Jak 3

Yahoo! Games

Compelling and addictive, and far more fun that we'd have expected after slogging through the confounding Jak 2. This is the action platformer refined to perfection.

Detroit Free Press

The action is incredibly smooth and responsive, the plot is fun and the game-play is quick and exciting. Even when you die, it's no big deal to get back in the action (and you will die, a lot).

GamePro

It's all about presentation, and Jak 3 presents the action in an engaging, meaningful way that keeps you glued to the very end. [Dec 2004, p.100]

Play Magazine

A near 20-hour-long rollercoaster ride that stacks missions of perfectly manufactured platforming, tactical shooting and everything in between. [Dec 2004, p.72]

AceGamez

Stunning graphics, an amazing range of highly imaginative and sprawling locations, endless variety, engaging and challenging gameplay, loads of mini-games, cool weapons, super powers, vehicles, races, a grand and exciting storyline, great music, superb voice acting and plenty of humour- did I forget anything?

GameZone

This game looks absolutely gorgeous; it is one of the best looking games out for the Playstation 2. The controls are very responsive and it plays like a dream.

Next Level Gaming

A great game, and it is the best of the Jak series. It is the perfect way to end it all.

IGN

If you're looking for art and technical achievement, Jak has it...Jak is it. Characters animate so smoothly it actually makes playing other games painful. Painful, I say! And it never stutters, never glitches, never hitches, and never, ever lets up.

Armchair Empire

After I beat the game I almost cried. Not from disappointment however, because the ending was great and it gave a great conclusion to the epic trilogy.

Game Over Online

The graphics are buoyed by the exceptional voice acting for the characters in the game.

Gaming Target

It's better than Jak II in how it's simpler to move around from place to place. That's a plus. Its range of difficulty has diminished since Jak II. That's a bit of a plus and a minus. The game's more action-oriented than it is platform based. That's a bit more of a minus than it is a plus.

Game Informer

Naughty Dog has done a tremendous job of creating multi-layered personalities that really strike a chord, and plot hooks that will keep you guessing and on the edge of your seat up until the explosive finale. [Nov 2004, p.153]

GamingTrend

The variety of missions/gameplay types is refreshing.

Cinescape

I like how the game has been tightened up. The new driving missions are much better, the difficulty has been toned down (though maybe a bit too much), and the new weapon mods and Light Jak powers add something new.

Computer Games Magazine

While it improves upon the chief complaints from the first sequel, it still does not offer much that's fresh besides new weapons and Light Jak powers. [Feb 2005, p.NP-9]

DarkStation

Although this game may also be the most difficult game in the series it also still retains all of the fun and enjoyment that has been with this series since the very beginning.

Game Power Australia

It's fair to say that, despite all its new content, Jak 3 does feel a lot like "Jak II." Many of the animations and sound effects have been recycled, along with huge portions of Haven City.

Official U.S. Playstation Magazine

Nowhere near as tough as "Jak II" is. Those of you who pride yourselves on your old-school hardcore platforming skill may find this disappointing, but it's great news for the rest of us. "Hard" does not necessarily mean "good," and most of us don't like feeling as though a game is trying to give us an aneurysm. [Dec 2004, p.104]

PSX Nation

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.

PSM Magazine

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]

eToychest

The one thing keeping it from breaking 90%, I found the conclusion of the story to be a huge letdown. While several of the threads come to satisfying (And even surprising) conclusions, the major plot thread started in the first game was revealed to be, and I might be getting a little mean here, stupid.

Inside Gamer Online

Graphics wise Jak 3 is stellar. The backgrounds are fantastic and they seem to go on forever. The player models look grand as well.

Gaming Nexus

With Jak 3 everything seems so passé and normal again, as if the well had run dry and the developers had lost their passion for the franchise.

Gamers' Temple

The game’s mission-based structures makes for a lot of opportunities to show cutscenes, and Jak 3 takes full advantage of this.

Just RPG

If you haven’t played either of the predecessors to Jak 3, it’s highly recommended that you do so before playing through this one, or at least Jak II that is.

BonusStage

A truly fantastic game that is without a doubt the best game in the series. However, it is disappointing that the control and camera problems from the last game weren't fixed, and the new focus on vehicles was too overemphasized for my liking.

Gaming Illustrated

I thought the graphics and gameplay were the 2 most outstanding features of the game.

