The Good
Really good voice acting.
The Bad
Non-existent story.
Story
I really feel lied to. Here is the text in the back of the case:
?At last, it?s all about Daxter! And its up to him to sneak around Haven City, er, ?disguised? as an exterminator to bust his buddy Jak out of prison. It?s going to take some serious gizmos to survive this mess.?
Even if you caught the spelling error in the second sentence, it still sounds interesting. Although, the problem is what?s printed in the back doesn?t exactly match the story in the game:
Jak gets captured and Daxter escapes screaming back that he?ll rescue Jak in no-time. Two years later Daxter gets offered a job as an exterminator. Then near the end of the game, a rival exterminator company explodes Daxter?s company. While taking revenge Daxter also happens to rescue Jak. The main focus of the game was never to rescue Jak. It was only to go through various levels, collecting money for you extermination company. The ending doesn?t even show Daxter rescuing Jak.
Gameplay The developers try to mix up the gameplay so you don?t get bored. First, so that it isn?t just level after level, they created a world you use to travel between levels. This serves as a nice, but short break. Then they occasionally have short levels where you drive a vehicle. And, at rare times, they make a piece of a level a side-scroller.
They also introduce new weapons which help you go through newer levels. You initially start the game with a fly swatter. Then you get a weapon that shoots gas that stuns enemies and allows you to hover for a brief period of time. Then you get a modification that turns the latter into a flame thrower. This allows you to hurt enemies and hover higher. Then you get another modification that sends some kind of blast. This last item is only useful in some boss fights though.
You go through various levels, some look the same and some don?t. But they generally introduce new platform ideas to make it harder and more interesting. Still, since the story never moves forward, it seems like an endless stream of levels and can become tedious. After finishing about 50%, I was only able to play one level during one sitting because it was so repetitive and the story never moved forward.
While you are going through the game you can collect these pink eggs which can give you extra things: bonus games, cheats, concept art, and extra things that might make the game a little more fun.
The bonus games were the most interesting to me since they are games in which you are a character from one of three movies: Neo from the Matrix, that guy from Braveheart, the wizard and dwarf from Lord of the Rings. The bonus games aren?t that engaging. The gameplay is practically the same (pressing buttons in the order that they appear) other than the fact that it?s a different character from a different movie. But sometimes it?s fun to watch them act out.
The camera angle is an occasional annoyance in this game. It can only move in the space allowed ? like Daxter. It can?t go through walls or Daxter, therefore, it can make setting up the camera for a jump difficult. But it isn?t a major problem.
Graphics
The graphics are detailed and characters animate smoothly just like a PS2 game, which is impressive. The only issue is the framerate. At times, the framerate can slow down significantly, but fortunately, almost never during heavy action scenes.
Audio
I have no complaints about the audio. But I am impressed at the voice acting done in this game. It?s spot on and very entertaining.
Grade: C
Overall, Daxter is an OK game that deserves to be overshadowed by the better titles for the PSP. You won?t be staying up all night playing since there is little motivation to finish the game. However, its characters will keep you amused and its repetitive gameplay will bring occasional fun.
Really good voice acting.
The Bad
Non-existent story.
Story
I really feel lied to. Here is the text in the back of the case:
?At last, it?s all about Daxter! And its up to him to sneak around Haven City, er, ?disguised? as an exterminator to bust his buddy Jak out of prison. It?s going to take some serious gizmos to survive this mess.?
Even if you caught the spelling error in the second sentence, it still sounds interesting. Although, the problem is what?s printed in the back doesn?t exactly match the story in the game:
Jak gets captured and Daxter escapes screaming back that he?ll rescue Jak in no-time. Two years later Daxter gets offered a job as an exterminator. Then near the end of the game, a rival exterminator company explodes Daxter?s company. While taking revenge Daxter also happens to rescue Jak. The main focus of the game was never to rescue Jak. It was only to go through various levels, collecting money for you extermination company. The ending doesn?t even show Daxter rescuing Jak.
Gameplay The developers try to mix up the gameplay so you don?t get bored. First, so that it isn?t just level after level, they created a world you use to travel between levels. This serves as a nice, but short break. Then they occasionally have short levels where you drive a vehicle. And, at rare times, they make a piece of a level a side-scroller.
They also introduce new weapons which help you go through newer levels. You initially start the game with a fly swatter. Then you get a weapon that shoots gas that stuns enemies and allows you to hover for a brief period of time. Then you get a modification that turns the latter into a flame thrower. This allows you to hurt enemies and hover higher. Then you get another modification that sends some kind of blast. This last item is only useful in some boss fights though.
You go through various levels, some look the same and some don?t. But they generally introduce new platform ideas to make it harder and more interesting. Still, since the story never moves forward, it seems like an endless stream of levels and can become tedious. After finishing about 50%, I was only able to play one level during one sitting because it was so repetitive and the story never moved forward.
While you are going through the game you can collect these pink eggs which can give you extra things: bonus games, cheats, concept art, and extra things that might make the game a little more fun.
The bonus games were the most interesting to me since they are games in which you are a character from one of three movies: Neo from the Matrix, that guy from Braveheart, the wizard and dwarf from Lord of the Rings. The bonus games aren?t that engaging. The gameplay is practically the same (pressing buttons in the order that they appear) other than the fact that it?s a different character from a different movie. But sometimes it?s fun to watch them act out.
The camera angle is an occasional annoyance in this game. It can only move in the space allowed ? like Daxter. It can?t go through walls or Daxter, therefore, it can make setting up the camera for a jump difficult. But it isn?t a major problem.
Graphics
The graphics are detailed and characters animate smoothly just like a PS2 game, which is impressive. The only issue is the framerate. At times, the framerate can slow down significantly, but fortunately, almost never during heavy action scenes.
Audio
I have no complaints about the audio. But I am impressed at the voice acting done in this game. It?s spot on and very entertaining.
Grade: C
Overall, Daxter is an OK game that deserves to be overshadowed by the better titles for the PSP. You won?t be staying up all night playing since there is little motivation to finish the game. However, its characters will keep you amused and its repetitive gameplay will bring occasional fun.
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