Star Wars: Jedi Knight - Dark Forces II

aka: Guerra nas Estrelas: Jedi Knight - Dark Forces II: O Cavaleiro Jedi, Star Wars: Jedi Knight
Moby ID: 372
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Description official descriptions

Kyle Katarn, a former mercenary and now an ally of the rebels, discovers that he is in fact a Jedi, and is on a quest to find his lightsaber and learn the techniques of the Force. The evil Sith lord Jerec, who was responsible for the death of Kyle's father, is on a quest of his own, searching a mythical place called Valley of the Jedi, where his dark powers could be unleashed. Will Kyle be able to stop Jerec and become a true Jedi without falling to the dark side?

Star Wars: Jedi Knight - Dark Forces II is a sequel to Dark Forces. The game is set in the Star Wars universe and its events occur after those depicted in the movie Return of the Jedi (Episode VI). Primarily a first-person 3D shooter, the game also allows the player to switch to third-person perspective. Kyle can use blasters and rifles to take care of his enemies, and later in the game he will also be able to fight enemies with a lightsaber.

There are three kinds of Force powers Kyle may use in the game: light, dark and neutral. Light powers are mostly used for healing purposes; dark powers involve violent actions such as choking enemies or hurling objects at them; neutral powers enhance Kyle's speed and jumping ability. There are fourteen Force powers altogether; if the player chooses to develop only one type of powers throughout the game, a bonus power can be gained. Completing levels rewards the player with stars, which can be allocated to enhance the powers.

The game has a branching storyline with different endings, and the player's decisions can lead Kyle to the light as well as the dark side (for example, killing innocents will add "dark points" to Kyle's score). The game features video sequences with live actors as cutscenes.

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Credits (Windows version)

235 People (195 developers, 40 thanks) · View all

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Reviews

Critics

Average score: 88% (based on 33 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.8 out of 5 (based on 140 ratings with 17 reviews)

Jedi Knight was ahead of its time and is a classic but, and I hate to admit this, it simply hasn't aged well.

The Good
Back in 1995, when the term "Doom Clone" was stuck onto every single shooter to show up, LucasArts decided to do something different. The result was the original Dark Forces, a first person shooter set in the Star Wars universe. It sold well for two reasons: For one, LucasArts successfully completed its goal of doing something different and shaking off the title of "Doom clone" by featuring a more in depth story than most shooters, objective based missions (Which were actually new at the time.) and advanced puzzles. Secondly, it was fricken' Star Wars! What Star Wars geek doesn't want to pick up a blaster and shove a boot up the Empires ass (Or vice-verse in the Battlefront series) and save the galaxy?

So LucasArts decided once again to do something different with the sequel, Jedi Knight. The biggest advancement being, well, the force of course! Jedi Knight was ahead of its time, having some features that are commonplace now but unique then; like the morality system which allows players to sway to either the dark side or light side of the forces and gain powers accordingly based on their Dark or Light orientation. Sound familiar? inFamous maybe? Well, Jedi Knight did it 12 years earlier. Also considering it was the first game to put a Lightsabre in your hand, that's also saying something.

The multiplayer was one of the best aspects of this game. I have tons of memories in multiplayer. Lightsabre battles were intense and up close and personal, and stunning your enemy and then grabbing them with force choke was always a memorable experience. Sadly it no longer exists, but the multiplayer was awesome back in the heyday.

The game sounds good. Despite a distinct lack of much music, the game sounds just like a true Star Wars film. Everything sounds right and you'll recognize the various inhabitants of the universe by the sounds they make before you even see them.

The controls are very good. It's easy to control your character and automatically switch to any weapon or force power you want, and you can use them in tandem with ease. The game's jumping ability is also one of the more realistic jumping mechanics, you really feel like you are jumping and it can instill a sense of vertigo sometimes.

The Bad
Sadly, as groundbreaking as it was in 1997 the game simply doesn't hold up for me, and even in '97 it had some glaring flaws. For one, the graphics are terrible and I'm talking by '97 standards too. Character models are funky, jagged, jittery and just downright poor. There are some "OK" world textures, but for the most part you'll see too much Imperial gray and when outside the game uses one of the most embarrassing and terrible grass textures ever seen. In fact, Dark Forces had better outdoor textures the only difference being you can accelerate JK so you don't get as much pixelation.

