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Note: This review is spoiler free with regards to the game's story
All good things must eventually come to an end, such as the star wars series, the lord of the rings trilogy, and the Jak and Daxter trilogy (not including the racing game and Daxter's own PSP game). After two excellent games, our favorite elfin friend and his furry sidekick come to the last entry in the Jak trilogy. The big question is: Is it a good ending? I'm pleased to say that overall, yes.
Jak 3 takes place an undetermined time after the conclusion of Jak 2. Haven city has become divided after relentless attacks by robots, metal heads and other nasties. The population blames Jak for these problems and he finds himself flown out to the wasteland, a harsh and unforgiving desert where nobody can survive without help. Abandoned by those he saved, Jak and his buddy Daxter set out on thier final adventure.
Like it's two predecessors, Jak 3 is a platforming game combined with a gun shooter. You get various jumps, kicks, punches and leaps, and you also get a wide array of firearms to take out your foes when your fancy Kung-Fu and karate aren't enough. Jak's moves remain largely unchanged from Jak 2 (which will now be called J2). He can still punch like a man, jump like a kangaroo, and leap like a bullfrog.
Gunplay remains pretty much the same as well. You get four guns (blaster, rifle, machine gun and peacemaker), but in a nice twist, each weapon gets various upgrades as the game goes on. The rifle for example, starts out in it's default setting. Hower, the next upgrade allows it to shoot richochet bullets while the third upgrade gives it a flying platform that shoots bullets in all directions. Each gun has three upgrades and playing with them is a blast. The peace maker for example, can fire a shot that paralyzes all enemies and makes them float around (whee!) while it's final upgrade...well, let's just say that you'll be shooting mini-nukes a lot.
The biggest change to Jak's game play comes in the form of vehicles. While J2 had flying vehicles and zoomers, Jak 3 has cars (and not the nice, talking Pixar kind). Because half the game is set in the desert, Jak and Daxter get around on dune buggies. There are eight of them and each has various unique traits. Some are really, really fast, one can jump riddiculously high (wheee!) and some of them will spin out of control at the slightest twitch of the control stick (boo!). You'll be spending a lot of time driving the buggies and for the most part, it's enjoyable and fun, though some of them (such as the sand shark) can be a bit difficult to handle.
Another new feature of Jak 3 is the sheer size of it. J1 and J2 had two enormous areas to run around in. Here, you have not one, not two, but three, yes, three! gigantic areas to run around in. And like the previous games, there are no loading times, an astonishing feat considering how enormous both worlds (Spargus city, the wasteland and Haven city) are. You'll definatly see a lot of amazing sights during your trips throughout Jak 3's world (such as how Haven city has...ahem...changed since the last game).
Dark Jak powers return as well, but are now balanced by a new side to our hero...light Jak. If Dark Jak is the attacking force, Light Jak is the defensive force. Dark allows you to kill things really quickly, while Light allows you to heal, fly (this is so AWESOME!), surround yourself with an inpenetrable shield, and even slow down time to a crawl. Both powers can be activated at any time as long as you have light and dark eco in your meters. And in a very nice touch, you can stop being light or dark at a touch of a button to save your energy for when you really need it. While both light and dark do come into play at vital moments during gameplay, both are really just a little added bonus to spice up gameplay when you want to, as you can play throughout the game without needing to use either force (except for scripted moments where you need to). But then again, being able to heal yourself whenever you want is a very handy thing! *smile*
Like J2, Jak 3 has you going from place to place, talking to people and doing what they tell you to do. And when you finish with that, you head over to the next person and do what they want to do, etc. It's a linear system that makes it easy to tell where to go and what to do next and it sounds fairly restrictive, but it does have one big strength: You don't have to start the next mission until you want to. If you want, you can wander around the wasteland blowing up wanderers for twenty hours, go hunt down twelve precurser orbs and watch the sun go up and down three times, and then tackle the mission. This free roaming system allows you to do what you'd like to do if you don't feel like doing missions for a while.
One thing i'd like to address before we go any further is the difficulty level. If one takes a look at my review for J2, one can find a lot of anger and hatred directed towards Naughty dog for making J2 the most unnecessarily hardest game i've ever played (and it still is by the way, tied only with Spider man for PS2). I am very pleased that Naughty Dog towned down the difficulty a lot for Jak 3. No longer does each and every mission require twenty attempts before you pass it, and no longer will you be throwing the controller into the TV while screaming obscenities becuase that a**hole Errol won that fricken race again. Here, the difficulty seems just right. Not too hard, not too easy. Most missions require a few attempts before they are completed, and a few can be finished on one try. There are still a few that are quite difficult, and one or two that are grit-your-teeth inducing, but overall, nothing as infuriating as many moments from the previous entry in the series. Oh, and there are only a few "go through the ring" missions this time around. Thank goodness.
