Jak II

Yes, in this one you go from your standard platform type game to a game where Jak does not only kill enemies with spin attacks, but also with guns. He also steals hover vehicles and takes them for a spin. Why the sudden shift? Easy, Grand Theft Auto III came out and a lot of games took this sort of free roaming shift. Not that it is bad here, I just prefer the way the first one moved better. This one does pick up where the first one left off. Jak, Daxter, Keira, and Samos the sage have put together some device and it transports them to a future world to a city called Haven City. This place is bad news, Jak is found and taken prisoner and is kept prisoner when Daxter finally comes to the rescue. You then must do various missions throughout the very large city ranging from fetch quests, chases, and re con missions to try to take power back from the one who now rules Haven City. Jak now shoots a gun with different forms of ammo and you even get a skateboard that you can use in a type of skate course or throughout your travels in this huge city. This one though has some missions that are cuss and hair pulling inducing. Some of the chase scenes within the city is maddening thanks to a very filled street. I mean there are so many hover crafts and they do not move out of your way. You also never get any more health during these missions which adds to the frustration. However, the story here is good as is the game play...it is a shame they felt they had to take the game into a new direction, but they do a relatively good job getting it there.