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| Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast |
By Evan 'DarkFriend'
Lesser |
Developer: Raven
Software
Publisher: LucasArts
Price: $39.99
Release Date: March, 2002
Pre-Release Info
Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast is the follow-up title to the first two LucasArts
developed games in this series - Dark Forces, and Jedi Knight. For its time,
Dark Forces was an amazing achievement, combining first person action with the
wondrous familiarity of the Star Wars universe. When Jedi Knight was released
in 1997, gamers were again put into the shoes of Jedi Knight Kyle Katarn, the
once-powerful Jedi Knight who struggles with the power – and dangers – of the
Force.
Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast picks up several years after Katarn successfully
avenged his father and defended the Valley of the Jedi from powerful Jerec and
his group of Dark Jedi. Katarn has since abandoned his allegiance to the
Force for fear that he might fall prey to the temptations of the dark side. However,
as fate would have it Katarn learns of a powerful new Dark Jedi who must be prevented
from creating a technology to harness the power of the Force. Katarn's destiny
and the future of the Star Wars galaxy once again hang in the balance
as he confronts his dark past to face another seemingly insurmountable evil.
LucasArts and Raven Software
LucasArts Entertainment Company LLC is a leading international developer and publisher
of interactive entertainment software for a variety of computer and console platforms.
Based in San Rafael, Calif., as well as on the Internet at www.lucasarts.com,
LucasArts is one of five companies in the Lucas group which include Lucasfilm
Ltd., Lucas Digital Ltd. LLC, Lucas Licensing Ltd., and Lucas Learning Ltd.
Lucasfilm is one of the leading film and entertainment companies in the world.
Lucasfilm's businesses include George Lucas' film and television production and
distribution activities as well as the business activities of the THX Group. Lucas
Digital, which consists of Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) and Skywalker Sound,
provides visual effects and audio post-production services to the entertainment
industry. Lucas Licensing is responsible for the merchandising of all Lucasfilm's
film and television properties. Lucas Learning creates engaging interactive
entertainment products that provide learning opportunities through exploration
and discovery.
Raven Software was founded in 1990 by brothers Brian and Steve Raffel. The
company formed with five men, one computer, a basement and a vision of creating
a role-playing game for the Amiga computer platform. Since that time, Raven
has developed some of the most groundbreaking, critically acclaimed, visually
stunning computer games on the market.
First Impressions
Following this game's development since news first appeared on the net in 2001,
I pretty much knew Jedi Knight II would be a winner. Why? First, you've
got Raven at the helm, rather than LucasArts. Entrusting the Star Wars license
and game development to Raven was an incredibly smart move. Since Raven
is home to some serious Star Wars fanatics, I knew the game was going to remain
totally faithful to the Star Wars universe and contain some amazing artwork.
Second, the game was being developed using the Quake3 Team Arena engine.
Quake 3 itself was a visual splendor, but when put into the hands of capable and
imaginative artists, you've got beautiful and exciting games like Alice, Return
to Castle Wolfenstein, and now Jedi Knight II. Installing the game and booting
it up, players are treated to the required Star Wars movie intro, complete with
scrolling text and classic soundtrack. If the game was beginning like a
movie, I was hoping it would play like one too.
Storyline
Fighting for the Rebel cause and armed with the power of the Force and an arsenal
of weapons, hero Kyle Katarn must again battle the dark side of the Force, as
well as the dark side of himself. Confronted with the possible loss of lady
friend Jan Orrs at the hand of a powerful alien thug, Kyle Katarn embarks on a
mission that puts the fate of peaceful Jedi into his hands, yet again. The
storyline in Jedi Knight II is one that is not too complicated, serves its purpose,
and keeps player interest maximized.
Gameplay
Considering the relatively bland offerings in the first-person-shooter genre since
Half Life, Jedi Knight II is the first game in a while to do something that hasn't
been done in a while: the game gets better as it progresses. Did
you catch that? Rather than starting off strong, and fizzling out by the
ending like most FPS games do, Jedi Knight II actually gets more fun, more exciting,
and more challenging as it progresses. Jedi Knight II is truly the exception
to the rule. For once, it almost appears as if Raven developed the game
from the end to the beginning, rather than the beginning to the end.
Player control in both first and third person views is smooth and effortless.
Having perfected third person movement with Heretic II, Raven ups the ante a
bit more in Jedi Knight II by making the third person view actually preferable
to the first person view.
