Jak 3

"Short At the Finish"

INTRODUCCION

The Jak and Daxter franchise is very difficult to grade, as is evidenced by wildly varying scores for all three games. I personally feel that the first two games were perfect in nearly every way; alas, Jak 3 simply isn't up to snuff. It pales in comparison to Sly 2, the best platformer this year, and it can't even compare to the glorious Jak II that we were treated to in 2003. However, I must elaborate upon these comments, so here we go.

Graphics

The Jak games have always been graphically stunning. Jak II was one of the best looking games of 2003, and Jak and Daxter was brilliant in 2001. Meanwhile, the graphics for Jak 3 manage to impress, but don't really push the envelope as far as Jak II did. Granted, this is to be expected; the PlayStation 2 hardware is simply aged to the point where there really aren't many other improvements you could make. So, basically, the landscape graphics and general “look” of the levels isn't as swanky as it was last time around. The levels aren't designed as well, and they aren't the most aesthetically pleasing places I've had to visit, either. Only one area in the game stands out in my mind, and you only get the chance to go there once (it's the Great Volcano, if you were wondering). Lamesville, US of A.

Meanwhile, the character graphics have been vastly improved from Jak II. We have ragdoll physics, more realistic facial modeling on the new characters (Count Veger immediately comes to mind), and cooler character design for the new enemies (which I won't spoil for you). Seriously, though, scenes just “look” better when people like Veger or another certain evildoer prance on screen and go about their not-so-merry way. So, the graphics are literally a mixed bag.

Story

Here comes the pain, baby, yeah! OH BEHAVE! Seriously, though, this is the most painful section of the game, and the section where I'm going to self-destruct in a most dramatic fashion. First, though, allow me to elaborate. Jak II's story was amazing in every sense of the word. Every facet of it was well thought-out and implemented properly. From Jak's unfortunate trip to Haven City to the pulverizing of the Metal Head Leader, it was great in every manner of the word.

Jak 3 is average in every manner of the word. The story, that is. It simply isn't as engaging as Jak II's masterful story was, and there are approximately a hojillion plot holes. OK, so maybe I'm exaggerating a little bit, but I can think of at least 2 ridiculous flaws in the plot that Naughty Dog was stupid to not address. While the general story is fine, the plot holes are unforgivable, and one of the villains is lamer than…I don't know, Fable. Let me explain. There are 2 “bad guys”, per se, in this game. One of them, Count Veger, is an excellent antagonist, and an all-around bad dude. However, the other villain, who I will let you guess at, is stupid and never should have existed in the first place, in my heartless opinion. So that sucks hardcore.

As for the aforementioned plot holes, well, I shouldn't go into them. One is a simple logical hole, and the other hole is simply idiotic (and impossible, for that matter). In fact, another hole is due to a lack of character development in the game. None of the new characters except Damas and Veger have any back-story whatsoever. It's ridiculous.

Sound/Music

The music is improved from Jak II, but still not particularly good and stuff. A lot of songs are very out of place, but none are so crappy it will make you commit seppuku. A few songs are actually good, and most of the music during important cutscenes is pretty good, too. So it's a general improvement, but not a huge one.

Meanwhile, the game still sounds fantabulous. All the explosions are great; the guns are great, and all that jazzy bullcrap is great too. Of special note is the Super Nova gun mod; it's so pimping, it gets a cutscene when you fire it! Well, sort of. I won't spoil it for you. In fact, only 1 gun that comes to mind sounds remotely “bad”, but that's only because it's a gun that fires electricity, but it sounds like…not electricity. You get the idea.

Finally, the voice acting for Jak 3 is even better than Jak II's in most cases. All of the main actors but one (more on that later) return to reprise their roles; all of the new characters are spectacularly voiced, especially (guess who?) Veger. In fact, you might even see the guy growing on you simply because when he shows up, he steals the show. Damas has a strange voice, but it's not bad or anything; just not what you would expect. Seem's voice is something you either love or hate; personally, I have no beef with it. Kleiver sounds like you would expect as well.

