Star Wars: Jedi Knight II - Jedi Outcast

aka: JKII
Moby ID: 6073
Windows Specs
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Description official descriptions

In Jedi Outcast, you once again play Kyle Katarn, star of LucasArts' Star Wars-inspired 1st-person shooters Star Wars: Dark Forces and Star Wars: Jedi Knight - Dark Forces II.

Kyle has retired from being a Jedi fearing consequences from the Dark Side of the Power found within himself during his chase of the foul Sith-Lord Jerec into the lost vale of the Jedi at the end of Dark Forces 2. Chronologically taking place after the second Star Wars Trilogy, you'll meet various well known people from the original Star Wars movies like Luke Skywalker himself and Lando Calrissian.

Also following the tradition of its predecessors, you explore the surroundings in the typical 3D environment and can use a lot of different weapons and gear from the Star Wars Universe, including the famous Jedi Weapon, the light saber.

Spellings

  • スター・ウォーズ ジェダイナイト2:ジェダイアウトキャスト - Japanese spelling
  • 杰迪武士2:杰迪放逐者 - Simplified Chinese spelling

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Credits (Windows version)

185 People (167 developers, 18 thanks) · View all

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 85% (based on 66 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.7 out of 5 (based on 147 ratings with 13 reviews)

Starts slow but picks up after first few levels.

The Good
The best part of the game is definitely the light saber and the force powers. They are implemented much better than in the first game. By the last part you will pretty much forget about all the guns and just have fun finding new ways to take out the enemy. My favorite was the force jumping high and then force pulling the troopers up in the air. The game does a great job of making you feel like a Jedi Knight. The movement and third person camera is allot like Heretic 2 and makes controlling your character when using the light saber very easy.

The Bad
The two problems I had with the game was some of the level design(mainly the first few), and some of the puzzles. Without the force powers and light saber the game plays like a standard shooter in the first part with some average at best levels that you can wander around for awhile. I don't mind non-linear design but when your planted in a big level with no idea where to go and are forced to just guess where the panel or key you need is. It can get annoying at times. There were a few puzzles that were very annoying. In particular one with a moving pipe that can be almost impossible to figure out unless your in the right place at the right time.

The Bottom Line
Overall a very good shooter set in the Star Wars universe that enhances the standard gameplay with a very good implementation of the light saber and force powers. Some poor level design and annoying puzzles, but still a definite buy for any SW or FPS shooter fan.

Windows · by Jason Becker (4) · 2002

Right now I feel like I could take on the whole Empire myself!

The Good
Having fended off the seduction of the Dark Side, Kyle Katarn has removed himself from the Force and entrusted his lightsaber to Luke Skywalker at the Jedi Academy on Yavin IV. Now he and Jan are operatives for the New Republic, chasing down the Imperial Remnant. But Republic spies have intercepted a Remnant transmission about the Valley of the Jedi and Luke Skywalker has a rebellious student named Desann who has gone missing, might Kyle have to pick up a lightsaber once again?

Fans of the lightsaber/Force power action of Jedi Knight, won’t care for the early levels of Jedi Outcast. Graying Katarn, like Godfather III’s Michael Corleone, fears being pulled back into the Force. Still, these early levels show drastic improvement over Jedi Knight both in terms of graphics and gameplay. Gone are Jedi Knight’s obvious polygons, laser blasts knock enemies from their feet, environments are more interactive allowing you to take over laser cannons, command AT-STs, and use a capital ship’s guns against their TIE Fighters. Plus, these early levels are the only ones that can truly be called FPS. Once you regain your lightsaber, the game plays out in a frenetic third person perspective.

Unlike Jedi Knight’s use of secret areas to increase Force Powers, as you advance in Jedi Outcast you are given new Force Powers and improvements on preexisting ones. Each Force level has three ranks, Lightsaber throw begins a basic boomerang move, but as you increase in ability, you gain more control over where the lightsaber goes. Possible negatives to this include that you aren’t controlling your character and level design follows your advancement- meaning that if you suddenly advance in Force Jump or Speed, trust that you’ll need those powers to complete the level. As one who’s tasted both the dark and light side, Kyle is not restricted as to the Force Powers he receives.

Force Powers are better integrated too. Force Jump uses the jump button, no need to hit a function key for that one. Force Speed presents the accelerated motion of your character by slowing down the outside world. Stormtroopers stand like statues as lightsaber strikes them down. Even better, you can walk between laser blasts.

Lightsaber combat is the most improved aspect of the game, incorporating the acrobatic battles of the prequels. There are different fighting styles and plenty of opponents to duel against. Beware, these opponents also have the power of the Force and will use cunning tactics to defeat you.

I found myself very engrossed in the story. Unlike Dark Forces or Jedi Knight, I felt like I was actually in the Star Wars Universe. Environments are so realistic, several settings are familiar from the movies and the game makes excellent use of cameos. While Mark Hamill couldn’t voice Skywalker, the actor who does is very convincing. And you get to hang out with Lando! How cool is that!

The Bad
Is there anything I didn’t like about this game? Very little. Some of the jumping puzzles were annoying but I figured that’s what quicksave is for. The only level I disliked was the stealth level, but I was still amused at the Stormtroopers bragging about the size of the ships they'd been on. I just hope that the next game is even better.

The Bottom Line
Gaming excellence! Thank you Raven Software.

Windows · by Terrence Bosky (5397) · 2003

A slightly bland FPS that attempts to feel the force.

