grabbing the ledge. Doing so will make the entire platform descend so that you can walk across to the first of five Metal-heads that Sig must kill with his peacemaker. Once the platform is lowered, help Sig take out the remaining foes and proceed. "There's the first target. Keep the other creatures back while I charge up the peacemaker." With that, Sig kneels to charge his gun. Your job is to take out the incoming spitters. They jump up onto the platform from the water below. Fortunately, they always land in the same place. One will always land on the far side of the deck, the other will land near Sig. Just shoot or spin kick them off the ledge until Sig finishes charging his gun. Do not punch. If you remember the first game, punching when near a ledge will make you fall off. There are machines in the water that can kill you in one shot and there is often no way of getting back up to Sig without going to the beginning of the stage. If you're separated too long, it's game over. Watch the cut-scene of Sig killing the spider looking Metal-head on the cliff above. "That's one fried Metal-head," he yells. Follow him down and off the ledge to another sandy area with a whole lot of baddies. THE SECOND METAL-HEAD There are about five Metal-heads here like the ones you faced before. There are also two little green frogs but they will die quick. There really is no strategy here, just shoot everything that moves. To conserve ammo, shoot one MH, then punch him back and shoot another. This keeps them at bay and out of attack range. Sig can take care of himself, but don't let him do all the work. "With Metal-heads, I say shoot first, ask question later," he says. Sig will notice another spider Metal-head on a ledge above. Once again he lowers to charge his gun. You have to cover him from more attacking spitters. Stand in front of Sig, don't run around too much, and shoot in the direction of the spitters. Your gun only has a certain range, so wait until they get close to fire. If you do this right, only four enemies will jump up from the water, but if you mess up and let one attack Sig, then he will have to start charging the peacemaker all over again. It takes about thirty seconds all together. Just be patient and hold your ground, you can always come back to get the Dark Eco clusters. Swing the camera back and forth as foes will pop up from both sides of the beach (this is where surround sound comes in handy). Once again, a cut-scene will show Sig blasting the MH. "Boom, baby! That's one less Metal-head to think about." THE THIRD METAL-HEAD Follow Sig up a large pipe where there are two boxes to the right containing ammo and health. Then jump onto another bridge/platform where there will be two more MHs ahead. One will be closer than the other, so focus on the first. Sig will help and tell you to go lower another bridge by double jumping onto it. Run ahead of Sig while he takes care of the first MH and attack the other one. Use the same method as before, shoot/kick combos and whatnot. You may can get away with a punch as there is railing on the platform here, but I still don't advise it. Once the MHs are dead, some spitters will jump up from below and attack Sig. Don't pay it any mind, Sig can take care of them with ease, just lower the bridge and wait for him. "No time to celebrate," he says. Run across the lowered bridge to another platform. Once again Sig will notice a designated MH for Crew. He begins charging. Spitters will start jumping up again. Use the same tactics as before. They are quite a distance apart and they attack at the same time, so keep your thumb on the camera, moving it around to make sure they aren't upon Sig. "Watch my six while I toast this bad boy. The trick is to not hit the pipes." Save the ammo boxes for afterwards, because your most likely going to get hit here and they have some health inside. Once this is done, follow Sig to the fourth target. "Now that's what I call blowin' someone's mind." THE FOURTH METAL-HEAD You'll reach a few plat-forming parts next (yea!). Try to double jump quickly because the distance is too far for Jak to make in a single bound. Keep up with Sig, he's big but he jumps this part pretty quick. You want to stay with him for the big battle up ahead. "Waste the suckas!" Here, there are three more MHs and four or so little green frogs. You've landed on another beachfront so don't worry about falling off the side like with the platforms. Just shoot, punch, and spin kick like mad. Keep close to Sig, this is where this level gets kind of rough. "Gotta thread the needle this time," Sig says as he notices the fourth target. Quickly gather as much Dark Eco and MH brains as you can before an onslaught of spitters attack. Like before, Sig will charge his gun and not move, so you have to protect him. This is the hardest one. Mainly due to the number of foes and Sig seems to take longer due to the difficult angle of his shot. Fortunately, you may have gathered enough Dark Eco to (dun dun dun!) turn into Dark Jak. You may not, though (I suggest holding off for the next part, but