	Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier
	Developer: High Impact Games Publisher: SCEE Release Date: Out Now Players: 1	Words By:
It’s hard to think back to times when we were swamped with platformers on the original PSone & the PS2, but these days we have a little less choice with the genre. It’s been quite some time since we had a Jak and Daxter game on any format so it was a nice surprise to find a new offering was going to hit the PSP with The Lost Frontier. This latest PSP title hasn’t been created by the original developers Naughty Dog (too busy with Mr Drake methinks) but High Impact Games has had a number of successes on the PSP which includes the similar portable versions of the Ratchet and Clank games – so things look promising. The story in The Lost Frontier (which apparently follows on directly from Jak 3) is well, a little convoluted. The basic premise has Jak and his sidekick searching out the scarce supplies of Eco that has something to do with saving the world. To keep things plodding along Jak finds himself up against Captain Phoenix and his sky pirate crew who are after the same thing - but obviously for evil purposes. The plot can drag a little in places and although the cut scenes are relatively well done there are times when you just want to get on with it. Anyone who’s had a dabble with earlier Jak and Daxter games will, within seconds of playing this one, feel right at home. The main bulk of the game is pure platforming with a dash of combat and some aerial sections too which I will get onto later. Jumping around the lovely-looking 3-D environments avoiding the usual pitfalls and moving traps whilst going on ‘fetch & carry’ quests is familiar but satisfying. There are a couple of instances where you have to give the shoulder buttons a bit of a push to manoeuvre the camera but largely everything is well done and has enough polish to impress. There are of course nasties dotted around which means you’ll need to utilise Jak’s Gunstaff. This is basically a long stick to which attachments can be added giving you access to various forms of firepower. Nothing revolutionary but it gives you choices. On top of the weapons Jak has access to he can also call upon his Eco powers or Eco Skills. Eco powers are in essence Jak’s magic spells and are divided into colours. Red Eco lets Jak throw huge fireballs, which explode when fired upon and are useful for clearing pathways, yellow eco lets Jak jetpack his way up from special platforms and so on. It’s usually fairly obvious where these abilities need to be utilised but you’ll always need to be on the look out. The Eco skills are slightly different and are linked to Jak’s abilities. These are again split into colours depending on how they work and there are a vast amount of moves, which can be bought with the dark Eco collected throughout the levels. ‘RPG-lite’ is how some may describe it. Flying was the biggest surprise for me when playing the game because you end up doing so damn much of it. Flying the planes is relatively easy and works well enough to keep you entertained initially, but with sustained play things unfortunately get a little samey. Luckily the upgrade system used in the rest of the game applies here too and you’re able to pimp your various planes increasing speed and firepower which helps to alleviate some of the repetition when shooting down that enemy aircraft for the 10th time. Don’t get me wrong I do enjoy the more frantic dogfights but it’s just the platforming bits are so much better. After a short amount of playtime you are given access to the hub of the game from where you can tackle the main quests or work your way through optional side quests. The side quests usually have players repeating the same task against the clock or multiple times with increasing difficulty. For example, in one particular mission you have to shoot down more targets then your opponents, which is fine, but if you want to gain top marks you’ll have to complete this three or four times. This is optional but for completists who want to tick every box this will soon seem a little like lazy gameplay ‘filler’. For your money you will get a lot of playtime out of The Lost Frontier and 90% of the game is excellent. It’s fortunate that the 10% of small niggles (which include some overlong flying sections, the occasionally dodgy camera and the out of place Dark Daxter sections) can be easily looked past. Those looking for a decent PSP platformer would struggle to find one better then this. Now, a PS3 Jak & Daxter update please Naughty Dog?

Best Bits
- Looks great
- Plenty to do
- Platforming is pure and uncomplicated
- Addictive gameplay

Worst Bits
- The flying bits can go on a bit too long
- The camera isn’t always your friend
- Dark Daxter… yawn.
- What’s going on with the story?


by: Pedro