Star Wars: Jedi Knight II - Jedi Outcast

The Good
STORY: You play Kyle Katarn - a former imperial officer, turned mercenary, turned jedi and has now abandoned the force after falling to the dark side. So he's now a mercenary. He's teaming up with Jan Ors - his partner - and doing work for the New Republic. On a mission to an supposedly abandoned imperial base - that turns out to be full of imperials, Kyle gets swept up in a interesting plot that will force him to take up his lightsaber again.

MENU LAYOUT A spinning Jedi Outcast logo done in chrome reflects light in the right hand corner while the menu is written in Star Wars font - the type they use for the main title. Apart from that there are these clouds that have been stretched towards the logo. - It's pretty bare - but ok to look at. Holding your mouse over a menu item gives you a description of what it does on the bottom.

CONTROLS The default layout has all the items and so mapped - though their locations on the keyboard are questionable.

GRAPHICS Utilising the ageing Quake 3 engine Raven has done their magic again with another one of ID's gaming engines. The enemies are very detailed - right down to them all having four fingers and one thumb. The Stormtroopers look like they are off the movies and other alien races are bristling with detail. They've even made Luke Skywalker look pretty close to his movie counterpart. The weapons are nicely made as well - the stormtrooper rifle now looks correct - unlike in JK - and the newer weapons keep to the Star Wars universe pretty well. The Textures are huge - twice as large as Quake 3's. So there's lots of detail here. Bump mapping has not been placed in this game. Though some of the textures suffer from very obvious repeating and that kinda lets down the immersiveness of the game. Laser effects are just off the movie - with each laser having it's own light source and all. And who cannot forget the venerable lightsaber. It now looks like it's from the movie with its motion glows and all. Perfect. The animations in the game are.... Interesting. What I don't like is the fact that the lip sync is a bit off and the models all seem to be showing their teeth too frequently. Overall great care has been placed in the animations, from Stormtroopers falling over, then getting up, to the amazing acrobatics that the Jedis get up to. All have been motion captured well and show an amazing level of detail and realism. The weapon animations are a bit lacking most notable is the thermal detonator - it has no throw animation! It just falls out of your hand resulting in major damage and on some case death. This game also Utilises GHOUL - the accurate hit placement system. This means hit a stormtrooper in the arm and they react to this. The same goes to when you slice off their hand with the saber - they clutch their stump screaming, as they slowly die - nice one. Lightning is done really well too - it's just like in the movies with it splaying over the target. Also they have done a good job with the binoculars - they look just like in the movie.

SOUND From lightsaber hums to droid beeps, all the classic Star Wars sounds have been implemented here. And all sound really good. Though it does get a bit repetitive with the same weapon sounds over and over again. The sounds of computers beeping and so forth are also well done as are the door sounds. Voicing is another lukewarm area. Some of the voicing is good - most notably Billy Dee Williams repriseing his role as Lando Calrissian - with his charm still there. The impersonators for Luke Skywaker is pretty good as with the Mon Mothma impersonator. The leads are reasonably well too. And a couple of the bosses seem to have been gifted with a Darth Vader like voice. But apart from that overall the voicing is good enough. Though the 3P0ish droid sounds very not like 3P0. What is also interesting to hear is the Stormtroopers chat on about their lives, weapons and so forth - some conversations are pretty funny.

