Cheap Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy (Jewel Case) (Video Games) (Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows XP) Price

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Customer Reviews of Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy (Jewel Case)

Very good - yet not great - leap over Jedi Outcast
"Jedi Academy" is the latest in a long-line of Star Wars shooter games that began with "Dark Forces" (1994) and followed the adventures of Kyle Katarn and other new Jedi Knights. As with "Jedi Outcast", "Academy" has you fighting various enemies across the Star Wars universe as rendered by the QuakeIII engine. Rather than play Kyle, you lead the fight as Jaden Kors, one of his assistants - an acolyte jedi (who ya' callin' Padawan!?). Looking and sounding little different than Outcast, Academy stands apart in more flexible gameplay. You can alter the appearance of your race, gender, skin color, dress and (before this becomes less a game than some Supreme Court case) your lightsaber. Choose the color and style of your saber - single or double sabers, or the double-bladed saber-staff made famous by Darth Maul in "Episode 1". A semi-centralized mission/level structure allows you to play various unconnected levels - each with its own unique challenges and styles - in the order that you choose. You play a set of small-level missions, then one big-compulsory mission which ramps up the running story of the game. <
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>The problem? While it's always fun to play "Star Wars", I spent much of my time just reminding myself that this was supposed to be a sequel to Outcast, with all the improvements that sequels should be expected to have. Using the same graphics engine as Outcast means that the game overall looks the same. Gameplay is new, but the differences aren't really big improvements. Levels are typically shorter (enhanced by the fact that the levels don't form a single, compelling story as they had on previous "Jedi Knight" games, or even the original "Dark Forces"). Puzzles are simpler, and enemy AI seems less overwhelming. Sabre battles seem much easier than on "Outcast", though the evil Jedis will still be at least incredibly challenging. The levels themselves fall into two categories - traditional Dark Forces-style fighting and shorter gimmicky missions. (One mission has you fighting from car-to-car on a huge flying train; another has you salvaging components needed to repair your ship while your stranded on a desert planet inhabited by gigantic and voracious sandworms; another has you battling your opponents while riding "speeder bikes" ala "Return of the Jedi; still another has you infiltrating a floating Imperial fortress, leaving marker-beacons for attacking X-Wings.) Just as in "Outcast", there's a point where the story becomes more compelling and sharply broadens the scope of the game - In "Outcast", it was the Imperial prison planet where you went from navigating hallways to fighting for your life in a warzone in the canyons above. In "Academy", the "Money Mission" sends you & Katarn to Vijun, home to a fortress once owned by Darth Vader and now infested with vicious evil Jedi known as "reborn". Unfortunately, Academy then reverts back to "choose your next generic SW mission" with missions that are probably better than the first ones, but don't measure up to the complexity and sophistication of Vijun. <
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>Being able to customize your appearance and your missions seems niftier than it plays. It doesn't really add to the experience - you're just a generic character in a generic Star Wars story (young and untrained Jedi students against former imperial forces and darker jedis who try and kill you with their fast moves and taunts). Anyway, players have been able to "mod" their appearance and play user-designed missions since the days of "Dark Forces", so even that feature isn't so new (I played that game as Boba Fett). Though a technological leap over the first "Jedi Knight" game of 1997, neither "Academy" nor "Outcast" match it in making you feel like you're inside a Star Wars movie. Even forgetting about narrative, Academy is still less of a leap in technology over "Jedi Knight" than that game was over "Dark Forces". I'm not sure why it was even released at all (the only real effect is that the on-line communities that craft mods for Star Wars games stopped working on Outcast mods, and turned to Academy exclusively). <
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>Being little advanced over Outcast, the same system specs should apply. I played this on my P4-2ghz, GeForce3, WinXP system (remember when that sounded like more horsepower than you'd ever need?) and had no problems. Remember to check LA's website to make sure your graphics card is on the approved list - though I was able to play it flawlessly on a 2.4 ghz notebook equipped with GeForceGo. Whatever your specs, make sure you have some kind of gamepad - the Rotten Review has sworn by the Nostromo Speedpad since 2002. In short, if you missed on Outcast, get Academy. If you got Outcast, Academy is still a worthy game, but not one that will rock your universe.

Love Jedi Knight
Star Wars Jedi Academy is a lot of fun. I found myself unable to turn off my computer until I finished playing it. I completed Jedi Academy in a little over a week, playing about 2 hours per day on the average. I highly recommend this game to anyone who likes Star Wars. There is nothing like wielding a lightsaber and fighting dark jedi. I found that I rarely used the first person mode with a gun/blaster. The lightsaber was too much fun!!