Hard to Deny the Game's Strong Feminist Undertones
He's Like Rambo, but Puny, Tiny, and More Helpless
Wonder What Happens When You Stick that Electric Flyswatter Into the Water
Note How Boob Size and Ear Size are Directly Proportional
Either He's Using His Flamethrower as a Jetpack, or he Just Lit a Fart
Rides Don't Come Much Less Pimped than This
There Aren't Any Problems a Flamethrower Can't Solve
Now THOSE are Bedroom Eyes
Oh yeah, there's a Matrix dream sequence. Not that you care about such things
.
No, I Don't Know What an Ottsel is Either, but That's No Excuse for Not Playing This One of the great truisms of gaming is that platforms live and die with their mascots. Nintendo has built an empire based on an Italian stereotype in overalls, and Microsoft probably would have crashed and burned as a console manufacturer had it not been for Master Chief. Through the years, Sony has relied on a few different mascots, running from the over-caffeinated, possibly slightly retarded Crash Bandicoot, to the fuzzy yet metallic combo of Ratchet & Clank. Their most successful mascot duo however, may very well be Jak and Daxter, two best buddies caught up in a world of ancient secrets and freakishly huge ears. While the main Jak & Daxter trilogy has long since wrapped up, every good company knows to never let a potential sale escape, and that's why Ready at Dawn studios has brought us the fun, and funny, Daxter.
I Once Squished a Bug Thiiiiiis Big The story takes place in the two years which elapsed between the original Jak & Daxter and Jak II. Jak has been thrown in the pokey in order to be trained in the art of brooding, so Daxter sets about doing what he does best, telling tall tales at the bar. His stories of heroism and valor catch the ear of Osmo, the local exterminator, who recruits Daxter to take care of some Metal Head bugs who have taken up residence nearby. Armed with an electric flyswatter and the belief that squishing bugs will make the ladies totally dig you (which is soooo true; if you don't believe me, crunch a bunch of maggots in front of your girlfriend and see what happens), the little fuzzball sets off to make some things go splat.
Unfortunately, that's about as deep as the story gets. Most missions consist of Daxter simply heading out to go take care of an infestation, and then heading off on another task as soon as that one is complete. About two-thirds of the way through the game he finally remembers: "Oh yeah, my best friend is currently in a jail suffering torture so heinous it makes Guantanamo look like the Fluffy Kitten and Adorable Puppy Jamboree. Perhaps I should seek out a way to spring him." Good old Daxter! I only hope I can eventually have a friend who is loyal enough to remember to come get me out of prison mere years after I am arrested. That's a true buddy right there.
Jump, Squish, Rinse, Repeat
The gameplay formula for Daxter is that of a platformer in the purist sense, with running and jumping interrupted only for brief spurts of combat. Most missions consist of you hopping from platform to platform, with later levels throwing you the twin curveballs of rotating platforms and moving platforms. It's a throwback to games of generations past, but the whole system is implemented so well that you'll likely enjoy it so much you'll forget that there's not a single original idea in here.
When you aren't hopping a swatting you'll also find yourself driving and sneaking. The title throws in a handful of vehicle missions, each of which feature objectives just varied enough to keep them interesting. While you may not particularly look forward to these excursions, at least you won't fear them like the inevitable escort mission in an action game, or yet another fetch quest in an RPG.
The one mission you will fear, however, is a sneaking section that comes later in the game. Featuring guards with bionic hearing and an itchy trigger finger, the whole thing begs the question of why, when you've got such a good thing going, every developer insists on throwing in that one idea that nearly spoils the whole experience. While the stealth mission adds nothing to the title, at least you only have to do it once and it doesn't last all that long.
It sprays, it flies, it makes julienne fries! Within the missions, when you aren't jumping or lining up a jump there are brief combat segments featuring a few nasty bugs that would rather die than scurry off to the underbelly of the refrigerator where you can't quite reach them with your shoe. While things start off simply enough, the baddies quickly grow bigger and meaner, and it becomes apparent that you'll need more firepower to take them out.
Thankfully, Daxter is granted a sprayer that he can use to poison and stun the bugs. Later in the game you also earn a flamethrower attachment to roast the little bastards, in addition to an ultrasonic blast that will basically clear out any baddies that head your way. The sprayer isn't just for fighting though, as you can also use it to help Daxter hover across gaps and reach otherwise unattainable objects. It's a fun mechanic, and watching the little fuzzball cling to his pack for dear life as he floats through the sky is always worth a chuckle.
All told, the level design and gameplay mechanics evoke images of a group of developers who really took the time to get it right. Daxter stands as the rare game with almost no bad levels, and no real moments where you find yourself dreading playing the next segment - at least not in the same way you dread calling all your previous sexual partners after you get that "bad news" from the clinic.
