Jak II
Developer(s): Naughty Dog
Publisher(s): SCEA (US), SCE Australia (AU), SCEE (EU), SCEI (KO, JP)
Genre: Action, Platformer
Wikipedia: Link
Game review links: GameRankings: 88/100, Metacritic: 87/100
Game description: Jak is back in another action-packed adventure, but he's not the same. In Jak II, experiments with Dark Eco gone wrong leave Jak with an uncontrollable dark side, and after two years in prison, Jak seeks vengeance. Accompanied by your trusty friend Daxter, unleash the dark powers on multiple enemies and witness amazing transformations. Armed with powerful weapons, a high-tech jetboard, an impenetrable mech suit, and a number of vehicles at your disposal, you have no excuse for failure.
The game features new weapons and devices, new playable areas, and a storyline that picks up after the events of The Precursor Legacy. The game's plot was noted for being much darker than its predecessor's. As in the previous game, the player takes on the dual role of recurring protagonists Jak and Daxter. There is also a new array of characters such as Torn, Erol, Krew, Kor, Ashelin, and Sig, as well as some returning ones, such as Samos and Keira.
Test configurations on Windows:
Environment | Configurations | Comments | Tester | ||||
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Region | OS | CPU/GPU | Revision | Graphics | Sound/Pad | ||
NTSC-U | Windows 7 64-bit, 3 GB RAM |
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1.0.0 | GSdx SSE2 0.1.16 (r5334) |
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BIOS: USA v01.60(07/02/2002), Emulation Settings: Set VU0 to Super VU recompiler, VU1 to microVU, turn on ALL speed hacks, EE Cyclerate: 3, VU Cycle Stealing 3. I got the framerate up using the D3D9/D3D11 hardware renderers. I cannot get SSE3 or SSE4 to work under AMD. In Software mode you get a normal color palette and almost no FPS, but under Hardware mode, you get all kinds of glitches and full speed on the video. | Wolverine79936 |
NTSC-U | Windows |
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1.1.0 (r5480) | GSdx SSE41 (r5442) |
|
Runs above full speed. For some odd reason, the language and text are Japanese, even though this is a US copy of the game. Various graphic glitches, but still playable. | |
NTSC-U | Windows 7 64-Bit |
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1.2.1 (r5875) | GSdx 0.1.16 (r5875) |
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Bios v2.0 was used. Game is playable in GSdx Hardware mode, however their are a lot of graphical glitches. The ones previously mentioned by Wolverine are still present. When switching to Software mode, the graphical glitches go away but the game runs extremely slow, making it barely playable in either mode. | Zrooney |
NTSC-U | Windows 8.1 64-Bit |
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1.3.0 (r5889) | GSdx SSE41 (r5894) |
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Runs above full speed but can be limited to native. Rendering on my machine can max out all settings at 1080p @ 70 FPS, however MSAA at any level halves framerate. Using fast boot will always send the game into a Japanese preset, booting fully stops this. This is likely becuase the game defaults Japanese unless told otherwise by the BIOS. Still have eye and other various texture issues in hardware mode, software rendering removes this problem but must drop to native resolution to have a playable 60 FPS. | Bushrat011899 |
NTSC-U | Windows 10 64-Bit |
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1.4.0 | GSdx AVX2 1.0.1.9 |
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Runs above full speed, but have some uncontrollable speedups above 60 FPS with enabled frame limiter (at Software and Hardware mode, same problem). At GSdx Software mode rendering threads must be 3 (it will give you at least plus 6-7 FPS on 4+ cores PC if speed drops at Software mode). Using fast boot will always send the game into a Japanese preset, booting fully stops this. This is likely becuase the game defaults Japanese unless told otherwise by the BIOS. Still have eye and other various texture issues in hardware mode (all eyes in game looks like imbeciles eyes, thats looks funny but first 5 minutes...). Software rendering removes this problem, but problems with shadows will be added. | AlexFlame |
PAL | Windows 7 64-Bit |
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1.5.0-dev-1287 | Default | Default | Very demanding in both software and hardware modes, often below 100% speed. Setting speedhacks "EE Cyclerate" to 3 and "VU Cycle Stealing" to 1 gives reasonable performance at and near 100%, with less dramatic and less frequent speed drops. Setting "VU Cycle Stealing" to 3 shows false FPS and causes choppy gameplay. | FlatOut |
NTSC-U | Windows 10 Pro x64 |
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1.5.0-dev-2969
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GSdx 1.1.0
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The game constantly speeds up significantly and then slows down in the fortress, even with frame limiter, making basic platforming almost unplayable at points. The frame rate thereafter (from what I've played) is playable (and maxes out at full speed), but not good, in that slowdown and stutter still occurs often. There are numerous, glaring texture issues, often when viewing them at a distance. OpenGL (hardware) seems to help things very little, and OpenGL and D3D11 (software) seem to fix the textures, but slow the game to a basically unplayable crawl (roughly half speed). All that said, the sound seems to be emulated very well. | TheTechnician27 |
Trivia
- Original names: ジャック×ダクスター2 (SCPS-15057), 잭 2 (SCKA-20010)
- Also known as Jak II: Renegade (EU, AU), Jak and Daxter II (JP), Jak II: El Renegado (EU)
- The game sets to widescreen when it is prompted by the 16:9 ratio setting in the PS2 internal menu.
- Widescreen crops the top and bottom of the 4:3 image, meaning less visible viewing area than when played in 4:3.
Known Issues
Glitchy eyes and messed up colors
- Status: Fixed
- Type: Minor
- Description: All characters have a glitchy eye(s).
- Workaround: Update to the latest nightly version of PCSX2.
Game is in Japanese
- Type: Not an issue
- Description: The game always starts in Japanese even after the language has already been set.
- Workaround: Full boot the game(System -> Boot CDVD (full)), or choose the bottom(third) option in the main menu, then the top option and change the options with the Japanese flag picture to your preferred language.
Stretched shadows
- Status: Fixed
- Type: Minor
- Description: Objects have stretched shadows.
- Workaround: Update to the latest nightly version of PCSX2.
Unable to progress in Weapons Lab
- Status: Active
- Type: Major
- Description: In the Weapons Lab level, after defeating a bunch of red rolling robots, a bridge rotates to allow you to progress. The bridge does not rotate when using the OpenGL renderer (hardware or software) and thus it is impossible to continue the game.
- Workaround: Switch from OpenGL to a DirectX renderer. Everything works as expected this way.
Jak speedup
- Status: Active
- Type: Major
- Description: jak animation speedup walking distance increases in some areas of the game which makes the game harder, those areas are small parts of the Level, not a specific location.
- Workaround: Go to Config > Emulation Settings > Speedhacks tab, set EE cycle to 300%.
Note: cause minnor slowdown and chopy camera.
Alternatively Go to Config > Emulation Settings > EE/IOP tab, set EE to interpreter. Note: cause major slowdown and make the text disappear. .