it's up to you). So, the same tactics still apply. You will need to run back and forth from left to right to defend Sig. He will wait for you to take out all the spitters before he fires, so you need to be quick. The best way to scurry from one side of the battlefield to the next is to hit L1 while running, then quickly hitting X. This will make you long jump which is far faster than simply running. Additionally, a good tactic to use if you need speed is to repeatedly tap L1 while running around. This causes you to quickly roll, which is also good for dodging attacks. If you use Dark Jak or not, this part is pretty rough. Just use your head and keep up a good combination of punches, kicks, and shotgun blasts. Cool Trick: Jump, then spin kick in mid air when several enemies are around. While spinning, shoot your scatter gun like crazy. The blast will catapult you around in the air. You can usually get off three shots, and thanks to the auto- aiming, you'll hit several targets, even those close to you because you'll spin kick them. THE FINAL METAL-HEAD The next part will have you jump over the water to another sandy area where the fourth MH was. Here, three Metal-heads will jump down and ambush you and Sig. Stick close to Sig here. If you cover him, he'll cover you. Don't hold back or you'll regret it, you need to keep on the offensive if you're to get past this part. UNLEASHING DARK JAK Suddenly, half way through the fight, Sig's gun will jam. He'll drop to the ground and start repairing it, leaving himself open for attack. You need to take out as many foes as you can so that you can acquire some Dark Eco. If you didn't use Dark Jak before, this is the absolute perfect time to unleash it. Hit L2 and watch all hell break loose. The screen turns dark and Jak falls to the ground. He covers his face as his body becomes larger and his hair and skin turn white. Two black horns sprout from his head and purple energy bolts fire around him. Use this ability to it's fullest. While Sig is down, several Metal-heads will selectively attack him. Don't hold back. You're invincible and incredibly strong. One hit will kill anything, though Dark Jak is much harder to control and he cannot use any guns. You also cannot roll while in this state (if you hit L1, Jak will crawl which makes him look like a very cool predator), however, simply pushing square will make Jak spring out towards his closest enemy, no matter how far away it may be, and kill it instantly in a very complex and uncontrollable combo. This will only last thirty seconds or so, so make the most of it. You should kill all the enemies long before Sig fixes his gun. When you hear "The peacemaker is back online," then Sig is ready to go and take out the final Metal-head. The last MH is on a cliff that overlooks the beach where you are standing. You should devolve back into Jak by the time this cut-scene takes place. This is really pretty simple. Your standing on yet another beach where spitters will jump out of the water at two separate points and attack Sig while he charges up his gun. The only trick is that there seems to be far more of them this time. Fortunately, the strip of land you are on is not very big, so your in constant close proximity to Sig. Don't worry about conserving ammunition, just blast away at the oncoming hordes, run to the other side, and repeat. You can use Dark Jak here too, but it's a bit of overkill doing so. Once every spitter is dead (which is quite a few) the last cut-scene of the level will play. ENDING "Boom! Home team five, Metal-heads nothin?," Sig says joyfully. "That was the last one. Tell Crew we got 'em all cooked and canned." He turns to Jak. "I'm gonna clean peacemaker and pick up the trophies." He starts to walk off, then turns again towards the camera which is Jak's point of view. "You did good rookie," and with that the level ends showing a wanted ad of Jak and Daxter. The words 'Jak II' flash up, followed by 'Coming Soon', and 'Fall 2003.' ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ii. THE STRIP MINE ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This level starts out with a scene showing Jak, with Daxter on his shoulder of course, greeting Vin the scientist. Vin is typing up something when Daxter says, "Hey there sack of nerves! How's all the bzzzt stuff goin'?" Vin is startled and throws his hand to his chest as if he's had a heart-attack. "I've got good news and bad news." Vin's standing on some sort of silver platform that folds up to form an elevator. As he starts ascending he says, "the good news is that Kor tells me we've got enough power online to keep the shield walls up.". He gets to a higher level where he looks at a glowing monitor that is flashing Precursor text. "So for now, the city's safe." He suddenly looks worried. "But, I don't know how long the system can hold!" The camera pans down to Jak who has one hand on his hip and looks irritated. "And the bad news?" He inquires in a monotone voice. Vin starts coming back down. "We've detected a cluster of Metal-head eggs growin' up at the strip