2.5/5 ★ – Empyrean's review of Jak 3.

Jak 3 was my favorite of the trilogy as a kid, and I can see why. It’s bigger, cruder, and you can blow shit up to a screen-nuke degree. However, as an adult and appreciating the characters and story as the strengths of the previous two games, I need more than that. This game is basically the anthesis of 2, mostly. Basically every criticism has been ironed out, for better or worse. Missions are close together so you spend less time travelling, checkpoints are more frequent, and it’s just braindead easy in general. The considerable new arsenal and light Jak basically make you invincible. This all sounds good, so what’s the problem? Well that’s easy. Jak 3 is one of the worst written and paced games I’ve played in a long time. You don’t get to a pure action platforming section (you know, what these games are known for) until over an hour in. Until then you’re at the mercy of dick jokes and one of the most boring hubs in gaming history. You’d think things might improve once you return to Haven City, and they do in terms of gameplay, but then you notice that returning characters are either wiped of their personality or act in bizarre ways. Sig for example. He just APPEARS. It’s never questioned how he survived, he’s just there and randomly pops up in missions because people liked him. That basically sums up the writing of the whole game. Stuff just HAPPENS. It sucks. If all you want out of these games is to drive around and shoot stuff then I guess this is the one for you. Whilst I don’t think any of the Jak games have held up particularly well, 3 has definitely aged the worst due to it focusing on the weakest element and throwing the strongest out the window.