Jak 3

 PlayStation 2
User Score
8.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 440 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 386 out of 440
  2. Mixed: 38 out of 440
  3. Negative: 16 out of 440
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  1. Joruto
    Aug 22, 2012
    5
    It's an improvement over Jak II but you can't break the messed up story line that Naughty Dog made up from the top of their stupid heads.

    Although I would say that the art style has been improved and the racing parts have been improved it's still in the same world as Jak II and it sucks.
  2. RagingOrca
    Apr 21, 2007
    5
    Absolutely loved game 1 and game 2 but this game was a big disappointment. The amount of developer effort in order to realize such a compelling open world is all totally wasted by extremely poorly tuned missions and gameplay mechanics. Had to stop playing after only 1.5 hours because it was so frustrating.
  3. motivate1
    May 16, 2013
    5
    The game is pretty fun, although the camera angle is really bad plus the depth perception is terrible. You can barely see whats ahead of you leaving you vulnerable of walking over a ledge.
  4. Xevon
    Oct 9, 2013
    7
    Jak 3 does right what Jak II did wrong, for the most part. The combat, while not necessarily different, has more thought put into it with a wider range of more useful weapons and abilities, the checkpoints are more frequent, the level design is less tedious and better thought out, there's less poor Grand Theft Auto imitation and more platforming, Jak has got a hair cut and is considerablyJak 3 does right what Jak II did wrong, for the most part. The combat, while not necessarily different, has more thought put into it with a wider range of more useful weapons and abilities, the checkpoints are more frequent, the level design is less tedious and better thought out, there's less poor Grand Theft Auto imitation and more platforming, Jak has got a hair cut and is considerably less dislikeable, there's more things to collect, unlock and discover and the game itself offers a lot more variety and colour than Jak II. My reception to Jak II wasn't warm, but Jak 3 doesn't make many of the same mistakes, and is a better game for it. Final Score: 7.4/10… Expand
  5. caligula_king
    Oct 4, 2015
    7
    Jak 3 es sin duda fue un juego muy entretenido con una jugabilidad bastante agradable y una historia muy cómica y de una aventura destacada . Pero lo mas que me recuerdo del juego es la pareja de la aventura Jak y Daxter los dos muy comicos
  6. sufflaminandus
    May 9, 2019
    5
    Jak 3 comes with no alarms and no surprises: blend of action-adventure and platforming is carried over to the successor almost unchanged. Thankfully, ‘almost’ is compromised virtually from pure positives.

    The first notions evoked by the new installment though are bewilderment and oscitancy. Year passed, Haven City is a battlefield in a war between good guys and ‘remaining’ metal heads,    Jak 3 comes with no alarms and no surprises: blend of action-adventure and platforming is carried over to the successor almost unchanged. Thankfully, ‘almost’ is compromised virtually from pure positives.

    The first notions evoked by the new installment though are bewilderment and oscitancy. Year passed, Haven City is a battlefield in a war between good guys and ‘remaining’ metal heads, evil creatures from previous installment. Protagonists, action star Jak and loudmouth ottsel Daxter, are exiled into supposedly empty desert. How metal heads are still alive and even dominating? What are the robots that allied with them? How could renown city heroes managed to get banished? The way Jak 3 discards the achievements of previous part is offensive and cheap. When you see such poorly built premise expect the main course to be slurred as well. No, Jak 3 is still extremely immersive with its trademark action quality, beautiful cutscenes, funny characters, complex local plot with multiple twists and snowballing narration. Jak is still charming tough hero and Daxter is still annoying brat. But straightforward “save the world, you are the hero”? It seems that creators got a bit tired of Jak universe and this weariness is felt in the story.

    Nevertheless the path to herodom must be taken upon if you wish to see the end of Jak saga. The journey starts in a desert city of Spargus, the main hub of the final installment. Adjust to it is a harsh desert filled with brainless marauders. Like in predecessor, we are free to explore the locale but, also like in predecessor, there isn’t much to do here, other than action challenges. You can also try to find all precursor orbs, good old collectible of the franchise, if you like - they’re well hidden all over the world. Metal head orbs return too, now serving as currency to pay for challenges. Other than that, ‘open world’ of Jak 3 is as boring as it was before, filled with nothing and run by minimalistic AI. It won’t take long till you realize that the goal is to follow icons on minimap.

