Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast Review #2
I sense something…a presence I’ve not felt since…
Were you one of the lucky people to play Star Wars: Dark Forces? How about Dark Forces 2: Jedi Knight? Well if you were, then you’ve played Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast.
For those of you who’ve played the series, not much has changed. We still find our friend Kyle Katarn fighting for the good guys while continuing his struggle between the light and dark sides of the force. This time it is eight years after the Battle of Endor and Kyle is performing reconnaissance missions for the New Republic. It seems as though the last remnants of the Empire is coming back together for one last fight. They are developing Force enhanced troops and it’s your job to stop them. (Why does the Republic need an ex-Jedi to do a Jedi’s work?) The story line, while seeming generic at times, does help tie the game together. Some nice surprises are in store for Star Wars fans as Billy Dee Williams lends his voice as Lando Calrissian. Not only that, but you get to fight along side Luke Skywalker. Finally the dreams of every Star Wars fan comes true.
With blast shield down, I can’t even see!
You’re going to wish you had a blast shield for this game. Most of the graphics are generic. While holding true to the Star Wars series, most of the game you feel like you are running around in the same Imperial base over and over again. Most of the detail has that painted on feel as though a first grader finger-painted it. Stormtrooper and officer uniforms look authentic but detail can only be seen up close…at point blank range. Frame rates in the game are choppy. First person view is smooth as long as you are standing still. Running hard or making quick turns becomes a task even a Jedi master would have a hard time performing. Third person view is even worse.
The FMV is blurry and but the voice acting is ok. The trouble comes with lips not matching up with words so it ends up looking like a Godzilla film. Wrong scifi series guys. Most of the visual problems can be attributed to sloppy porting. Originally a PC game, it was designed for more power than the Gamecube can dish out. Even though the Gamecube is capable of a most impressive performance, it’s not a Jedi yet.
The sound quality is good. Blasters and lightsabers sound almost exactly like their counterparts in the movies. The BGM is good, with the appropriate soundtrack playing for any given situation. The one problem here is that switching from track to track isn’t the smoothest transition in the world. Tracks start in the middle of a piece and immediately jump into the next one. This can get annoying at times.
I felt a great disturbance in the Force…as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror …
The lack of originality in the game is where it turns to the Dark Side. Once again you must infiltrate the secret Imperial base, shoot the men in white, kill the officer with the key that opens the door which leads to the switch that extends the bridge that lets you get to the next level. Yawn. It’s obvious there is absolutely no intuition behind any of the puzzles. Once you get your Force powers, the puzzles go from boring to mundane. Never has moving blocks around been so much fun. The trouble is figuring out how to get though each maze level. While some are mind numbingly linear, most leave you frustrated and guessing as to where you need to go next. With traps that send you falling to your death or snipers that you can’t see above you, the levels are bush-league in design. The only relief is knocking around some stormtroopers with just a single thought.
Using the lightsaber puts you into a third person view. This is actually where the camera needs to be. However, the controls don’t switch over to a typical third person control scheme. Because of this the camera can have a tendency to get in the way.
The multiplayer experience isn’t one to be had. This obvious carryover from the PC version doesn’t match up well with the other FPS multiplayers on the market. Sure, sending your little brother or your bud a shocking revelation with some force lightning is fun, but only about twice. Hacking someone with a lightsaber in the multiplayer or even a stormtrooper in the single player game looses its appeal over time.
Unless you’re a diehard fan of the series, just stick to renting this one. A rainy weekend of blasting your way through Imperial defenses can be relaxing and enjoyable. However the numerous flaws don’t justify keeping it longer than that.
Visuals: 4.5
Sound: 7
Originality: 0
Replay: 2
Overall: 2.5