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- You’re playing jak 2 wrong
- Everyone always goes on about how hard jak 2 is, and often in reviews of the game, it’s one of the biggest criticisms. Oh, there’s not enough checkpoints, oh the game is unfair at times. I’m here to tell you that you’re all playing the game wrong. Cuz let me ask you, when you watch these reviews from the people who criticize the difficulty, or maybe when you play the game yourself, what is the one common thing that you see? Jump. Spin. Shoot. Every time. I see reviewers say this is the dominant strategy of the game, meaning it’s the optimal way to play and there’s no other strategy better to use, but also say how hard the game is. If you fall into this category, I’m here to tell you you’re playing the game wrong.
- Now, when I say you’re playing the game wrong, I mainly mean the gunplay and combat, the stuff you’ll be doing most of the time. When it comes to things like the races and stuff like that, yeah, those are very challenging, but they just take a lot of practice.
- First thing’s first. Stop doing this. Not only does this make your footage look terrible, but it also just does not help a lot of the time. To prepare for this video, I played through the entire game doing this. Every single encounter, I just used this strategy, and once I ran out of ammo with the blaster, I did it with the other guns. This was how I played through the entire game. Now I will admit, there were a few stages where I did perfectly fine, but some stages were really difficult to get past using this strategy. So just stop.
- Before we go through each gun, let’s take a look at Jaks combat capabilities overall, and how the game approaches combat
- Jaks base moveset has a couple attacks, the forward lunging punch, a spin kick which does damage all around him, an uppercut, and a ground slam. Admittedly, the uppercut and ground slam aren’t the most useful moves for combat, but they are handy additions that do see their uses. Jak sports 4 guns, the scatter gun, blaster, Vulcan fury, and the peace maker. Each have their own uses, which I’ll get into later, but what I love about these weapons is the fact that they integrate with Jaks moves. The game encourages you to play aggressively, get up close with your enemies and take them out quickly. This is the case because each gun, aside from the peace maker, can be combo’d with jaks punch or spin to make things quicker and deadlier. If you hit an enemy then fire with the scatter gun, it skips the slow reload animation. When hitting an enemy then firing with the blaster, it shoots 3 shots in rapid succession, which devastates most enemies. And when hitting an enemy then firing the Vulcan fury, it skips the slow ass wind up, and starts firing at full speed right away. These moves will prove themselves to be essential when playing this game. Not only do they have awesome damage output, by combining melee attacks with your weapons, but they also stun the enemies really effectively, so there’s no way for them to counterattack.
- Now we’re going to go through each gun and discuss their uses, and when it’s appropriate to use them
- The scatter gun is low key my favourite gun in the game. It is super versatile, and there’s plenty of scenarios where using it is the best strategy. While it does start very slow when you first get it, once you get the rate of fire upgrade, that problem goes away. This isn’t to say that you should use this gun for every enemy, but it’s surprising how much use you can get out of it when a lot of people say it’s the worst gun in the game. The scatter gun fires a short ranged, but extremely wide shot. This means you don’t need to be very accurate, as long as you’re pointing in the enemy’s general direction. What this also means is it can damage multiple enemies at once, which is great news when you’re encountering a lot of small one hit enemies. These kinds of enemies love to spawn in groups, and they’re often pretty slippery bastards, so trying to accurately aim your guns can be a bit of a challenge against these guys. Which is why using the scatter gun is the best way to go about attacking them, you don’t need to be accurate. But when firing against bigger enemies, like the Metal Head Grunts, it does a great job at stunning them by making them fly backwards a bit, so while they are getting up, you have a little extra time to take them out, or survey your surroundings and figure out the best strategy for the situation. So, bottom line, the scatter gun is good for taking out groups of enemies, especially the smaller ones. But, because most of the bigger enemies go down in 2 hits, punching then firing is an effective strategy to deal with them quickly. If you find yourself never using the scatter gun in your playthroughs, try experimenting with it a bit more
- Next is the blaster, the gun people say is the only useful one. And sure, it fits most combat encounters. But that doesn’t make it the best option. This is the gun most people jump spin and shoot with, and like we said earlier, this move just isn’t very reliable, and is downright terrible in certain scenarios. Let’s discuss this strategy for a moment. The reason people think it’s the best strategy, is because it fires shots in all directions, and it also acts as a dodge, cuz you’re up in the air and any enemies that comes close will get wacked with the spin kick. Sure, that sounds like a good strategy. Unfortunately, it’s not always effective. The biggest problem with it is the random nature of the attack. You have no control over where the bullets go, or what enemies they hit. You’re leaving yourself at the games mercy, instead of relying on your own skill. And it doesn’t act as a very good dodge either, at least when it comes to ranged enemies, as they typically shoot you while you’re in the air, so you’re still very vulnerable. This is also a sure-fire way to get rid of all you’re ammo, and I don’t think I need to tell you that’s a bad thing. Like I said earlier, if you hit an enemy then fire, you’ll send out 3 shots at once, which devastates most enemies. When using the blaster, this is the strategy you want to use with the blaster for most of the time. It’s also the best gun for long range shots, so if you want to pick off enemies from a distance, use this gun normally. So while this gun can fit any combat encounter, I’d save it for the medium to larger sized enemies, like Krimson Guards or Grunts.
