Jak 3

"A great game, but much unused potential."

And so the Jak and Daxter series comes to a close with the release of Jak 3. I have been a fan since Jak 1 and have played through all of the series. Each game is very different, and usually very refreshing in terms of gameplay, graphics and storyline. Jak 3 is no different, but there are many areas of the game that could have been pushed much farther to make it the BEST possible game in the series, without question. At the moment, I think it makes up for what it lacks in gameplay with its very nicely formed storyline, and amazing new cast of characters.

Story:

In Jak 3, we find Jak being banished to the Wasteland outside of Haven City after Count Veger and his council decide that they are the reason for the cities newfound problems after the demise of Baron Praxis. Veger you immediately notice as a very well put together character, especially graphically.

Jak is then wandering in the desert and is found by Kleiver and Damus. They are major figures in the city of Spargus---the city of those exiled from Haven city. Both are also very well done, especially the feel you get from Damus.

From there the story continues, but I won't tell you to where. The ending of the game has been much debated, and I think you can either love it or leave it, depending on the type of person you are.

The story, overall, has a much darker and serious tone than any of the other games, and this is a pretty nice touch. I like it more than a goofy, wacky game...but that's just me.

Many of the characters progress and develop very well. Many of them allow you have a chance to see a lot of, personality-wise, and all give you a really good feeling of their place in the story. My favorite, personally, being Seem, a Precursor Monk, who's mystery, voice, and motion are all very awe inspiring for a character immediately put into the story.

Gameplay:

This is an area of much debate. First off, I'd like to say that this game is greatly varied in the types of gameplay it offers...however, Naughty Dog has departed GREATLY from the platforming world of Jak 1, and turned the game into a more "varied" game...I suppose it would be best described as "Action."

Where I think they went wrong was with the misuse of potential they had in all the new things they offered. I felt the new Jak powers were very underused...and at least one of them especially could have made for amazing puzzles and platforming adventures across a multitude of levels and missions. I don't want to say which it is, so as not to spoil anything, but I think most people who end up playing the game will know which I am talking about.

Also they could have made use of ALL the vehicles available to the player during the storyline, instead of just a few for missions. Granted, many of the vehicles were similar to one another, but it would have been nice to have used them all for one mission or another, instead of using half of them, and having the other half as extra that you could use if you wanted to, once you are able to.

A lot of people do not like this game because of the many missions that involve a vehicle, or other such non-platforming action. There are quite a few driving, racing, shooting, and etc missions. I don't think its necessarily a bad thing, but I WOULD have liked to see more platforming levels, with more difficult puzzles thrown in like they were in Jak 1 and Jak 2.

The weapons used in this game at first seemed to me to be the same weapons! I thought that was outrageous, but what Naughty Dog did was to add different modifications to the weapons, which can be turned on or off at any time. In essence, they tripled the amount of guns in this game (to a total of 12), and I think all of the new weapons were very, very well done. I used all of them as much as possible instead of punching or spinning to conserve ammunition as I did in Jak 2. Very nice work, Naughty Dog.

Also, I thought that the use of Daxter in many missions as a stand alone character went really well. Something that was really fun in Jak 2 was getting to use Daxter for that one or two missions. Luckily, Naughty Dog knew this would be a hit with fans and added more of these mission into this game.

Graphics:

Naughty Dog did a very nice job with the graphics. In terms of normal gameplay, very detailed and intricately designed so that there is always new things, right down to the bugs crawling on the floor of some rooms. You might not notice how very detailed each and every room is, but just go into the Naughty Ottsel and use R3 to look around at the walls...so much detail put into that room, and you probably never noticed it!

The cutscenes are also very, very detailed. The characters had a whole new facial movement programming scheme implemented that, and you will definitely notice that in the opening movie from looking at the character Veger, as well as many of the other new characters, and of course, the most graphically articulated character in the game: Daxter!

Sound:

Wonderful soundtrack to this game. Usually a very grim and dark mood to the songs, which is a stark contrast to the happy tribal music of Jak 1. Nothing to really complain about here, though sometimes the voices of the guards got a bit annoying. Hearing "We lost this war a long time ago..." a lot gets a bit upsetting. Make sure and pistol whip any guards who say that near you ; )!

Difficulty/Length/Replayability:

Much easier than Jak 2, but still somewhat challenging. I wish they had made the side-missions very difficult, as many of them were in Jak 2, but that was not really the case...most of the new race, rings, and orb challenges had too much time given to the player, often leaving me with a lot of spare clock time...contrast that with Jak 2 where you would barely make it in time to hidden orbs, and you will notice this immediately, I think.

If you didn't like the difficulty of Jak 2, then you might enjoy this game more.
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The game is not as long as Jak 2, but it makes up for it in story, and emotion given off by all the new characters, as well as the very diversified gameplay. You might take quite a while to beat the game if you are new to the series and need to learn all the abilities, moves, and such...but veterans of Jak 1 and 2 should have really no problem adapting to the new features and playing the game with relatively no difficulty in terms of controls and et cetera.
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The game has a fair amount of replayability. You can unlock Hero Mode and play through again if you want it to be more challenging, but you won't unveil anything amazingly new in this mode, besides more challenging missions, stronger enemies...that sort of thing.

There are many side-missions to do in all areas of the game, and quite a few mini-games to play that you will want to try and get Gold medals on for bragging rights as well as the reward of precursor orbs. Speaking of Precursor Orbs...

There are many Precursor Orbs to collect, which you might or might not spend a lot of time hunting for through various side-missions, mini games, towns, levels...et cetera. Personally, I have been playing the series for quite a while and think I have become pretty adept at knowing where Naughty Dog Level designers like to hide things, so I found almost all of them on my first play-through.

Conclusion:

A good game, in its own light. Also a very good end to the series, but as said before there is a lot of gameplay potential that I thought could have been utilized better...mainly the use of all the new abilities, vehicles, and sometimes weapons for story purposes could have expanded the game for quite a while, and made it a longer game that was more interesting...but we can't have everything be perfect, I suppose.

I gave the game a 7/10. 1 point off for not being as long as its predecessor, 1 point for the misappropriation of abilities being utilized by the designers, and 1 point for the departure from the platforming adventures that have made the series what it was.

That being said, it is still worth purchasing whether you are a fan of the series, or a player completely new to the Jak and Daxter world. An enjoyable game, with a wonderful cast of characters, and a story that is fitting end to the Jak series, presented in a wonderful manner.

Hopefully, in the future Naughty Dog will continue this wonderful world in some way shape or form.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 01/03/05