Jak 3

"The Return of the Jak"

Jak 3 is here! And if you didn't guess from my title, this is the wrap-up to the Jak trilogy. More than that, it actually feels like Star Wars: Return of the Jedi in a way. Jak was just a mute in the first game, and in the great sequel, he dealt with darkness and hatred. Now in this third installment, he must try to gain a balance with his dark side and harness new powers to save the day once again. Anyway, here's what you avid Jak fans have been wanting to know:

Story: 10/10
Jak 3 continues where Jak II left off. Although a savior to the people of Haven City, the new counselor, Count Veger, has decreed that Jak is dangerous with his Dark Eco powers, and has him banished to the Wastelands. Daxter is coming along as well of course. Jak is going to have to side with new allies in the Wastelands, and prove his worth to them, before he can get back to Haven City, and prove to them that he's really a hero. To do so, Jak is going to have to gain new Light Powers, to help balance out his dark side, and aid him in his adventure to uncover the secrets of the Precursors.

Gameplay: 10/10
Jak 3 plays exactly as Jak II did. He's got the same moves and his dark side is still there. However, there are some very welcome additions. First are the weapons. You still have the same weapons, the Scatter Gun (red), the Blaster (yellow), the Vulcan Fury (blue) and the Peacemaker (purple). However, this time, each weapon has their original modes, plus two new ones. For example, with the Scatter Gun, which is equipped by pressing up on the D-Pad, you can use it's original firing mode which is a scatter blast. If you press up again however, it becomes a chargeable blast, which spreads out and hits enemies all around you. Press it a third time, and you get an RPG (rocket-propelled-grenade) gun which is perfect for groups of enemies. Also new in this game, are Jak's Light Powers. These coincide with his Dark Powers but are not really used for offense (although you can use them to attack, there just aren't any attack skills). You can get the power to heal yourself, and to fly, and more with these Light Powers. Also, Daxter has a much bigger role in this game than in the past, but I won't reveal too much there. Finally, the last thing to mention is the difficulty. In Jak II, the difficulty was an issue. Some found it frustrating and others found it to be a good challenge. The difficultly in this game has been toned down just a bit. There are some missions where you'll need a lot of retries, but then there are those where you'll be able to blow through them in one attempt. All in all, Jak stays the same but gives enough new material to satisfy.

Graphics: 9/10
The graphics in this game are still as awesome and detailed as before. When driving through the desert, you can see the sand wave across the screen during a storm. The lights and colors are absolutely gorgeous. Nothing is sketchy or edgy, but very solid. The only problem may be the framerate. Nothing big, it just seems like it's a tiny bit slow. When moving around you may notice a tiny little line go down the screen. It's not too much of a bother though.

Sound: 10/10
Again, the sounds are pretty much the same, good. You got the vehicles humming, the sounds of blaster fire, they all sound good. More importantly, the voice acting. Jak is still voiced by the same actor, as is Dax, and many other characters. They all did a very great job with the lines and portrayed their characters very well. Finally, the music, although nothing too impressive, is still good enough to set the mood for the game.

Replayability: 8/10
Here's my real only beef with this game. It's very very short. If you play it consistently, you can beat it in two days. There's a lot of little extra missions you can do to gain secrets but if you're just playing through, you'll have no trouble beating this game in a short amount of time.

Rent/Buy: Because of it's shortness, you'd imagine renting would be the best way to go. If you still have Jak and Daxter and Jak II on your shelf though, I'd purchase Jak III. Because if you're like me, one day you're just gonna want to play through all three games in consecutive order to enjoy the series again.

Jak 3 offers a great end to the trilogy with a great story and amazing gameplay and graphics. Even if you weren't a Jak fan, this is a great platforming game and series.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/11/04, Updated 11/14/04