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Game Pro Reviews (December 2004) Jak 3 > R&C 3

AniHawk

Member
Sorry if old:

Multi
Mortal Kombat:
PS2: 4.5
Xbox: 4.5 (Xbox has .5 higher on the graphics)

THUG:
PS2: 4.5 (.5 higher on sound)
Xbox: 4.5

Conflict Vietnam:
PS2: 2.5
Xbox: 2.5

Midway Arcade Treasures 2
PS2: 4.0 (marked highest on controls)
Xbox: 4.0 (marked highest on graphics)
GC: 4.0

Ratchet & Clank: UYA: 4.5

Jak 3: 5.0

Ace Combat 5: 4.0

Men of Valor: 3.5

BloodRayne 2: 3.5

Neo Contra: 4.0

Guilty Gear: Isuka: 4.5

Demon Stone: 3.5

TMNT2: 2.5

Leisure Suit Larry Magna Cum Laude: 3.5

Karaoke Revolution Volume 3: 4.5

The Sims 2: 5.0

Call of Duty United Offensive: 5.0

Armies of Exigo: 4.0

Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War: 5.0

Evil Genius: 3.0

Boktai 2: 4.5

TMNT2 (GBA): 3.5

Tron 2.0 Killer App (GBA): 4.0
 

Sysgen

Member
It would be nice if they could put all their reviews in one section. Wtf is +.5 for sound? I also wish they would murder death kill that fun factor score. How do you give a fun score to Conflict Vietnam?
 

human5892

Queen of Denmark
Gamepro is the worst multiplatform videogaming magazine I've ever read.

Funny story about them, too -- my grandmother got me a subscription one year, which I of course let run out. They called me about five times to confirm that I actually wanted to let it expire, then went ahead and sent me about five extra issues just in case. Years later (at least three), I received an entire year's worth of the magazine for free, out of the blue.

And yet I resisted all of their freebies, because of how retarded they are.
 
"THUG:
PS2: 4.5 (.5 higher on sound)
Xbox: 4.5"

That's poor sound design given the audio chip on the Xbox.

I honestly want to play Jak 3 a lot more than R&C 3. I like the R&C series, but I think it's a tad overrated.
 

Lord Error

Insane For Sony
Ratchet & Clank: UYA: 4.5

Jak 3: 5.0
AniHawk? Still alive?!

I must agree with Crimsonskies on this. I think that UYA is great, it's online component is probably the most fun online game on PS2, but I want to play Jak 3 more. They way that game immerses you into the world, and the way everything in levels is laid out and connected, the way it controls and lets you interact with the surrundings, is somehow more appealing to me than the retro-futuristic worlds and crazy weapons of R&C.
 

Joeholley

Member
AniHawk said:
BloodRayne 2: 3.5
Leisure Suit Larry Magna Cum Laude: 3.5

Wow. Playing quarters 25 times in a row to see digital breasts is equivalent to all of the second BloodRayne game...!?
 

AniHawk

Member
Marconelly said:
AniHawk? Still alive?!

I think it'd be more surprising that some people at GamePro are still alive.

They way that game immerses you into the world, and the way everything in levels is laid out and connected, the way it controls and lets you interact with the surrundings, is somehow more appealing to me than the retro-futuristic worlds and crazy weapons of R&C.

If you're basing all this off of Jak II, I'll have to really question your definition of "immersion" and "interaction."

The consequences in Jak II's world had little or no impact in Haven City. Barely nudge a guard? YOU'RE UNDER ARREST! Until they forget about you and walk away. And it repeats over and over and over and over and over.

And I know there are some games with good, well-told stories and character development, but Jak II is definitely not one of them (with the notable exception of Krew- ND did a good job with making him interesting).
 
hand on a second. Jak III scored better than R+C III. Controversy to sell mags?

Booo URRRNNN

(by the way.. on their chart... a 5 is a perfect game).

What utter rubbish.
 
the Jak 3 demo made me very wary of that game. Didn't seem like a big imnprovement on the fundamentally flawed and over all mediocre Jak 2, certainly didn;t seem any less glitchy. I know. I know. It's just a demo. But considering how Jak 2 was glitchy and how the R and C3 demo was NOT glitchy(nor was GC) I just have to wonder what the deal is with ND. Are they a sinking ship, or what?
Going Commando is probably the best shooting/platformer this generation at least until UYA hits store shelves.
 

Ranger X

Member
Game informer is banned forever for me because of the Paper Mario 2 case.
Very sad to say that they may be some of the rare ones that put the biggest platformers of the PS2 in the right order witch will be most likely; Jak3 > Rachet3.
 
Wyzdom said:
Game informer is banned forever for me because of the Paper Mario 2 case.
Very sad to say that they may be some of the rare ones that put the biggest platformers of the PS2 in the right order witch will be most likely; Jak3 > Rachet3.

