Any gamer looking for a great action/platformer game should check this fitting end to the Jak trilogy.
The first thing noticed in the game, is obviously the graphics. The cut scenes are completely intact, each one perfectly animated and voiced over in the same high quality manner as before. The in game graphics are impressive, as you'll make frequent visits into the desert, and have your visibility impaired by the blinding storms that regularly come and go. The environments are huge and expansive, mainly the wasteland. You'll find that often times you can get lost in the vast dunes of sand, but luckily unless you are out exploring for no reason, the map in the lower right hand corner highlights the location of your next mission.
The layout of the game revolves around Jak taking care of business for people, in a huge variety of ways which include racing, collecting artifacts, blowing up certain things, commanding one of many vehicles to visit a far away monk temple... in the racing and desert parts, you will be required to use one of many tough vehicles to travel across the desert, and fight your way through desert bandits which command never ending hordes of enemy vehicles with the intent of slowing down and destroying your vehicle. This will play a huge aspect in the game, which makes one wonder if the game becomes more of a driving game rather than a platformer.
The sound is well done as always, as there is support for Dolby Pro Logic II. The music makes a fair impact on the mood of the game, being frantic at times and other times slow and calm to give a sense of safety within the walls of Spargus for example. The morph gun that Jak carries has many satisfying sounds, if maybe just a bit on the weak side. The gun itself remains fairly similar to the last game, with one major addition. There are now weapon mods that are given to Jak at regular periods of the game, which modify each part of the gun so that it can attack a different way. Each type of gun has two different mods, which differ from giving ammo the ability to bounce off walls or from a devastation Super Nova that obliterates anything caught on the screen. Quite satisfying to see annoying enemies disappear beneath a huge white explosion...
Gameplay as always remains rock solid... changing from normal platforming to driving missions is relatively easy, as they interweave. Jak has his usual double jump, crouch jump, the patented spin kick, and his punch. However, you'll find that most of time the morph gun is the best option, and that his melee attacks are only used at close quarters to make combos. The vehicles sometimes are difficult to handle, but a logical guess would be the fact that they are driven on sand. You'll spend about half the game in Spargus, and the other half in Haven City, the dysfunctional city from the last game. This time, the majority of the city is ridden with either Metal Heads or Krimzon Bots, all intent on causing damage and destroying the new "blue" Krimzon Guards and Jak's friends. The flying vehicles remain largely the same, except now they are much rarer... and generally the whole city has had a make over, but no so much that Jak 2 veterans won't find their way around, but still fresh enough that the games generally won't be confused.
And all that is wound together by a nice story... which I can't discuss to its full details here... anyways, it will be quite disappointing to hear that this IS the end of the Jak trilogy, but even though the ending is well thought out, and surprising, it leaves gamers wanting more. Games like this with such high production value usually can expect near endless sequels... but Naughty Dog has made its decision. Even though the story in the game is understood much better by playing through Jak 2, its not impossible to jump right in as a stand alone game. Any gamer looking for a great action/platformer game should check this fitting end to the Jak trilogy.