Jak II

Jak II
North American PlayStation 2 box art
Developer(s)	Naughty Dog
Publisher(s)	Sony Computer Entertainment
Director(s)	Jason Rubin
Designer(s)	Evan Wells
Programmer(s)	Andy Gavin Mark Cerny Christophe Balestra Christopher Christensen
Artist(s)	Bob Rafei Bruce Straley
Composer(s)	Josh Mancell Larry Hopkins
Series	Jak and Daxter
Engine	Kinetica
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2
Release	NA: October 14, 2003 AU: October 15, 2003 EU: October 17, 2003
Genre(s)	Platform Third-person shooter Action-adventure
Mode(s)	Single-player

Jak II (known as Jak II: Renegade in Australia, New Zealand, Europe, and Africa) is an open world platform third-person shooter action-adventure video game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2. The game was developed for 24 months with a budget of $15 million, is the second game of the Jak and Daxter series and is the sequel to Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy. It was followed by Jak 3 a year later.

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.

Jak II received critical acclaim upon release. Critics applauded the game for being very polished in nearly every department, with many agreeing it was one of the best PlayStation 2 games released at the time. Some criticisms were directed at the checkpoint systems.

The gameplay of Jak II is significantly different from the previous game. The Eco-based gameplay from the previous game has been changed from timed power ups to combat moves. Other changes include the introduction of weapons such as the Morph Gun, a multipurpose firearm. The player will unlock four different gun mods for the gun as they play through the game; the Scatter Gun, for close range fighting, the Blaster, for long range fighting, the Vulcan Fury, which functions the same as the Blaster but with less damage and a much greater rate of fire, and the Peace Maker, which fires charged blasts of energy, and is extremely powerful.