- The Vulcan fury is a gun that can see heaps of use, but can also fall by the wayside. The reason is it can be switched out with the blaster in most occasions. There are definitely times when using one or the other is more useful, but for the most part, you can switch them out whenever, it just depends on your play style. Here are some times when using the Vulcan is preferred. When against these guys, the Sling Blasters, you’ll want to use the Vulcan every time. These guys shoot pretty long range, they have pretty good aim, and they take a lot of hits. So the optimal way to deal with these guys is to stun-lock them with the Vulcan and rip into them. Whenever you shoot an enemy with the Vulcan, it stun-locks them, which prevents them from counter-attacking. These guys are usually in groups of enemies as well, so if you spray the Vulcan everywhere, each bullet will temporarily stun each enemy, making it harder for them to reach you, while also causing them damage. The Vulcan is also good for groups of bigger enemies. Krimson Guards and Spyder Gunners are good to use the Vulcan against, as the stun-lock capability of the gun works wonders against them, especially when they’re in groups, and especially since they’re long range enemies. The Vulcan can also be used against groups of 1 hit enemies like the scatter gun, but that’s usually a waste of ammo.
- The last gun to look at is the peace maker. Unfortunately, this gun doesn’t see too much use. There’s no real strategy to using this one like the other 3, you kinda just use it when you’re in a tight spot, or you need to preserve ammo. But it is a crazy powerful weapon, taking out most enemies in 1 hit, so in the later stages of the game, if there’s a tonne of enemies, the peace maker is something to consider using. Just don’t use it against these guys (KG robots), as it doesn’t do much damage, if any. Just be careful, as ammo for this one is a bit rarer than the other guns.
- So, there’s all the guns. Now what I want to do is show you a specific mission, and walk you through how to deal with it using this new knowledge. One of the hardest missions I had to get through when I played through the game only jump spin shooting, was Protect Site in Dead Town. I spent so long on this mission, I kept running out of ammo, a lot of my shots were missing the targets, and I was getting creamed. When capturing footage for this video, it took me over 40 minutes to beat this mission using this strategy. So let’s take a quick look at what this looks like. (plays crappy footage)
- Now let’s walk through this stage, using our new knowledge of how to use the guns. First up are these stingers. There’s a small group of them, so scatter gun is you’re best option here, just a couple shots to take them all out. Next we have some grunts. Now here’s where you have a couple options. You can either use the blaster, take them out with the wastelander move, OR, you can stick to the scatter gun, which pushes them off the ledge into the water. Either option is viable. Personally, I use the blaster, as sometimes they don’t fall off, which is a tad annoying.
- Next we have a Sling Blaster, and some more grunts, one of which is on one of these platforms blocking our way. So there is a number of things we could do here, none of them are wrong. But here’s what I like to do. I pull out the Vulcan, and start making my way down the platforms. When I get to the one with the grunt on it, I spin as I land above it, causing it to fall into the water. At this point, I have a bunch of options. I can stick to this platform and kill the sling blaster and grunt, then jump down. Another option is to switch to the blaster and try to get up close to the sling blaster, and use the wastelander move on him. Or I could just stick to the Vulcan, jump down, and fire away at them, dodging any attacks. Another option could be to use the scatter gun, and try to fling them into the water, which would save a lot of Vulcan ammo. There’s loads of options here, some are riskier than others, but they’re all viable.
- Here we have a health pack if we need, then we’re against two more Sling Blasters, and a tonne of Stingers. Here is a situation where we could use Dark Jak if we had it. If not, stick to the Vulcan, as it will take out all the Stingers while you’re trying to take out the Slings. You’ll need to move around a lot as well, dodging the shots from the Slings and also making sure the Stingers don’t gang up on you. Spin the Stingers away when needed as well, you don’t want them hitting you, cuz if they do, you’ll likely get zeroed in by the Slings, which will leave you open to getting hit by the Stingers, and you’re pretty much dead. So mainly focus on getting rid of all the stingers first, stay on the move, and just let loose with the Vulcan. Another way to deal with this encounter is to make sure to dodge every shot from the Slings, and take care of all the Stingers with the scatter gun, then switch to the Vulcan for the Slings. This will also preserve your Vulcan ammo a bit if you need to.
- Once they’re taken care of, I like to use the scatter gun to deal with these Grunts, as they’ll almost always fall into the water. Next, we have a few Stingers running around, a Rapid Gunner blocking the way forward, and a bunch of pillars for cover. USE THESE. You’ll want to make your way as close to the gunner as you can. This makes it a lot easier to get an accurate aim at him. You’ll want to use the Vulcan again, as you want to stun him. Make your way around these pillars, killing any Stingers you come across, then take him out. You can just start shooting at him from a distance, that does work, but because the auto aim is a bit hit or miss, especially with the Vulcan, it’s pretty easy to miss him, and get creamed by his fast firing shots.
