Jak 3 is a video game released in 2004. It is an action and adventure game where you jump and move around. The game was made by Naughty Dog and sold by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2. It follows Jak II, which came out in 2003, and ends the trilogy of games. The story continues from earlier games, and you play as two main characters, Jak and Daxter. The game includes new weapons, tools, and areas to explore. A different game called Jak X: Combat Racing was released in 2005.
Gameplay
The gameplay of Jak 3 mixes platforming, racing, and gun combat, just like its earlier game. Players complete missions given by characters in the game to progress through the story. Missions may involve defeating enemies, reaching a specific place, or solving puzzles. Unless the mission is timed or follows a strict path, players can explore the large game world freely.
Secrets become available as players advance and collect rare Precursor orbs. These secrets can be bought and turned on or off, giving players abilities like stronger weapon damage, mirrored worlds, or invincibility.
Jak 3 has some differences from Jak II. The environments in Haven City are redesigned. Spargus City, the Wasteland, and Haven City are the main areas in Jak 3, each using different transportation: leaper lizards in Spargus City, buggies in the Wasteland, and zoomers in Haven City. While Jak II offered four types of guns, Jak 3 adds two upgrades for each gun, giving players a strong set of twelve weapons. The "Dark Jak" form from Jak II, which made Jak more powerful in attack, is balanced by the "Light Jak" form, which focuses on defense. The jet-board returns from Jak II with some improvements.
Plot
Jak 3 takes place in an unnamed fictional world, just like the games before it. The story happens one year after the events of Jak II. The game mainly focuses on the Wasteland, a large desert that was only briefly mentioned in the previous game as being completely empty and not suitable for living.
The game starts in Spargus City, a big settlement in the Wasteland near the ocean. Spargus is where players begin their journey, earn new weapons and upgrades, and receive most of their missions. Later in the game, the story moves to Haven City, a large city that was the main setting in Jak II. However, Haven City is only one-fifth the size of the Wasteland. Some areas from the previous game are changed or removed, while new areas like New Haven City are added.
Jak and Daxter, the main characters, return in this game. Jak is revealed to have the birth name "Mar," named after his ancestor and the founder of Haven City. Keira, Jak’s friend and potential love interest, also returns. Ashelin, the Governor of Haven City, is involved with Torn, the leader of the Freedom League. Tess, Daxter’s love interest, returns as a weapons designer, and Samos, Jak’s mentor, appears throughout the game.
A new character, Damas, is introduced. It is shown that Damas lost his son and was once the leader of Haven City before being betrayed by Baron Praxis and exiled to the desert. Other returning characters include Sig, who becomes the king of Spargus after Damas dies, Jinx, a former member of the Underground, Vin, whose brain is in a computer, and Pecker, who becomes an adviser to Damas.
Few of the original villains from Jak II return. A new villain, Count Veger, banishes Jak to the Wasteland at the start of the game. Veger attacks the Palace and tries to reach the core of the planet to gain power from the Precursors. At the same time, the Dark Makers, corrupted Precursors from the previous game, begin to invade the planet.
The main villain is Errol, the former Krimzon Guard commander from Jak II, who is now a cybernetic version of himself. Errol restarts the production of Krimzon Guard Deathbots and launches a war against Haven City with the help of Metal Heads and the Dark Makers. He gains a massive terraforming robot called the Terraformer, which Jak destroys to save the planet.
The game begins with Jak and Daxter being banished to the Wasteland by Count Veger. Ashelin, who disagrees with the banishment, gives Jak a beacon and tells him to "stay alive." As they travel through the desert, flashbacks show that Haven City is at war between the Freedom League and the Metal Heads, who are helped by the Krimzon Guard Deathbots. The Palace is destroyed by an unknown force, and Jak, Daxter, and Pecker are rescued by desert-dwellers who take them to Spargus City.