Well, I thought Jak 2 was weak sauce while GC was Game of the Year.
Jak 3 looks good awful. You'd have to pay me to play it.
Btw, I think GI gave R and C 3 a perfect score, eh? So according to them, and we all know they know so much(?), R and C3>Jak3.
 
Heliocentric said:
the Jak 3 demo made me very wary of that game. Didn't seem like a big imnprovement on the fundamentally flawed and over all mediocre Jak 2, certainly didn;t seem any less glitchy. I know. I know. It's just a demo. But considering how Jak 2 was glitchy and how the R and C3 demo was NOT glitchy(nor was GC) I just have to wonder what the deal is with ND. Are they a sinking ship, or what?
Going Commando is probably the best shooting/platformer this generation at least until UYA hits store shelves.

Aahah. R&C3 demo is glitchy at best. It's night and day between the demo and the real game. The presentation suck in the demo, and there are a lot of framerate drop.

You're just a hater anyway. It's not like you would have played Jak 3 and said : "Hey, that rock!"
 
Littleberu said:
They both use the same engine.

You lose.

This isn't quite the way it is. Development of Jak 2 lead ND and Insomniac in different directions and their engines too and at this point there are many differences in the Jak 3 engine hence the tearing and framerate issues not found in any Rathet and Clank game, for sure. Some would argue that the Jak 3 engine is allowing for more complex geometry, better textures, more effects, and the masive vehicle based areas. This makes for nice looking screen shots but it isn't running as smoothly as Ratchet and Clank and imo due to these issues doesn't look as good in motion.
 

Lord Error

Insane For Sony
Jak 3 frame rate sucks (+ tearing)
R&C3 frame rate doesn't
Yeah, but Jak 3 looks much better.

I was just watching the review showoff at that TV show where two guys talk about games (One of that is that Tommy Talarico, I think) and they gave Jak 3 9.0 and 9.0, and R&C3 got 8.5 and 9.5. One guy liked Jak 3 better, the other said R&C3 is slightly ahead for him.

Both however agreed that Jak 3 looked better, sounded better, was more polished, had much better story and cinematics and more varied gameplay (except that one liked multiplayer gameplay in R&C 3 a lot so that was a big plus for him)

Basically, it was a 'draw' between two games, but I from the video footage they showed, it was quite clear what they said about graphics was true. Jak 3 just does look and sound much better.
 

Ranger X

Member
Just with the demo of Jak3 i played on the lastest Jampack (there's also one of Ratchet 3), i could see that Jak3 is almost always under 60 fps but like never under 30 fps and the graphic surpasses Ratchet3's. This is a fact and can't be argued really.

What can be argued though is the gameplay and it's off course possible to prefer Rachet 3. Personnally, i had a blast with RC2, RC3 is interesting for me because of the multiplayer, otherwise, it looks too much like a "more of the same" sequel type.
Jak 3 is pretty surprising. While retaining the style of Jak2 (that i did truly like), it seems to offer new gameplay. Hopefully even more diversity. And since it's the following of the story... it's just another reason for me being a little bit more on Jak's side.
 

Mrbob

Member
TTP said:
Jak 3 frame rate sucks (+ tearing)
R&C3 frame rate doesn't

R&C3 wins.

I wouldn't worry about it. Considering how much Littlburu pines for GTA:SA, I just figure he must love games with horrid frame rates. :p
 

Kuroyume

Banned
In this issue there is a match up betwen killzone, halo2, and mp2 and they say that killzone has the better AI of all three.
 

Mrbob

Member
Kuroyume said:
In this issue there is a match up betwen killzone, halo2, and mp2 and they say that killzone has the better AI of all three.


:lol :lol

I'm not sure if you are joking or not. Every other review I've read is that the AI is putrid for Killzone.
 

Kuroyume

Banned
I meant last issue (one with samus, chief and the two killzone guys on the cover.) I got those two issues a week apart (weird huh?) but yeah that's what they said about the AI between the three. :p Pretty funny. The XMEN RPG also scored higher than Paper Mario.
 
They basically said KZ's ally AI is very nice but they don't really comment on the enemy AI. HALO2's enemy AI is great but the ally AI isn't and MP2's enemies rely too much on patterns.
 

Insertia

Member
Gamepro is honestly THE worst American mag out there. After they gave The Bouncer 4/5 I stopped putting in basis in their reviews.
 

Axsider

Banned
Marconelly said:
AniHawk? Still alive?!

I think that UYA is great, it's online component is probably the most fun online game on PS2, but I want to play Jak 3 more. They way that game immerses you into the world, and the way everything in levels is laid out and connected, the way it controls and lets you interact with the surrundings, is somehow more appealing to me than the retro-futuristic worlds and crazy weapons of R&C.
So true. The story, the characters, the graphics, the enemies.... Jak is simply the better franchise IMO
But hey: A qestion of taste :)


Heliocentric said:
Jak 3 looks good awful. You'd have to pay me to play it.
rofl It is on of the best looking games this gen. Yeah, keep the hatin' !

