Star Wars has acquired a very faithful following
throughout its many years of existence. Since it has such great action scenes,
many games have been developed trying to reproduce the feelings people get when
they watched the movie. Sadly, very few games capture the movie’s essence, and
the rest end up being sub par. Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast is an
excellent game that feels like it should be made into its own movie. It has a
wonderful plotline, great action, and makes the Star Wars universe come alive to
the players!
Players will control the character Kyle Katarn, who has been on both sides of
the force. He has been a farmer, a Special Ops in the Imperial Army, a Rebel
Alliance mercenary, and a Jedi Knight, an impressive resume needless to say. He
started off life as a farmer, like his father, but had great ambitions and
joined the Imperial Army. While training at the Academy he was told that his
father was killed when a group of Rebels attacked his farm. Hatred filled every
pore in his body, so he hurriedly finished his training and joined the Imperial
Army. After seeing the ways the Emperor goes about doing his business, Kyle
became disgusted and decided to leave. While escaping, he decided to help Jan
Ors escape from her prison cell.
Kyle and Jan then become allies while working for the Rebel Alliance as
mercenaries. On one of their missions, he found out that his father was actually
killed by a Dark Jedi named Jerec. From that point on he made it a point to
become a Jedi Knight. He succeeded in doing so, but the Force powers took a toll
on him and he almost fell completely into the dark side. Fearful of the Force,
he gave his light saber to Luke Skywalker and returned to being a mercenary. The
question remains, will the force call upon him again, and will he be able to
take up light saber once more? The answer to that question lies upon the gamers
hands.
Players have a wide variety of weapons to use in this game; they have access to
stun batons, pistols, rifles, cannons, grenades, mines, and even light sabers!
This game introduces different fighting styles with the light saber: medium,
fast, and strong. Medium is the classic combat style, and the one you begin
with. It has medium speed and range, does decent damage, and players can link up
to five combos with it. Fast style is fast and very efficient, but it has a
limited range. This style is best used when you are surrounded by enemies, as
layers can link together tons of combos. The last style, strong, is used to
break though the enemy’s defenses, but it leave you open for attack. Players
will use this type when they are fighting another person with a light saber.
Everybody wishes they had force powers don’t they? Star Wars Jedi Knight II:
Jedi Outcast offers you both light, and some dark Jedi powers. The powers
available to use are force jump, push, pull, speed, heal, grip, Jedi mind trick,
light saber throw, defense, and offense. When advancing though the game Kyle
becomes familiar with these powers once again, but he will have to be balanced
when choosing what powers to upgrade, so he will be most effective in combat.
There are a few different multiplayer modes to choose from in this game: Free
for All, Holocron Free for All, Jedi Master, Duel, Team Free for All, and
Capture the Flag. Free for All is where everyone is for themselves in an all out
death match, Team Free for All is set in a team setting. In Holocron Free for
All, players start off with no Force powers, but scattered throughout each level
are cubes which grant Force powers to whoever picks it up. Jedi Master is where
a light saber is in the middle of the map. Players start with default weapons,
and the goal is to get the light saber. Once they do they get every force power
as high as it can go, and only use the light saber as their weapon. In Duel only
2 people can fight at once, and others wait for their turn, it is kind of like a
king of the hill type game. Capture the Flag is where the players try to capture
the enemy’s flag and bring it back to their base to score points.
The controls for this game utilize everyone of the Xbox’s controller. The left
analog stick is used to move the character around, and the right is use to look
around. Pressing the left analog stick will activate a force power and pressing
the right analog stick will make Kyle crouch. Pressing up on the D-pad will
toggle the next force power, down will select the next choice in your inventory,
and left and right will choose between the different weapons. The right trigger
is the weapons primary firing mode, and if the weapon has a secondary firing
mode, players will press the left trigger to use it. The Y button will activate
the thing players have selected in their inventory. B button will activate
whatever melee weapon players have. Pressing the A button will make Kyle jump. X
button is the active button, which means when anything can be interacted with,
this is the button to press. Players can assign any specific force power to the
white and black buttons. Finally pressing the back button will bring up the
mission info.
Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast is rated T for Teen for violence.
Gameplay: 9.3
The game offers smooth controls that take complete advantage of the Xbox
controller. It might take a few minutes to get adjusted to the controls, but
once you do you will be fighting like a Jedi in no time. The game is part
first-person shooter and third-person action. In the beginning Kyle doesn’t have
any Jedi powers, he has to rely on any gun he may come across to complete his
missions. As the game progresses, he gets re-acquainted with his Jedi ways,
including handling a light saber again. The thing is, once players have the
light saber, they will be reluctant to use convention firearms again. Light
sabers will not only kill enemies, but also deflect any shots fired at you. The
force powers that players will get to use are really awesome and taken directly
from the movies as well. The game plays like a dream, and lets players be in the
shoes of a Jedi Knight, how much better can it get?
Graphics: 8.9
Jedi Knight II sports some good-looking graphics, from the character models
to the environments. The developers paid close attention to each of the enemies
and the hero so that nothing gets left out. The storm troops still sport that
shiny white armor, and it looks just as good as if the player was watching the
actual movie. Kyle is also well detailed and has a nice set of animations, from
his running, jumping, and finally to his light saber actions. When using this
weapon, the game goes into third-person view, so players will be more effective
while fighting with this deadly weapon.
The environments and players look like they were directly taken from the movie!
Many players might recognize some of the familiar places taken directly from the
first trilogy. The most eerie environment recreation is going through a Star
Destroyer, as it looks like it is almost like a photocopy of the ships in the
movies. Players who are fans of the movies will defiantly appreciate this game!
The only thing bad about the entire graphics is in multiplayer, at times there
seems to be a bit of slow down, when fighting against another player. This is
not good, when you are in the heat of battle, and the game is barley moving, as
people can die by a stupid mistake, not knowing what is happening because of the
slowness. Other than this simple gripe, the game looks really good!
Sound: 9.2
LucasArts has access to the entire Star Wars sound library, and they show it
off with this game. At times players will feel that they might be watching a
movie, since it sounds just like something you would except in a movie theater.
All of the blaster, light saber, and everything else sounds exactly like its
movie counterpart! The voice acting of all the characters is also well done, and
brings the player more immersed into this game. If you have a good sound set up,
this game will put it to the test because you will get the entire Star Wars
feeling while playing it!
Difficulty: Medium
The game is not really difficult, but players will have to use their brains
at times. Sometimes it is best not to go into an area with your guns blazing,
but for a more silent but deadly approach, such as throwing a bomb in the room
instead. The game starts off easy, than ramps up in its difficulty level,
helping players become the best Jedi Knight they can become. Also the AI in the
game never gets to the point where they are cheap, just smarter. At times it can
be confusing on what to do next, but players will always need to remember that
they can hit the select button and bring up your mission objectives.
Concept: 8.8
The concept is hardly original in any sense, as the Star Wars franchise has
sprung up many movies and games. This would not be a bad thing, if the game is
not bad. Lucky for us, the game is really good and uses its license to help
further present the Star Wars legacy further! Jedi Outcast continues the role of
Kyle Katarn, and throws a lot of twists and turns in its story, and provides a
very well done game.
Multiplayer: 8.8
Players can go head-to-head with one of
their friends in this game, with many different game modes to choose from. What
I want to know is since the Xbox Live has finally been launched, why Vicarious
Visions decided not to support it. This would have been a great game to play
online with people from around the world! The game offers a multitude of modes
that scream for online support like Capture the Flag. This is a huge
disappointment, and that is why the score is lower than it should be. The
ability to add bots into the games is ok, but they will never replace playing
with another human.
Overall: 9.2
This is one game that definitely belongs in your Xbox collection! Please
forget any memory that you may have of the other Star Wars game, Obi-Wan.
Besides having a wonderful storyline, the game offers wonderful multiplayer
options, but why is it missing Xbox Live support?? The price of this game is
definitely worth it. If you love anything Star Wars related, or are a fan of
games that are fun to play, check out Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast,
because you will not regret it!
