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Star Wars: Jedi Knight - Jedi Academy

» Pros

» Cons

* Because the Quake III engine is getting squeezed for every bit of juice it's got, system requirements tend to be fairly high.
* Missions are great but DAMN they are small!
* A bit wishy-washy with the menu system like how you can't go back to the previous menu when selecting missions or armament.
* Weapons from Jedi Outcast are carried over to Jedi Acadamy. If you got Jedi Otcast, then your typically paying for the same thing twice.

» Review

Star Wars has to be an all time favorite for not just geeks and hardcore fans but pretty much the general public. All those movies were memorable and as a kid I would want to be like Luke Skywalker or Han Solo... mabye even the Wookie...

So anyways, Lucasarts has finally provided me a game that sort of completes my ambition to know what it's like to be a Jedi, toting blasters, doing incredile acrobatics, hacking down stormtroopers with my lightsaber and whatever else I can destroy. I say 'sort of' because obviously it's not part of real life, but the fact that the game turned out to be less rather than more.

The first thing that irritated me was how small the missions are. This really feels like the game hasn't been worked on properly and that you feel 'let-downed' because I hate it when a game is so easily clocked. Another thing that erked me was when I was starting up a mission, I just remembered that I had to go out and do something important. I then pointed my cursor everywhere to find that back button but the blasted thing wasn't there! I couldn't even restart by doing the infamous 'Ah to hell with it!' pack of buttons, Ctrl + Alt + Delete. This forced me to shut down the computer by pressig the off switch or follow through to setting up the mission and loading it up so I could quit the game. Wise man say 'Hory fluk, dis is arr wlong!'. I seriously thought developers would've known by now how irritating that is, unfortunatly some haven't. One more thing that I can't avoid mentioning is the weapons in the game. Besides the favorable lightsaber which the game is somewhat centered around and mabye the stormtrooper E-11 blaster rifle, the weapons from Jedi Outcast are back which pretty much covers the majority of the selection. Only the blaster pistol was changed and a new concussion cannon was introduced but that's it! If you've already got Jedi Outcast and if you buy Jedi Acadamy, you'll feel cheated knowing that you've payed for the same thing twice. New weapons should have been implemented but besides which, most of the time I let my lightsaber do the shouting.

On lighter notes, this game is cool with lightsaber battles. The acrobatics, tricks and lightsaber techniques are really top-notch and you feel like your a real pro when your dueling with some bad-ass Sith Lord. Combinations of acrobatics and saber techniques can make even Neo from The Matrix blush and if you get really creative with your moves, your light saber battles can turn out like you see in the new movies. Another amazing new gift for players is the ability to either wield a single saber as normal or opt for 2 sabers, one in each hand and yes, they even threw in the double-edged saber staff. Even choosing your saber colours (Yes I type Colour like that because I'm from somewhere else, get over it okay!) is cool. The different colour hues in lightsaber battles, especially in dark areas, looks great! Removing more of that 'limited' barrier is the ability to choose your own character with a name that suits both males and females called Jaden. You can even dress your character up the way it reflects you. I think I'll choose that ugly-looking bas...
Along with fantastic sabers and the dress code are the Force options. A few new ones have been introduced and by utilising as many of them as possible against your enemies, you'll pretty much rival old master Yoda (the time the game is set in, Yoda is dead, just for those that didn't know). Of course a simple Force Push near a cliff or ledge is all you need to do against your enemy so you'll never see him again except to remember that harrowing scream that puts an evil grin upon your face.

Besides that the only other great things about the game is the look of the environment you experience on your adventures through the missions. Freaky monsters can be found throughout your adventure and that holds true for normal life as well so no surprise there but welcome otherwise. In short, a game well worth playing but the value of it is questionable. My advice would be to wait until the product is cheaper so that it comes on target with what you get.