The third installment of the Jak and Daxter franchise.Jak is banished to the Wasteland while Haven City is being torn apart by a three-way war between the remaining Krimzon Guard robots, the Freedom League, and the surviving Metal Heads. He is taken back to a desert refuge known as Spargus by the city's ruler, Damas, and grows to be one of the king's finest warriors. He eventually returns to Haven to help with the war effort, but not long after discovers a much, muchbigger threat to the world than anything before: the Dark Makers are coming and hope to terraform the planet into the very dark and twisted world Jak barely stopped it from becoming in The Precursor Legacy. The Big Bad is aided by an Ax Crazyand resurrected Erol.After yet another long journey with even more crazy plot twists than before (but what do you expect when the game was directed by the same woman who wrote the Legacy of Kain series?), the trilogy's storyline is wrapped up, giving our heroes a satisfying conclusion. Like the previous games, Jak 3 was universally well received and was a hit in sales.
Tropes Used In This Game:
Absurdly Spacious Sewer: Prominent in this game, as there are now three sewer levels rather than one (as seen in Jak II: Renegade), but they function much like the regular (fun) levels, and thus avert the dreaded Down the Drain trope. For some strange reason, you can only access them from the entrance gate but not at the exit gate, so if you want to revisit them you can't just go back the way you came - you have to trek all the way to the beginning doorway and repeat the linear path.
Air Aided Acrobatics: There are some fans in the sewer levels which can propel Jak up to high ledges if he uses the right equipment.
Airborne Aircraft Carrier / Ominous Floating Castle: The War Factory serves as the former because it deploys KG robots and has a flying defense constantly patrolling around it, which can be shot down during the raid at the climax of Act Two, and serves as the latter because it's the KG leader's HQ. The Floating War Factory is so large it almost counts as a man-made Floating Continent. Quite what keeps it up is anybody's guess, but it ''does'' look intimidating overshadowing the city.
Already Undone For You: Veger manages to get through many of the same areas as Jak, including the Precursor Temple and the ruins of the palace. Possibly justified in the first example because he was with Seem, so the monks probably have their own Death Trap-free passages to go through, but how the hell did he manage to get through the ruins, which were crawling with Dark Makers? Considering he had access to a giant fireball launching weapon, it wouldn't be hard to guess that he just fought his way to that point. This also means that Veger killed Damas.
Always Chaotic Evil: Those pesky Metal Heads make a comeback, only to get upstaged by the much more threatening Dark Makers.
Daxter finally gets his pants at the end of the game.
You get the original Jak outfit if you collect all 600 orbs.
Anti-Hero: Starts out as a mild Type 3, (Justified due to the betrayal he felt he suffered at the last game's end) but forges himself into a Type 2 by the end of this game. Jak is rather rough around the edges, and isn't afraid to cause trouble if he thinks it will solve the problem at hand. That's ignoring his short-fuse temper, which puts him at odds with certain authority figures. In the end however, he's one of the kindest people you'll ever meet and every bit the hero people see him as.
Arbitrary Gun Power: Justified in most examples, since what you're shooting usually has super-strong armor.
Ascended Extra: Jinx. He was originally one out of the three demolition crew that you have to escort through the sewers in Jak II, and comes back with a name, cigar and More Dakka.
Asteroids Monster: Those bizarre creatures which are deployed by Veger's Precursor Robot, the Metal Head tower and the Terraformer. Fortunately, they also yield plenty of ammo each time you 'split' them.
Awesome, but Impractical: The Vulcan Fury upgrades. The Arc Wielder and the Needle Lazer are cool to watch, but the former is surprisingly weak in damage output, and while the latter uses very strong homing needles the homing AI isn't very good and it chews up ammo just as fast as the Vulcan Fury. Worse, the Needle Lazer considers friendly Freedom Guard soldiers to be valid targets. However, you can buy the "Robot Shock" upgrade for the Arc Wielder, which drastically increases its effectiveness against KG Bots.
Bag of Spilling: You start off with none of Jak's weapons or the jetboard, as they were taken from Jak prior to his being banished. However, he regains them all throughout the game—with upgrades. Sadly, though, he doesn't get to keep the Dark powers he acquired in Jak II: Renegade, save for the Energy Bomb.
Count Veger wishes to become a Precursor. There were aspects of this he was not expecting.
Tess when she unintentionally asks for pants like Daxter and windsup a Precursor herself (much to Daxter's joy). She certainly took it much better then Veger.