The Good
Jedi Outcast tries to repeat the formula used in it's predecessor Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight, which leads it into a problem. This is a sequel, so err, why does our loveable Han-and-Luke merger Kyle Katarn have to go back to not being a Jedi Knight, only to gradually pick up the Force powers again? Well the solution is kind of plausible for those who have played Mysteries of the Sith (Jedi Knight's add-on pack) when Kyle turned to the Dark Side briefly. Now in Outcast, Kyle's renounced the Force and gone back to his old mercenary ways.

The story is quite humdrum and clunkily scripted as Kyle and his faithful side kick Jan Ors are sent on a mission to investigate yet another remnant of the Empire, vying for power in the aftermath of Return of the Jedi. How many Star Wars stories can there be involving mopping up the remains of the Empire? The first half of the game plays similar to the original Dark Forces, despatching wave after wave of Stormtroopers and running around levels that have clearly been designed for FPS use rather than as actual locations. Switches are left in strange places and there's not a toilet in sight. Unfortunately the plot is progressed through poorly executed cut-scenes rendered in the game engine. I don't know why a developer would think you'd want to watch some choppy animated characters gesticulating wildly in conversation. Whilst it didn't blend in with the in-game graphics, I preferred the predecessor's FMV. Whilst you're in control little plot is progressed, leaving a swath of fairly vacuous killing to be done with difference only stemming from your method of taking people out. No stealth and no need to track down or talk to a character, the levels are all linear so it's hard to take a wrong step.

The game picks up significantly later as you once again don the mantle of a Jedi Knight, complete with a training lesson in the Force from Luke Skywalker. From here on in the game becomes more interesting to play as you gain a lightsaber and Force powers, enabling you to despatch the Stormtroopers in more colourful ways. As you progress through the levels you gain more and better powers until you'll probably stop using those clumsy blasters in favour of pulling and pushing enemies around with the Force. To make sure your lightsaber sees some use you have many set piece duels against the Reborn, some handily Force infused colonists who for reasons unknown unanimously chose the Dark Side. Behind these guys is Desann, a Sith who rather predictably has become a huge threat to the New Jedi Order.

The game is really all about these fights as you pull a variety of cool-looking moves in your duels, tackling multiple Reborn and generally practising the art of combat. Raven, the developers, have focussed on creating the most honed FPS experience in the Star Wars universe.

The Bad
That finely honed FPS experience is also the cause of the game's major problem, it is crafted but hollow. The story and the motivation is paper thing and poorly scripted, the in-game play just doesn't feel like Star Wars, it's purely shooting and overcoming minor puzzles.

The story, as mentioned, is a rehash of Jedi Knight as you first fight without the Force, then later with it. Whereas in the previous game it felt natural to learn the Force, this seems silly, especially as Kyle 'regains' the Force by stepping into a magic 'beam' to suddenly gain his powers. He has to fight against yet another group of Dark Sith, who have been created by Desann. Why is it every Dark Lord must be an alien (compared to all the Jedi in the game being human) and have an outlandish costume? The information about the Dark Side seems to be remarkably common knowledge, as there's a never ending stream of Dark Lords to threaten 'the very existence of the Jedi.' His force of Reborn seem all soulless cannon fodder for to practice your chopping skills, with no character and far too numerous. With the sheer amount of fighting done the Jedi seem to be the most bloodthirsty people imaginable, not 'keepers of the peace', Katarn can never approach things subtly, everyone must die. There's never any clever scripting or any missions which aren't completed without violence, which is a real shame.

The scale of the game follow FPS conventions more than is needed. Kyle becomes the typical one-man army who by the end of the game must have a body count in the thousands, I don't know why the New Republic would need anyone else. The Imperial Remnant seem to have access to amazing resources for a fugitive band, able to build a vast ship (for you to destroy) and to tackle the New Jedi head-on, it's all implausable, especially when a tight story figuring rag-tag Imperial remains could be told dramatically.

The Bottom Line
Raven obviously spent a long time designing each level but they seem to have missed the bigger picture. Instead of a fun engaging adventure Jedi Outcast is a slightly dull repetitive shooter, lightened by Force powers as you become a violence obsessed killer Jedi. With more focus on non-violent story elements Outcast could have reached a higher level.

Windows · by RussS (807) · 2009

[ View all 13 player reviews ]

Trivia

1001 Video Games

Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Cutscenes

Many of the 'combat action' displayed in cutscenes (and at one point watching the young Jedi train), including a moment with Luke Skywalker, are not pre-determined and are done somewhat more randomly via the AIs. What this means is that no two cutscenes are alike... and even though you may have seen it before, it will probably happen differently the next time. This is notable because sometimes unintentionally humorous and anti-climatic results occur (aka the AI doing something stupid).

This excludes the pre-rendered video files (usually of spaceships and exterior views) used within the game.

Information also contributed by WildKard

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Related Sites +

  • Fight the Dark Side
    An Apple Games article (archived on the author's webpage) about the Macintosh version of Jedi Outcast, with commentary being provided by Aspyr Media President Michael Rogers (August, 2002).
  • Jedi Knight 2 files
    Almost all major Jedi Outcast maps, skins and mods can be found here including Jedi Academy files.
  • NZMac Review
    A (largely) unscored but positive review of the Macintosh version of the game by NZMac, a New Zealand Apple site (Jan. 01, 2003).

Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 6073
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Alexander Schaefer.

Macintosh added by Corn Popper. Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 added by Kam1Kaz3NL77. GameCube, Xbox added by Kartanym.

Additional contributors: Raphael, Unicorn Lynx, Solid Flamingo, naula, Zeppin, Rik Hideto, FatherJack.

Game added March 31, 2002. Last modified January 22, 2024.