Daxter

Daxter Preview: Multiplayer Madness and More

The last time we checked in on Daxter, Ready at Dawn Studios' first PSP project starring the Jak series' lovably annoying eponymous ottsel, we found a platformer that reprised its predecessors' platforming action with surprising effectiveness. But aside from the core platforming action, which really does seem like Jak with its own unique twist, we didn't know if there'd be anything else to back up the gameplay. Now we've gotten a further taste of what Daxter has to offer, including a wireless multiplayer mode, unique gameplay mechanics later in the game, and secrets and unlockable bonuses galore. All this seems to add up to a game that should tickle platformer fans' fancies on the PSP for some time to come.

But let's back up a second and look at the inception of the project, which ought to strengthen the game's pedigree in the eyes of longtime Jak fans. Ready at Dawn president Didier Malenfant--who helped wrap production on Jak II one week and was shopping for his new studio's office space the next--says that the ideas for Daxter came about through his conversations with Jason Rubin, former head of Naughty Dog. The Jak creators gave regular feedback to the team at Ready at Dawn, and the game was even written and voiced by the same writer and actors (including Daxter voice Max Casella) who brought the original games to life.

Anyway, back to all that content. Malenfant told us Daxter will be long for a platformer, with 18 levels (not counting the city hub between them), six "dream" levels, and three bosses that should amount to 10 to 15 hours of gameplay even for skilled gamers. We took a look at some of the later levels in the game and learned that generally each level in the game will feature some sort of unique mechanic. For instance, Daxter obtains an insecticide sprayer early in the game, and after a while he'll gain the ability to light the spray on fire, creating a flamethrower. In one level, then, you'll encounter a bunch of giant ice blocks, and you can use the flamethrower to melt these blocks to the appropriate size to use as platforms or to push around as necessary.

In our previous look at Daxter, we saw the Matrix-style dream sequence that had us hitting button patterns in quick succession to make a Neo-styled Daxter fight off hordes of Agent Smith-looking enemies. We got to check out a few more of these dream levels in the updated build of the game we saw, each of which had some kind of classic movie hook that tickled our sense of nostalgia. One level cast Daxter as Indiana Jones, forcing him to whip oncoming spiders and snakes while dodging giant rolling boulders. Another was patterned after a certain epic battle for Scottish independence (OK, fine, it's Braveheart). The interesting thing about these dream levels is that they're not just for fun; completing each one successfully will award you a health bonus, a new movie, or some other upgrade that's relevant to the main gameplay.

It sounds like Daxter will be chock-full of hidden things to dig up as you jump and swat your way through the many levels. Aside from the standard metalhead collectibles that return from the Jak games, you'll be able to find a number of masks for Daxter that you can then put on or take off at will. We weren't shown any of these masks so as to preserve the surprise, but they're said to reprise characters from certain other popular Sony franchises. Then there's the USB connectivity between Daxter and Jak X for the PS2. In Jak X, connecting the two will enable new drivers, such as the villainous Kaeden, as well as the best car in the game, the Daxtermobile (which looks like a four-wheeled giant Daxter head). You'll also get some new bonus goodies in Daxter through the connect, though again, we weren't able to find out what these will be.

And then, speaking of hidden stuff, there's the bug combat. The huh? Well, Daxter has a two-player wireless game that's almost entirely separate from the core game. You'll be able to find various combat bugs throughout the game, as well as potions and tokens you can use to upgrade these bugs' abilities, and then you can drop to the main menu and take on all comers in a bug-versus-bug combat mode that's reminiscent of Yu-Gi-Oh! or even Pokйmon. In bug combat, there are three kinds of attacks--spit, claw, and trap--and the three are connected in a rock-paper-scissors manner whereby each one beats one of the others and is beaten by the other one. Though we didn't get to mess with bug combat much ourselves, between the purportedly more than 200,000 possible bugs and the many ways to level up and upgrade them--not to mention the epic amount of trash talk flying between Ready at Dawn members engaged in the game--bug combat looks like it'll provide an interesting and competitive diversion from Daxter's core platforming.

Daxter continues to impress us with its nearly PS2-level visuals and gameplay that's highly reminiscent of its forebears. Add all these new peripheral features to the mix and you've got one loaded PSP game. Will the game live up to its pedigree and the impressive list of features Ready at Dawn has laid out already? We'll find out when Daxter ships next month. In the meantime, check out a number of new gameplay movies and an exclusive developer interview on the game's media page, not to mention four tracks from Daxter's soundtrack.

Gamespot