mine site." He reaches the ground and puts his hands together as if to beg. "You've gotta go back there and find a way to destroy those eggs before they turn into a whole new army of creatures!" He says anxiously. "I noticed the crane was lifting a large metal container," Jak says. He puts his hand to his chin in thought. "If we could jump onto the container, we could drop the crate from above." Suddenly, Daxter intervenes. "High? Jump? Drop?!" He turns to Jak and gulps. "Why don't I like the sound of that?" He says with a sarcastic look. Jak smiles. "Come on, Dax. Let's go." Once again, your left with a screen showing your control setup. It's pretty much the same thing as before, but you have a new gun this time and the hover- board. Left stick: Move (Run/Walk) Right stick: Camera X: Jump Square: Punch, Rail Grind (on hover-board) Circle: Spin Kick Triangle: Unused R1: Shoot, Spin (on hover-board) R2: Hover-board D-pad: Up is the scatter gun, Down is the assault rifle L1: Duck, Roll, Trick (plus right stick) L2: Dark Jak Select: Nothing Start: Pause Before I start the walkthrough, I'll go ahead and give you an idea of some of the tricks you can perform on the hover-board. In order to do all these moves, you have to jump and/or be airborne (from a ramp or something). L1 + UP - Forward board spin L1 + LEFT - Sideways board spin L1 + RIGHT - Horizontal board spin L1 + DOWN - Backwards board grab R1 + UP - Forward flip (more air = more flips) R1 + LEFT - Left spin R1 + RIGHT - Right spin R1 + DOWN - Back flip You can also perform a superman move where Jak will grab the board with his right hand, take his feet off, and just glide horizontally. I've done this with several combinations so I don't think it has a certain button combo. It tends to happen when you've built up speed and with the same combo as the forward flip. Try everything, you may discover a trick I did not. This level is probably going to take you a few tries. I've spoken to several people who have never beaten this level (you know who you are). It took me a while too, but it's quite possible. You start out at a warp gate that connects to Vin's lab. Like the pumping station, this level starts out in the middle of the day, but the day/night cycle does work and believe me, by the time you finish this level, several 'game days' may go by. Straight in front of you are three ammo boxes with ammunition for your yellow assault rifle. Further ahead is a yellow arrow, pointing right, over a Dark Eco pool. This tells you the way you need to go to finish the level, obviously. This level is pretty big, and you could get lost if it wasn't there. Even further in the distance are some crates on a rail system. To your left is a small creek of Dark Eco wedged in between two hills. To your right is your target: the Metal-head eggs. There's about twenty of them in a pit of Dark Eco. They kind of look like plants as they have a stem that the actual egg sits atop. They rattle and shake for some reason and look down right bizarre. They are dark blue, black even, and have a big yellow spot on the side. Above them is the crate you need to get to. It's metallic and red and it's hanging from a huge crane on the far side of the level near the yellow arrow. There's a fair amount of machinery everywhere in this level. It's a rocky terrain, kind of like a construction pit, but up on the unreachable hills are some trees as well as some more cranes. In the distance, you can see Haven City with Baron Praxis' tower in the center. Since you don't have a time limit and you do not have to protect anyone, I suggest you take the time to smell the roses. At night, you can get a clear view of the green star that was in the last game as well as the constellations. You also get a good view of the incredible dynamic lighting as the sun moves and the street lamps turn on. There's two ways of going about this level. You can just beat it by traveling on your hover-board, through an obstacle course, until you reach the crate above the eggs; or you can explore the level and fight off a horde of Metal-heads. I'll start with the latter. EXPLORATION First off, when you start running, you'll immediately and automatically switch to your hover-board. If you don't want to do this (it's kind of hard to control), just hit R2 to put it away. If you want to get a good view of the strip mine and of Haven City, you'll want to go left after getting the ammo from the crates in front of you. Be careful, though. Some Metal-heads (we'll call them scorpions) will jump out of the ground and start scurrying towards you. These things can be killed with one hit, but be cautious, they have a sharp sting and surprising range. Keep your distance by hitting R1 to bring out and immediately shoot your rifle. The rifle is much more accurate than your scatter gun, but don't go too crazy with it as you'll run out of ammo quick. Cool Trick: Like the scatter gun, punch/kick/gun combos can be used in conjunction. Try jumping, then spin kicking in mid air while firing your rifle. You'll shoot a blast in every direction which is