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! :)

Rating: 4/5

Jak 3 Walkthrough

Buy Jak 3 from Amazon.com