Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast

"Dark Forces 3 or not, a well rounded game...."

So what is the deal with dropping the Dark Forces label? I see no reason for Lucas Arts to do this except to have the Jedi Knight Series go a different way, and have dark forces 3 pick up with someone else (cough Han Solo cough). Anyway enough about the name.

Jedi Outcast is a great, well rounded game. So why did I give it an 8 do you ask? Well 8.5 is more like it. Jedi Outcast is great but its not a perfect game. And while most people will bash the games first few levels because there is no force or lightsaber, I don't agree. I think the first 2 levels are great. The game gets better with the saber and force, but its not the non-force levels that drag the game down. The lightsaber was given too much credit in previews of the game. People bought Outcast because they though it was pure saber fun, when it wasn't. Similar reactions to episode 1. Everyone didn't realize that at least one of the prequels would be mostly story and less action.

Having said all of that I will now get into the game itself, and address the issues to you as they appear. First off, graphics. This is quake 3 at its finest. There is a unique star wars feel to the environment and the characters. The only issue is details in the faces, which is no big deal at all. Lets face it, Raven software will go down in history as being the best official modifiers of the quake 3 engine. And let them live long and prosper once Id gives the go ahead on Quake 4. Oh, wrong Star universe, May the force be with them.

Sound is also top notch. All the Rodians and the like have good voices. Plus the lightsaber noises couldn't be better. The only complaint I have is that how come Mark Hamile isn't Luke? They did get Billy Dee Williams to play Lando, after all.

Now we come to story....great job. However, here is one of the flaws not giving this game a 10. Its way too short. I mean come one, Dark forces had about 15 levels, and Dark forces 2(thats jedi knight 1 to the simpletons) had 21 levels, 6 of which were pure boss levels so 15 full blown levels. Jedi Outcast(Dark forces 3..oh whatever) has, what like 7? Whats the deal? Raven can make Soldier of Fortune 1 and 2 long as hell, but Star wars and Star Trek Elite Force...what are they afraid on conflicting with the real stories. Anyone who has read the Star wars books knows of plenty of conflicts already. Make the game like Half-Life long will you please, I won't complain.

Here is where most people try to complain about the non-force levels. Hey, Raven needed to build the story. And all things considering they did a damn good job. Jedi Knight(dark for....ahhh the hell with it) could end in two ways, light side or dark side. Saying that Kyle Katan turned in his lightsaber because he almost went to the Dark Side was as good as an idea as any.

No No No. That is not what is wrong with the game. Here is what is wrong. It involves the gameplay. I'll get into the greatness of the gameplay shortly, but first here is what is wrong. The AI programming. Yes. If it is one thing that Raven can't do its program good enemy AI. It is a flaw that holds with every game they ever created. In both this game and Elite Force, they simply avoid that problem, or rather, it doesn't get noticed. Plus most reviewers nowadays consider all games except Half-life to have crappy AI anyway(and can you blame them), so they don't bother bashing a game based solely on that. What is the main complaint with Soldier of Fortune 1 and 2? No its not the gore, its the rather simplistic AI. Enemy's just rush out and meet you head on more or less. Oh wait, thats what they do in this game as well. Stormtroopers just swarm you and try to overwhelm you. So why don't you hear about the bad AI? Because thats what they do in the movies as well! So you would most likely say that Raven did a good job in making the storm troopers act like the ones we know and love. I say, that its just an excuse to cover up their crappy AI algorithms, but thats just my opinion. On the other hand the Jedi AI is rather decent. As well as the physics of how they go limp when the die.

Now that the bad gameplay is out of the way, lets turn to what is good about the gameplay. In the previous game, I personally didn't use the light saber all that much. Why? Because it was clumsy and unreliable and the force powers were rather confusing and not really worth the trouble to figure out how to use. So I canned the saber and just made like Solo would for the whole game except for the boss Jedi's, which even then it felt like a chore. Even saber freaks from that game will be first to tell you the boss battle were a clicking match. I am stating all of this to prove just how good a job Raven did in making the light saber and the force FUN TO USE.

Yes, huge points for Raven there. I almost wanted to throw away all my guns once I got the saber in this game. The only problem was deciding which force powers have the honor of being easy and quick to reach quick keys. They default to the F keys, but those are inconvenient when you are in a heated battle and need to pull or push something quickly.

While using the force and saber are quite fun, and are what makes this game what it is, I can't but wonder why a pure FPS in the SW universe wouldn't be nice. Everyone says that the non-force levels suck in this game, but lets not forget the the original Dark Forces was just a Doom mod. Yes, this game picks up once you get the use of the force, but is wanting a regular FPS with no saber or force so wrong? Preliminary reports on Rebublic Commando are looking good. Now don't get me wrong, I'm getting Jedi Academy and I'm drooling over Knight of the old republic.

Jedi Outcast is a great Star Wars game that is worthy of the Dark Forces title, if its considered part of it. Any star wars fan, FPS fan, or someone looking for a new twist in the FPS genre should pick up this game. It might be short but it sure is pretty sweet.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/16/03