In Spargus, King Damas tells Jak he must prove his worth by completing challenges and serving the city. Jak’s missions include recovering citizens, racing, solving puzzles, and gaining Light Eco abilities from a Precursor temple. These abilities allow him to slow time, heal, shield himself, and even fly. Jak befriends Seem, a Precursor monk, and Kleiver, a buggy garage owner. Later, Ashelin finds Jak and asks him to return to Haven City to help defend it. Jak refuses at first but changes his mind after learning about Veger’s plans.
Jak and Daxter help unite the resistance in Haven City and fight the Metal Heads and Deathbots. They later discover the Dark Makers, who are corrupted Precursors, and find out a purple star in the sky is a Dark Maker spaceship heading toward the planet. To stop the ship, Jak and Daxter must activate the planetary defense system at the planet’s core.
Damas joins them on their journey to the core, but he is killed during a battle. Before dying, Damas tells Jak to find his long-lost son, Mar, and gives him an amulet. Jak learns that Damas is his father and that Veger took him as a child for his Eco powers. Veger then tries to take power for himself but is transformed into an ottsel as punishment. Jak and Daxter are sent to slow down the Dark Maker ship while the defense system charges. The mission is successful, but the ship begins to break apart, revealing a giant, spider-legged creature.
Development and release
Jak 3 was created by Naughty Dog for the PlayStation 2. Bob Rafei was the game's art and animation director. A writer from Super Play first mentioned the game was being made on January 8, 2004, after seeing early work on desert environments in Naughty Dog's offices. Sony Computer Entertainment officially announced the game on February 24, 2004. Details about the story and gameplay were shared on April 19, 2004. The voice acting was recorded at two studios: Pop Sound in Los Angeles and Howard Schwartz Recording in New York City. The game was released in North America on November 9, 2004, and in Europe on November 26, 2004.
Music
The soundtrack for Jak 3 was created by two composers: Josh Mancell and Larry Hopkins. Josh Mancell wrote the music for the game levels, while Larry Hopkins composed the music for the cutscenes. A three-CD version of the soundtrack, titled Jak 3 Official Soundtrack, was released as part of the Limited Run Games Jak 3 Collector's Edition for PlayStation 4 on April 26, 2019. The first two discs include music composed by Josh Mancell, and the third disc includes music composed by Larry Hopkins. As of October 2025, this is the only official release of the game's soundtrack.
Reception
According to Metacritic, a website that collects reviews, Jak 3 received "generally positive reviews." GameSpot gave the game a score of 8.6 out of 10, stating that Jak 3 has high-quality graphics and design, as well as some of the best visuals on the PlayStation 2. GameSpot also praised the game for its smooth platforming action, a wide variety of weapons and abilities, different types of gameplay, an interesting and well-written story, humor, and many hidden secrets to discover. Some reviewers noted that Jak 3 was easier to play than its earlier version, which had been criticized for having too few checkpoints.
IGN gave Jak 3 a score of 9.6 out of 10, saying the game has excellent art and technical quality. IGN described the game's characters as moving smoothly and noted that the game runs without any delays, glitches, or problems. Jak 3 was named a runner-up in GameSpot’s 2004 "Best Platformer" award, losing to Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal. The game was also nominated for "Console Platform Action/Adventure Game of the Year" and "Outstanding Achievement in Animation" at the 8th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, which were given by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences.
On August 4, 2005, Jak 3 was added to the Greatest Hits collection.
Ports and remasters
In 2012, Jak 3 was remastered as part of the Jak and Daxter Collection for the PlayStation 3. The collection was later released for the PlayStation Vita in 2013. In 2017, Jak 3 became available on the PlayStation 4 using PlayStation 2 emulation technology, and it was later released on the PlayStation 5 with improved performance. In 2019, Limited Run Games produced two physical versions of the PlayStation 4 edition: 7,500 copies of a standard edition and 2,500 copies of a Collector's Edition. The Collector's Edition included a soundtrack on three CDs, a behind-the-scenes "Design Bible" book, a two-sided poster, foil trading cards, a 16GB USB drive shaped like a PlayStation 2 Memory Card, and a 3-inch "Metal Morph-Gun Blaster Replica."
Like earlier versions of the game, an unofficial version for personal computers was released by fans in 2026 as part of the OpenGOAL project.