As far as weapons are concerned, a wide array of guns at Kyle's disposal make
for great gameplay. Good-looking models and rich sound could make Jedi
Knight II's gameplay excellent using only the guns, grenades, and mines
provided. But when the player obtains Kyle's lightsaber and force powers,
the fun really begins, and gameplay is changed radically. Although the
non-Jedi weapons are plentiful and wide-ranging in usefulness, players will
most likely stick with the lightsaber as their primary weapon of choice.
Why? For the first time since Raven's own Heretic II, melee combat is
exciting, engaging, and truly fun. Offensive and defensive moves are easily
executed by the most average of players (like myself) thus giving the player
the feeling of real Jedi power. Lightsaber duels are classic Star Wars,
complete with clashing sabers, sparks flying, and plenty of mid-air acrobatics
to keep gameplay fun. The mix of control and sound captures fighting with
a lightsaber perfectly, and adds a lot to the gameplay. There are
plenty of difficult scenarios to fight through in Jedi Knight II, and enemies
get tougher as the game progresses. The good thing, is that Kyle's Jedi
powers and skills also develop throughout the game, and gives the player many
ways to deal with any situation that comes about. With excellent controls,
and the sheer fun of using the Force powers and lightsaber, gameplay in Jedi
Knight II is tops, and will leave you wanting more.
Multi-player gameplay is a mixed bag. While the addition of bots makes lightsaber battles similar fun to the single-player game, playing against other humans can be a lot of uncoordinated jumping and slashing. Plus, players using guns against player with lightsabers is somewhat unbalanced. Personally, I've had a lot of trouble with lag even though I'm on a fast cable modem.
Bottom Line
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 A
few improvements could have really pushed this game over the edge: First,
game developers need to understand that enemies come in all shapes and sizes -
not just between species, but within the same race of character. For example,
in Jedi Knight II Kyle is continually fighting Rodians (Greedo-looking folk) that
are all the same height, the same weight, and usually wear the same clothes.
Raven put a different skin on one Rodian to make two total, but when you throw
50-100 in an entire game to battle the player, it gets annoyingly repetitive.
You start thinking, "Hey, I killed that guy in the last room, but here he
is again!" Frankly, I'm surprised there were not more options for the
same enemy. In Raven's Soldier of Fortune, the addition of "bolt-on"
objects and weapons gave one enemy model many different looks. I wish the
same were applied to Jedi Knight II. In addition, it would be wonderful
if in the game's editor, the level designer could specify slight changes in the
model's height and width, thus creating endless combinations of short, tall, thin,
and thick - even if it was the same model. Remember, variety is the spice
of life. This holds true for games too.
Next, game designers need to start thinking of some new scenarios for players
to appear in. As great as Jedi Knight II is, there are plenty of cliché
first person shooter moments including such classics like the standard warehouse
with crates battle, the pounding wall "Oh no, I'm going to get crushed"
room, and the "Make the jump perfect or fall to your death" room.
Jedi Knight II has too many moments where jumping puzzles and "find the key"
hunts detract from the overall game. A few of these types of puzzles are
okay, but they generally don't add anything to the game. Have you ever read
a review of a game that said, "I really liked the numerous jumping puzzles. They
added a lot of fun to the game." No, you haven't. And I dare
say that no player will ever tell you a highlight of a game was annoying puzzles
or key hunts.
Problems aside, the bottom line is that Jedi Knight II is one of the most engaging,
entertaining, and unique games to come along in a while. From the start,
it is evident that Raven put a loving touch on this game to insure a blissful
marriage between action and story. The result is the best Star Wars game
ever. Period.
Pros:
- Stunning graphics, fluid character animation, and excellent artwork.
- Faithful to the Star Wars universe.
- Fun gameplay that gets more engaging as the game progresses.
- Solid storyline that keeps the player's attention without over-complicating.
- Lightsaber duels create the best melee combat in a FPS ever.
- Player has to be very aware of his/her surroundings to progress.
Cons:
- Plenty of annoying jumping and "find the key" detract from gameplay.
- Overuse of the same enemy models and skins makes the game less immersive
than it could be.
- Save game bugs. My ability to save games was lost about half-way through
the game. I had to use QuickSave and QuickLoad from then on.
- Longer level load times than I expected. 60-90 seconds average.
Overall:
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| Storyline: |
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| Gameplay: |
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| Value: |
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| Total: |
9.4 |
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