Daxter

14.03.2006

Critic 89/100

Users 79/100

Genre: Platform Adventure

Daxter is a 2006 platform video game developed by Ready at Dawn and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation Portable Daxter is centred around the world of the lovable orange ottsel made popular in the Jak and Daxter franchise. The story unfolds as Daxter searches for Jak, who was imprisoned during the events that led to the start of "Jak II." Now on his own in an unfamiliar place, Daxter quickly realizes that being small and furry won't help his chances of survival. To help stamp out a mysterious Metal Bugs infestation, Daxter takes on a job as a pest exterminator, enabling him to explore parts of Haven City in an effort to collect the clues that will lead him to Jak. Daxter allows gamers to play from his perspective, offering a distinctive set of moves with agile abilities that allow players to climb walls, creep up on enemies, fit in small places and manoeuvre vehicles. Taking a job as a pest exterminator to fight an ongoing invasion of metal bugs, Daxter comes equipped with gadgets to rid the city of these metal nuisances. Get close up and personal by using your flimsy bug swatter to squash an army of attacking insects or your spray gun to hover around various environments while picking up various upgrades.

The game takes place in the final months of the 2-year gap presented in the opening of Jak II (and the aftermath of The Precursor Legacy), between the moment when Jak is taken prisoner by the Krimzon Guard and the time in which Daxter finally rescues him from the Krimzon Guard Fortress. The introduction shows Jak being captured while Daxter manages to escape. Almost two years later (having no luck rescuing Jak), Daxter has forgotten all about finding his friend. An old man named Osmo, whom Daxter meets, hires Daxter as an exterminator working in various parts of Haven City and occasionally its environs to exterminate bug-like Metal Heads referred to in-game as 'Metal Bugs'. During his adventures, Daxter meets a mysterious woman named Taryn, who, despite being less than impressed by Daxter's interest in her, occasionally helps him. After completing several missions for Osmo, Daxter sees Jak in a Prison Zoomer and attempts to chase after it. After being cornered by some Krimzon Guards (who had noticed Daxter's pursuit), Daxter is rescued by Osmo's son Ximon, who assists him with several more missions, including one to Baron Praxis' palace, where Daxter steals a map of the Fortress. In this prison, Jak is being held. After returning to the extermination shop, an arthropod sidekick that Daxter acquired earlier is killed by Kaeden, a bitter man who seemingly wants to steal Osmo's shop but, in actuality, is working for Kor, the Metal Head leader. When Daxter tries to stop Kaeden from escaping the shop, Kaeden suddenly blows up the shop with a bomb he placed in the shop earlier. Daxter and Osmo survive, and Daxter promises to stop Kaeden, but only after he rescues Jak. Daxter infiltrates the Fortress and finds Kaeden, who reveals himself as a giant Metal Bug. Daxter manages to defeat Kaeden, who tries to warn him that Kor is waiting outside for them. He then uses a hover platform to begin searching for Jak within the Fortress, leading into the opening cutscene from Jak II. After this, the game cuts to a point later in the timeline at Daxter's Naughty Ottsel Bar, where he recounts the story to Jak, Keira, Samos, Tess and Taryn.