    Icons symbolize missions. Upon visit of one, Jak will encounter some ridiculous NPC, watch through flawlessly animated cutscene and be sent to do others’ dirty work. The pool of activities of Jak 3 is bit shallower than of its predecessor but still quite long. In general, it can be divided into two categories: racing and platforming, with shooting sewn into both. Racing became more prominent and turned from discrete city maneuvering into rough cross-countrying integrated nicely into narrative. Different vehicles are present, from small but fast bug to wide jumping machine. Platforming is as classic as it can be, involves overcoming dungeon filled with enemies and obstacles. Dungeon walkthrough can incorporate a number of distinct elements: jumping puzzles, jetboarding, shooting galleries, mini racing, robot control, bosses… Platforming is still Jak’s pinnacle - fun, enjoyable and memorable.

    And thus, if you for some reason a new player who decided to skip previous games, here is a verdict for you: Jak 3 is a polished game that poorly imitates GTA-series but does its own thing, platforming that is, impeccably. But why would you skip previous Jaks? Third installment is direct continuation of predecessor, filled with old acquaintances and wrapped in many plot leftovers. So playing at least Jak 2 is highly recommended to enjoy the story.

    Now, it is time to talk with veterans and explain why Jak 3 is good. Quantity-wise Jak 3 bring many additions into gameplay like new skills, weapon upgrades, enemies and obstacles, but none of these additions are surprising, being felt like a one-time fix and so - easily forgettable. Quality-wise… Jak 3 fixes almost all problems of Jak 2! Racing became fun by switching from floating vehicles to traditional cars. Racing became fun because cars are different in feel and gameplay while floating vehicles are all the same. Shooting became fun because of new weapon modes, all of which being useful. Getting through the story became fun because now it is not littered with filler GTA-like missions. But the main fix of the Jak 3 is, of course, difficulty. Yes, praise the God, they tuned it down in every gameplay department. Almost no mission will require you do everything perfectly anymore, challenges no longer challenging, new weapon modes made shooting much less random-dependant, bosses no longer frustrating, dungeons feature many checkpoints. In short, game became a peaceful bliss where you can enjoy the story and platforming, the two strong suits of the game. GTA-imitating was wisely reduced to a minimum.

    And yet, playing through Jak 3, I could not help but feel like talking with dying man on its last breath. Maybe it's because I played all Jaks in short interval and got glutted with them. Anyway, though being less grandiose and surprising than the predecessor, Jak 3 is much more enjoyable, which, I guess, is paramount merit.    … Expand
  7. Gaisericus
    Feb 14, 2020
    6
    Not quite as original as the first 2, but it expands on the gameplay of 2 and is a good time
  8. DevinM.
    Mar 9, 2006
    7
    Their are some funparts in this otherwise repetative, mundane game. The story lack coherance and the gameplay really isn't that exciting, however it does have really nice graphics and the story and missions get more exicting in the last two hours of the game.
  9. EpicNate6
    Apr 17, 2014
    5
    This game is certainly the worst in the series, mainly thanks to a very average story and mediocre wasteland driving missions. When you play as Jak on foot with guns, it can be very fun. It seems to be that I have fun on the on foot sections but then it is all spoiled by the abysmal driving sections. I also lose motivation to continue playing as the story is so slowly paced. A lot of theThis game is certainly the worst in the series, mainly thanks to a very average story and mediocre wasteland driving missions. When you play as Jak on foot with guns, it can be very fun. It seems to be that I have fun on the on foot sections but then it is all spoiled by the abysmal driving sections. I also lose motivation to continue playing as the story is so slowly paced. A lot of the characters return from Jak 2; however, they are no where near as involved in the story now and it feels like they're just there because they were in the previous game. Also, I was disappointed by the absence of class races. I still hate how there is a lack of strafing or a proper aiming system- people complained about there not being one in the original R&C ( and it was fixed in the sequels) but no-one complained about it in Jak 2 OR 3. I think that this game is a true disappointment and Jak 2 will remain my favourite.… Expand
  10. hector_bcn98
    Aug 12, 2023
    6
    Mal, mal gunplay, sigue la dificultad odiosa, historia sin interés... Abandono.
  11. Tromble
    Jun 29, 2021
    7
    Jak 3 is a competent sequel to Jak II.

