GameInformer

It's been 5 long years since we had a Jak and Daxter game. Original developer Naughty Dog moved on to the Uncharted franchise, so for this game, Sony handed the reigns to High Impact Games, developers of the well received PSP Ratchet and Clank ports. They continue their success with Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier. As you probably have heard, this game takes place after the first trilogy, with Jak and Daxter going to the Brink to search for more Eco. Ship combat is the main focus in this game. You eventually have access to two ships, both fully customizable with weapons and armor powerups. The combat works great, although I would have loved an auto lock button like the PSP's version of Star Wars Battlefront (press it, and wherever the target goes, your ship follows with you just worrying about speed and aiming). Yes, it would have made it like a shooting gallery, but it would have made some of the challenges so much less frustrating. The Daxterjacking minigame is absolutely ingenious. You fire Daxter at an enemy ship, and if you succeed with timed button presses, you come away with some sort of part for your ship. It is a straight up blast, and on the bus trip I was on this week, everybody was always encouraging me to fire Daxter at another ship. Ground wise, platforming works ok, but some of the jumps can be frustrating. For a couple of spots, it took me 5 or 6 times to cross. Melee worked well until I bought a yellow Eco ability that allowed me to fire Eco at my enemies. It might work for some people, but I couldn't personally make the transition from melee to distance. The Gunstaff works well, but the auto target needs a little work. The Dark Daxter levels are pretty well done, and are a nice breather. All in all, a solid work from High Impact Games. If only they had made this game for PS3...