great for getting rid of attackers. Also, when you punch or kick then shoot directly afterwards, your gun will fire faster. This only works with the rifle, though. After you get the ammunition and fight off the first few scorpions, some Metal-head grunts will be alerted to your presence. Now, these guys are tough. I'd suggest turning left to the Dark Eco creek and hover-boarding over it. Here, you'll see a few power generators with Blue Eco (I think) spouting from the top. There are some grunts up ahead and, though you don't see them yet, more on the way. Whip out your scatter gun to conserve your rifle ammo and let the battle begin. Grunts take two, sometimes three, hits to kill. Kill them fast as they'll jump and slide towards you as well as punch you to the ground. After the first is dead, you should see two more beside a hillside in front of you. Don't run there yet. Instead, turn around to look towards the yellow arrow you saw earlier. See them? Yeah. A whole army of grunts running your way. Stick with the tactics you used in the pumping station and you should be fine. Fire your scatter gun then punch and kick them to death. If you decide to go ahead and take out the two by the hillside, watch out for a couple of scorpions that pop up (they can be a little annoying). After they're all dead, gather the Dark Eco and go towards the conveyer belt. Some more scorpions will attack as well as about four more grunts. Keep your distance by long jumping (roll while running then hit X) away. Turn to shoot them with your scatter gun before they gang up on you. When they are dead, go back to the conveyer belt. Run to the front of it towards the Dark Eco pool. You should hear a shrieking sound and see a flying Metal-head swoop down. These are called Ginsu and they are not your friends. It takes two shots to kill them, but they are very agile and can put up quite a fight. They are the only enemy in the demo that can return fire, though their rate of fire is pretty slow. They shoot purple shots at you with amazing accuracy. Hit down on the D-pad to pull out your blaster rifle, this is more accurate than your scatter gun, and take aim. Fire in it's general direction, the auto-aiming should make up for your inaccuracy. Take this one out and kill any more grunts and scorpions that may come your way with the scatter gun. Cool Trick: This isn't so much a trick as it is a fact. When you switch your guns, your not really exchanging them. Jak only has one gun, but it can morph into several forms. So, if you have the blaster out, then hit up on the D-pad to change to the scatter gun, Jak will simply flip the gun over and wha-la. He sometimes does pretty cool animations when you do this. Turn around and go down the valley between the two hillsides. You should see a few more grunts this way. Take them out quick with the scatter gun. Knock them back, then move in and punch them a few times to conserve ammo. Watch out, though. Scorpions will pop up behind you before you have a chance to turn around. You may get beat up a little, but don't worry, there are some health packs in some upcoming boxes. Keep running past the red crates. You'll see a few scorpions pop up. Always take them out with a gun, never try close range; their sting will be the end of you. You'll see a zigzagged conveyer belt ahead with two grunts to the right and a few ammo boxes behind them. Take out the grunts carefully because, once again, scorpions will pop up here too. After you kill them, you should have gathered enough Dark Eco to transform. There really isn't an ideal place to use it in this level (your actually supposed to hover-board the entire time), but it's up to you. Use it whenever your in a jam. Up ahead is a pretty difficult part, but Dark Jak is useless because you need your guns. Run up the conveyer belt and take out the solitary grunt on the first platform. Then run up the second conveyer belt. There will be three grunts here. Use your scatter gun and punch/kick combos to take them out. Just be careful about falling off the edge. When they are dead, run forward towards the moving crates on the rail system, but do not jump onto them. A Ginsu will swoop down. Switch to your rifle and take it out while dodging it's attacks (easier said than done, I know, but keep at it; all you can do is shoot like mad). There's three ammo boxes to your left. One has health, the others have ammo for your rifle. Just what you need. Jump on the moving crates and get ready for a pretty hard fight. A Ginsu will appear again and once you take it out, another will take it's place. Use your rifle and shoot at them like crazy. This is an early demo, so the auto-aim isn't perfect yet. Don't fret if you die because there really isn't any purpose to this idle exploration anyways. Once the Ginsu are dead, you'll see a scorpion and a grunt on the platform ahead of you. Go ahead and lay waste to them with your rifle (there's no sense in conserving ammo now, most of the enemies are dead). Jump off the crates onto the platform. You'll see a bunch of red crates next to a small hut. If