Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy

"Major improvement with lots of room for expansion, nonetheless a great game"

Okay, here's the big one the Jedi Knight fans have been waiting for. This game basically is the third ‘version' of the Jedi Knight series, meaning that it uses the similar graphics, sounds, engines and gameplay of Jedi Knight: Outcast. However, it strays from the Jedi Knight series in terms of content, though creates a great amount of room for expansion like crazy. Unlike JKI and JKII, which revolves around our old protagonist Kyle singe handedly waging a war against the dark side, JA gives you the opportunity to explore the galaxy as a student under Luke Skywalker and Kyle Katarn, and as a student you will be assigned to errands in which you have to complete civilian missions for the Academy, however the game still gives you room to sweep up what Kyle left for you in JKII.

In this game you play as Jaden Korr, who can be a species and gender of your choice. Oh, and get this, You Start with your single lightsaber, unlike its predecessor which made you play virtually half the game before attaining your lightsaber. As the game progress you are allowed to choose and master your type of lightsaber: single, dual or double-bladed. Aside from the choice of lightsabers, you are also allowed to choose what additional Force powers you grow in within the game. You will grow in all of the basics such as push, pull, speed, but you will have the opportunity learn more advanced Force powers (such as lightning) Of course the two main Force attributes are Light and Dark. There are also 5 new Force powers. One of them you will be granted free of charge and the other 4, you must learn additionally. The difference between the Force and lightsabers is that you gain the advance Force techniques through missions and the Lightsaber skills progress more through the Jedi-based assignments.

Since this is my first review, I'll come out strong. I've been through the game very thoroughly, and explored all its options, so by the end of this review, you should make up you mind about this game.

Gameplay - 10/10

This game has the most incredible gameplay by adding a free styling range of mission and still maintaining a plot. It's based around the fact that you don't have long dragged out mission in the same place\planet all the time. In most adventure games you get to a level, castle, mansion, factory etc. and play long grueling missions within that confined area. In JA, you be playing mostly single mission plots on alternating planets and environments, so the game is always fresh, one mission you're in a barren planet, the next you're in a bright city, and so on . (A good change from the gruesome grey of the Cairn in JKII). The gameplay also involves a lot of Star Wars history such as the wampa and rancor.

Every five missions you will be required to do a special Jedi assignment that contributes the plot. They are relatively longer than you're civilian\free styled missions however very refined and masterfully created. For most of the game you are not alone, Kyle usually sticks with you, but not beside you. In most missions, the two of you always split up but Kyle shows up when you need him (if you need him).

The controls in this game are very accessibly. Let me explain. Despite having 10+ weapons and potentially 10+ Force power, the controls are quick and direct allowing access the Force power you need. Rather than screening across the keyboard to the F1 to F8 keys, the Force powers are easy to scroll through like weapons using the “q” and “e” and to use the selected Force power, you press “f.” There is no need to think about it too much, it comes natural.

Finally, for gameplay, the game is direct, in-your-face. You are never stuck in a puzzle for too long, nor is there any hard logic towards beating the game. The game lets you have fun doing however you choose to do so, which is very rewarding.

Story – 8/10

Well, the story picks up the scraps of JKII, but with a new twist. The story can go two different ways in the end (which is becoming rather popular in games, so I am not counting this as a major ‘plus' the score). However the plot is rather addictive and compelling. In terms of the missions, they help contribute to the story in very small ways, but none-the-less the plot in only told through the Jedi-based assignments.

Graphics & Sounds – 6/10, 8/10

I am sorry to give the graphics such a score, because technically they are 10/10 good, but very old. It is way too similar to JKII and frankly, they are not all that ‘efficient' as pointed out through experience and time and other game reviews, nearly any game designer can make these graphics, however when a AMD XP 1.7Ghz, 512 MB RAM and nVidia Ti4600 cannot push this game smoothly at 1280x1024 something is wrong. Something is also very wrong when I was able to play JKII very nicely despite the games gave similar graphics. I had to play the game at 640x480 (with max details though) to get streaming, smooth graphics. Anyone with a system lower than these mentioned specs will have to be prepared to tone down the in-game graphics. Anyone with a freakishly fast system, well enjoy:)!

I'll admit, I graded the graphics hard, but at the named specs above @1280x1024, the character acrobatics were rather choppy and the body movements were inflexible. The purpose of this game is to enjoy the acrobatics and swishing movements of a Jedi, and when that is denied, the graphics do not deserve a high score.

However here is the positive side. The game introduces new elements such as vehicles to ride and monsters to slice, which was rendered perfectly in movement and physics. The sound was excellent, great effects, and a low subtle music that doesn't creep you out of longs hours of game play.

Replayability - 8/10

Okay I gotta hand it to this game. This game's Replayability is great. It is a very short game. It doesn't take more than 3-4 days to beat. But because of the short ‘mini' missions you're not exhausted by its gameplay. Also you may also chose different Force powers to increase you gameplay the second time around. Let's not forget. If you're a real Star Wars fan, you'll want to try to take a spin at all the light saber style available. Which means you ultimately have three ways to be a Jedi war machine. I may also say that you can always try the game at a different difficulty to add more of a kick. There is a great deal of difficulty between Normal(jedi) and Hard(Jedi Knight). The bosses are virtually twice as hard with amazing combo\stunning moves as the difficult increases. Trying the game at a higher level is worth checking out.

Final Recommendation

Okay, here it is. This game is a must have for Star Wars fan, I mean it. This is an excellent collector game. However, for most of the other gamers who are not really Star Wars fans, this game is not worth over $40 US, if possibly rent this game and enjoy it then proceed to a next game. Much of the game's enjoyment is actually possessing a vast knowledge of Star Wars. Though this game has the potential to rope in new Star Wars fans. Finally, Lucas Arts may have accidentally release their best game yet, meaning this game has plenty room for expansions that I am sure plenty people are willing to buy. They can easily make a packet offering new mission and a chance to gain all Force powers or advance to a further level of the Force powers. This game, as is, is masterfully created. The alternate ending to the game is yet another brilliant branch to expand on, possibly creating Jedi Knight III (or IV, it is a real debate) where the story returns to Kyle.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/19/04