Benevolent Architecture: Who exactly puts all those Eco vents just where Jak needs them? This gets particularly egregious on the Terraformer boss platform, which has, of all things, a Light Eco vent. As for the Light and Dark Eco vents in the Haven City ruins, it could have been Mar.
BFG: Jak's Morph Gun, particularly the Peace Maker and the Super Nova.
Big Bad Ensemble: The role of the Big Bad is split between Count Veger and Errol and the Dark Makers. Between the two of them, Errol is more directly the big bad of this particular game's story (being both the Final Boss and the instigator of the plot), but Veger tends to be considered the bigger one in the context of the series as a whole because of his greater involvement with the heroes' backstories.
Big Damn Fire Exit: The conspicuously giant warpgate located in the the Terraformer storage part of the Dark Maker ship is the way Jak and Dax survive the subsequent destruction of it.
Blown Across the Room: Possibly justified in that the ammo is made out of eco and not bullets and thus it has unrealistic effects.
Body Armor as Hit Points: As the game progresses, Jak collects armour allegedly worn by Mar himself, such as gauntlets, chest armour, and legging armour. Each piece increases his hit point count by two. Once he has all the body armour, his hit point count is twice that of Jak II: Renegade.
Boss Arena Recovery: All the bosses feature some stage when you can restock on ammo, usually by killing the Flunky Boss mooks. The Final Boss has Dark Eco vents and a Light Eco vent available at certain points during the battle, but only for a short time.
Boss Banter: Cyber-Errol just won't stop taunting Jak.
Veger gets his comeuppance when he discovers the Precursors (who he idolized) are ottsels, gets turned into an ottsel, and becomes Kleiver's sidekick. Almost makes you feel sorry for him... oh, wait, no it doesn't.
Veger appeals to Jak's friends and tries to persuade them to let him lead the expedition to the catacombs. Not only do they all side with Jak, but Ashelin removes him from authority. The cutscene is even called "Veger Gets Humiliated".
Bridge Logic: Daxter does this in the volcano level.
Car Fu: Zoomers, once again, serve only two purposes, and this is the more fun one.
Chain Lightning: The Peace Maker. Also the Arc Wielder, to a degree.
Chaos Architecture: How exactly did New Haven City come about unless there was a peacetime at some point during the war? The positioning of the five fallen palace towers doesn't always tally with their original positions in Jak 2. Also, the corners of the port, some sections of the Slums and the Industrial district are clipped for unexplained reasons. Otherwise, the game mostly averts this - despite claims of Haven Forest being completely unrecognizable, a bird's-eye-view from the Floating War Factory shows that it's a different section of the forest. Still doesn't explain how the entrance to said part of the Forest got there.
The Seal of Mar, which Ashelin gives to Jak in Act One to try to convince him to come back, enables him to explore further in the Precursor temple, leading to his return to the City. It also proves important later, when Damas gives him his own Seal of Mar to identify Damas' son. This is when Jak realises who he is.
The Turret Challenge Kleiver gives you in Act One has no further influence in Act One and has no bearing on the story in Act Two. In Act Three, however, it proves instrumental in repelling the Dark Maker invasion of Spargus, which leads to Jak receiving the last of Mar's armour from Damas.
Those Dark and Light Eco Crystals do have a purpose, which is served when Jak enters the Catacombs in Act Three.
Chokepoint Geography: Given the overall linear layout of the missions, this is not surprising. In order to complete Act One, Jak has to progress through the Precursor Temple and the Catacombs subrail leading to Haven City, and then work his way through the Eco mine to get within the city walls. This also happens during Act Two, when the only means of accessing New Haven City is by taking the long route through the robot-infested industrial section from the Port. The sewer levels are also one-way, and the only way to reach Haven Forest is to pass through the Metal Head city section. No Sidepaths, No Exploration, No Freedom is averted, however, by the sandbox-type gameplay overall.
Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: 'Captain' Brutter and the Crocodog completely disappear from this game for no apparent reason.
Continuity Nod: The Power Cells from the first game make a reappearance as an artifact.
The Corruption: "The Dark Makers were once Precursors, but their exposure to Dark Eco changed them..."
Crapsack World: Haven City takes a turn for the worse, as much of the northern part of town is destroyed when the palace is shot down, and the slums have been wrecked by the Metal Heads, who have created an organic hive in the northern farm area. On top of that, the Krimzon Guard Robots conquered the factories and created a floating base, leaving only the Port and the New Haven City inhabited. The Wasteland on the other hand is a massive unforgiving desert with some pretty bad sandstorms, but Spargus is not quite that bad, though the inhabitants are all armed with guns and short tempers.
