Rating: 
Summary: A solid game with a plot worthy of a film.
Review: With the pending release of Star Wars Episode III, Star Wars fans the world over have been whipped into a veritable frenzy with the promise of further adventures and merchandise based on that famous Galaxy far, far away. With great anticipation, I like many other gamers awaited the release of the new game Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy from the creative minds at Raven Software and Lucasarts. The game is a 3D shooter that is set ten years after "Return of the Jedi" when the New Republic is being menaced by the evil remnant of the Empire that seeks to reclaim their former status as rulers of the galaxy, and a mysterious cult of Sith warriors. Players are able to select their characters sex, species, and clothing as you start as a Jedi apprentice. Before long, players find themselves working with Kyle Kattarn (The players character from previous chapters), as the duo embark on a series of missions designed to uncover the mystery behind the Sith cult and the threat it poses to the Jedi and New Republic. Players also get to embark on a number of solo missions and they game allows players to select from a variety of missions in addition to the core missions of the game. The artwork of the game is outstanding as the look of everything from ships to bars is authentic to the Star wars setting. Seeing the passenger ships come and go as well as listening in on conversations of characters in the game was amazing. On more than one occasion, I became totally immersed in the story and settings and was in awe of the detail and complexity of the game. I especially enjoyed the Hoth levels, as it was great to explore the Rebel base from "The Empire Strikes Back" and ride a Tauntaun. Other locations of note included Coruscant, Yavin 4, and Tattooine in addition to a host of new locations. The dazzling away of weapons available is good but nothing compares to using the lightsaber and force powers that allow players to perform a wide variety of functions ranging from enhanced leaps, speed, pushing, pulling, healing, and some offensive moves such as force lightening and choke. When using the lightsaber, the view switches from first to third person and allows players a wide range of arch in which to attack and defend. My favorite tactic is to use the force speed during attacks to move circles around foes as I dispatch them. The game offers some fantastic challenges, as players have to use their minds rather than rely solely on combat to complete the game. The sound effects are simply the best I have heard in a game in a long time and the ever-present Star Wars music perfectly sets the tone for the adventure. Players will take delight in seeing some familiar faces in the game as Luke Skywalker and Chewbacca at various stages of the game is a nice touch. I do not want to spoil the game so I will refrain from mentioning more of the settings and weapons that players have in store for them but suffice it to say, they will not be disappointed. Jedi Academy is by far the best game in recent memory and easily the best Star Wars game ever created. The Multiplay factor of the game is outstanding as there are several styles of online play that would warm the heart of even the darkest Sith Lord. My favorite is the siege mode where players form teams and select ability classes to complete missions. If I had any flaws with the game I would say that having to reset my controls for certain Force Powers and graphics every time I loaded was a pain and that some weapons would fire now and then on there own. This is a minor compliant for what is destined to be a gaming classic and a very worthy follow up to the fantastic Jedi Knight series. Game Title Rating Concept Fantastic and Gripping 100 Gameplay A perfect mix of action and strategy. 100 Graphics Outstanding and full of detail. Immerses the player into the Star Wars universe. 100 Sound Great mix of music, voice, and sounds to create a realistic atmosphere. 90 Technical No problems at all, a solid build. 90 Overall The best Star Wars Game ever, and a true classic. 95
Rating: 
Summary: Good game, could be better
Review: Star Wars, Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy is the 3rd installment of the Jedi Knight series, and could really be called 'Jedi Knight III'. The game is fairly similar to Jedi Outcast in terms of gameplay, graphic and sound. The story in this game involves a young Jedi student at the Jedi Academy, studying under Kyle Katarn. The game follows a fairly standard setup, you participate in missions to achieve various goals, using your Jedi powers that increase with every mission to achieve those goals. But this game has one fundamental difference to Jedi Outcast, it allows a player to choose the Force powers they want to have more ability in, and those powers can be either of the light side, or the dark side. Towards the end of the game, the player is forced to make a choice to go to the light side or the dark side of the Force. But the major new feature of Jedi Academy is that a player can now customize their character in the game, choosing gender, species, physical appearance, and, most importantly, lightsabre colour and handle style. This is where I found the game lacking. I expected to have a wide range of character choices and options, instead there were only a handful of choices, Human male, Human female, Zabrak male, Twi'lek female, Rodian male and another male from a strange alien species. I would have liked to have been able to choose from a huge range of species, clothes and physical appearances, with enough options to ensure that every character is unique. This lack of options is one of the reasons that I gave this game 4/5 stars. The lightsabre combat though, is where this game really shines. In additon to choosing blade colour and handle style, this game also features a whole host of new and cool lightsabre attacks and uses, such as a roll then quick lightsabre stab, and a move where a player can do an extremely fast twirling motion, essentially killing anything within the radius of the lightsabre. Later in the game, the player must build a new lightsabre, but now there a 3 choices, single sabre, twin sabres, or a double sabre like Darth Maul used in Episode I. The new options are great, and allow for some fantastic new moves. Lightsabre combat is definitely the highlight of Jedi Academy. Another point to mention is that the game is surprisingly short and easy. An experienced Jedi Outcast player could finish this game within 20 hours, probably less. The in game problems were surprisingly easy to solve, allowing a player to progress easily through the levels. After all the care and effort taken to customize a player's character, to finish a game that quickly just isn't satsifying. This is also part of the reason why I gave this game 4/5 stars. In short, this is a good game, but not an outstanding one. I get the sense that it was possibly rushed through production, which may explain why it was so short. If you're a Star Wars game fan, you should definitely buy this. If you're just a casual gamer with a passing interest in Star Wars, I recommend you think twice before buying this one.
