End of the line for Jak series
Or at least, the end of the line for the current story. Sony confirms reports and puts recently released details into the proper context.
Sony has confirmed recent reports (including our own) that Jak 3 will be the last title in the critically acclaimed platform series, and put some of the leaked details we've been feasting on over the past few weeks into the correct context. Interestingly though, the wording of this week's announcement ("Jak 3 concludes the Jak and Daxter trilogy") arguably leaves it open for Sony to revive the franchise further down the line with another story, albeit without the guidance of Jason Rubin, who announced his plans to exit developer Naughty Dog at the Game Developers Conference in San Jose recently.
As it turns out, one year has passed since the climax of Jak II: Renegade, in which Jak and his wise-cracking marsupial-looking sidekick Daxter liberated Haven City from the attacking Metal Heads. As we've already heard, growing unrest is brought to a head just prior to the start of the game when a surprise Metal Head attack destroys the palace, and leads to our hero's banishment to the Wasteland along with Daxter and his squawking nemesis Pecker.
The Wasteland - including the outsider city of Spargus - is five times the size of Haven City according to the blurb, and features a lot of varying terrain for making use of those vehicles we mentioned yesterday. It's a rough place, but we've heard that a new Light Jak will be able to glide great distances, block enemy attacks with a sort of angelic shield, and heal himself to a certain degree, and we're guessing his four weapons (each with three levels of upgrade) will come in handy, as will the Hellcat Cruiser that early previews claimed we'd be able to fly around in.
On the technical front, we've already heard that Jak 3 relies on subtle effects and clever lighting to emphasise its improvement over its gloriously detailed sequel, but we understand now that Naughty Dog has also implemented ragdoll physics and independent cloth movement technology to enhance the illusion. Also, followers of "improved AI" will be interested to hear that enemies can now climb walls and attack in formation instead of just lumbering up. Previously we'd been told that an alert enemy could traverse an entire level in order to reach our hero and do him a mischief.
With E3 just weeks away, we're anticipating more details very soon, not to mention confirmation that the game will be on hand in playable form. We only hope that Naughty Dog and Sony follow their own lead and give away a free demo disc as they did last year - if they do, expect us to half-inch a few and lob them in your direction. You can also expect a massive preview following our time at the show.