Crosshair Aware: The three floating vehicles which attack New Haven City and the Cyber-Errol boss battle use this. The latter can even take out the floor if need be.
Sig: It's gonna be a big pile... Daxter: Yeah, a big pile of sh- (picks up the peace maker) -ould I cock this?
Cutscene Power to the Max: Did you see how far Jak fell near the end of the Act Three climax? Keep that in mind when you then consider how high his Angel-Winged Light Form can fly during gameplay.
Cybernetics Eat Your Soul: Apparently what happened to Cyber-Errol between this game and the previous one. Not that he had much of a soul in the previous game.
Dark Is Not Evil: Jak is the exception, and even he needed Light Eco to counter its worse effects. Even still, Jak's hero status is overlooked by Count Veger.
Deadly Training Area: There is sort of a gladiator pit with periodically rising, deadly lava, and guys that swing their pointy, deadly swords at Jak.
Deflector Shields: Appeared as both one of Jak's Light Eco powers and the main weapon of the Dark Makers.
Disc One Nuke: The second mod for the Beam Reflexor is obtained very early in the game, it's rapidly ricocheting bullets can quickly clear a room of even the most difficult enemies with just a few shots.
Difficulty Spike: Occasionally happens, especially during Act Two.
Dope Slap: Jak does this to Daxter when Kleiver challenges him to beat his top score on the turret minigame. "Oh don't worry. Jak beats things all the time. Hehehehe—" WHACK.
Double Jump: Unabashedly. You can also use a spin kick to stay airborne even longer.
Dude, Where's My Respect?: Torn gets on better with Jak now, though he still doesn't seem to like Daxter much.
Easter Egg: Everything you can unlock with the Precursor Orbs.
Eldritch Abomination: The Dark Makers. Given what Daxter's Superpowered Evil Side looks like, the fan theory that they're really robots has some credibility, but until official confirmation, they fall under this trope.
Evil Tower of Ominousness: The Metal Head Tower, especially at night. At least before you blow its head off and leave it a smoking mess on the skyline.
Flunky Boss: All three of them deploy less powerful enemies to attack Jak at some point, Cyber-Errol especially.
Follow the Money: If you can see Precursor orbs on it, you'll be able to access it.
Forced Tutorial: The Arena fight, though the actual fighting is still pretty fun.
Game Over Man: As with the first game, Daxter — though only on occasion. Jak's death animation must be the exact same one he's had since the first game in order for this to happen.
Get Back Here Boss: The Terraformer boss battle initially works like this, though it's not running away from Jak — it barely notices him and he just has to keep up with it.
Giant Space Flea from Nowhere: Not the actual Dark Makers themselves, but the form the final boss actually takes feels slightly like this.
The Gods Must Be Lazy: Why the hell are the Precursors, the "most powerful beings in the universe," relying on a mortal man (whose amazingness was quite possibly given to him by the Precursors) to solve their problems? Commented on by Daxter in the third act, right before The Reveal.
Humiliation Conga: After Jak and Daxter get back into haven city and word of their heroics get the city on their side again, Vegar suffers one humiliation after another, ending with him becoming an ottsel and being forced to be Kliever's sidekick under threat of severe beatings and possibly being eaten.
Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: Averted, once the Krimzon Guard become the Freedom League, they suddenly learn how to shoot. One of the rare examples where the good guys are better. Also, sadly, averted with the KG Deathbots; they are deadly accurate if they get a chance to aim at you.
Interspecies Romance: Daxter and Tess. Thankfully, they don't actually do anything until Tess gets turned into an ottsel.
It's All Upstairs From Here: The Metal Head Tower requires Jak to ascend slopes, glowing bridges and platforms to reach the elevator to the topmost chamber in Act Three.
Kick the Dog: Veger's actions, some of which border on Moral Event Horizon. Needless to say, trying to have Jak banished as a scapegoat for all the problems in the city wasn't even the worst he did.
Late Arrival Spoiler: Kor being the metal head leader, mentioned by Jak in the first few lines of the opening when Samos mentions the metal heads are still fighting.
Large Ham: Veger, thanks to some delightfully over-the-top voice acting. His entire Motive Rant and "The Reason You Suck" Speech to Jak just before the Precursor Robot fight was Made of Ham. Cyber-Errol gets in on the act, too. This is probably why the animators during the commentary said that it was such good fun animating these characters.
Lost Technology: The Precursors and Dark Makers left their technology scattered around the Wasteland.
