It's good, sure. But the game feels hollow, and so will you if you make the mistake of playing it.
Jak has been thrown out of the city after saving it. He's picked up “wastelanders”, who seem to be big on survival of the fittest. Jak, being quite fit, soon befriends many of its gruff inhabitants, unites with some old friends, and nonchalantly saves the world. Yawn. Naughty Dog has nothing to say, and is merely creating a plot for the sake of characters and the occasional plot twist.
Characters that are frequently too angry to be likable. They seem to burn with generic, unjustified rage, and the quasi post-apocalyptic universe seems to be a poor excuse for lacking warmth or comradarie. But though these things are short in supply, they are not entirely absent, giving these characters a level of credibility. Though the game's characters aren't particularly endearing, they are relatively inoffensive, allowing the game's humor to occasionally shine through. The plot twists towards the end are fairly effective, if predictable. The plot does not make being in Jak III's world feel like an oppressive experience, a God-send for veterans of Jak II. The gameplay is allowed to stand on its own.
Fairly solid gameplay at that. Though it continues to ignore the more intriguing platforming roots of the series, there is fun to be had in the design. Gameplay tends to come in three varieties: racing, action and mini-games.
Racing in Jak II was rather dull, thanks to rather dull vehicles. Jak III solves this by implementing more intriguing transport devices. From a fast, small vehicle with impressive firepower, to one that leaps high in the air, to the equivalent of a tank, they're fun to use and well implemented into various missions. They all control well, though they skid more than you'd like.
Action levels alternate between platforming elements and combat. The platforming elements are the highlight of the game. It is clear that platforming is where Naughty Dog is the most experienced, because the design of those parts of the level are constantly forcing you to push yourself to pull off a variety of moves to traverse the environments. These sections are disappointing low in quantity, since nothing else in the game is as good. Combat is relatively shallow, but enjoyable. It boils down to not letting your enemies get close enough to attack you. Naughty Dog tries to add depth through a variety of gun upgrades and dark/light Jak power-ups, but they're not terribly interesting, as they're ammo- or power-consuming easy ways out of tough spots. But the combat is deemphasized enough to stop short of pure repetition, and when you are presented with foes, there is enough enjoyment to be found in discarding enemies outside of attack range to tide you over to the next little bit.
The mini-games are the mini-games you have played in virtually every game. They are fun diversions, and as easily discarded as a paper plate. But they break up the monotony, and occasionally, break you out of the grays and browns that consume Jak III's dead world. They're fun, but they hardly matter.
It's all relatively enjoyable, with occasional moments of greatness. But it's also hampered by a short-sighted development team that went on to repeat Jak II's biggest design flaw. Checkpoints are implemented, but very poorly. You're never given the slightest clue as to where the next checkpoint is, and often, they're spaced too far apart. It's frustrating to die and find yourself having lost ten minutes of progress. Much of this would be averted if the player knew where he was relative to the last checkpoint. Instead, when you die, all you can do is pray that the mission's previous checkpoint wasn't too far back, if it has one at all. The roller-coaster difficulty level is also back, though nothing feels impossibly hard, the challenge of each individual level seems to vary quite significantly. It's not enough to sink Jak III, but it's enough to make you reflect that the gameplay is truly unspectacular, and in turn, how empty you feel for having played it.
Not that there's anything better in this game. The aesthetics are disappointing, despite their technical prowness. The visuals are frustrating. You can see the detail and power of Jak III's engine in the superb character models, graphical niceties and detailed environments. But precisely rendered gray is still gray. Other than the character models, Jak III is largely repulsive to look at. Browns and grays smear the deadness of the world, though the addition of brown is an improvement of Jak II's singular insistence upon gray. Jak III tries to go for a mood, and just can't manage it, leaving a world devoid of eye candy. You'll come to hate the barren lands of its universe. What acclaim does Naugty Dog deserve for creating such a visually repulsive world so accurately?
The sound fares a bit better, thanks to the largely believable voice acting. It's difficult to criticize actors for precisely capturing useless characters, as is the case here. They all sound authentic, though it's tiresome to hear so many people that seem to be suffering from a sore throat. Otherwise, the audio is forgettable. The music is exactly what you would expect, when you would expect it. So are the sound effects. Everything you hear is nice, but like the rest of the game, which desperately needs something outstanding to compensate for its lack of soul, it just isn't enough.
Is Jak III a good game? It is, but it lacks anything truly engaging. It is perhaps best played by those who seek redemption for the franchise after the horrid Jak II. But it isn't enough. Jak III only moves away from the second game enough to dissolve any hate you would have towards the third installment. You'll have those moments when you remember why the first game was so charming, so simple, so enjoyable. And then you'll have moments where you remember how Jak II turned the series' essence into dust, and replaced it with a black hole of mindless hatred and pointless violence. They balance out, leaving you with a few memories of mild entertainment. But there are many games that entertain, and many games of pure entertainment than feel less hollow. There is a black hole at the core of Jak III that will leave you with a feeling of emptiness, and lost potential. Is a dozen or so hours of such entertainment worth being touched by such blackness?