Star Wars Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith

"More Lightsaber-slashing, force-power action!"

While MotS lacks the makings of a true game by itself, it is the perfect add-on title to LucasArts' excellent first-person shooter game, Jedi Knight. Set five years after the original Jedi Knight storyline, MotS features Mara Jade (introduced in Zahn's award-winning novel) on her quest to give up the dark side and become a true Jedi Knight. Players venture through the first series of missions as Kyle, then complete the remaining missions as Mara.

Graphics-wise, not much has changed from JK. Better lighting and textures have been included, and new enemies and characters appear in polygonal 3-D for the first time. The level designs vary a lot, from the surface of an asteroid to a spaceport, and to the mysteries planet that is home to a Sith Temple. While the characters don't have the soft-skin technology that most 3-D games use today, they are very nicely detailed nonetheless. The new real-time cutscenes, while not as likable as Jedi Knight's FMV, are still cool to watch.

The audio department remains more or less unchanged as well. There is the standard (but excellent) Star Wars music, and the usual assortment of screams, blaster bolts, lightsaber noises, and alien dialogue. The attention to detail is quite nice, like the different sounds that will occurr if you step on different surfaces. Voice acting is good too.

The controls have been upgraded from Jedi Knight, most noticibly to allow the player to switch between more weapons. Lightsaber fluidity is better, and blocking is now easier. Everything else is basically the same as it was in Jedi Knight.

Finally, we get to the gameplay. With new weapons, new worlds, monsters, tougher objectives, new force powers (and the ability to mix and match them), and a whole new vast array of multiplayer options, MotS does not disappoint. So where did the game go wrong? Well for one thing, it lacks a major storyline that a regular game would have. The game is made up of several missions, which don't have any real link to each other. The other disappointment is that after collecting various weapons as Kyle, you lose them all when you begin as Mara. When you finally DO collect every single weapon, Mara abruptly loses the ability to use them when she lands on the Sith planet. The dependence on your lightsaber and force powers alone elevates the difficulty of the game's final three levels much too quickly. Besides those two quirks, the game is more of Jedi Knight. Highly enjoyable, yes, but just lacks the spark to be a full game on its own. So should you buy MotS? If you enjoyed Jedi Knight, then all by all means, YES! It is a worthy addition to your Star Wars collection, and will keep you occupied for many more hours to come. Fans also will not want to miss the dramatic finale of the game - this is definitely what Star Wars is all about!

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/13/00, Updated 04/13/00