    Unlike Jak II, Jak 3 does little to shake up the established formula and instead feels like oversized expansion. Jak 3 narratively is also an all time low for the series frequently undercutting itself and getting lost in plot thread after plot thread. If you have played Jak and Daxter and Jak II I would recommend Jak 3, however Jak 3 really    Jak 3 is a competent sequel to Jak II.

    Unlike Jak II, Jak 3 does little to shake up the established formula and instead feels like oversized expansion.

    Jak 3 narratively is also an all time low for the series frequently undercutting itself and getting lost in plot thread after plot thread.

    If you have played Jak and Daxter and Jak II I would recommend Jak 3, however Jak 3 really does not stand on its own.    … Expand
  12. CnPx98
    Jul 27, 2022
    7
    This game has allot of improvements over the 1st game but some down grades aswell. The downsides are this game is full of pointless time trials and races. All the time they slap a timer on something even if it makes no sense to do so. Time trials are fine at certain times like say your running out of an exploding building. They are not fine when it's just a mission where your running liftsThis game has allot of improvements over the 1st game but some down grades aswell. The downsides are this game is full of pointless time trials and races. All the time they slap a timer on something even if it makes no sense to do so. Time trials are fine at certain times like say your running out of an exploding building. They are not fine when it's just a mission where your running lifts for people. I've never been a fan of racing in games that aren't race focused but this game has so many races that it gets annoying. The 2nd game had a few but Jake 3 has loads more. Driving throu the desert is just annoying. With these other cars constantly ramming you yet we have no idea who they even are. There is now loads more orbs and skull gems which have made them feel less rewarding to collect. Also this game is perfect if you don't like playing as Jak because you barely ever use him. Your always driving or piloting something or other. You can literally forget your playing a Jak game. I don't mind this missions when there is a couple of them but when every other mission involves controller something it becomes over saturated and boring. It's like playing a racing game but spending most of your time walking round. You probably can't even put this game in the platformer genra because there is barely any platforming. Light eco is over powered. With the ability to heal yourself and deploy a shield around you. This makes all combat way to easy.
    Improvements are that the new guns are cool. The difficulty spikes still aren't perfect but they are much better then before. The story in this game is also good and is well portrayed. I personally prefer 2 but thats subjective. It's overall an easier game then the 2nd which I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing. I personally like a challenge but this game is a bit more accessible. Overall I prefer the second game. Jak 3 is still a good game but the second game overall had better combat and more time playing as Jak. I don't like missions playing as something else as this game has far to many of them.    … Expand
  13. VLG
    Aug 22, 2023
    5
    The introduction of the typical GTA mechanics ruined the series for me. I didnt even beat the game as a teen.

Awards & Rankings

27
#27 Best PS2 Game of 2004
7
#7 Most Discussed PS2 Game of 2004
16
#16 Most Shared PS2 Game of 2004

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
84

Generally favorable reviews - based on 55 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 46 out of 55
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 55
  3. Negative: 0 out of 55
  1. Total Video Games
    80
    Its identical nature to "Jak 2" may leave a nasty taste in the mouth, especially given that this is the send-off to the comical pair.
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  2. PSX Nation
    90
    Daxter's shtick notwithstanding (he hasn't made me laugh since the middle of last year's adventure) Jak 3 stands tall and proud as a testament of what polished gameplay and cutting-edge graphics can do when the host system's Emotion Engine is maximized.
    Read full review
  3. PSM Magazine
    90
    Despite the sweet new weapon upgrades and other new features, Jak 3 didn't have the same impact on me as "Jak II" because it wasn't as fresh - it feels a little too much like extra "Jak II" chapters. It's still great, don't get me wrong - but maybe not as mind-blowingly fantastic as what came before. [Nov 2004, p.70]
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