Rating: 
Summary: Not as good as the last one...
Review: In comparison to Jedi Outcast, the developers improved on the texturing and added a few interesting gimmicks (choice of lightsabers, choice of skins), but the game is a lot shorter than the previous one, I think only 15 missions with two really annoying ones. It's okay to have hard missions, but having them tedious and not fun at all makes me just want to go off and do something else. It's a game you can only play once and the multiplayer doesn't have any really interesting maps like Jedi Outcast (I'll bet they'll port the old ones over to Jedi Academy pretty quickly because people will realize this).
Rating:
Summary: Star Wars Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast
Review: Star Wars
Jedi Night Ï:
Jedi Outcast Is The Force Strong Enough To Keep This Game On Top??? Rating: Teen (violence)
Platforms: Nintendo Gamecube
PC (Windows; Mac), Microsoft Xbox
Developers: LucasArts,
Raven Software, Activision Software, and Vicarious Visions Imagine... You are walking down a long corridor. There are huge bulkheads all around you, and a window in every other one. Outside, you see countless stars speeding by, and the hum of the hyperdrive engines grows louder as you walk. Out of the darkness ahead of you, a wall with a solitary door appears. The hum, now slightly louder, abruptly stops. "Not again." You think, as you reach into a small pouch on your belt. You pull out a long metallic stick, and push a button on it. A large narrow blue beam of pure energy arcs out. Suddenly a red beam, identical to yours erupts
out of nowhere, followed by a man in black armor. Before you have time to react, he leaps to an amazingly high altitude, and an invisible force knocks you to the ground as the mysterious figure is about to land on you... Are you dreaming? Probably not, you are probably playing LucasArt's Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast You have might have seen this game in stores, and the title didn't seem very convincing, and there isn't much else on the back, so you chose another game. As you read on, I'll tell you why you made a bad choice by putting it down, and why you may have made a good one.
Probably the best things about it are the characters. They are thoroughly described through how they act (with a little help from the bios in the manual and in the game).
Unlike LucasArt's The Clone Wars and Rouge Leader: Rouge Squadron II, Outcast is centered on one person: Kyle Katarn. A former Jedi, Kyle gave up his force powers in fear of going to the dark side. He joined the imperial army, but resigned before the fall of the empire. Now he helps to uncover remnant imperial forces for the New Republic. With his pilot Jan Ors, he encounters storm troopers, the terrifying Reborns and Shadowtroopers, and the dark Jedi Desann. Don't think that the bad guys are easy to beat, because they are not. However you only need one factor on you're side to 'search and destroy' in a matter of speaking: guns and bombs. The weapons- well, to put simply: Rock. You have a choice of 13 controllable weapons, and two that you cannot have if you already have the other one (The stun Baton and the Lightsaber). The overall vote of best weapon (out of five anonymous people), was the lightsaber, which you can perform combo attacks, and block/reflect other enemies' shots. Second best (out of the same people, including myself) was the Imperial Heavy Repeater, which shoots out a wide range of metallic bolts, or (for secondary ammo) deploys a large grenade, which explodes on impact. There are many others, such as The Golan Arms FC-1, the Tenloss Disruptor Rifle, the infamous Thermal Detonators, and the well known E11 Imperial Blaster Rifle. Each weapon has two modes of attacks, and they all come in handy some time or another... One more thing, the view is first person, so your weapon is on the bottom right corner, except when you use the lightsaber. One thing that you need to even use the weapons is the in-game graphics. Not to be confused with the cut-scenes (the movies). The in-game graphics are awesome, no doubt. If you pay close attention, you can even see the groves on the blaster of your enemy! The textures, even the ones you don't pay more than a second of attention to such as the lights on the walls, are practically flawless. Now, the cut-scene graphics are horribly bad. As you play, notice that the movie scenes are very scratchy, and the characters move like they are stuck to the ground. This is explainable, because the game itself takes up a lot of disk space, so something has to be bad.