GAMEPLAY This is a mixed bag. Firstly the weapons are not that interesting. A lot of focus has been placed on the lightsaber so it shines as the jewel of this game because it is an offensive and defensive weapon as well as having an long range attack with "Force Saber Throw" The Bryer pistol you start off with is slow and unwieldily - a bit too slow if you ask me. But the charge up shot kinda makes up for this. The Stormtrooper rifles is fairly accurate at close ranges - but don’t go expecting you'll be able to pick off people from a fair distance. Its secondary rate of fire turns it into a machine gun of some sort. The disruptor rifle is the sniper rifle of this game - and it seems to have found it's way into the hands of every Rodian this side of Tatooine. It is very weak but has a charge up function that disintegrates the target - a bit too Trek if you ask me. The Wookie Bowcaster returns from the JK - the same as ever - which is a pity as it is generally ignored. The heavy repeater is your heavy machine gun. Fast and brutal - with a very large secondary fire splash damage attack. The EMP gun is very useful against anything robotic - like turrets and probe droids. But that all it seems to do. Pretty disappointing. The Flechette is the game's shotgun - firing little hot balls of metal everywhere. It also has a secondary mine function that is annoying to encounter. The Portable missile launcher is fast and underpowered - it takes a few hits to destroy a robot with this thing. The levels in this game are also interesting - some areas are chock full of detail - others are just square rooms. The areas that you are on are represented well - from the rainy well-detailed swamps of Yavin to the large curvy buildings of Bespin. Some areas - mainly outdoors do chug in fps slowdown - but overall they maintain a good Star Wars feel. Though the design of them is questionable - most levels loop back on them and you do find yourself getting lost on a few occasions. Other levels are pretty linear - especially the At-St level near the end. But the locations are diverse - from large reactors - to a carbon-freezing chamber to the Jedi Academy on Yavin. Nar Shaddar makes a return from JK. Whilst the levels are pretty good by themselves - the tasks or puzzles surrounding them are not. Most of the puzzles you are made to do are done with very little clues to how you do them. While security cameras give you hints to where to go - getting there is another task all together. You often feel lost and resort to running around for half an hour. I realised that Raven wants you to actually observe the environment and keep an eye out for subtle changes or things like explosive barrels or switches that are the key to the puzzle. Saber fighting is where the game really shines. You have three different styles of lightsaber stances, each with their own different combos and power. So the lowest level has you swinging like there's no tomorrow while the highest setting has the sword swing like it's a heavy broad sword. The battles are very cinematic. The game captures the dramatic fights of The Phantom Menace very well; the animations are fast, fluid and look damn cool. Another great feature is the Saber Lock. In the original JK the saber fights were pretty dull because there were lots of times when you and your opponent both hit each other. They have fixed this by making it so when the Sabers connect they are pushed against each other - it is then a fight to see who can overpower each other. This usually results in the loser being knocked to the ground. The saber battles take place in many different environments. From the top of sprawling catwalks, to dense jungles and even in between fatal laser beams where you have almost no foot room to navigate. The gunfights are still action packed with you being very outnumbered, just like in the movies. The missions are very varied - always full of action and never are tiering Multiplayer is launched from a seperate icon - this was probally so that it could be protected against cheats or something. Multiplayer has Death Match and Capture the flag - it also has "Kill the fool with the Yasalamari" This means that when even someone has this lizard they are unable to use the force and are unnefected by others useing it. "Jedi Master" is where the lightsaber is somewhere on the map and who ever gets it is the Jedi Master with full force powers and all. The players must then hunt down the Jedi Master and kill him. "Holocron" is where you must runaround and capture force powers - either from the ground or off dead foes. The force power boxes spin around you telling people what powers you have. All these games can be played by bots, and the bots are smart at it as well, each have their own personalitys such as favorite weapons and who they team up with. Overall this game has lots of great moments in it, it's packed with great sound and animations and is an instant classic.

The Bad
The puzzles were the biggest let down. Although Raven did try and make it so that you had to observe, it all narrowed down to the puzzles not having enough clues to tell you how to work them out. Also some of the multiplayer force powers were a little lax. Mainy force drain which took away force power and health. As well as lightning which is just a little too powerful.

The Bottom Line
A great game for all Star Wars fans. Chock full of authenticy and fun - this is one wild ride. Plus the Darth Maul saber cheat in MP is really cool

The Good

This is certainly the best game I have ever played that emulates the experience of being a Jedi badass with force powers and lightsaber skills aplenty. Once you acquire your force powers you can use the force to shove people off ledges, yank weapons away from Stormtroopers, fire that super-keen blue Jedi lightning, choke enemies, and even Jedi mind trick an Imperial officer or two.

The lightsaber combat is also done quite well. The third person perspective for this weapon feels quite natural, and for the most part it is quite easy to get the hang of wielding your lightsaber. There are three different attack stances; one fast but not too damaging, one slow but very powerful, and a compromise stance. Once you have access to them all they can be cycled through at the touch of a button, allowing you to modify your lightsaber technique as the circumstances warrant.

The games visuals are quite nice as well. The environments have a totally authentic Star Wars feel. All the architecture in the game looks just as any Star Wars fan would expect it to. Bespin looks like Bespin, the interior of Imperial ships is very much as one would expect; even the switches and control panels are all oozing with Star Wars detail. The 'Death Star' multiplayer map scores especially high in the nostalgia department.

Speaking of multiplayer, it can be a fun experience, especially the Jedi Duel, a lightsaber/force powers tournament of sorts. There aren't a whole lot of maps, but the ones that are there are mostly pretty cool. The ability to customize your MP character with light or dark side force powers is a nice touch.

**The Bad**

The games first two levels or so, before you have reacquired you lightsaber, are awful. They feel like 'Doom' in Star Wars clothes, and almost made me give up on the game before it really got underway. Gameplay in these first few levels consists of switch hunting and jumping puzzles; not exactly stuff that makes you feel like a Jedi. It is all first person, as any weapon other than your lightsaber defaults to a first person perspective, with no option to change it back to third. As an FPS, the game is average at best, and awful at worst. Things do take a turn for the better after this point, but inane puzzles still plague the rest of the game.

The enemy AI could have been better as well, but since the Stormtroopers in the movies are so stupid, it's somewhat hard to criticize the game for not breaking with that element of the films. Mostly they stand in one place and shoot at you, while you run around slicing them apart, or deflect their own lasers right back at them. One especially annoying enemy, the Garms, are only armed with thermal detonators, and throws them indiscriminately, with no concern for their own safety. The tactic feels cheap, and betrays the existence of poor AI rather early in the game.

**The Bottom Line**

Overall, 'Jedi Outcast' is a pretty good Star Wars action game that does a fairly nice job of capturing the feel of the early films. It's not as good as it could have been, but not nearly as bad as some Star Wars games of the past (see my review of 'Star Wars Rebellion'). I am still waiting for the Star Wars game that is really going to knock my socks off. As of this writing, 'Knights of the Old Republic' and 'Star Wars: Rebellion' are just around the corner, so here's to hoping.

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.