Star Wars: Jedi Knight II Review - PC Game Reviews

Star Wars: Jedi Knight II - Jedi Outcast

has dropped. Very few of the Star Wars games developed over the few years have proved to be must haves. Now, they seemed to have regained their dignity with Jedi Knight II - Jedi Outcast.

During the post Doom era of gaming Lucas Arts released the original Dark Forces. During that time every thing that Lucas Arts turned out was made of gold. In this game Kyle Katarn was introduced to the gamers. After the production of the original Jedi Knight and Mysteries of Sith LucasArts lead designer left them and to pursue the series LucasArts turned to Raven Software, a company well known for titles like Soldier of Fortune and Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force, and came up with Jedi Knight II - Jedi Outcast.

The story goes as follows. You are Kyle Katarn a member of new republic. Your job is to track down the evil plaguing in the galaxy. An unexpected twist occurs when the evil Dark Jedi Desann (who looks more like a cross between an overgrown lizard and a frog) kills your sweetheart and knocks you down. You then go back to Luke Skywalker to get your force powers back. With the help of Luke and Lando you must defeat Desann.

The gameplay is probable the weakest part of the game. Many times I kept going in circles without knowing what to do. The game spans over 23 levels and most of them are filled with such puzzles that tax your brain to the core. Sometimes it can get really frustrating and you begin to feel whether you are playing a Tomb Raider game or a Star Wars game? Although the puzzles aren't as detailed as in Tomb Raider but they are still sucky. In one of the levels I was stuck in a corridor for quite sometime before accidentally figuring out that the wall in front of me was just an illusion and I could walk straight through it.

What can anyone say about the graphics when the engine used is Quake III? This is one of the most well oiled engines and needs no introduction. Graphics in this game are pretty neat (except in some cases the texture could use some work) and the engine has done its work quite well. Character animations are good but the voice acting is ok and not much detailed.

AI is pretty much ok (especially when you play in higher difficulty modes), but at the same time there are few AI bugs. The enemies take cover and dodge your lasers at time but there are some who stand like dumb asses in the middle of a heated battle. The enemies are varied. Most of them are the same from the previous Jedi Knight. Also the weapons are varied. Other than the Light Saber there are different class of weapons available like the Blaster Rifle, the bowcaster, a portable missile system and many more.

Sound is one thing that is probably the strongest part of the game. Whether it be John Williams soundtrack or the sound of the blaster, the game scores a perfect 10/10 in the sound department. The voices are awesome. Sometimes in the heat of a battle you can hear the officers barking orders at the stormtroopers. And it adds to realism when you sneak on enemies and can overhear them. Surely, if one were to play only the sounds, it would be hard to distinguish whether they were from a game or from a movie.

Although the game is better than its predecessors there are some things that do not make this game "the perfect one". Many of the levels are similar and lack variety. This game is not very tough when it comes to action particularly the later part of the game. The only thing that tax your brain are the various puzzles. These puzzles are worth solving but get really mind numbing at times. Multiplayer is excellent (it is really fun to play with the force powers and the sabers) but the AI sucks. Altogether Star Wars: Jedi Knight II - Jedi Outcast is a wild ride for every Star Wars fan out there.

PROS - Great sound, cool graphics, great use of the engine, looks better than the earlier Star Wars games.

CONS - Gameplay sucks, a few clichés, puzzles can get tedious at times.

Submitted by - Shubhank