The AI is dumb. I mean Doom dumb. They basically just charge in or stand in a spot shooting aimlessly. There were several times that a scripted enemy above me shot at a pre-determined location to try and hit me, and when I ran away rather than track me it kept firing at the designated spot, even when I came up behind it and poked it hoping it'd turn around.

On retrospect, the level design is very poor. I made note of this back then but felt the gameplay made up for it, but compared to its successors and other games of its kind now a days even the gameplay is feeling weak and it feels more like "Diet Force-lite" rather than really wielding the force. The level designs are obtuse, long, drab, uninspired and confusing.

The dark/light side thing is also shallower than advertised, and once again feels weak compared to what we have these days. When you have points to spend, you can dump them into dark side powers but stay on the light side granted you never use the powers for evil and have at least one light side skill. It doesn't really affect the game itself, it affects the story more than anything with alternate cutscenes later on and two different endings, though even that doesn't matter because the dark side ending is non-canonical within the rest of the JK series.

Speaking of the story, the story is fairly lame. It doesn't help that there are long, drawn out, boring live action cutscenes with awful CG effects and even worse actors. FMV has never been good, but this ranks as some of the worst, which is a shame considering the rich Star Wars universe. The characters are forgettable and annoying the game relies to much on cliche. Here's a summary, and you'll probably recall at least 10,000 other stories with this: A man's father dies, and receives a message after his death telling him to go back home and find something. Meanwhile the evil power that killed his family is seeking out some mysterious power that may or may not exist and you have to stop them. Yeah, we've heard this one before. About 20 billion times.



The Bottom Line
Don't get me wrong; Jedi Knight is a classic and deserves to be remembered and acknowledged. It was ahead of its time and for the time, it was mind blowing. But it's an example of a game that when stacked up against modern standards can't hold up at all; the reason that its predecessor still holds up is tight level design and the gameplay is simple and base enough that improvements on that specific design philosophy would be marginal at best so it can still be fun to play due to its simplicity. Jedi Knight, however, is an instance of a game that brought so many new things to the table that when another game improved on those things, it was hard to go back to the old stuff.

I have fond memories of the game and it has its place in history but I can't recommend it after its vastly superior sequels and other games improving on its formula.

Windows · by Kaddy B. (777) · 2010

Best Star Wars game ever.

The Good
Sooo many things.. but the best is that the guy you're controlling, Kyle Katarn, is a Jedi. And what does that mean? Well, you can smite your foes with light saber, grip them with Force or just disarm them by grabbing their guns with Force. Not from the beginning though, where the game is just a typical 3D-shooter with fantastic score. Multiplayer is very well done, all the extra characters you can download.. Light saber duels rock!

The Bad
Jerec. He just hasn't got what it takes to be a Dark Jedi. But Maw was cool. Yeah, and no blood in this game.

The Bottom Line
When I got this game in my P133 three years ago I went nuts. First Dark Forces was nothing special. Just a Star Wars 3D-shooter. But this... to be a Jedi. To learn the way of Jedi. And Dark Side. It's just like in the movies. If you choose the Dark Side, you will quickly learn many destructive powers and become a strong Jedi, but in the end, you see where it leads. I almost felt pity for Katarn when I saw the Dark Side ending clip. Graphics are reasonable for todays standards and blah blah... for tech side. Multiplayer is great. After I had completed first level of the game, I went online and challenged some master Jedi. First, he killed me every time. By guns. So I proposed a light saber duel. He accepted. I pulled out my saber, and so did he. But when I was about to swing the first time, he jumped over me with force jump and hit me on back. Ouch.. But after you learn how to take advantage of the Force, you will succeed in scoring more and more kills. I have played only two multiplayers better than Jedi Knight, Diablo and Counter-Strike. And that is something.

Windows · by Lord Zimonov (8) · 2001

An excellent fps with a complicated storyline. A winner all the way!

The Good
This game had some excellent features. The graphics were excellent for their time, the level design was INCREDIBLE. The cutscenes portrayed what you needed them to very nicely and ran relatively stable on my machine.

The Bad
A few things weren't right about this game though, such as sometimes, the cursor would only show up every few seconds, forcing me to guess where I was by the sounds and click when I think I am there. The acting in the cutscenes was pretty good, but I didn't like the mix of live action and cg graphics, it just seems a bit too hokey for me. Those were the only gripes I had with this game.