It's Like Stuffing an Entire PS2 into a Tiny Package, and then Putting that Package in my Pants It's become quite obvious that the folks over at Ready at Dawn studios are some sort of evil wizards, because they can make the PSP do things no one believed to be possible. God of War: Chains of Olympus, their other PSP release, was one of the most gorgeous games on the system, and Daxter is every bit as good. All the characters and environments are just as vibrant and alive as anything you would see on the PS2, and it's obvious the team took great care to make all the animations look natural and real. The only downside to this pretty little package is that sometimes all that detail comes at the price of slowdown, with an already sluggish Daxter slowing to a crawl when the disc has to load up a whole bustling city. Thankfully though, this little hiccup is normally mild and short-lived, and since you spend the rest of your time in a breathtaking, load-free world, it's kind of hard to nitpick.
The game also does a good job with the controls, though they aren't quite perfect. Attacking and jumping are all perfectly responsive, and it's quite easy to pull off any series of moves at any given time. The problem comes in the same place as with most any adventure game, with the dreaded 3-D camera. While you can rotate the viewpoint 360 degrees, it does sometimes have the bad fortune of getting stuck in an unhelpful position or deciding to change perspective on you at inopportune times. More often than not you won't have any problems, but those times you do it can be as frustrating as opening up the leftover pizza box only to find out that your roommate ate the last piece and then left the box on the counter. No good waste of space, can't even pay the rent on time, you'd at least think he'd respect the rules of pizza...
He'll Steal Your Heart, (and Also Possibly Your Wallet) - But Most Importantly Your Heart Aside from a few minor flaws, Daxter is by and large a great title that any PSP owner would do well to pick up and play. The nostalgic platforming, amusing characters, and overall flat-out fun gameplay just go to show that you don't need the biggest and meanest machine to run a great game. Thus far, with two big hits under their belt, Ready at Dawn is proving that anything they touch on the PSP turns to gold. Now then, if I could just get them to touch this 100 lb. bar of lead I have sitting in my living room, maybe I could finally afford to get that anger management medicine the doctors have been bugging me about.
...
Brad
Daxter was a good platformer, but not deserving of all this praise.
It's alot like Jak 1, only.......somehow not as good. And Jak 1 was an OK game.
It was sometimes monotonous, but at least not repetitive. Finding hidden Precursor Orbs could be downright boring, and getting to them would be irritating. There was action, but no real puzzle to defeating most of your enemies. It had a sense of humor, but......well........I'm actually happy with what small amount of humor there was. But all of these are meaningless to the one true fault that destroys some of the very soul of this game:
*SPOILER WARNING*
they killed Tik.
All in all, Daxter is not a bad game and even manages to entertain with it's platforming, but it just falls short. In fact, it is a rather short game.
I would not suggest getting Daxter, but if you are a hard Jak series fan or find it for a cheap price then go ahead and get it.
P.S. On a side note, I spent more time playing the first matrix minigame than I did playing the actual game. That may be an exaggeration, but it was a damn fun minigame.
.
Summary: Daxter finally gets his own starring role, and he nails it.
Already played it? Trade it for another game at
Systems: PSP
Genre: Platformer
Setting: The seedy underbelly of Haven City, where nasty bugs roam and cause women to shriek and jump up on chairs.
Mood: Mostly light, with the occasional dramatic moment thrown in to remind you that this is a Jak & Daxter game.
Story: Daxter sets out to kill bugs and only eventually gets around to remembering that his best friend has been rotting in prison for years.
Graphics: Beautiful, but at the price of occasional slowdown.
Music/Sound: Just ducky, it does a great job of setting the mood.
Voice Acting: All the series vets are back, and they do a great job as always.
Script/Dialog: Captures the franchise's humor well, though some jokes do skew towards the played out side of things.
Similar Games: Jak & Daxter, Crash Bandicoot, Super Mario Bros.
Gameplay: Jak & Daxter, Crash Bandicoot, Super Mario Sunshine
Strengths: Great visuals, fun gameplay, nice use of weapons.
Weaknesses: Sometimes picky controls, camera issues, some levels are used more than once.
Depth: 6.2 inches
Length: 6-8 hours
Pace: This train just keeps on rolling.
Difficulty: Easy
Control: Mostly good, but a few jumping segments can be frustrating.
Learning Curve: Shallow
Replayability: Moderately high, you can always go back and find all the Metal Head gems and Precursor Orbs.
Will keep you up until (a.k.a Fun
Factor): You overcome your fears of bugs in your sheets and fall asleep due to sheer exhaustion.
Notable Features: Daxter's sprayer which doubles as a hover pack; a multiplayer game that features bugs fighting in a rock-paper-scissors style showdown.
Fav. Character: Ximon, the surfer stoner teenager. Because, you know, that's the most original idea for a character ever.
Instant Classic: You betcha.
Publisher: Sony
Developer: Ready at Dawn
Release Date: 2006-03-14
Players: 1
Multiplayer: There's a special bug battle minigame, but it's nothing too special.
ESRB: E10
Target Audience: Fans of old school platformers, people who like cute, furry mascots.
Recommended For: Furries, those who have played the other games in the series, anyone with a PSP and a few bucks to spend.
Not Recommended for: Anyone with an unhealthy fear of small, pointy-eared talking rodents.
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
| 
| 
| 