Finally, good score! Jak 5 of 5, R&C 4.5 of 5! Perfect!!
 
Mrbob said:
I wouldn't worry about it. Considering how much Littlburu pines for GTA:SA, I just figure he must love games with horrid frame rates. :p

LOOLOOL FUNNY.

Horrid framerate in Jak 3. Tsc tsc.

Oh and BTW, the Ratchet 3 demo was verrrry early, that's why the framerate sucked. Oh and GTA : SA rock, you suck.
 

Ranger X

Member
Doom_Bringer said:
From all the trailers and gameplay vids I have seen the frame rate looks fine


IT IS! lololol
Don't get fooled, GAF is so full of graphic/framerate douche bag it's almost unbelievable.
 
I liked Jak 2's pacing more, it felt more fluid and the level design seemed better. Ratchet 3 through is looking better than Jak 3 though. As much as I liked Jak 2 the 3rd one really isn't grabbing my attention while i'm really looking forward to Ratchet 3.
 

Ranger X

Member
SolidSnakex said:
I liked Jak 2's pacing more, it felt more fluid and the level design seemed better. Ratchet 3 through is looking better than Jak 3 though. As much as I liked Jak 2 the 3rd one really isn't grabbing my attention while i'm really looking forward to Ratchet 3.

From the demo it's seem to be the same "feel" in Jak3. If you did like Jak2, i'm sure you'll like the third one. And we'll know about the Precursors this time, don't you forget? ;)
 
SolidSnakex said:
I liked Jak 2's pacing more, it felt more fluid and the level design seemed better. Ratchet 3 through is looking better than Jak 3 though. As much as I liked Jak 2 the 3rd one really isn't grabbing my attention while i'm really looking forward to Ratchet 3.

The 3rd one isn't grabbing your attention because it's more like "Jak 2 : Part 2" than Ratchet 3 is to Ratchet 2. There isn't a lot of innovation, it's just a lot more polished than Jak 2 apparently.

Ratchet 3, on the other hand, has this online and multiplayer mode. It's late, but it's better late than never. You see, Going Commando didn't grab my attention as much as Jak 2 did, because it was more like "Ratchet and Clank 1 : Part 2". You know?

EDIT : Btw, they've updated Jak 3 official site. http://www.us.playstation.com/Content/OGS/SCUS-97330/Site/

The background is awesome, must be the magic of streaming music.
 

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
The background is awesome, must be the magic of streaming music

I wouldn't say that...

I am very happy that the audio has improved so much. The new tunes are actually pretty good and pull you into the game (unlike the first two). Jak 1 and 2 had some of the worst music I've heard this gen. I absolutely HATED the music...

I do not believe that streaming music alone was the key. Remember, games like Chrono Cross, Onimusha, Valkyrie Profile, Breath of Fire V, and hundreds of other great sounding PS2 games used sequenced audio just like Jak 1 and 2. You can pull of incredibly high quality music without using streamed audio. The composer simply created terrible music for the first two Jak games...
 
Wyzdom said:
From the demo it's seem to be the same "feel" in Jak3. If you did like Jak2, i'm sure you'll like the third one. And we'll know about the Precursors this time, don't you forget? ;)

That's the main reason I still have any antiticpation for the title. I want to see how it all ends. I was more excited about it a few days ago, but GTASA really has killed alot of hype i've had for most games. Someone made a topic about it ruining games for you but it really seems like thats happening.
 
Humm, I think it's still is Mark Mothersbaugh who's doing the music. Or maybe not, because he did Sims 2 music too. Anyway. But I agree that Jak 2 was awful. Really awful.
 

kaching

"GAF's biggest wanker"
I'll probably rent Jak 3 because I'd like to see the "saga" through to its conclusion. R&C3 is a lock for purchase though.
 

gofreak

GAF's Bob Woodward
Game Pro reviews mean something? I would never post game pro scores here again, out of protest...

..but while you're here, do they address the whole pm2 controversy in the latest issue? Last we heard from them, "some big changes" were to be made. Has anything happened?
 

TTP

Have a fun! Enjoy!
Doom_Bringer said:
From all the trailers and gameplay vids I have seen the frame rate looks fine

It is not unfortunately. It's not horrible at all, but the franchise is just not 60fps anymore. ND seems to have gone the "add more details even if that means 30fps" way. That's ok I guess. It is still playable but I prefer the silk smooth frame rate of R&C3 (and, let me add, the incredible amount of polygons and ZOE2 level special effects it throws around with aplomb).

I've got both review codes so I'm not basing my comments on vids nor demos. Admittedly, I've finished R&C3 already and have yet to go deeper in Jak 3, but the Insomniac title impressed me the most both technically and gameplay wise.
 
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