you start moving towards the front door of the hut, you'll, for some reason, start automatically walking. There is probably a purpose for this place in the final version of the game, but right now, it's just a hut with a 'no running' curse (heh heh). Beside the hut is a warp gate. Jump through it. Nothing. Like I said, it probably has a purpose in the final game. Past this, you'll come across some crates and discarded pipes. Go left from here and you'll come to an area that is perfect for practicing your hover-board moves. There will be another one of those Blue Eco power generators here that you can ramp on and some pipes that can be used to practice railing. There is also a wonderful view of Haven City from here. You can see the Baron's tower as well as the Coliseum where races take place (to the right of the tower). You can also get a good idea of the size of the city with snowy mountains in the distance and it's humongous walls. Below, you can view the immensely vast ocean that surrounds the city. The strip mine must be on an island really far away. That's pretty much all there is to the exploration part. You can also get atop a hillside and go exploring on these bridges that run across part of the strip mine, but it's rather mundane. I think there is supposed to be another mission at the strip mine that precedes this one, which is why there's so much more to this level than is necessary. There are a few other areas here or there, but none of them are all that interesting. Essentially, the strip mine is a big, rocky piece of land with a few power generators here or there and several Dark Eco pools amongst a hilly terrain. Go explore so more if you want, or whip out your hover-board and try to beat the level, which I'll explain how to do so next. HOVER-BOARDING The part you've all been waiting for. If you want to complete the level, this is how you do it. Go back to the beginning of the level, start over, or head towards the yellow arrow. I'm going to write this assuming you've just started the level. Don't worry about ammo or killing enemies, you won't have to. Just hop on your hover-board at the beginning of the level (it will do it automatically if you just died) and go. Go forward and turn slightly right before you reach the Dark Eco pool with the yellow arrow hovering above. You want to turn slightly right because a scorpion Metal-head will pop up to the left and may sting you, throwing you off your board, if you get too close. Proceed towards the arrow and do what it shows: turn right. Go up the hill. Here, there will be a big chainsaw strafing left to right. It moves rather slow, so it can be easily dodged. Keep your thumb on the right analog stick so that you can adjust the camera quickly and you always know what's ahead. Next, there is a gap. A simple jump will suffice. It's a good idea to keep your right index finger on R1 the whole time. If you jump a gap that is kind of long, you can push this to do a flip and add some more air to you jump. After this, a pipe with sharp blades will block your way. It will move forwards and backwards. Wait until you are upon it and jump it. It shouldn't present a big problem, but it can be a bit tricky if it is going away from you, in which case you may want to do a trick (L1) or flip to gain more altitude. Get used to these, they are everywhere. Turn right and go up the hill. There will be alternating drills up ahead. If the lower one is out jump it, if the higher one is out don't worry about it as it will not touch you. This can be tricky. The drills will stop rotating right before they switch, so just watch for it. All the traps have random timing so each time through the course will be different. Practice makes perfect; keep training your reflexes. Past the drills will be a gap and a platform moving right to left. Time your jump carefully. You shouldn't do a trick here, you may miss the platform if you get too high. Hop on it then hop off and onto the next batch of land. You'll go past a power generator on the left. Stay right and you'll come to another chainsaw obstacle followed by a gap. Time your movements to get past it and quickly jump. When you land, you'll see a useless ramp to your left and a rail to your front. You should automatically hop off your board here, if this is your first time through, while the game tells you that square makes you rail. When you get close to the edge, you'll automatically hop back on your board. Railing can be tricky. Hit and hold square and push the left analog stick in the direction of the rail to maintain your balance. (Note: In this early version of the game, even doing everything perfect may result in you falling off the rail. Hopefully, Naughty Dog fine tuned it a bit for the final version.) After you get past the rail, you'll come to two more chainsaw obstacles. Carefully dodge them and head towards the next set of rails. This can be very hard if your new to this. There are two rails here. One is shaped like a 'Z', the other is shaped like an 'L'. Both are not completely attached to the other side of the