By
Michael Palisano
Daxter for the PSP is an engaging
title places the second-banana character from the Jak series squarely in
the spotlight. The game follows him as he battles a ton of bugs and other
insects in his attempts to free his captured friend from the savages of
Haven City. The vast majority of Daxter involves standard platforming with
vehicles, mini-games and, dream sequences thrown in. There's a variety of
weapons at your disposal as well, making the gameplay that much more
exciting. Daxter's visuals are also quite impressive, with large,
expansive environments that come to life brilliantly. While it isn't the
most innovative game, Daxter is a solidly entertaining and challenging
title that delivers a surprisingly expansive adventure in a small package.
Some players are likely to feel somewhat
dubious about a spin-off title to a popular series appearing on a handheld
system. These elements alone are usually enough in and of themselves to
put off most players. However, Daxter for the PSP defies expectations to
create a solidly entertaining and surprisingly robust experience that
stands on its own two feet. While it's been developed by Ready at Dawn
Studios, Daxter definitely has the classic Naughty Dog spirit and players
who loved the previous games will feel right at home with this title's
familiar play mechanics. In addition to Daxter, other characters will also
make an appearance through the game, giving it a strong continuity with
the previous titles. Set just before the events in Jak II, Daxter finds
the irascible hero trying to help rescue his kidnapped buddy Jak and save
him from an evil fate. Players must traverse the streets of Haven City and
can travel to other locations. As the story begins, Daxter is approached
by an old man, who offers him a job. While Daxter may boast of his skills,
the job he gets as a bug exterminator isn't as glamorous or dangerous as
it might seem to be at first. Initially, his job seems relatively simple
but it's actually a much tougher assignment than he realizes when he
confronts the bugs on the first level.
These
are actually robotic, metal-bugs, making them far more dangerous than your
average insects, and actually fire back at him. They're fairly intelligent
and put up quite a fight. While some of the earlier insects are somewhat
easy to defeat, it takes a lot of skill to beat the tougher boss enemies.
As you defeat enemies, they'll release gold coins which you can use to
purchase items. Daxter will also find Green Eco, which helps to increase
his powers and Precursor Eggs, which are helpful in his quest as well.
Additionally, he can earn additional items and weapons by completing
quests. Daxter is quite dexterous and can climb walls, maneuver under
doors and perform special spinning attacks in order to beat the bugs
before they over-run the city. The game's platforming is smartly designed
with intuitive controls that make performing the moves a simple task.
Running and combat moves are simple and most special moves and, combo
attacks are easy to perform. Fighting the enemy bugs is intuitive and fun.
You point at the enemies and either swat them at close range or shoot them
when far away. Daxter can also be able to pilot several vehicles during
the game, including a motorcycle, a hovercraft and, other racing vehicles.
The controls on these are simple as well, making them easy to use while
giving the gameplay more variety.
To help Daxter with his extermination
chores, he's only been given a fairly basic weapon, an electrified fly
swatter initially. More advanced weapons like a gun that shoots bug spray
can be earned later on. He's also been armed with a pump which he can use
to shoot poison at the various bad guys and he can also swat them using
his swatter if they come too close. However, his tank can only hold so
much fuel, and he has to replenish it along the way. Most of the missions
are straightforward with players progressing through the levels while
unlocking secrets and finding hidden areas along the way. Daxter can also
collect energy by running over green clouds throughout each level that
refills his pump. Exploring the levels allows you to find other hidden
items such as additional gadgets and items that upgrade his abilities. In
addition to these standard missions, players can also experience Daxter's
'dream' missions. Here, you can help Daxter live out his dreams of being
the big shot instead of the second banana. They're shorter and simpler
than the main missions, and unfold like mini-games and make a welcome
change of pace from the standard platform action. In one mission, a take
off on The Matrix, Daxter has to knock off a group of enemies who come at
him from all directions. Timing here is important, since you have to make
sure not to hit the correct button too soon or early. There's a limited
number of mistakes you can make, which makes things challenging. These
missions make a nice diversion from the main game and are fun to use.
Exploring Daxter's world is interesting
because of its non-linear approach that allows for plenty of exploration
with divergent paths and goals. However, Daxter's missions are linear in
structure and have rigid sets of objectives to complete. The game offers
an interesting variety of tasks, which can change within a single level,
which means there can be an almost entirely different challenge around
every corner. One minute, he might be walking along a corridor, only to be
surrounded by a series of bugs. Daxter also has to overcome other
obstacles, such as large walls, steam pipes, vats of lave, large gaps, and
more. To keep things interesting, these standard platforming sequences are
punctuated by several areas where the player has to guide the hero over
zip lines, race through tunnels and jump over large distances. There are
also some more complex sequences that require some thought to defeat.
Daxter's levels are large and offer plenty of room for exploration, though
many areas seem impassible, most players should be able to progress
through the game easily. This is thanks in large part to the frequent save
points and the unlimited lives that are provided to the player. In
addition to its solid single player modes, Daxter also support several
multiplayer modes with Wi-fi support for 2 players. You can battle it out
head-to-head in a variety of locations from the game, including arena
battles and racing modes. Another interesting feature of Daxter is its
connectivity with the PS2 that will allow players who own Jak X Combat
Racing to exchange data and information between the two games. For
example, winning a race in Daxter might unlock an additional vehicle in
Jak X, or lead to a previously inaccessible area of the game. This
definitely marks the game as a well-rounded title, and these extra modes
add plenty of replay value to the experience.
From
an aesthetic standpoint, you can't help but be impressed by the high
quality of Daxter's visuals. The game's smooth, polished appearance makes
it feel more like a console title than a handheld release. Its richly
detailed environments come alive with expansive levels highlighted by
detailed lighting and texture-mapping that lend the experience an
excellent feel throughout. The streets of Haven City are appropriately
bleak, but there are other areas, such as a forest which are much
brighter. The production values are superb, with extensive voice-acting,
cut-scenes and music that gives the game a cinematic feel. All this ties
together to create an immersive, engaging title that creates a challenging
and engaging experience that lives up to the Jak & Daxter legacy. The
game's camera system is decent, and rarely gets in the way of the action.
Players can also spin the angle using the PSP's shift buttons, allowing
them to get a better look at the action. Daxter's beautiful visuals and
smooth animation make it one of the best-looking and most ambitious PSP
titles to date. The fact that the game lives up to its promise and does so
effortlessly is a testament not only to the PSP hardware itself, but the
quality of work that has gone into the design, which shows in details
small and large.
Daxter's highly polished appearance is
fantastic and its large scale is likewise impressive, and the gameplay
itself is solidly entertaining and challenging. However, there is the
problem of the protagonist himself. The developers seem to have realized
that Daxter's biggest problem is ironically, Daxter himself. They make fun
of his annoying reputation during the game's opening sequence, which
definitely takes the edge off these concerns. As you play the game, you do
indeed bond with him, and his personality makes the game more enjoyable in
the end. While not all the jokes work, the game's sense of humor helps to
keep things light throughout. The gameplay itself is solidly implemented
with an interesting mix of traditional platforming with dream sequences
that make the game a joy to play. Daxter's approach and structure are
straightforward, and there's definitely a sense that the game has played
it safe. There's very little here that hasn't been seen before in many
other platform titles over the years. That said, the game's visuals are
quite impressive, even by PSP standards, with huge environments, great
character animation and extensive voice acting used to visualize Daxter's
adventure. This is an entertaining platforming title with a fantastic
amount of polish, making Daxter an excellent addition to the PSP library.