However, the Precursor statues that are all over the place sound much different than the last go-round. I actually like the new voice better, but it's something some people might miss. And finally, Keira (Jak's love interest in J&D and Jak II) has a new voice actor. Factor in the fact that she has about 3 lines in the game, and you'll be angry that you aren't seeing her or that Naughty Dog didn't get the old VA back.

Gameplay

Where to begin? This is a very difficult category to score, so I'll do it in subsections.

~~~~Desert Driving!~~~~
So, if you know very much about the game, you'll know that Jak gets dune buggies to tool around in while he goes around the Wasteland. For the most part, these new vehicles are the best part of the game. They're incredibly responsive (almost too responsive…), they're fast, and best of all, you can drive from a first person perspective! Let me put it to you this way: If you thought Jak II's Zoomers were great, wait until you get back to Haven City. The Zoomers feel like crap after you experience the dune buggies. Nothing can compare. Resistance is futile. The only beef I have with the dune buggies is that they can be overly responsive and skid out. This sucks when it happens, but really, all you need to do is be a better driver and you won't have any trouble.

~~~~Shooting Stuff!~~~~
You've probably heard that there are 8 new guns to waste suckas with in this installment. The manual tells you all about them, so I won't go into their abilities. Just let me say this: Some of the guns are pure genius and improve the game to unimaginable degrees. The Beam Reflexor, Wave Concussor, Mass Inverter, Arc Wielder and Plasmite RPG come to mind. These guns are so good, they completely overshadow their brethren. However, that's not necessarily a good thing, as 4 of those 5 guns are only Lv. 2, meaning that the more powerful guns of that type aren't as great. That is to say, the Gyro Burster, Needle Lazer, and Super Nova aren't particularly…necessary. Honestly, they're fun guns to use, but I never used the first two during gameplay, and the Super Nova I managed to use twice. As for the basic guns, well, you get the first mod to the Vulcan Fury so fast, you'll never need to use the Vulcan. I didn't. The Blaster is also obsolete very fast. The Scatter Gun and Peace Maker are still useful, though.

Allow me to make a comparison here. For those of you who have played Metroid Prime, you know that the balance between the 4 beams wasn't very good: as soon as you got the newest beam, the last one was essentially rendered obsolete. Jak 3's guns have this same problem, and while they're all fun to use, they aren't equally useful.

~~~~Mission Mayhem!~~~~
OK, this is the main failing of the gameplay. The missions just aren't as fun as in Jak II. For example, when I beat Jak II and unlocked the Level Select, I went back and played the mission where you hunt Metal Heads in Haven Forest about 8 times. I did this for all the bosses, and for many other missions. They were just that fun. However, Jak 3's level select has gone more or less untouched for me, except for occasionally whooping up on the bosses. And lastly, there aren't as many missions, and the ones that there are are criminally short. This is easily a nine hour game, which is sad, because Jak II managed to give me 20 hours of gameplay, from the first level to the last boss. Jak 3 lasts less than half of that amount of time.

So, overall, the gameplay is good, but not great. Don't get me wrong, the driving in the desert mostly makes up for the rather uninteresting missions, but the length of the game is just bad.

Replay Value

Alright, the replay value is great. If you like collecting stuff, there's 600 Precursor Orbs to get your mitts on, and secrets are unlocked by collecting them, also. Driving around in the Wasteland is awesome, and only becomes better once you buy the Invulnerability cheat. Meanwhile, it's fun to head back to the city and cap some fools; Haven City remains a battlefield after you complete the game, so you can go help the Freedom League kill some punks if you so desire. Unfortunately, it just isn't as fun to screw around in the city this time. There's not many civilians to kill, and that makes me sad. But I've put in 14 hours after I beat the main game, so you can probably tell that it's fun to just putz around, accomplishing nothing.

The Rundown
Graphics: 8/10
Story: 5/10
Sound/Music: 8/10
Driving: 10/10
Shooting Stuff: 8/10
Missions: 6/10
Gameplay: 8/10
Replay Value: 9/10
Overall: 7/10 (rounded down)
Average

The Fast Review

This game is pretty, and fun in most ways. However, you'll want to take a Spork to whoever wrote the story.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 03/14/05