Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy

"The Force is with this one..."

GRAPHICS - 8 / 10
The graphics of this game is not going to win any awards for ultra-realism or anything like that, but that doesn't mean it's bad. It's environment graphics are clean and nicely textured, without any blocky or low-resolution chunks on the walls and stuff. The characters are nicely textured and animated, producing beautiful and realistic movements, though there are some really rare cases where some things get messed up, like the wall run, where the character gets caught on the wall and the saber staff sometimes going through the character's body without hurting him/her. The new force push/pull ripple effect is really nice, adding a 'cool' feeling to it. The rest are practically the same as Jedi Outcast, so there isn't really much to hope for. All in all, the graphics team did a really good job, though they could have done much better.

SOUND - 7 / 10
Ah, the sound of lightsabers humming and clashing and deflecting blaster bolts. This is more than enough to make any Star Wars fan drool. The sound effects of this game is nicely done, from the humming and zapping of the lightsabers to the beeping and explosion of the thermal detonators, though I must admit, the explosions weren't loud enough for my personal liking. This would have easily netted it an 8, if it wasn't for one very bad thing: Repetition. Sure, the voice acting might be nice and all, but it is just plain annoying to hear the enemies say the same things over and over again.

CONTROL - 8 / 10
The controls are fluid and responsive, and the force powers can each be assigned its own hotkey, thus minimising time taken to use force powers in some tight situations. Unfortunately, the default key mapping is plain stupid. Who uses the function keys (F1 to F12) when there are so many keys around the WSAD that are left unmapped? This is just plain annoying since most people have to remap the keys to more accessible places in LAN centres.

GAMEPLAY - 9 / 10
Lucas Arts listened to its fans and did a wise thing: They made the lightsaber available in the very first level of the game, which negates the frustrations that players of Jedi Outcast had to endure. The level design is superb, varying from exotic locations like Hoth and Yavin 4 to Coruscant and Tatooine. The game itself is challenging, but not sadistically difficult as in Jedi Outcast. There are still some minor frustrations in some hopping puzzles, but with lightsaber wielding mayhem taking most of the game time, this game is definitely fun to play for novices and veterans alike.

STORY - 6 / 10
Nothing spectacular, just the plain old vanilla ''bad guy threatens galaxy, stop bad guy and save the galaxy'' routine. Still, the storyline is solid and easy to follow, plus it also features some familiar faces like Luke, Chewbacca, Boba Fett and a few others.

MULTIPLAYER - 10 / 10
This is where the game really shines. Featuring 6 multiplayer modes and quite a lot of maps to go with them, this game ensures hours and hours of lightsaber wielding fun and gives you a chance to relive the Attack of The Clones Jedi vs. blaster wielding troops scene. The all new Power Duel mode will also probably inspire lots of Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon vs. Darth Maul scenarios. Unfortunately, this game lacks the skins and models of some other notable Jedi like Yoda, Obi Wan, Darth Vader, Darth Maul and lots of others. I guess Lucas Arts was a bit lazy and decided to leave this to the modding community.

OVERALL - 8 / 10
Jedi Academy is an excellent game that is worth buying for all gamers alike and is a definite must buy for all Star Wars fans. Featuring great graphics and sound, this game is certainly better than its predecessor Jedi Outcast. While the story might be a little unoriginal and boring, the excellent gameplay more than makes up for this insignificant flaw. The game is worth buying for the multiplayer mode itself, considering you have broadband at least.

PROS
- It's Star Wars
- Lightsaber in first mission
- Character customisation
- Lightsaber customisation

CONS
- No Yoda skin in multiplayer!!?
- Annoying default key map
- A little repetitive towards the end
- Too short

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/18/03