Naughty Dog may be best known for its hyper-realistic and mature story-driven games, but this wasn’t always the case. Indeed, long beforeUnchartedandThe Last of Uswerefranchises likeCrash BandicootandJak & Daxter, which hasn’t seen a full, mainline entry sinceJak 3, 20 years ago.
Launched on the PS2 in 2004,Jak 3followed in the footsteps of its immediate predecessor, doubling down on typical open-world adventure and action tropes and pivoting away from the more colorful, all-ages platforming of the first game. Players follow the titularJakand his sidekickDaxteras they make their way through the Wasteland, an inhospitable stretch of desert that seems to take more than a few cues from theMad Maxfranchise, albeit with a fair injection of high fantasy and PG-13 violence. It’s not exactly a game that audiences were expecting, but many look back on it fondly all these years later. Moreover, it’s remembered as a bittersweet pitstop in PlayStation history, as few could have predicted that this would have been the last fullJak & Daxtergame to come to market.
Jak 3: Naughty Dog’s Unexpected Farewell to Its Modus Operandi
Jak 3 Is Hard to Forget
Jak 3is something of a time capsule for a specific era of gaming. Released around the same time as infamous butendearingly edgy games likeShadow the Hedgehog, it adopts a surprisingly dark and quasi-mature tone, with gunplay, carjacking, and cartoon violence forming the bulk of its gameplay structure. Indeed,Jak 3can feel a bit like “GTAfor kids” at times, as players are presented with a huge open-world to explore, (flying) cars to steal, and a bevy of inventive sci-fi guns with which to shoot bad guys.
It was a fairly ambitious game for its time, too, with graphics and animations that still hold up surprisingly well today, solid gunplay similar to the likes ofRatchet and Clank, and a sandbox rife with opportunities for varied gameplay. WithJak 3, Naughty Dog began to shed the conventionsof its earlier releases and moved in a more adult direction, making the game an unexpected precursor to what the studio would eventually become much better known for.
Jak 3 Wound Up Being a Swansong for a Definitive Era of Naughty Dog
Naughty Dog is a developer that needs little introductionat this point. Its two leading franchises,The Last of UsandUncharted, have become two of Sony’s crown jewels, serving as blockbuster showcases for the strength of new consoles thanks to their remarkable fidelity, character animations, and attention to detail. It’s almost hard to remember that the company was once known for making action-platformers and action-adventure games targeted at a younger audience.
Jak 3, for all intents and purposes, is the last of this kind of Naughty Dog title. Yes,Naughty Dog released theJak X: Combat Spin-Offa year later, and two PSP spin-offs followed in 2006 and 2009, but these weren’t mainline entries. Additionally, the PSP games weren’t even developed by Naughty Dog. Just three years after the launch ofJak 3cameUncharted: Drake’s Fortunewhich, while not perfect, would come to define the future of the company for well over a decade.
MaybeJak 3’s mature tone was an early sign of Naughty Dog’s desire to tell more adult stories in games, or perhaps the studio just fell out of love with the series. Either way, the leap fromJak 3to the firstUnchartedwas shocking at the time, and historic in hindsight. It’s not clear whether the gaming world willever be blessed with anotherJak & Daxter, but for now,Jak 3is a mighty fine exit point.
Jak 3
WHERE TO PLAY
Jak and his faithful companion Daxter are thrust in the middle of an unforgiving Wasteland where survival of the fittest takes on new meaning. With potent weapons, armor, and vehicles, Jak also discovers that there is an emerging power inside him - the ability to balance Dark Jak and Light Jak. Questions about the mysterious Precursors, the mythical Mar, the fate of the world and the enigmatic Jak himself will be answered, as this most exciting adventure unfolds.