In addition to the free-roaming gameplay, there are also plenty of secrets to unlock in this quest. There are over 600 precurser orbs to find and collect in Jak 3, and by doing so you get to unlock various features such as unlimited dark and light Jak power, invincibility, extra vehicles, various weapon upgrades, etc. While some are hidden behind corners, many of these orbs are collected by doing various challenges that people throw your way, such as searching around a paticular area, going through rings (grumbles), following a little blue light and even stopping time. There are plenty of things to do to get those little shiny orbs, but the results are well worth it.
In addition, Jak 3 arguably has the best moments in the series in terms of "wow" factor. Fighting a gigantic sixty story tall monster with only a dune buggy is a moment that sends shivers down your spine.
Even with all these fine points, Jak 3 does stutter a little bit in what is arguably the most important part of the game...the story. J2 is most memorable to me for it's story. It had many twists and turns and you never really knew what to expect next. The story in Jak 3 is a good one and it does keep your interest in what is going to happen next...but ultimitly, it left me unsatisfied.
How so? The three biggest ones are charachters, the precursers and the ending.
And for those of you worrying that i'm going to tell you who the precursers are (which I won't) i'm going to keep this as spoiler free as I can.
First off, the charachters. We have Jak and Daxter of course, and those two are always fun to watch and care about. We have many returning charachters such as Torn, Sig, and Samos, and we have some new residents from Spargus city. The problem? Almost all of the returning charachters have zilch charachter development. It's assumed that you know them from the last game and because of that, Jak 3 takes no time to explain who they are or what they do. That may be okay, but pretty much none of the charachters are expanded at all. Torn is still gruff and tough (but not as much as last time), Ashelin is the firm leader, and Samos gives warnings on what may happen to the planet if things go badly. Keira, who was such a vital charachter in J1 and J2, has absoloutly nothing to do in the story aside from look pretty and important. Sig...well, he's just there because he's cool. The only returning charachter who kept me interested was Tess, who fufills the "dumb blonde" role. Her relationship with Daxter is sweet and lighthearted and kept my interest easily. Errol returns as well (though I won't say how), but he's gone from "insanely irritating" to "average irritating", a sad departure from his compellingly egotistic nature in J2.
Of the new charachters, only one, Damos, kept my interest due to his charachter. Tough, yet gentle and caring at the same time, he's easily the most compelling of Jak's new companions. The new villian, count Veger, isn't that compelling, though he does have some very powerful scenes (especially one near the ending).
One of the claims on the back of the game box is that we'll discover the shocking secret of who the precursers really are. As I said earlier, I won't reveal who the precursers are (someone did that and ruined the suprise for me), except that in my personal opinion, we should have never find out who the precursers were and leave them as a mystery. I personally felt that seeing who they really are sucked out all the suspense and mystery, esepcially since they have been talked about at length for two games now. It's like revealing the face of doctor claw. When you go back and experience your old memories, there is no more mystery or wonder anymore. In my personal opinion, these beings should have remained hidden forever.
However, the saddest part of the game for me is the ending. Again, I won't ruin it for you, but it's always sad when game developers have to wrap an entire trilogy up in three minutes. Some people criticise the ending of the film, Return of the King, saying that it goes on too long. However, the ending to the lord of the rings film trilogy took it's time wrapping up the threads from three movies and bringing closure to the story and leaving one satisfied. However, Jak 3 doesn't do that. As the game goes on and gets closer to the end, the feeling of dread and the idea that everything can be destroyed just vanishes and is pretty much gone by the time the final boss battle comes (and sadly, the battle itself isn't that exciting or memorable).
The ending does end the trilogy, but leaves the door wide open for more games (of which two have already happened). I've invested a lot of time on these three games, i've grown attatched to it's charachters and I would like closure to all thier stories. Saldy, that doesn't happen. Everything is left wide open when, in my opinion, it should have been closed. There is no real ending here, at least, one that ties everything up nicely.
But despite my points with the story, I do want to stress that Jak 3 is a very good game. It's a satisfying blend of storytelling, platforming, shooting, driving, and action. It's one of those games where you keep saying "Just five more minutes, just five more minutes", only to discover that time has flown by and it's two in the morning. It's addictive, fun, and, for me, a blast to play. I definitly recommend it, especially if you find it for under twenty dollars.
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This game is the last game in the jak seris. The end of the trilogy. Here is what I KNOW about Jak 3. Hope you find it useful...It is a year after Jak 2. Jak is banised to the wastland because the people dont trust him because his Dark powers and his "relationship" with Krew and Kor. So the council banish him to the wasteland (home of sig). Ashlin gives him a beacan and they leave. Daxter and Pecker stay behind and go with Jak. Damious, The king of Spargous, takes you to his kingdom...
*Each gun can be upgraded 2 more times making 3 different forms for each gun
*3 factions are at war in Haven City
*Metal Heads, Freedom leage gaurds(Blue KGaurds)and Kg.
*Light and Dark Jak
*New moves for dark jak and old ones.
*Can save Light Jak after goin in a eco vent
*Moves for LJak: Fly, Heal, Slo time, ect.
*More than 11 of your own vehicles
*Hover Board upgrads
*5 time larger than Haven City
*Erol is back and is part robot.
