Naughty Dog has once again created another great game, but this
one isn’t a platformer. Just like the Crash Bandicoot series, one of the
premiere character platform game developers has made a car combat game, but this time
it’s a little more serious. Jak X: Combat Racing takes fans on a brand new
experience by leaving it’s platforming
roots and replacing it with some Twisted Metal-type
action. Now although Jak X: Combat Racing is leaving it’s platforming style,
it still delivers the same great humor and attitude each character had from the past three
games. You’re racing the same kinds of dune buggies you were in Jak 3,
except the driving is more clean. Jak still has the badass attitude and Daxter is still
ridiculous. Jak X: Combat Racing gives players fast action and loads of fun.When I first played Jak X, I was hooked. The action was so fast and the racing was incredibly fun, I just couldn’t stop playing. The game has over 24 tracks and 10 gameplay modes. Circuit Races are basic races with shooting and driving, Freeze Rally is a mode where you must complete the trail in under a certain time limit, and Deathmatch is to kill all of your opponents in an open space environment. The other modes are extremely addictive, such as, Artifact Race mode which is a race to collect as many artifacts as you can in an open environment.
You can unlock cars by winning races. If you collect enough Precursor Orbs, you
can use them as money and buy things to update your car with. You can tune it up by making
it faster, stronger, and more cooler looking. You can also change the paint job. This can
be useless at times because of all of the cars you can unlock will probably have more
stats than the last one you tuned up.Using the R1 and R2 buttons allowed you to use your turbo and shoot at enemies, while using your L1 and L2 buttons allowed you to jump and use a counterattack weapon.
Now this counterattack weapon is a very new thing to me. You will have a target like reticule on your car when you move. Right before it gets smaller and the crosshairs become one, you can tap L1 and use your counterattack, which disables that weapon that is being used on you. You can also use landmines and torrents that cover you while you race.
After about an hour of fun, I noticed my hands were very sore. I stared at my finger positions, and I had my index and middle fingers on each of the L and R buttons while I held down “X” with my right thumb and I controlled my car with my left thumb. My hands were very uncomfortable, especially with all of the action going on. I had to break from my gaming and collect myself a couple of times while playing this game.
Audio in this game was done by THX, which means Jak X: Combat Racing
features outstanding sound. The music is composed of hard rock and a couple of techno
sounds mixed together. Explosions and weapons in this game are spectacular and the
voiceovers are of course, excellent and very well played.My biggest beef with this game comes from the races themselves. This is a major flaw in the game which many average racers feature. I call it…"Magnet Racing." No one is ever really far ahead and no one is ever really far behind. Everyone is stuck together and clustered to have loads of action. If you try your best to leave the crowd, chances are you will get shot from behind and end up almost always in 3rd place.
The graphics are pretty well done. They’re not the best I’ve seen on the PS2, but they aren’t an eyesore either. Each environment is well designed and has it’s own uniqueness. There are even some environmental events that happen. At no point of playing this game did I have choppy gameplay or glitch issues.
Jak X: Combat Racing is an excellent racing experience for fans of Twisted Metal or Crash Team Racing. There is tons of action to go around, along with online mode and offline multiplayer. I guarantee you will have loads of fun with this game.
