You can always count on Naughty Dog to release some of the best looking, best playing games on the market. Jak 3 is one.

User Rating: 9 | Jak 3 PS2
By Cyberdragon3695 | Review Date:
After retiring the Crash series, Naughty Dog released the Jak series on the PS2. TPL (The Precursor Legacy) was the first iteration, and was considered to raise the bar of the platforming genre with its enormous worlds and sense of freedom. Jak 2 was a shocking jump from a kiddish fantasy romp to a dark, more mature, story driven game that focused on gunplay and vehicles more than actual platforming. Jak 3 wasn't quite as much of a jump, but it's a more than satisfying finish to a landmark series. Jak 3 begins a year later after the second concluded. Haven City now has three forces fighting for power, and Count Veger, a leftover from Baron Praxis's faction, has managed to convince the council that Jak is behind all the chaos. As a result, Jak is banished to the Wasteland for life, despite protests from Ashelin, Pecker, and Daxter, among others. He is forced to trek through the vast desert accompanied by Daxter and Pecker. After the trio collapse in exhaustion, they are found by Damas, the ruler of a desert city for the banished called Spargus. They really expect you to know Jak 2's story, but some may be able to pick up on the entire plot. Jak 3's gameplay isn't a whole lot different from 2's, but it offers enough new content to keep fans of the series satisfied. The hovercrafts (one of my gripes from the last game) have been replaced by awesome-looking dune buggies with realistic physics, and the four guns now have two new mods, making a total of twelve weapons. Honestly, I found some of the weapons to be cooler than Ratchet and Clank's weapons. The Mass Inverter will actually reverse gravity, and your enemies will be immobilized and stuck floating, giving you time to attack them. Other types of missions, such as manning a defense turret, defending Spargus's front gate from Marauders, and piloting a vehicle full of eco towards a destination while having half a dozen missiles literally inches from your tail! Almost all of the missions are different, giving you a never-ending variety to the missions you'll encounter. One problem a lot of people had was that traveling time between missions was horrendous. That problem is solved by offering an open wasteland for travel instead of the winding labyrinth of Haven City. Mission starting poitns usually aren't far from each other, and even if they are, you can just hop on a dune buggy or leaper lizard (think Flut-Flut, but cooler) and get there a whole lot quicker. Haven City is back, but even it's a whole lot smaller and easier to navigate. An interesting addition to the second game was the introduction of dark powers. You could make Jak go beserk and activate the incredibly powerful Dark Jak for a certain period of time. That's all back, and now light powers are added. While Dark Jak has aggressive, offensive moves, Light Jak focuses on defensive abilties. With these powers, you can regenrate, slow down time, use a shield, and even activate a winged version of Jak for limited flight ability. All of these are really cool, and can be activated whenever you want after obtaining them. They can be extremely handy in certain areas even when they're not meant for it. For example, I found one gap where you had to grind across a challenging set of rails with the Jet Board to reach the other side. Instead, I just activated Light Jak's flight abiltiy, and just flew across! These things are optional, and aren't necessary to master. Graphics have always been a strong point in the Jak series. Jak 2 was an enormous jump from the first, and although Jak 3 isn't quite as much of a leap, it does improve on an already impressive package. Perhaps the most impressive feat is how well Naughty Dog build the enormous worlds and still manage to pack in so much detail. For example, the Wasteland may not have too much to see, it looks like much more than just a pile of sand. Dunes are covered with rock formations, cactuses, and even a river flows through the center. All of it gives you the feel of a real desert. Haven City is the same, since the once glorious city is now battle-ridden. Destruction is visible everywhere you turn. Worlds aren't the only excellent graphical achievements. Cutscenes are absolutely spectacular, and the characters are more expressive than any I've ever seen. Every little move they make, from the body language to minute facial expressions, gives you a better idea of who they are. There's so much to say about the graphics that I couldn't likely pack it all here! Sound has never been an extremely strong point of the series, but has always been good. Adequate sound effects and a cool but forgettable soundtrack acompany you through gameplay. However, what really stands out are voiceovers. All of the characters sound as you'd expect them to sound, and the quality is absolutely amazing. It could easily rival good movies. I'm serious. The voicework in this game is unmatched. I really have only a few gripes with this game, some greater than others. Though weapon targeting is satisfactory enough to get you through the game, it is more unpredictable than it should be. I really wish that there was a little more regular platforming, since vehicle missions will actuall make up probably the greater half of the game. Secrets, unlocked by finding and spending Precursor Orbs, are cool, but don't really offer much of a replay value. You'll probalby be coming back for the game itself rather than the secrets. Aside from these, this is an absolute no-brainer for fans of the series, and those just looking for a good action game will really enjoy this title.

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