Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast

"Solid series + Talented developer = a delicious mix, although best served with others."

Jedi Outcast is a great first-person shooter set in the Star Wars Universe after Episode VI. Overall I am pleased with the game, but there are flaws. In case you were thinking so (which you were), then I agree. This intro sucks. But I promise, the review gets better.

Gameplay:This game is a First-Person shooter. If you don't know what that is and how to play one, go to the corner and count to 43(WITHOUT using fingers and/or toes). Okay, the game handles just like every other First-Person shooter, so much so that near the 4th or 5th level you begin to wonder why you're playing the damn game. Then, as you glance at the reflective blue box for lack of a better thing to do, it hits you. ''Oh, yeah! There's a lightsaber somewhere in this game! Hi ho blaster, away!'' Then you take part in one of the coolest sequences in my opinion of cool FPS sequences: the acquiring of your faithful, two-handed, four-foot, energy-composed Stick o' Beating. This is commonly known as a lightsaber. Using the lightsaber is fairly easy to learn to do, but damn near impossible to master. There are many combos that you can unleash using the attack button whilst strafing in different directions. You can also throw your 'saber as well, like a boomerang that you control in mid-flight. Gone is the RPG style ''Pick a Force Power, any Force Power'' system used in Jedi Knight. Now Kyle just slowly gains more powerful Force powers and upgrades his other powers as the levels progress. Using the Force in this game is much like using a gun, except it only works on predetermined objects (''Oh man, I wanted to rip that pipe outta the wall and beat my adversary with it.''). Rating: 7/10

Audio/Video:Audio is nowhere near anything that even resembles importance to me. However, I am privy to good sound, and I am willing to announce my findings. The sound in Jedi Knight II is nothing spectacular, the effects are your garden variety Star Wars jargon, the lasers, 'saber hums, and Stormtrooper chatter. The music is a basic mix of old Star Wars stuff and remixed old Star Wars stuff. Not bad, if I must say so myself. The graphics of this game are nice. Graphics are another part of a game I care not about. This game could have been 2D and still rocked long as it had the nice lightsaberness. In conclusion, don't take these two scores very seriously. Rating: 7/10 - 8/10

Story:I can't really say too much without spoiling the whole durn game and its as of yet unreleased sequels. (This is sarcasm(sär'kaz em). DO NOT e-mail me asking about Jedi Knight III or Jedi Outcast II. I will fulgurate you and anyone you said 'hello' to in the past 52 hours.) Anyway, the story is about Kyle Katarn, a mercenary-turned-Jedi-turned-mercenary. Kyle begins as a mercenary who gets his ya-ya's from shooting endless waves of Stormtroopers. This continues until the end of Dark Forces. Then comes Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II. Kyle's father is killed by Jerec, a dark Jedi. This leads him to become a Jedi. However, Kyle soon realizes the power of the dark side is tempting (damn straight it's tempting! lightning, fool!) and disavows his Jedi-dom. Well, in JKII, (Blank) (blanks) (Blank), causing Kyle to go back to the Force for aid. Wait! Where are the missing words!? I need to know! They're at the end of level 5, friend. Play on. Honestly though, if you base your decision to buy or not to buy a first-person shooter on its story, then I think you have misguided priorities. For all those people who are just itching to flame me about that, know this: RPGs (real ones and video game ones) are my favorite kinds of games, and I hold Story high on the Pedestal o' Priorities, just not with FPS's. Rating: 6/10

Replayability: As I have not fully completed the single player portion of the game, I cannot 100% accurately critique this. However, what I have played so far has been entertaining, but not enough to be worth a second time through. I think that if I played again from the start, I would get a bad case of déjà vu, or ''This is the same crap as before!''. This is not the same for multiplayer. The in-depth system for lightsaber combat is good enough, but nothing can prepare you for the inventiveness and randomness of human opponents. Your tried-and-true strategies used in single player will not work for long versus thinking adversaries. Playing with someone regularly can allow you to take note of their progress in skill with the 'saber, as well. Honestly, this is probably one of the best multiplayer experiences I have ever had. Rating:8/10

Borrow or Buy: If you are looking for a solid, rewarding singleplayer experience, but have no true interest in multiplayer, borrowing is probably the better choice. The multiplayer is so good, however, that no one should deny themselves the chance.

Final Rating (not an average): 7/10

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 06/03/02, Updated 06/03/02