Reviews// PS2 Platformer face-off: Jak III versus Ratchet & Clank III

For PS2 owners who have enjoyed previous J+D or R+C games, both of these would be suggested as essential purchases, despite the fact they do cover similar ground. Jak III is rounding off the story started by the first couple of games, and so turns the series into a cohesive whole – which is, in itself, an impressive accomplishment. A newcomer to the PS2 could happily chug through all three in quick succession and would surely be impressed by the apparent evolution that has unfurled before their very eyes. The RC series has a similar quality, although it could be better argued that each new iteration has rendered the last obsolete. Either way, we respect both of these approaches to sequel production: from this evidence, it results in great games.

As for those who overlooked the previous outings, there is now much more that is worthy of investigation. Jak III, on a superficial level, feels like a less sinister version of Grand Theft Auto. Although Jak II took a similar approach, its inconsistent difficulty level threw a lot of people off – meaning that the expansive, free-roaming elements were less well appreciated than they could have been. Thankfully, these issues have been hammered out in Jak III, which now boasts a fairly steady learning curve (despite nearly making us cry tears of frustration in the first few minutes). It doesn’t have all the side-line distractions of GTA, unfortunately, and that is one criticism we would make of both titles – there aren’t many side dishes. However, many would argue that these diversions are present, they just exist in a more formalised way, as part of the wider mission structures.

Jak III’s new playing area is also considerably larger, adding a vast wasteland and extra city to Jak II’s Haven City locale. Haven City is back in, and although this repetition has attracted a certain level of criticism, we feel it’s actually a rather nice touch. If you’d missed out on Jak II, certain references might fall flat, but then you’d get the novelty factor of seeing Haven City for the first time, even though it’s more of a bombsite this time around. So unless you’ve only just finished off Jak II, everyone’s a winner!

There’s also a huge variety of missions in Jak 3, which along with the numerous vehicles and large map, is what has invited the GTA comparisons. But arguably, the diversity of tasks is even greater than the Rockstar masterpiece, which is, almost by definition, concretely founded in killing and racing. Within the first few hours of Jak III we had gone herding up runaway lizards, enjoyed spectacular on-rails shooting sections, thrashed out on-track races, played bemani styled timing games, tried out a mini-Pacman homage and even some beautifully tranquil Pilotwings style gliding, high above the parched wasteland sands.

Although the whole package doesn’t last quite as long as Jak II, with most players managing to reach the end well within 14 hours, it is difficult to argue with anything that Naughty Dog has put in front of us. The production values make us quiver with delight, the storyline and characters are thoughtful and imaginative, there’s an immense amount of stuff to do, plenty of challenge and a nicely-rounded ending to a nicely-rounded series. If all video games were made like this, no one would do anything other than play them.