Parents' Guide to

Jak II

By Kate Pavao, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 13+

Beautiful but dark futuristic fantasy world.

Game PlayStation 2 2003
Jak II Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this game.

Community Reviews

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age 12+

Based on 2 parent reviews

pankakemarine236
pankakemarine236 Adult
November 22, 2015
age 10+

Fun, very fun

This game is extremely fun, but has some language and a dark story. The violence isn't bad at all.
ChrisH.
ChrisH. Adult
November 25, 2014
age 14+

This title has:

Too much violence
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
See all 2 parent reviews

What’s It About?

In this sequel, players wander through a beautifully drawn -- but dark -- futuristic fortress city, including what's outside the walls and what's underground. Though your original motivations have more to do with revenge against the city's scheming dictator, eventually you get swept up with the resistance movement.

Your missions include restoring water to a neglected part of the city, or patrolling the forest for stubborn mutants in league with the dictator. JAK II incorporates a wide range of gameplay, borrowing from some of the most popular games in the market. Standard jumping- and shooting-based missions are interspersed with opportunities to race and even grind on a hoverboard, for example.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (2 ):
Kids say (8 ):

The dark atmosphere is lightened by comical characters who appear during interludes, such as a parrot translator who takes humorous liberties with his interpretations, and Daxter is back and ever-present as your sassy sidekick.

The game is sprawling with 60-plus missions to complete, and completing them can be a time-consuming chore. Some missions must be executed with absolute perfection or repeated (with escalating frustration each time). All in all, this is a demanding game, but players will delight in exploring the massive fantasy world created here.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about Hak's ability to use enemies' darkness as a weapon: What happens when we are forced to combat a lot of negative forces? Is it logical that we would internalize some of this negativity? This may lead to a fruitful discussion about ways to deal with outside influences.

Game Details

  • Platform: PlayStation 2
  • Available online?: Not available online
  • Publisher: Naughty Dog
  • Release date: November 5, 2003
  • Genre: Role-Playing
  • ESRB rating: T
  • Last updated: November 4, 2015

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