Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy

"Taking you back to school in a galaxy far, far away."

It wasn't so long ago that Jedi Outcast, the fourth game in a series that follows the exploits of a Rebel mercenary turned Jedi Knight Kyle Katarn, was released to much critical acclaim. Shortly thereafter, Raven Software started working on the fifth game that, as you have probably guessed, is now finished and I am about to review.

The story for Star Wars: Jedi Knight - Jedi Academy is actually the least focused thing about this game. The underlying plot deals with a cult are followers of a powerful (and long dead) Sith Lord named Ragnos, who are going around the galaxy and siphoning the Force from areas of high concentration. You play the role of a new Jedi student named Jaden Karr who is the padawan of Kyle Katarn. The reason the plot is so loose is, for the most part, you only spend about a fourth of the game dealing with this menace while the rest of the game is spent running various errands. Not that this is a bad setup, but the result is you never really feel connected to a story, even up to the very end.

To be honest, the graphics aren't all that improved over the previous installment, which is puzzling considering the potential was definitely there and a lot of time and effort went into the creation of this game. You get the same models, same textures and same environments that were in the previous game, with only a few new things thrown in (like new characters, slightly larger levels and a few new special effects. In fact, and I hate to be so blunt, this game feels more like and expansion rather than a whole new game. It's a shame, because the graphics aren't that bad, but people will overlook this game for the simple fact that it doesn't compare to the likes of Deus Ex 2 or Rainbow Six 3.

On the other hand, the audio is actually pretty good, most notably the sound effects, as they are lifted straight from the original movie samples. Naturally the music is nothing to scoff at since it is nothing more than the original John Williams score, though I must admit a little more variety in the soundtrack would have been idea, but that does not diminish the quality of it. And in case you're wondering how the voice acting stacks up, I found it to be more than tolerable (even impressive at times) and the sound-a-like actors themselves nearly indistinguishable from the original characters- though there were a few questionable moments.

Veterans of Jedi Outcast will find much familiarity with the way Jedi Academy plays, despite the inclusion of new lightsabers types and additional moves. I actually found the controls to be tighter and more responsive, even though certain moves were tweaked and changed, thus altering previously developed strategies. However, the swoop bikes that you are forced to endure for an entire level prove to be the absolute most ill-conceived control scheme ever crafted by any living (or otherwise) hands and passed on to an unsuspecting public. Yeah- they're that bad. If you can overlook (as I managed to) this one flaw, you'll find a game that plays rather smoothly.

I hate to say it, but design-wise this game is a disaster. As I mentioned above, it feels more like an expansion, what with the lack of a focuses story, unconnected missions and a poorly tacked on swoop bike level, the overall experience feels much more like free downloaded levels for Jedi Outcast. Even the character creation is limited to an extremely small handful of species, most of which are only represented by a single gender. In an attempt to give players more freedom and also provide them with the lightsaber and some Force powers right from the start, there is actually very little incentive to use any of the other weapons, which means playing this game entirely from a 3rd- person perspective (which kinda pushes it out of the whole FPS genre). In essence, this game is a whole lot of good ideas that fail to add up to a great whole.

Disappointingly, there are no extras to be found anywhere in this game- no secrets to be unlocks, no hidden goodies to be earned, not even an extra set of skins for character creation to be had upon completing the game. About the only thing that might be considered an extra is the game has both a Light Side and Dark Side ending, both of which are worth seeing.

Though Jedi Academy is, overall, not as good a game as Jedi Outcast (due mainly to the lack of a strong, focused plot), it is still a worthy addition to your library if you're a fan of the series. The improved control and the addition of Boba Fett as a multiplayer character make this a Star Wars games worth having.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/12/09

Game Release: Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy (US, 11/19/03)