dapting to the current trends that shape the video game industry, Jak II is not a title about collecting random doodads scattered across a kiddie wonderland. The atmosphere within this sequel embraces a darker side where violence and adult themes prevail.

From a design standpoint, the game is less of a platformer and more of a Grand Theft Auto clone. Players are dropped into a sprawling city where they can freely jack flying cars from unsuspecting motorists, shoot random citizens, and more or less do as they please. Of course, your crimes won’t go unnoticed. Local authorities will converge on your location in a heartbeat and apply the force needed to take you down.

From a mission standpoint, Jak II again appears to draw inspiration from Rockstar’s juggernaut. To reach your next destination, you simply need to follow an icon that appears on your onscreen map.

Having the freedom to tackle challenges in a less linear fashion is definitely a strength, but the open-ended play that comes with traversing a massive city is more of a curse than anything. Unfortunately, since there really is nothing to do in the city outside of moving from one waypoint to another, you quickly lose interest in the environment and freedom that you have at your fingertips. Driving a car and causing a ruckus in GTA never gets old. On the other hand, there really is nothing exciting about flying a hover car in Jak II’s world. The concept is certainly sound, but there really needed to be more interaction with the city.

While this is a major complaint, it only covers but a fraction of the game. Most of the missions in Jak II remain true to the series’ roots and are comprised of platforming segments. As expected, the action in Jak II is ingenious. The controls are fashioned perfectly, and the challenges are are very difficult. To spice things up even more, a handful of weapons have been implemented into the mix, and Jak can morph into a Hulk-like rampaging beast. If you’re not flipping off of poles or leaping from ledges that crumble beneath your feet, there’s a good chance you’ll be mowing down dozens of critters with a chain gun.

Once you get out of the city, Jak II truly is a rip-roaring good time. The story has received a dramatic facelift as well. The cutscenes are actually ripe with action, shocking plot twists, and Hollywood-caliber cinematics – whereas every sequence in the first game was limited to characters conversing.

Like its precursor, Jak II truly is one of the most gorgeous games on the PlayStation 2. With each new environment I entered, I found myself staring in disbelief at not just the detail, but the scale of the visuals that unfolded around me.

As a whole, Jak II is a much better play than the first, but it does fall victim to unnecessary lulls in the action.   

MATT HELGESON   9 This is the best-looking platformer to date – on any system. It’s also one of the most ambitious attempts to move the genre forward. Constructed in a manner similar to GTA III, you’ll cruise around an enormous city – checking into various locations to tackle platforming, hoverbike racing, and other unique minigames. For the most part, it’s a successful experiment. Heck, it even has a story I care about! As you would expect from Naughty Dog, the platforming is second to none; featuring new gun combat, accurate physics, and extremely canny enemies. I especially like the way that each level offers unique gameplay sequences that only happen once during the course of the game. The only real flaw of Jak II is the fact that traversing the city and completing Crazy Taxi-style challenges got to be a bit of chore, mostly due to the hard-to-handle vehicle physics. Other than that, it’s as good as gaming gets.