gap. Your going to have to rail, then hop off. Amazingly enough, I've found that the 'Z' rail is actually easier, even though it has more turns. Hold square and abruptly move the left analog stick in the direction of the next part of the rail, then before you get to the end, jump and do a trick or spin to get some height. This may take a few tries as it takes finesse. Just keep at it, you haven't seen hard yet. Quickly turn left after you land. Don't go on the ramp ahead because you'll fall off the edge. Get on the conveyer belt to your left and go up. Here, you'll see two spiky rail obstacles like the one before. Do a jump/trick combo to gain height and speed over both of them. Next, there is another gap in the track followed by a chainsaw obstacle. Time your jump so that you stay away from the chainsaw. If you get hit, don't worry. You have four chances to screw up, but whatever you do, don't fall into a pit because you'll have to start the level all over again. The next part is really hard. There are once again two rails. Both are 'L' shaped zigzags. I always go with the one to the right because it's usually the first you see. I suppose you can go to the left, but you'll have to make a sharp turn. The tricky thing about these rails are that neither are connected to your side of the gap. So, you're going to have to jump and do a trick for air, then hit square to start railing, then quickly push the analog stick to maintain your balance on the rail. Fun, eh? This is probably the first place on the course where it's better if you stopped and put your board away for a minute while you scope out what you need to do. There's nothing I can say that's going to make it easier, but I can tell you that the more you do this, the more second nature it becomes. The trick is to not get frustrated. The controls are not perfect yet and you may die a million times before you get the hang of it. It's all trial and error anyways. When you do get past the rail, you'll come to a half-pipe. This is actually pretty cool and it marks the half-way point for the course. It only gets harder from here. The half-pipe has two walls that block your way. Any veteran of SSX will easily be able to build up some speed and hop over them. You need to maintain a balance during this part to keep from getting frustrated. Go diagonally between the walls to build up speed and approach the jumps from an angle. Then do a trick to build up some speed and do it again. It's really quite simple. After the half-pipe, you'll run smack face into a wall. The only example of bad level design in the demo, in my humble opinion. You'll need to head left where you will come to an area that is truly hard to get past. You'll go past a few discarded rails and crates then you will come upon a moving platform going from left to right followed by three rails. You need to time your jump so that you land on the platform, jump, then land on one of the rails to get to the other side. This is easier said than done, I'm afraid. One piece of advice though, do not do a trick when you jump. If you do, you will gain too much altitude and miss the platform, consequently causing you to fall to your death. Just be patient. You may want to stop again to scope it out. Look at the platform and where it is moving. Try to anticipate the rail that it will be adjacent to when you jump off the platform. Quickly hit and hold square to grind again and go to the next part. Next up are two rails. Actually, it's more like one rail that has a chunk in the middle missing. Fortunately, they are straight. You need to grind on the first and quickly jump and grind on the next. This is actually really easy. After this, you will see another chainsaw obstacle directly followed by an alternating drill. This can be tricky. It's all about timing. Watch the chainsaw and see which way it's moving, then go in the opposite direction and jump the drill if the lower one is out. You may get lucky and not have to. Almost there. Up next is the hardest part. It's the opposite of the platform/rail obstacle above. This time, three rails are adjacent to a platform that is moving left to right. You need to anticipate, like target shooting, where the platform will be depending on which rail you get on. This is incredibly hard if you get on the wrong rail because you're probably going to die. There really isn't much I can suggest. Just anticipate, grind, jump, pray, land, jump, and celebrate. You may want to stop again to time everything. Also, when you jump, you have a 50/50 chance of actually landing on the platform, even if you do it perfectly. Your either going to jump too soon, or your going to do a trick and go too far. It's really hard to tell and you'll have to decide on the fly. I even have trouble with this (I fell off while writing this). Just keep at it. After you make it (congratulations, by the way) you'll see a ramp to your left and two conveyer belts to your right. Go up one of the conveyer belts and turn right to see the last challenge. There are two platforms, one close, the other far. Your going to have