Jak II

 ( Games : Jak-ii-renegade : Official Website ) 

Jak's basic actions include running, jumping, double-jumping, crouching, and a rolling jump to reach distant platforms. Jak's combat moves include a spin attack, a dash-punch, a dive attack, and an uppercut. Jak's melee skills are complemented by the Morph-Gun, a firearm that can be upgraded and modified for different firepower capabilities. Jak has unlimited lives; when his health is depleted, he respawns in the beginning of the last section of the area he was located in. A quarter of Jak's health can be replenished by collecting Health Packs.

The Hoverboard enables faster travel and a variety of tricks. Carjacking Zoomers (Hovercar) of varying speed and durability also provides transportation around Haven City, and is sometimes required to complete an objective. Due to Baron Praxis's experiments, Jak can absorb a substance known as Dark Eco in small concentrated amounts; the amount of collected Dark Eco is indicated by a meter circling a picture of Jak on the lower-left corner of the screen. When the meter is full, Jak can transform into Dark Jak, a powerful form capable of massive melee abilities than can clear out multiple enemies. New abilities for Dark Jak can be obtained by exchanging Metal Head Skull Gems (gemstones collected from enemies known as Metal Heads) with a mysterious teacher.

The game features a mission-based structure in which the player can choose tasks non-linearly. Missions are diverse, encompassing platforming, racing, Mecha operations, and protection tasks. Precursor Orbs, which unlock special options and features, can be found hidden within the game's environments or earned by completing certain tasks.

Other important characters include Torn (voiced by Cutter Garcia), the second-in-command of the resistance movement known as the Underground; Sig (voiced by Phil LaMarr), a Metal Head hunter/Wastelander who gathers artifacts from outside the city; Krew (voiced by Bill Minkin), a vastly overweight gang lord; Tess (voiced by Britton A. Hill), a barmaid; Errol (voiced by David Herman), the Baron's right-hand man and commander of the Krimzon Guard; and Ashelin (voiced by Susan Eisenberg), the daughter of Baron Praxis who helps the Underground behind her father's back. Baron Praxis and the Metal Heads' leader Kor are the story's antagonists.

During a prison break-in, Daxter finds Jak and breaks him out of the facility, though the pair discover that Praxis' experiments have left Jak with the ability to transform into a Dark Eco version of himself with increased strength, reflexes, stamina and aggression. In escaping the prison and accessing the city, the pair encounter an elderly man named Kor, protecting a young boy known only as The Kid. Kor sends them to make contact with the Underground, a resistance movement led by the mysterious figure known as the Shadow, seeking to bring down Praxis and replace him with the city's rightful heir, The Kid. Meeting with the Shadow's lieutenant, Torn, the pair learn that Praxis is seeking to protect the city and its eco reserves from creatures known as Metal Heads, an evil biomechanical race dating back from Precursor times. Working for the Underground, the pair eventually discover that they have been flung nearly 300 years into the future, after finding the remains of Samos' hut in the city's borders. To further complicate the matter, the pair also learn that the Shadow is none other than Samos—albeit, a younger version, unaware of the ruins significance.

Learning that Praxis is seeking an item within a tomb of the city's founder, Jak and Daxter continue working for the Underground, along the way taking work for the crime lord Krew, and reuniting with Kiera, who works as a mechanic in the city's arena. In the process, the pair discover Praxis, unable to outright defeat the Metal Heads, is bribing them with eco. The agreement entails the Metal Heads attacking the city just enough to warrant Praxis' rule, but not enough to actually topple the army. Working with Young Samos, the pair eventually help the Underground find and access the tomb, but become separated when it closes shut on them. With no choice, the pair search the tomb and discover an ancient artifact within called the Precursor Stone, which Praxis steals in hopes of cracking it open and use its destruction that can destroy the Metal Heads, despite it having the potential to wipe out Haven City.

Seeking to rescue the Underground, after its chief members were kidnapped in their absence, Jak and Daxter reunite with the older version of Samos, who warns the group that The Kid must be found urgently, despite Young Samos contradicting his instructions. However, Jak and Daxter soon find they must, after preventing Praxis from completing his bomb with the assistance of Krew, whom the pair kill. Shortly after Krew's death, Metal Heads swarm into the city, forcing the Underground and Krimzon Guard to join forces to resist the invasion. At the same time, Jak and Daxter track down Praxis and find him meeting with Kor, who transpires to be the Metal Heads' leader in disguise and had been seeking to use The Kid in order to bring the world into ruin. Departing to complete a ritual he had been working, Kor kills Praxis, who entrusts the Precursor Stone to Jak and Daxter. The pair swiftly pursue after Kor, killing him and finding the very Rift Gate they used to travel through time, and ending the Metal Heads threat.

The Kid, whom Jak had discovered was his younger self, touches the Stone, reawakening the Precursor entity within, which flies through the gate. As Kiera arrives with a new Rift Rider she had created, Samos reveals that they cannot return to the past—instead, Jak's younger self and Young Samos must go, in order to ensure Jak will fulfill the destiny he completed with Kor's defeat. In the aftermath of the conflict, Daxter takes over Krew's bar, as he, Jak, Samos and Kiera prepare to enjoy their new lives in Haven City.

Noting the success of mature titles such as Grand Theft Auto III and the lower sales of The Precursor Legacy compared to Naughty Dog's Crash Bandicoot games, Rubin decided that the sequel should react to the market, as their demographic grew older and younger players preferred adult games. Thus, Naughty Dog gave the game a darker tone and a plot about Jak seeking vengeance, and increased the difficulty in response to complaints of the first game being too easy. The addition of the hoverboard was inspired by Tony Hawk's Pro Skater. Naughty Dog wanted to emphasize storytelling even more than the first game while still integrating it into the gameplay, so they made much of the collecting optional and eschewed full-motion videos in favor of in-engine cutscenes. Unlike its predecessor, which uses the same character models for gameplay and cutscenes, Jak II uses unique high-resolution models for its cutscenes, done in response to early screenshots of Kingdom Hearts.

The voice-acting was jointly recorded in the Los Angeles-based Pop Sound and the New York City-based Howard Schwartz Recording.