Star Wars: Jedi Knight - Jedi Academy

The Good
There are a few good things about this game. The lightsaber fights are the best part, but do not really take skill because you can just swing your blade randomly and kill the enemy jedi. The weapons are almost the same as outcasts, save you get 2 or 3 new ones. As a first-person shooter, it doesn't exel, but is alright.

The Bad
The horrible plot line, bad lip synching, bad movies, and useless force powers will make this game feel like a bad interlude, than a good follow up to outcast. The levels on this game feel more like mini levels as you could easily beat them in 5 minutes. Also, you'll have to level a completely useless force power just to get by one stupid level. It is just annoying.

The Bottom Line
This game is simply pathetic when compared to Knights of the Old Republic, and you'll beat it the first day, but it isn't bad for ten bucks.

The Good
First off, the graphics are very good. You can even see the stubble on Kyle's face. Secondly, I love the way that people can make their own skins and maps easily. The online multiplayer is very good, but it's better with a mod such as JA+ and Xmod. I love the dual saber option especially. Ah, good old backslash...

The Bad
The single player is the most boring thing I've ever played. There are no addictive weapons, the force is weak, and pretty much the whole premise sucks. Secondly, on multiplayer, it's brought out the worst in people. The option to "lame kill" has attracted more than a few (killing while someone is away from keyboard or chatting). And "clans" have completely made this game into a dictatorship; the clan administrators can change any option they want for the server, such as which type of saber style does more damage. They are forgetting it is supposed to be a fun game where people can respectfully play together and admit defeat without calling their prey "n00bs."

The Bottom Line
If you buy this game, think twice before entering a clan. 8/10

The Good
This game takes all the fun parts from Jedi Knight II and expands on them. For example, in JK2 the lightsaber combat was a strong feature but you didn't receive your lightsaber until halfway through the game. This made replaying the game tedious. However, in Jedi Academy you have your lightsaber from the first level. In Jedi Academy there are more force abilities to learn but you will never have enough points to become a master at all so you can customize your character by becoming a specialist at some or have a little of everything. The lightsaber combat has been enhanced with the addition of two more saber styles: dual sabers and saber staff.

The Bad
Level design is very linear, but not lacking in variety. Graphics have not been enhanced and still use the Quake III engine which looks dated. Audio is what we've come to expect from Star Wars. The classic soundtrack still repeats. The voice work is good for the cut scenes but enemy taunts a repetitive and sometimes don't make much sense - especially if you've just effortlessly slaughtered their friends and they're still telling you "You are weak". Enemy AI is very lacking, even on more difficult levels a force grip and push over a ledge is good enough to dispatch most of your enemies.

The Bottom Line
Fans of the Star Wars and the Jedi Knight series will be pleased with this unambitious release. Those who were hoping for something more than a rehash will be disappointed.