to jump on one then quickly jump to the next. They tend to stay relatively close together, so this shouldn't be too difficult, though it can be. This is one spot where I strongly recommend stopping and putting away your board for a minute to get your timing right. It's all about the timing (for the billionth time). A tip: don't do a trick, it will cause you to over jump. After this, you'll go past some more discarded rails and crates, turn right, and you'll see the crane holding the container above the Metal-head eggs. This is very easy to do, but I've heard that people have made it this far and then screwed up. It's simple; go to the edge and jump off. You may want to do a trick for the extra altitiude, but I don't think you have to. ENDING The ending cut-scene shows Jak and Daxter flying off the cliff. Jak puts away his hover-board gracefully and flies towards the rope holding the container up. He grabs it, spins around a few times due to inertia, then lands on the latch that connects the rope to the crate. He hits a red switch with his foot which releases the crate. It falls and lands in the pool of Dark Eco, crushing the Metal-head eggs. Jak looks down at Daxter then hears the sound of something breaking. They look up at the crane. Suddenly, the rope's slack gives way, causing Jak and Daxter to fall off opposite sides of the latch. Jak, in true cartoon fashion, stays still in the air for a brief second as does Daxter. Jak falls, but Daxter tries waving his little arms like a bird to see if he can fly. It actually works for a second, but he too eventually falls. The camera pans down to show Jak who has grabbed the bottom of the latch and Daxter who's grabbed Jak's feet. Daxter opens his eyes to realize that he's only about a foot above the fallen crate. He simply hops down, as does Jak. They look at each other blankly, then wipe their foreheads in relief. The same wanted sign follows this level saying: Jak II, Coming Soon, Fall 2003. (Note: In addition to being able to see most of the gameplay and intro on IGN.com, you can also view this part on the xplay website, techtv.com/xplay. Run a search and you should find a video preview that shows this part.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ IX. THE TRAILER ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The trailer on the demo is disc is pretty similar to the intro on JakII.com. It starts out with the Playstation logo then cuts to: 'Sony Computer Entertainment America Presents' 'A Naughty Dog Production' The screen goes black. There's thunder in the background. A black silhouette of Haven City is shown with lightning strikes illuminating dark clouds overhead. A white light, similar to that of White Eco, shines in the middle of the screen. It starts out small, but grows until it covers half the screen. During this, a voice (the same voice that's on the website) says: "In desperate days, heroes are chosen. Not just for their courage or for their skills. Heroes are chosen by fate. By their own Destiny (lightning strikes). And one hero will emerge to shoulder our darkest burdens and lead us all to a brave new world." Jak's form begins to materialize from the white light. The camera shows a close up of Jak. He stands with his gun hoisted on his shoulder and a smirk on his face. Choir music chimes in and hits a high note. Then, the scene changes. It now shows a warp gate similar to the one in the Samos' hut. Inside the gate are images. Images of Jak and Keira at the end of Precursor Legacy. Then, images of Jak charging up with White Eco and the voiceover continues. "Adventures from the past will determine will determine the course of the future." It shows Jak, charged up with White Eco, firing a blast at the final boss from Precursor Legacy. It then shows New Jak. Daxter is on his shoulder covering his eyes. He says: "We're in the future, Dax. This horrible place is our world." Jak is seen running along some city streets and platform hopping on a falling bridge. Then he is flying around on a hover-bike. Afterwards, the camera pans in on warp gate. It's all game footage from the other trailers. The voice continues: 'And a world transformed by darkness...' Jak cuts in asking: "Why is the Baron giving Eco to Metal-heads?" It shows footage of Onin, the blind, mute, soothsayer, drawing on thin air with her finger what appears to be a '69' symbol. The voice continues: '...will become the challenge of a lifetime.' It cuts to Crew charging Jak and saying: "Questions like that could get a person killed!" It shows Jak at the strip mine hover-boarding. 