Matter Replicator: In the first arena level, Damas mentions "matter formers", though we never see them or learn exactly what they're for. Maybe to explain just where the hell all the Marauder gladiators come from?
The Man Behind the Man: Cyber-Errol replaces Count Veger as the main antagonist during Act Two, and the Dark Makers appear to replace him as the main antagonist during Act Three. That last one is unresolved since it's not clear what the relationship is between Cyber-Errol and the Dark Makers.
Meat Moss: The Metal Heads have this influence over the Western side of Haven City.
Mecha-Mooks: The KG Robots are back from the previous game, with some new enhancements, and appear more frequently than they did in Jak 2. They've even taken control of the Industrial section of the city.
Mentor: Not officially, but Damas often gives Jak advice and guidance, as well as details about the tough philosophy of the Wastelanders.
Motive Decay: Just why are the Metal Heads bothering to attack the city anymore? At least in Jak II, Kor had a reason to drive them to press their attack, since he was after the Precursor Stone, but now he's gone, their motivation seems to have diminished to For the Evulz.
Not the Fall That Kills You: Averted and played straight. Jak will lose health if he falls a considerable distance onto dry land, and will instantly die if he falls from a certain height, even if he hits the ground not long after passing this limit. Nevertheless, he can avoid serious injuries if he is using the jet-board at the moment of impact or if he hits water, apparently because of Soft Water. This latter case is noticeable in Haven Forest, despite the considerable height from the top of the Precursor Astro Viewer to the lake below.
Out of Focus: The surviving Metal Heads from Jak II are downplayed significantly from their threat status in the original game in favor of Cyber-Errol and the Dark Makers, and we don't even get to see the conflict between the city and them get resolved.
Overheating: Happens with the Haven Forest turret guns.
Pass Through The Rings: Some of the more aggravating missions. At least it usually only happens in sidequests.
Random Events Plot / Kudzu Plot: The story is practically impossible to sum up quickly, and the revelations made in that game raise many questions that may never be answered.
Refusal of the Call: When Ashelin pleads with Jak to return to Haven City, Jak is unimpressed, still bitter over his banishment. "I'm through saving the world."
Remember the New Guy: What exactly was Veger doing during the events of Jak II? Given his significance here, especially his apparently strong influence over the city council, his absence in the last game seems a little jarring.
Remixed Level: Haven City has undergone several changes since Jak II: Renegade, many caused by the collapse of the palace at the beginning of the game. Many areas, especially the centre of the city, have been closed off by the wreckage, while others have been damaged beyond recognition, both by the tower and by the Metal Head invasion of the west side of the city. The slums have been mostly rebuilt as New Haven City on the northeast side of the city. Some of this is covered under Chaos Architecture, however.
Retcon: The last Precursor egg from the second game, with all its plot importance, was a hoax.
Scary Scorpions: The scorpion Metal Heads, especially when you see them swarming around the abandoned North Town ruins for the first time. Fortunately, they're pretty easy to beat.
Scenery Gorn: Jak's first sight of the Haven City's northern ruins at the beginning of Act Two, and when he infiltrates the Stadium ruins later in Act Three. Borders on being a Tear Jerker for some who experience Nostalgia Factor at either of these points.
Selective Gravity: As well as the standard anti-gravity Precursor orbs, there is a less orthodox version of this trope in action. The Mass Inverter creates selective gravity - a ring expands from the gun, and any enemy caught in the radius will float helplessly in the air until the effects wear off. In that time, the player is free to inflict as much damage as they please, or even to send the victim flying around the level. Videogame Cruelty Potential indeed.
Sequel Hook: "With all our adventures ahead, you wouldn't last a second without me." And Jak is absolutely right.
Sequence Breaking: At one point during the second sewer mission, you're trapped in a corridor by several electric gates and must fight a horde of KG bots before you can continue, or you can use Light Shield to safely walk through the fences and ignore the bots.
Stop Helping Me!: Ashelin, Samos, and Torn view Veger as this: Veger's attempts to beat the KG and Metal Head forces are as foolish and dangerous as you'd expect from a Knight Templar.
Stupid Evil: The Marauders harassing Jak must come from an incurable race, because they continue trying to kill Jak and continue to get slaughtered. It gets to a point where you wonder if they want to die.
Swiss Army Gun / Weapon: The Morph Gun has a shotgun, a rifle, a sub-machine gun, a lightning gun, lightning-ball gun, an RPG launcher, a shockwave generator, a Reflecting Laser, a drone launcher, an Anti-Gravity generator, a homing-dart gun and a mini-nuke.