There are many scenes, where with the characters, they just turn without moving their feet. In other games, such as Bounty Hunter, the characters actually move their feet to turn but if you don't pay too much attention to this, they look okay. Don't skip them because you don't want to look at them, because they really help your game play. In conclusion, I would give this game 4 ½, out of 5 stars. Also, I recommend it to any Star Wars fan, or anyone who like action role-play games.
Even if you are not convinced, try renting it and maybe you'll change your mind...
I really must tell you a vital tip: cheat codes are available, and are helpful, but remember, when you are in a long- dark corridor, look behind you...
Rating:
Summary: Great Game
Review: This is a great game I just finished it yesterday and I enjoyed it the whole way through (except when I got stuck then is was very boring. Great graphics altough the cutseen graphics could be a bit better. Its a pity it doesn't have live action cutseens like Jedi Knight 1. But over all a great game. Buy it today. There is also a dark forces remake coming out as a mod for this game(although it is now rumored that the might be completed for jedi academy) so there is another good reason to buy it. For more information on dark forces mod go to www.darkforces.jediknight.com
Rating:
Summary: fun, fun fun.
Review: Based on the Quake 3 engine and following in the success of Ravens near masterpiece Jedi Knight 2: Jedi outcast comes Jedi Academy. I spent a lot of time in Jedi Outcast and has a few ideas which I would have loved to included in a Lightsaber Slash fest. And indeed they read my mind. All of em are here. From reading the other reviews here im sure you have the general gist of things, however this game is wonderful, graphics are basic enough placed side by site with the likes of Hitman 2 and up and coming Games like Judge Dredd et al, however this game is terrific !!!!
Force powers, lightsabers from the beginning of the game, loads of enemies and a slightly silly but compelling story line makes this game one of the top games of 2003. A good one for a star wars fan, but I was never a big fan, loved the lightsabers though. Combat is a lot of fun, you can take on multiple saber wielding enemies, and indeed I have found myself loading from my last quick save to fight the same enemies again and again. Also you can pick the order to play the levels in , they are bridged by a mandatory level which reveals much of the story line. I am not near the end of it yet though I have got a saber staff , a la Darth Maul. I hear there is a moral question that branches the game later in play, hmmm, Dark side perhaps ??? Buy this, you will not be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Very Entertaining
Review: I really enjoy this game. The ability to choose how you character looks and the lightsaber he/she uses makes you feel like you are part of the story.
The only problems are that you have to reset the game settings EVERY TIME you turn it back on and that if you don't have the right equipment in your computer, there are some annoying glitches.
Rating: 
Summary: This Game Sucks like Blues Brothers 2000
Review: Let me start out saying Jedi Outcast was an awesome game. Great powers, Cameo voices by Billy Dee Williams(LANDO), and you went on a few missions w/ Luke Skywalker himself. The only returning characters from the trilogy that assist you through a level are Chewie and Kyle(your character from the last game). Bad Dialogue, stupid cut sceens, no graphic improvements. The only cool thing about Academy was you get to fight a little w/ Boba Fett, but of course, he doesn't die and he gets away so they can make another stupid game sometime. Bad ending, too many re-occuring enemies(like the same jedi assasin 100x ect)missions that are too easy, lots of glitching(you'll get stuck to the wall if you even touch it). Didn't get around to multiplayer, sold it to someone who wanted it. Stick w/ outcast or rent this game when it comes out on xbox.