- Next is a group of Grunts that will come at you all at once. You can either keep using the Vulcan, or use the Blaster’s wastelander move. I personally use the Blaster here, to try and preserve my Vulcan ammo, but if you have enough ammo to use, then use it by all means. Just make sure you bait them out of this doorway, because hiding around the corner is another Gunner who will tear you up fast. Once the grunts are taken care of, get out your Vulcan. What I like to do, is start firing for a second before walking into the room and aiming for him. That way, the shots have already started speeding up by the time they hit him, and I also find it easier to aim this way. After he’s taken care of, there’s another one around the corner at the top of some stairs. Do the same thing you did just before, maybe jump a bit to try and avoid his shots, but make sure you’re still facing him. After this, we’ll enter a room with some Grunts that will try to flank you. Get out the Blaster, and wasteland the suckers. Be careful not to miss any of these guys, they can sneak up on you. Just do a quick check of the room before you leave. Get out your scatter gun before you leave, as these Stingers can sneak up on you. Take them all out before going around the corner. Here is where you’ve been preserving your Vulcan ammo for, two last Sling Blasters. Just tear into them with the Vulcan, making sure to switch targets periodically to keep them both stunned until they choke. And there we go. Mission complete.
- Now, I didn’t plan out this strategy for the whole mission, I just observed my surroundings and what enemy types I’m going up against, and changed my strategy accordingly. This is the same for every mission. I don’t have anything pre-planned, everything is just observation, and knowing what to do.
- Before we wrap this up, here are some other tips. Krimson Guards are pretty dangerous in groups, which is why the docks mission is so hard. It was one of the hardest missions in the game using this strategy, it took me at least an hour. Here is how to deal with Krimson Guards. What you need to know about them, is every guards first few shots will miss. It’s the third or fourth shot that will be a guaranteed hit. So what you need to do in this mission especially, is take note of the bullets that fly past you, and determine what direction they’re coming from. Make sure you take out the guard that’s firing them before they manage to land a hit. Basically, the whole mission consists of making sure there’s no guards close to you who can damage you, and managing all the guards around you, making sure you don’t focus on one specific group of guards until they’re gone, but rather, periodically focusing on every group so they don’t land any hits. I hope I explained this well, the footage should make it easier to understand. I found this mission suits the blaster and especially the Vulcan pretty well, but I haven’t experimented with the scatter gun much. Just thinking about it, it would be a cool strategy to blast a whole group of guards straight into the water. You guys can experiment, let me know how it goes.
- Some other general tips are, if you’re in a cinch, punching is a great way to get some distance between you and your enemies, while doubling as an attack. Make sure you hold square instead of just pressing it, otherwise you won’t go very far. And to further this point, don’t forget about your melee attacks. Sometimes using your gun isn’t necessary. For instance, if you’ve just fired off a bunch of scatter gun rounds on some stingers, but there’s only one left running towards you, just hit it, it’ll save you ammo. Also just being very aware of your surroundings is very important. If the mission has stingers that spawn, like the strip mine for instance, being very wary of what’s behind you is important. Also listen for any enemies, as they all make themselves known through sound
- Ok, so before I wrap this up, I do need to acknowledge a few things. 1 is, yes, I have played the game hundreds of times, so I have each mission and enemy placement memorised, so it could look like I’m making it look easier than it really is. But I don’t agree with this statement, for the most part. Yes, my prior knowledge would help in certain scenarios, like here in dead town, these gunners are hiding around the corner. But it only takes a new player a single encounter with the enemy for them to know that gunner is hiding there. Secondly, yes, the game doesn’t do a good job at all of teaching you this hidden combat depth. It does teach you the wastelander move very briefly, but if they had a specific enemy type that needed to be taken down with the move, that would have really cemented the move into the players mind. Thirdly, I’m not saying this is the only way anyone should play Jak 2. You can play the game however you like. Hell, I’ve beaten it with no guns a couple times, before Keith ever did too. If all you want to do is jump spin shoot, and you’re having a great time, then by all means, play that way. This is mostly to show everyone the hidden depth of Jak 2’s combat, and for anyone who struggles with the combat, or doesn’t find just jump spin shooting very fun
- So I encourage all of you to take these tips on how to use each gun, and apply it to your own playthroughs. And again, there’s no optimal strategy for every mission, you can experiment and play around with your own strategies that suit you better. I just want to see more people ditching the jump spin shoot strategy, as it just makes the footage boring, and people saying the game is too hard as they do this kinda irks me. The game is also just super boring doing this, I mean, what sounds fun about doing the same thing over and over for the whole game?
- I hope you guys enjoyed the video, and I really hope you’ll start trying to play like this. Weapon switching in appropriate situations is so much fun, and is why I love Doom Eternal so much. Let me know how you guys go in the comments below, I’d love to hear your experiences with this play style.
- But just let me reiterate this point. Jak 2 is deeper than most people think, if you put in the effort, and I strongly encourage you do.
- Cheers for watching everyone, subscribe if you’re new and enjoyed it, and I’ll seeyas next time
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