Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy

"Great, but easy Star Wars game."

LucasArts is licensed to make Star Wars video games, and they want the world to know it. That's why they have released close to fifty Star Wars games, from obscure games such as Monopoly: Star Wars Edition to extremely popular games like Star Wars: Battlefront. Among these titles are utter failures and tremendous successes. One of these successes is Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy.

The Basics- JKJA takes place years after Episode VI. You play as Jaden Korr, a promising student in a Jedi training academy run by Luke Skywalker. Jaden has been assigned to Jedi master Kyle Katarn, along with fellow apprentice Rosh Penin. Your task is to defeat the forces of evil using your lightsaber and the Force, along with various guns and explosives.

Story- The storyline of JKJA is believable and well written, but is not incorporated in most of the missions. Only four of the twenty-one possible missions have an effect on the story. Between these, you are given sets of five missions to play in any order. You must complete four of these to advance to the next required storyline mission. The fifth mission is optional, and you will receive an extra Force power for completing it. The story is definitely interesting, but you will most likely forget about it during the thirteen to sixteen unrelated missions.
Score- 6/10

Graphics- JKJA was released two years ago, and the graphics show it. During gameplay the graphics are smooth, and include some cool visual effects such as lightsaber burns on walls, severed limbs, and puffs of steam when rain falls on your saber. But if you take time to look closely at almost anything, you will often find something wrong with it. This is painfully obvious in cutscenes, where the camera zooms in on speaking characters. Another weakness is the lack of animation. For example, plants will not move. If you walk into a large, leafy plant, you will see only your head sticking up in the middle of a leaf. And when a dead body is thrown away by an explosion, it will fly through the air in the same position that it was lying on the ground. The dated graphics show few improvements from the previous title in the Jedi Knight franchise, Jedi Outcast.
Score- 4/10

Sound- The sound of any Star Wars game is very strong, and JKJA is no exception. The game uses the classic Star Wars soundtrack, and all of the appropriate Star Wars sound effects. The voice acting for most characters isn't bad, and the levels are brought to life by John Williams' musical scores. The only weakness is the voice of Jaden. There are two voice sets for Jaden- male and female. These are great if you choose to play as a human, but unfortunately, there are no other voice sets for an alien Jaden. If you choose to play as a Rodian male, you will hear the same voice that is used for a human male, or a Kel Dor male. This can get quite annoying, especially for someone like me who has watched Star Wars movies, and played other Star Wars games. I was expecting the Rodian Jaden to make the strange, un-human noises that are normally made by Rodians. Despite this one flaw, Jedi Academy delivers an amazing set of sounds.
Score- 9/10

Gameplay- The gameplay of Jedi Academy is its redeeming feature. Any weaknesses in the games graphics and storyline are immediately forgotten when you draw your lightsaber, and enter the fray of battle. Unlike in Jedi Outcast, you begin the game with your saber. There is one optional mission where you will not have the lightsaber, but you will still be able to use the Force. You are also able to use six different guns, and three forms of throwable explosives. At the beginning of each mission, you can choose two guns and one explosive to start the level with. Other weapons can be taken from dead enemies. Before many of the missions, you will also be able to choose a light or dark Force power that you will keep throughout the game. This choice between light and dark was one of the game's main advertised selling points, but it could be a lot better. There is no real choice between light and dark. You could choose only dark side powers, but you would still fight for the light side. There is an opportunity to actually turn to the dark side, but it comes in the second to last mission. This is definitely a weakness, but all other aspects of gameplay are good. An advantage of the game is how much is customizable. As well as choosing your species and Force powers, you can customize your lightsaber. At the start of the game, your only option is a standard single-blade saber, but you will have more choices later. As you progress in the game, you will learn new fighting styles and will eventually have the chance to wield two lightsabers, or a double bladed saber. Another advantage is the realistic damage. Unlike other games, your character will not absorb dozens of blaster shots before being killed. There is also a numerous amount of attack combinations, and acrobatic moves. Some of these can be difficult to execute, but they make gameplay even more enjoyable.
Score- 9/10

Lasting Value/Replayability- The many customization options of JKJA give it good replayability. After beating the game once, you will probably want to try again with a different lightsaber, or different Force powers. There are also four difficulty levels, which adds to the game's replayability. Jedi Academy's greatest weakness is how easy it is to beat. I am not an especially talented gamer, but I could beat the game in less than a week on the hardest level of difficulty. This subtracts considerably from the game's lasting value.
Score- 7/10

Conclusion- Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy is a very fun game to play, but has some substantial weaknesses. The graphics are exactly what you would expect from a game released two years ago, and the storyline is weak. The game has good sound and amazing gameplay, but its lack of difficulty is an unforgivable weakness. I would recommend renting this game, or playing it somewhere else, before you buy it. If you find it challenging, you should definitely consider buying it.
Overall Score (not an average)- 8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/14/05