Rating:
Summary: well, you are a jedi
Review: Jedi Academy is pretty much a let down. If I just use Jedi Outcast as a reference point, and got something equal to it, then I would have been completly happy. But I didn't. The good points are that you get to hack up bad guys with light sabers and use the force. A few of the missions are also kind of cool (the Hoth mission, and Darth Vader's castle). But that is it. The graphics are nearly the same, if not worse. And considering that I have had all kinds of crashes, lockups and performance problems that I diodn't have with Jedi Outcast, at all, something seems wrong. The levels are dull, boring, simple, and easy. If there were any puzzles, I didn't notice. Basically, you started a level, hacked up some bad guys, and went on to the next. Visually, the maps were uncreative, and reptitive. You seemed to leave one room, to enter another that looked just like it. It is a shame that Lucasarts took such a great opportunity to produce another great game, and instead put out what seems to be a product that had very little thought, or concern put into it. How you can follow up Jedi Outcast with a game that isn't even close in challenge or creativity is beyond me.
Rating:
Summary: like getting into a "Star Wars" movie
Review: What's with those amazon.com people - there are reviews for "Jedi Knight: Outcast" in this product listing and for "Jedi Knight" in the Outcast listing. The two are different games (JK was released in '97; Outcast followed in '02). This review is for the older game. Though it's the older of the two games (and its age is showing, even if you haven't played the new game) JK is still a great and worthwhile game. Actually the second of the Kyle Katarn games (the first was "Dark Forces" from '94) JK was a huge leap over its prequel, and more relatively innovative than the newer JK. Both are shooter-games that have you play freebooting mercenary Kyle Katarn. (Katarn had begun as an imperial commando but was eventually turned against them. Not immediately a rebel ally, Katarn did undertake missions for them). The empire is gone when JK starts, but pockets of lawlessness and imperial power remain. Katarn, still not a member of the alliance, takes time off to hunt down the man who murdered his father. Unfortunately, Katarn learns that the killer is Jerec, an evil Jedi and master of other evil Jedi. Cruising the galaxy in a mother-huge star destroyer, Jerec searches for the legendary "Valley of the Jedi", a burial ground of jedi knights and a repository of their power. Should he locate the Valley and tap its energy, warns a dead jedi, Jerec will become "a supernova of stars". Complicating Katarn's situation is his betrayal at the hands of a greedy droid named AT-88, but he gets past that to link up with his frequent ally, Jan Ors (the lovely Jan Ors), and picks ups the trail of Jerec. As he makes his way through the game, Kyle learns the ways of the Jedi and picks up nifty Jedi powers while he's at it (the powers are sort of like cheats that are brilliantly incorporated into the story). He must also solve problems and navigate various levels (or maps). In another first (and not used again in Outcast) the game allows you to choose which direction you want to go - light side or dark Jedi. The differences are that each side has its own powers, and at least one of the last maps and cut-scenes are different depending on which side you're on. As a Jedi, you also finally (virtually, anyway) get your hands on a lightsaber. Your saber is handy for cutting through things, but mostly you'll need it for the game's "boss levels" when you must confront Jerec's army of evil Jedi. Saber and Jedi powers aside, the game also faithfully models the weapons and other technology of the Star Wars universe, and wraps things up with John Williams great score. This is an old game - the graphics are not as fluid as in Outcast, the puzzles less imaginative and the enemies not as overwhelming. It's still a worthwhile game because it tries (and goes a long way) to being an interactive "Star Wars" movie. The levels are well designed and arranged in a way that supports the game's tight narrative. Unlike "Dark Forces" or "Outcast", JK's story is simple, which allows the game's maker to tell the hell out of it gamewise rather than simply seek new ways to toss enemies or challenges out at you. Rather than endure an endless series of levels and new foes, you actually feel like you're working to a big finish. The "movie" aspect is sustained with a series of cut-scenes using FMV - video scenes w/actors - rather than just short sequences animated with the graphics engine. (I admit, everybody hated FMV when it was used in the late '90's, but I loved the scenes here. It was the closest I'd gotten to watching a new SW movie until "Phantom Menace" came out and, if the acting isn't Oscar caliber, it certainly beats either of the last two flicks). In short, JK was pretty cutting-edge when it debuted about 6 years ago, but it still rules because its makers put storytelling on par with gameplay. Everybody lambasted this game when it came out for relying on its own proprietary game engine rather than using "QuakeII". I've played both games - while Q2 may have a better engine, JK has the overall better game. One last warning: rather than jump to the sequel, LA released a companion disk a year later, "Mysteries of the Sith" - a flawed, bit still @ss kicking expansion set featuring Mara Jade. Though LA eventually released a single package with both games, the "Classics" AFAIK only offers JK. I'd check on-line auctions for awhile since both are great games. Until somebody decides to re-map JK/MotS for the Quake-III engine used for Outcast, "Jedi Knight" will reign as the empire of Star Wars games.
|