GameSpot

This game simply builds on Jak II's winning formula by adding more weapons and abilities, varied kinds of action, and an interesting and well-told story; in short, all the stuff that made its predecessor a great game.

PALGN

It isn't as evolutionary as "Jak II" was but it is still a fun platformer which puts up a great challenge.

Game Revolution

Though it sticks very closely to the franchise's formula and has a few flaws, the excellent story, great presentation and varied gameplay make this 'final' episode a good one.

Electronic Gaming Monthly

By ironing out the wildly unfair difficulty spikes, cutting down on the dullsville between-mission backtracking, and offering kinder, more frequent mission midpoints, Jak 3 (unlike Jak II) succeeds at making you not want to snap it in half.

RealGamer

Offering so many well implemented elements of gameplay into a title along with stunning graphics and nicely set out controls is sure to be a winner and Jak 3 does everything so well you cant help but enjoy it.

Total Video Games

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.

Eurogamer

What's genuinely disappointing though is that it's all over so quickly... Jak 3 is much, much shorter than its epic predecessor. Indeed, it took us just 10 hours to achieve a 100 per cent rating.

Sydney Morning Herald

Players may occasionally feel like they are going through the motions, but there is a wide variety of challenges include races, turret blasting, hoverboard trickery, arena combat and an exciting sequence escorting an explosives-laden train.

G4 TV

The one down side is that the shooting still feels pretty basic. The game is a little shorter than you might expect, but goes well over 10 hours and it wraps up the series' story nicely with a pretty crazy twist.

My Gamer

Jak 3 can be completed in a weekend, minus the egg missions.

1UP

At times, Jak 3 seems to be scraping the bottom of the idea barrel...While this final chapter is not the platforming clinic of the first, nor the trendsetter of the second, it is an extremely satisfying finish for the series.

Times Online

Although some found "Jak 2" hard going in places, Jak 3 is better all round, and soundly completes the adventure series.

Gamer.tv

A far more varied titles than its predecessors.

GMR Magazine

Jak 3 doesn't break much new ground, but it is head and shoulders above most of its ilk and is a fitting - and make no mistake, good-looking - send-off for this beloved trilogy. [Dec 2004, p.124]

Gamenikki

Just because there's everything but the kitchen sink doesn't mean it's a good game. Luckily, Jak 3 is a good game.

WHAM! Gaming

The keyword here is variety. If you like to try many different things and fight many different ways, then Jak 3 is the game for you.

Official Playstation 2 Magazine UK

Sublime platform adventure and oodles of varied gameplay. [Jan 2007, p.106]

Gaming Horizon

when I was done I was like… the opposite… I found the game to be extremely amusing and couldn’t really stop playing

TotalGames.net

Aside from the occasional piece of ropey responsiveness from the game engine, Jak and Daxter's moves are among the slickest on any console.

GamerArchive

While it's possible if you're a fan of the originals to get to grips with this, and enjoy it throughout, for everybody else, Jak 3 is a beautiful, yet disappointing game. It does a lot, but only gets some of it right, and in the end you'll just want to skip whole sections and see the ending.

GamerFeed

I didn't find it nearly as engaging as Insomniac's latest "Ratchet and Clank," as it came up a bit short in the fun department.

Gamestyle

On balance, however, this is a great game that outperforms most others in the field, but it's also obvious - painfully so - that it could have been so much more.

Boomtown

Overall, it doesn't stray far enough from the parts of "Jak 2" that made it a let-down and, while tolerable, it's a bit of a shame.

Edge Magazine

Jak 3 too often feels like you're merely going through the motions. As the series' conclusion, then, it's a mild disappointment. [Christmas 2004, p.89]

GameSpy

More importantly, the action at the game's heart is only so-so; it's competent in execution, but just doesn't seem terribly compelling to play through. It passes time, but it's not exciting or fun.

3DAvenue

It's relatively easy for the most part, making it a game that some gamers will clear in less than ten hours, which also impacts on its total value.

games(TM)

Sure, it's all beautifully put together, and you'll be hard pushed to find an adventure-lite world as well realised as here... However, despite all the creative effort Jak 3 is exactly the sum of its parts, and feels all the more underwhelming because of it. [Christmas 2004, p.118]

Gaming Age

For all it's technical wizardry, a game is only as good as its gameplay, and that portion of Jak 3 just doesn't measure up.