Summary
The new lightsabers don't make up for the terrible plot, cutscenes and voice acting.
The Good
Since it uses the same engine as Jedi Knight 2, you know what to expect from this game graphics-wise. This is a good or bad thing, I suppose. Certainly the graphics are dated, but hell, they RUN on my computer, so that's a good thing in my book.
New lightsabers! If there's one thing to sell this game, it's the new lightsaber tricks, which are certainly cool. Two lightsabers, a saberstaff, new special moves, combined with force powers and slow-motion "finishing moves" -- it makes for some memorable battles, and more than once I quick-loaded back just to replay a fight, even if I beat it flawlessly the first time.
The hoverbike levels were actually pretty awesome.
The Bad
Unfortunately, "two new lightsabers" is about all this game has going for it. Everything else is abysmal. Don't even mention the plot in this game, because it's about the worst I've seen in any computer game in recent memory.
The first disappointment I found was that, unlike every previous Dark Forces game, you're not playing Kyle Katarn. Instead, you're some student in a Jedi Acadamy who quickly (VERY quickly) rises to the title of Jedi through fight after fight after fight. The fights are cool, don't get me wrong...but it doesn't make any sense toward the plot.
You're given five missions, and then a plot mission. Rinse. Repeat. And with every of those five missions, your task involves something like, "Go talk to this guy," only, in every case, you'll not only NOT "talk to this guy", but you'll find that you were -- gasp -- ambushed by a hundred lightsaber-wielding goons.
At the end you get a choice between choosing the light path or the dark path, but the outcome is pretty much the same. At least, it was for me. If you choose the light path, you fight alongside other studen jedis -- unless the morons get in the way of your lightsaber and you accidentally cut one up, in which they all turn against you. And heck, that's even funner. That's essentially the dark path, as well. Same level, same thing, only you fight other jedis as well as bad guys.
The cutscenes are awful. Animation is awkward and just plain bad. And the voice acting certainly doesn't make up for it. Especially annoying is the voice of a fellow student who turns on you, which is also pretty obvious from the first time you meet him.
Your character has absolutely no depth to him at all. You know nothing of his past, you know not why he's becoming a jedi, you don't know anything. And you don't need to, I guess, because your task is just to go in and kill everything and beat the game. Don't expect anything from this game other than an arcade hack 'n slash, because that's all it amounts to.
Also what I found disappointing was that you start with a lightsaber. I loved how in Jedi Knight 2, the first half of the game you are without it. It was like playing two games -- a Star Wars first-person shooter, and then a lightsaber-swingin' third-person hack 'n slash. Unlike many people, I didn't mind the first half at all. In fact, I may have enjoyed it more than the second. But Jedi knight 2 was an awesome game. Jedi Acadamy is NOT.
The Bottom Line
It's Jedi knight 2 without the cream in the middle. It's shiny on the outside but completely hollow within. The new lightsaber stuff almost makes up for it, as long as you're not expecting anything more than what it delivers.
