Star Wars: Jedi Knight - Jedi Academy

The Good
It's the StarWars universe with all its little details, sounds and characters, and every once in a while it feels good to ignite that lightsaber and bring justice to the galaxy. The graphics are great, especially regarding the rusty Quake-3-engine. The sound effects and score are on a high level. The level design is interesting, moody and diverse. The controls are easy to learn and the light saber duels are fast and furious. Its way better than JK:Outcast because it doesn't have the awful jump sequences and boring "puzzles".

The Bad
The story can be a bit lame and hacked together sometimes, its more a detective novel than a truly enthousiastic StarWars action adventure. As in JK:Outcast, there is not a lot of "life" in the levels, so they can look a bit artificial at times. The choice between light and dark side isn't really given.

The Bottom Line
Years after the demise of the Empire, there are still planets and systems where the dark side of the force is strong, and where huge armies of the emperors troops hide. Kyle Katarn, the Jedi Knight, has become a Master at the Jedi Academy that Luke Skywalker has found on Yavin. You are a young, promising Jedi padawan who just starts his study at the academy, when a new menace arises and threatens the still fragile structure of the New Republic.The remnants of the Empire ally with the remaining Sith to form a deadly alliance that could bring the young republic down...can the few courageous Jedi around Master Skywalker stand against this dark army...?

Jedi Academy is the best StarWars first person game hands down. The graphics are great and the universe is true to the movies. Like in the first Jedi Knight game, You have a limited control on how to augment Your "forces".Some a given and can not be altered, some can be increased every once in a while, thus making the replay value better than in JK:Outcast. The forces are spectacular as ever, and the way You can combine the saber and the force powers are fascinating and fun. Its always cool when You are beeing attacked by the sith apprentices, because in some levels, You can use the "Force Push" to throw them over a cliff, and when they come jumping at You, You can stop them in mid-air and push them back so they fall into the endless pit, that way You can avoid some of the saber duels. Additionally, for those who are skilled, there are quite some interesting acrobatic tricks like running on walls, flic-flacs, salto backwards, salto forwards, its very rewarding and the controls are not too hard to master. The game has its dull moments, and weak AI, but when You are starting to do a salto backwards, hit the enemy in mid-air, add a combo that kills three in a row and end this with a force push, You really feel like a Jedi. Kudos to Raven, in this version they really put the Jedi acrobatics as seen in Episode 1 and 2 to shine, and the game will be fun even when You are replaying fights, because You can always try some new combinations. Sure, story-wise and from character development its not KOTOR, but it doesn't want to be that, its a good, fun, easy to access StarWars-action-game with bags full of atmosphere and great action scenes.