*You fight Sig
*Can use a glider
*Can use a robotic KG
*A daystar doom thing comes in to play. Think is green sun.
Illupdate with new info
Best Deals for Jak 3 - PlayStation 2
Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy was a pure platformer at heart. It was more kid-friendly and goofy. Naughty Dog decided that they didn't want Jak and Daxter ending up like their previous Crash Bandicoot so they changed things up a 'bit' with Jak II. Jak II was darker, but not as dark as other games out there. It had the perfect tone of darkness for it to be a sequel to such a kiddy game. Jak II also had almost nothing to do with the first game. But enough of that, out with the old and in with the new. Enter Jak 3:It's been a while since Jak defeated Metal Kor and saved the city...or did he? Now with Ashelin temporarily ruling Haven City the Krimzon Guards don't exist anymore. Instead now they're the Freedom League Guards. Now the Metal Heads have returned somehow recuperating quickly after losing their leader. This has made Ashelin get off the throne thus Torn not being the Freedom League commander so a member of Haven City's Grand Council called Count Veger takes control of the Freedom League. Also, the Krimzon Guards mysteriously return with a new leader. The battle of the three factions continues as they all struggle for control of Haven City. And who do they blame for this problem? Jak of course. Count Veger blames Jak to save his own tail since he's the real problem because he wants control over the city. Soon the entire city believes Jak is responsable because of his 'friendship' with Krew. The Council decides to banish Jak to the Wasteland for life. Of course Daxter decides to join him and for some reason so does Pecker. After Jak and company can't take the sand and heat anymore, they're found by King Damus; the ruler of Spargus. Spargus is a small city in the big Wasteland where other exiled people roam. But it's not all easy for Jak when he's taken to Spargus. There they value survival over all other things and Jak has to prove himself to King Damus and his right-hand-man Kleever. After a while, he'll find ways to eventually get back into parts of Haven City although it's nothing like before. When Jak makes his way into Haven City he finds out that the city is now a destroyed battlefield. But that's not even half of the problem. This Precursor monk called Seem keeps talking about this mysterious Daystar and that the world's final trial is coming. She also tells Jak that his dark powers will eventually consume him so a Precursor(or is it an Oracle?)grants him light powers. So now Jak will have both Light Jak and Dark Jak. I gave this game five stars because it's the ending of the epic trilogy and Jak II was a real good game but don't judge the game yet since it's coming out on November. (...)
Honest reviews on Jak 3 - PlayStation 2
Jak 3 is the end of the Jak trilogy, and gives Jak and his sidekick Daxter the largest world ever to explore. Jak can now use both Light and Dark eco powers, too!Sure, there are a lot of comparisons between this game and the Ratchet & Clank series. And yes, both are similar in many ways. But I wouldn't say one is "better" than the other. Both have their unique traits that make them equally as fun. I definitely buy both and enjoy both greatly.
With Jak 3, you get a massive 'wasteland' to explore and run missions in, in a variety of dune buggies. There is also a desert city (Fremen and Dune, anyone?) and of course your home city to explore. There are missions involving riding missiles, riding hoverboards, stomping around in four legged tanks, searching for eggs, zooming on races a la pod racer, and much more.
The storyline is fun, but very linear. It's always quite clear what you need to do next to progress the game along. You earn weapons upgrades as you go, and earn secrets to alter gameplay in a variety of fun ways. The sound is reasonable, and the graphics are cartoony but well done, especially the animation in the cut scenes. The characters move very fluidly.
I do have to say that gameplay balance is a bit uneven. Some missions you fly through with no problem at all, and wonder what the deal was. Other missions you replay 30 times in a row until you manage by chance to get through it OK. If you get a walkthrough guide and just zip from egg to egg, sure you can finish it very quickly. If you actually take the time to explore the areas, seek out items for yourself, and play with the various mini-games, you could enjoy the game for several weeks. I'm not sure that the game is a replayable-minded as Ratchet, though. With Ratchet, we gladly replayed it many times to get the upgrades and secrets only available on the multiple passes through the game. With Jak 3, we're just happy to be done with it.
Certainly a great game to get and play, and there's even a secret that lets you blast away at Ratchet & Clank in the shooting gallery! :)
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J2 set a new standard for game versatility. It had racing, shooting, action platform, puzzle, jetboarding, and strategy. Every kind of gameplay was represented and that was what made it stand out. J3 on the other hand is 75% racing. Since I'm not a huge racing fan, it hurts the game a little for me.Don't get me wrong. The game is fun, and judging it on its merits alone, it deserves 4 stars. But I had expectations that simply were not met. J3 is a victim of its amazing predecessor.
The storyline isn't as strong either, and the final revelation about the Precursors, while cute doesn't fit with elements of the previous games. But that's not important, and if the game was more fun, I'd easily forgive the story problems.
I do recommend it. If you like racing, you'll probably enjoy it. If you don't, you'll probably still enjoy it, though not as much. But it's just a bit of a letdown.
