Jak 2 says ACAB without ever actually saying ACAB, and that’s to be lauded. Importantly, Jak remains likable at all times – even through his werewolf transformations and brilliantly realised distaste for the law. But beneath the schlocky 00’s 2edgy5u aesthetic, there is a solid, impeccable game – one that holds up even today, nearly 20 years later. It’s ‘mature’ for people that are immature, basically. For some reason, this kids game had a penchant for booze, cursing, and lingering shots of the female characters’ curves. Protagonist Jak – his blood coursing with Eco that basically turns him into a vile-tempered nu metal frontman – only needs a wallet chain and a Sony Walkman attached to his hip, and he’ll be every stereotype of the era. It’s also the most early-00s thing you’ll ever see.
This is, to all intents and purposes, a Grand Theft Auto game for all the kids that were too young to play them (and did behind their parents' backs, anyway). You can find collectibles squirreled away in bafflingly-conceived architectural anomalies in the city. You can get a Wanted level by aggravating the ‘police’. You can kick Haven locals off their motorbikes or hover cars, and ride their vehicles to your destination. Inspired by Rockstar, Naughty Dog opted for a mission-centric layout in Jak 2, and even the icons on the map and the way you start up tasks rhymes with its GTA counterpart. Krew and Sig are two of Jak 2's cast of brilliant side characters. It’s as impactful in 2022 as it was in 2003. This is a story of resistance, personal sacrifice, and fighting for what’s right, no matter what.
A small underground resistance – operating out of a bar, naturally – takes beatings, threats, kidnappings and all other manners of horror on the chin. Police take bribes, intimidate the locals. The poor (or useless) are sequestered into slums, the workers crammed into over-populated suburbs. The non-linear platforming levels of Jak & Daxter are left behind as you enter Haven – a city where the locals live under an oppressive, military-facist regime. Naughty Dog, in a breath, discarded the rainbow palettes and mild peril of everything that had come before to instead focus on a grim, industrialised sci-fi GTA-like sandbox.
#Need for speed underground 2 playstation 2 series#
If you played the first game in the series – or indeed any of the Crash Bandicoot games that preceded that – Jak 2 is a shock to the system.
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