The Bottom Line
Overall, this game is an excellent example of what game developers can do with the first person shooter genre if they put their minds to it. It is incredibly well put together, the levels fit quite well with the game, and multiplayer is excellent, if not a bit laggy. The use of force powers was well done, and added a new level of exploration to the game. Despite its (few) problems, this game is beautiful, and is a must-have for any person who even considers himself a light computer gamer.

Windows · by Mike West (2) · 2000

[ View all 17 player reviews ]

Trivia

1001 Video Games

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

Comic

A comic book version was based on the plot of Jedi Knight.

Cut content

An early version of Jedi Knight featured an extra weapon not included in the final game, the "Tusken Prod". Several magazines have printed screenshots featuring this weapon on sneak previews and scoops of the game, though it is unknown why the weapon never made it to the final game.

There was also a screenshots of a "speeder level" where Kyle Katarn got onto a large speeder and could fly it around. For whatever reason, the speeder was phased out of the final game, and its model is not used anywhere as furniture or as decoration in any level.

Development

  • According to early interviews before the game was released, all of the character models and art in "Jedi Knight" were created prior to any live-action filming. This is why the model of Kyle Katarn does not have a beard like the actor does, and why many other models don't match very well to their FMV counterparts.
  • According to some rumors at the time of development and release, LucasArts contacted Lucasfilm and George Lucas directly over the effects of a lightsaber when submerged in water.
  • According to the US PC Gamer issue of October 2001, Justin R. Chin stated in a interview that he would receive constant criticism of his game design during each project evaluation meeting. He chose to ignore most of the criticism and stick with his design.

German version

The predecessor Dark Forces of 1995 has been banned in Germany and may only be sold to adults. In order to avoid a similar ban for Jedi Knight, the German version of the game doesn't mention the subtitle Dark Forces II.

Inspiration

Justin R. Chin, like George Lucas, researched ancient Asian history and culture for inspiration. The arch-enemy, Jerec, is apparently blind. In some Japanese folklore and myths, blind warriors are oft-times the most deadly, because it is the weakest sense (in warrior theory).

Mods

As of 2007, this game still has a active fan group that modifies it. For example, there is a new mod for this game called Jedi Knight Enhanced, which updates all the games models to "Quake III era", making it more appealing. The mod can be found here and is about 40 megs big. Make sure you read the installation instructions carefully.

There is also an ongoing project, which updates all the original games textures, and it can be found here.

Music

The music heard in the game is taken directly from the original Star Wars trilogy film soundtracks, performed by London Symphony Orchestra. It's included on the game CDs as Red Book Audio which means that the game CDs can be listened to in an ordinary CD player (be sure to skip the first track, though!).

References

  • In level 5 there's a secret that lets you encounter Max (the rabbit from Sam & Max Hit the Road.) If you let him out of the house, he will go on a shooting spree killing everyone from civilians to stormtroopers.... to you. And with what appears to a remote control too!
  • On Level 9 (Fuel Station Launch) do a 180 spin while jumping from the platform onto the ship at the end of the level (you can't turn once you've landed on the ship). The retracting platform has the face of Max tiled on the edge facing you.

Awards

  • Computer Gaming World
    • March 1998 (Issue #164) - Game of the Year
    • February 2002 (Issue #211) – Introduced into the Hall of Fame
  • GameStar (Germany)
    • Issue 12/1999 - #41 in the "100 Most Important PC Games of the Nineties" ranking
  • PC Gamer
    • April 2000 - #7 in the "All-Time Top 50 Games" poll
    • April 2005 - #21 in the "50 Best Games of All Time" list
  • PC Player (Germany)
    • Issue 01/1998 - Best Action Game in 1997
  • Power Play
    • Issue 02/1998 – Best First-Person Shooter in 1997

Information also contributed by Adam Baratz, Alexander Schaefer, Emepol, Jason Musgrave, Kalirion, Mu77etOfDeath, naula, PCGamer77, Scott Monster, Simon Michelmore and Zovni

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Related Sites +

  • Jedi Knight Dot Com
    A general overview of the Star Wars universe, but also includes a section with all Star Wars games by Lucas Arts.
  • Jedi Knight Editing Hub
    Everything about editing the original Jedi Knight game.

Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 372
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by robotriot.

Additional contributors: MAT, Swordmaster, Unicorn Lynx, naula, Duduzets, Patrick Bregger, FatherJack.

Game added November 3, 1999. Last modified March 8, 2024.