Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast

Summary

Genre: Shooter
Number of players: 1-16

Review

Jedi Knight 2 is the highly anticipated follow up to Jedi Knight: Dark Forces which appeared a few years back on the PC. You play as Kyle Katarn, a former Jedi who threw it all in because he was tempted by the Dark Side.


Gameplay: I have to say I was really taken with JK2 - in the single player you're often pitted against entire armies and can emerge without even a scratch. It's extremely easy to pick up, and as soon as you get your hands on a lightsaber, you'll have a great deal of difficulty putting it down.

One of the best things about the game (and this might sound especially nerd-like) is that you actually feel like you're playing as a Jedi, in that you can totally outclass most opposition you face. More often than not, the only way you can and will die is through sheer weight of numbers. That and the lightsaber duels, although I'll get to them later.

The game does have a plot, although it's nothing really to shout about. Suffice it to say it does the job, although not a lot more. Basically, Kyle has to kill a "Dark Jedi" by the name of Desann, after Desann kills Jan, Kyle's mercenary partner. The bulk of the single player game is spent tracking him down, disposing of his many minions, some of which are empowered by the Force.

It works pretty well, although I have to say that, while using the Lightsaber is great fun, it can get a little repetitive at times, not to mention the fact that once you get it, you won't really be using any of your other weapons again, except perhaps for the sniper rifle from time to time, and perhaps your blaster for taking out some turrets. This is a bit of a shame, because they have some pretty good weapons in there.

Anyway - the Lightsaber duels. At several points during the game you'll be faced by some 'Reborn' - Dark Jedi. The only way to beat them is to match them with a Lightsaber (nothing else works - rockets are simply Force pushed away, and everything else is just blocked and sent right back at you - not that that's a bad thing). Personally I thought the duels were very well done, because if you leave yourself open to a blow, you'll be struck down with one hit. While this can be frustrating sometimes, it works really well, and means you can never get too cocky, even when you're fighting a single Reborn (and yes, at several stages in the game you fight multiple Dark Jedi).

Basically I thought the single player game was top fun. It'll have you entertained from start to finish.


Challenge: The game is pretty tough. When you get your saber I actually thought the game became a bit easier, because you could take on more foes, but even so the game is very tricky. The enemies become very accurate with their blasters the higher the skill setting, and there's more of them too. Also, the lightsaber duels become a real challenge in the last couple of skill settings ('knight' and 'master'). Should have you going for a while. And then after that of course there's the multiplayer, where you can face off against some pretty tough lightsaber-wielding bots!


Graphics: Based on the Quake 3 engine, so expect the best. Actually they are pretty good but some of the cut scenes look decidedly dodgy. But everything else looks pretty good. They have a few neat little touches in there too if you look out for them. For instance in one of the later levels it's raining, and the rain drops causes a slight sparkle on your saber when a drop hits it. Nice.


Sounds: All real Star Wars music by John Williams. What more could you ask for? There are of course all the various grunts and so on you get in every shooter. Saber noises are pretty good too. Not too shabby.


Multiplayer: Fantastic, I thought. Very hectic, and constant saber fights are very good. Only problem I could see, and a friend of mine agrees, is that the lightsaber in it is just a touch too powerful, so as to make most of the other weapons unusable (try hitting a guy with a saber using a blaster) and all the other weapons can be Force pushed back. That said, it is great fun to play, the bot AI is pretty good too. Hours of fun guaranteed.

There are several different types of mode too, for extra fun, including Duel (1 on 1 with the other players watching and waiting for one to die); Jedi Master (one lightsaber, person who reaches it first becomes the Jedi Master getting all Force powers - then he can kill to get points, other players have to kill him); Team Free for all; Free for all; and Capture the Ysalamari.


Summing up: A superb title that is surely a must for most gamers, unless they happen to hate Star Wars. All the rest though should get out there and buy it!


Gamesmark: 95%


Reviewer: Tangycheese



Maverik's opinion: Certainly a very fun game, with a great single-player mode and a fun, if a little repetitive multiplayer. My only quibble is, as Tangy mentioned, the fact that the lightsaber is too good a weapon - it's excellent to use, but the other weapons are just not powerful enough in comparison, which inhibits their use by contrast. Even so, with a whole heap of Force powers to use and some terrific action, this game is definitely worth playing!