Tactical Suicide Boss: Veger's Precursor Robot and Cyber-Errol insist on raising platforms and sending in exploding drones respectively, despite the fact that this gives Jak precisely what he needs to defeat them. The Terraformer, to a degree.
Take Your Time: Search for Orbs, play mini-games, explore the desert — that Day Star won't come any closer until the plot says it should.
Technobabble: Tess spits out a run-on sentence about one of her BFGs. Cue shot of Jak and Daxter with a "Bwuh?" look on their faces.
Techno Wreckage: North Town is severely damaged and completely abandoned save for the scorpion Metal Heads. See also Scenery Gorn.
Terraforming: Deconstructed. The Dark Maker's Terraformer will fix the unfinished planet, by making it completely uninhabitable to current life.
The Battle Didn't Count: Cyber-Errol escapes the first time you beat him, but it has the effect of shutting down the War Factory.
The Dev Team Thinks of Everything: After you reach the end the sewer you access within North Town, the pipes you hop across to reach the part of the sewer that leads you into the Metal Head side of the city will be constantly shooting out poisonous gas. Even if you cheat and use invincibility to bypass them, the door leading to that part of the sewer won't open, thus preventing any sequence breaking.
Took a Level in Kindness: In the previous games Samos could be quite rude to Jak and Daxter, but he's noticeably mellowed in this game.
Trilogy Creep: Jak 3 was originally thought to be the end, but then they released Jak X, Daxter, and TLF.
True Companions: Exactly how many of the main characters are now part of it depends on who you ask, but the general consensus is that Jak, Daxter, Keira, Samos, Torn, Ashelin, Tess, Onin, Pecker and Sig are the "official" party here.
Underground Level: The Metal Head Nest in the Wastelands, and a pretty unpleasant place - the tunnel leading to the underground chamber is swarming with constantly respawning, squishy, Zerg Rush-type enemies that would be a nightmare to confront on foot, so never leave the vehicle while you're down here. The chamber itself initially acts as an incubation site, which floods with poison gas once you complete the first mission. When you go down the second time, Big Creepy Crawlies called Metalpedes have taken control.
Up to Eleven: This is essentially what Naughty Dog did with each game mechanic from Jak II: Renegade when making this game.
Swiss Army Gun: Jak now has extra weapon mods, taking the grand total of guns up to twelve. That's three times the number of guns he had in the previous game.
There are more vehicles this time around, from desert rides to zoomers to the new and improved Hellcat Cruiser.
Expansion Pack environments compared with the previous game - while Haven City has shrunk compared with the original, this is more than made up for by the impossibly large desert region, Spargus City, and the Precursor Temple of Doom. There are also missions in the Volcano, the Eco Mine, the expanded sewer system, the Floating War Factory, and even the Dark Maker ship.
More Timed Missions and Boss Battle challenges, such as the Wastelander Rescue Mission and dark satellite battle, more Blast Bot encounters, and a one-against-three fight with the floating KG vehicles once you report to New Haven City.
Minigames: Some, like the jetboard challenge and 'find the orb' timed missions, make a comeback, but there's also First-Person Shooter games, a Riding The Bomb mission, a ride down the Catacombs and even a pac-man style game.
Dark Jak loses some of his abilities but gains others, and is joined with a Light Jak form, giving a grand total of eight new upgrades.
Even the jet-board has new features built into it, such as a permanent turbo option in the desert section and the small shock wave attack.
Vent Physics: These have been introduced to the ducts scattered around the Port and the industrial section. They only work on your jet-board, and they are crucial for collecting certain orbs.
Very High Velocity Rounds: When you fire a gun in Flash Freeze mode, the enemy's lasers are Painfully Slow Projectile weapons. It's great fun dodging them in this mode, especially when you can then give swift retribution on the would-be attacker.
Video Game Caring Potential: Try following the new Freedom Guards on an attack to either the KG Bots or the Metal Heads. Now try to say you don't feel pain when a Metal Head jumps on a FG and mauls him to death.
Videogame Cruelty Potential: You can start huge shootouts with the Wastelanders. Get one to start shooting at you, get that one to accidentally hit someone else...
Vitriolic Best Buds: Daxter and Pecker do not get on very well, but are unambiguously on the same side.
What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Possibly the logic behind making the KG Robots major enemies and Cyber-Errol, though the robots are little more than killing machines and in any case they're Always Chaotic Evil.
who wrote the Legacy of Kain series?), the trilogy's storyline is wrapped up, giving our heroes a satisfying conclusion. Like the previous games, Jak 3 was universally well received and was a hit in sales.
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