'Naughty Dog presents the next generation of adventure' Jak is seen shooting some enemies with his yellow blaster and the blue mini- gun. Then, it cuts to him in pain saying to Daxter: "Something's happening to me,I can't control it!" Dark Jak is seen laying waste to some Metal-heads. It then cuts to Jak shooting his rifle at some charging foes and then hover- boarding across the water in the city. It then shows Ashlin driving away from Jak in the forest level. The voiceover continues: "And reveals the secrets of a heroes destiny." During this, Jak and Daxter are seen looking up in amazement at some sort of giant coin with another '69' symbol on it. It then cuts to the part of the pumping station level where Sig blows up the big water tank. It shows Ashlin grabbing Jak and pointing a gun to his head. It cuts to Jak getting his first gun then running down the streets firing the mini-gun at Krimzon guards; all the while the voiceover says: "Triumph. Betrayal. Revenge. Jak and Daxter." It cuts to the scene of Jak in the sewers with some sort of key in his hand. He looks up at Daxter and says with a wink: "Where would ya' be with out me, eh, Dax?" Daxter is standing on some sort of statue. "Well, Jak, I probably wouldn't be two feet tall, fuzzy, and runnin' around a sewer without a pair of pants!" Daxter says sarcastically. "A new legacy begins." It then shows the city's silhouette again, but now the "Jak II" logo appears with the words "A New Legacy Begins", in red, below it. The trailer ends with Precursor text that transforms into the words: "Coming Fall 2003". ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ X. MINI-REVIEW ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Oh great. The part I've been waiting for. The time where I get to pronounce my opinion of the demo. To put it in a word: Awesome. To put it in two: F'in awesome. I highly recommend it. Of course I was a huge fan of the original, so I'm a bit bias. I absolutely loved the Precursor back story, the mysteries of Eco, as well as the rock solid gameplay. The sequel, so far, is just as great. Very little of the story is revealed, but what's there is good. I like the interaction of Jak with Sig and Crew. The characters all seem believable, if not a little over the top. Of course, the animation style is inspired by Disney, so what else can you expect? In terms of graphics, this game is leaps and bounds over it's predecessor, and this is an early build too. As good as The Precursor Legacy looked, Jak II looks even better. Everything has wonderful anti-aliasing this time. The dynamic lighting effects really give the game a more natural look. The day and night cycles are more believable, even if the green sun's effects aren't as apparent this time. It's the little things that make Jak II stand out. In the pumping station, there are little streams of water bursting out the pipes that trickle down (think Mario Sunshine) and realistically reflect the sunlight. In the strip mine level, little touches like the blur underneath the hover-board, or the lightning bolts shooting off the sides of the power generators just bring the game to life. It's gorgeous to say the least. When it comes to sound, nothing really stands out, which is a good thing. Every sound in the game sounds like it should. Explosions have a nice 'boom', gunfire has an accurate blast sound, and the voices are perfect for the characters. Many people have been concerned about the music. All I can really say about that is that it's exactly like the first game. It's less tropical and more industrial, but so is the game. Perhaps a little more on the techno side, but not really. There's actually quite a nice arrangement of strings, choir, and electronic blips on the soundtrack. It's all synthesized of course, so don't expect any Danny Elfman masterpieces, but it's still quite good and sets the mood for the levels. The music is also dynamic. When your just walking around, it's rather ambient and distant, but whip out a gun and the tempo fires up. Also, when an enemy attacks you, you'll hear clashes of drums or strong orchestral movements suddenly. Essentially, the music does it's job. It's subdued, but this is a game, not an album, and background music is all that is desired. As for the controls, they're perfect. Everything just feels right. Everything that is except for the hover-board. It's inaccurate. It feels more like a drunken bumper car than anything else, but even the guys at IGN had a hard time controlling it. I'm sure it'll be fine in the finished build, as this demo was released in May 2003 and the game isn't scheduled for release until October 14th. Everything else is great, though. The guns make your dual shock vibrate nicely when you fire them and Jak's walking and jumping is completely analog again so however hard you push the X button or analog stick is however high or fast Jak will jump or run. It's pretty much the same as the last game, but if it isn't broke don't fix it. Final analysis: I can't wait for the full game to come out. I won't do a guide for it, this one's been enough of a handful and I'll probably be too busy playing the game to care. Essentially, if you liked the first game, but maybe thought it need a darker edge, this is the game for you. It's good, hard, dark, comic fun. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ XI. END ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Copyright 2003. All Rights Reserved. Written by Xeric/Djehutey (xericsharp@hotmail.com) Edited by Yaythunder This may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright.