Star Wars: Jedi Knight - Jedi Academy

If you have played "Jedi Outcast", that you are extremely aware of this game. It's the same engine, from Lucasarts and Raven production. You create your own jedi character, from other races, and you go thorough a variety of missions to clean universe from last empire scraps and remained sith scraps. Your trainers are Kyle Katarn and Luke Skywalker themselves. The game is basically simple, the graphics are the same, some characters are the same, and you get a few new ones. The only interesting thing in game is that you have a moment... when you chose to be jedi, or sith. That's what I like here. Also, you got ability to have two swords or double edge lightsaber (like Darth Maul). It's pretty fun.

This has got to be the best Jedi Knight of them all!

Customizable Characters and Lightsabres,choosing your own path to either light, or dark sides!!Fighting against Rancors and Wampas.Train with Kyle Katarn and Rosh Penin(Another student)! An awesome storyline, not much improved on graphics from Jedi Outcast, but you can see the difference.Riding on Swoop bikes and Tauntauns! Also the ragdoll effect on dead enemies is really cool! This is my favourite Star Wars game out....until KOTOR comes out for Xbox.

Graphics- 9/10 Gameplay- 10/10 Longterm- 11/10 Sound- 7/10

Overall- 9.5/10

I've read one or two reviews which are critical of 'Jedi Academy' on the grounds that it is too similar to 'Jedi Outcast' and doesn't really bring anything new to the table. Whilst I do think that's a valid point, it certainly didn't detract from my experience of the game - an experience which I found immensely enjoyable. In 'Jedi Academy' you play Jaden Korr, who is canonically a human male but can be played as several well-known alien races like the Kel Dor (Plo Koon's race) and Rodian (Greedo's). On my playthrough I chose the Kel Dor, which I admit later regretting due to the fact that the voice sounded nothing like a Kel Dor voice. (Perhaps it's unfair to pick holes in a 14-year-old customisation system!) The rather superficial appearance of your character isn't the only thing you can customise, though. As you progress through 'Jedi Academy', you are introduced to different fighting styles, which culminates in the ability to choose your own lightsaber. If you thought this feature was good in 'Knights of the Old Republic', wait until you see what 'Jedi Academy' can offer. Overall, I'd say that whilst this game falls slightly behind 'Jedi Outcast' in one or two areas (e.g. a less memorable villain, a less challenging final level), it's a fantastic way to spend 10-15 hours (per playthrough, that is), and I'm almost certainly going to return to this game at some point in the future.

Well, certain things have been upgraded and a load of things have not. First of all, you have access to two lightsabers at the same time(notably used by Anakin in Episode II and by Boc in Jedi Knight 1) and the double lightsaber(used by Darth Maul in Episode I). Other than that, the levels are more varied. You take on the role of Jaden Korr, a normal human man(human man is canonical) from Coruscant who is on his way to the Jedi Academy to become a Jedi and "befriends" a fellow Initiate called Rosh Penin on the way. The journey to the temple isn't the best as the shuttle gets shot down and you have to fight a mysterious Dark Jedi. You are then given a set of five missions you must accomplish. The levels in this game follow this pattern: 2 story levels, 5 filler levels, 2 story levels, 5 fillers, 3 story levels, 5 fillers and 4 or 5 story levels. While there are a ton of new lightsaber moves you can do(I especially like the stab into the ground when the enemy is down), the levels are MUCH weaker. They are way shorter than Outcast ones and way easier and much less sophisticated. The enemies are not as hard as in Outcast(even the bosses). The story is also weaker. But I find it still fun and it's a must-play. Multiplayer on the other hand is VERY much better. You now have access to Power Duel(two on one) and Siege(can't really explain until you see it).

One thing I must note is that it constantly reminded me of Mysteries of the Sith. First of all, both of them have filler missions. Second of all, your character is an apprentice of Kyle. And so on. I think it's very worth buying.

I think the title says it all. Now admitedly I played this after playing SW:KOTOR which could possibly have altered my judgement. I consider KOTOR one of the best games ever made and when i came to playing JK:JA I guess I expected more of the same. As you can tell I was dissapointed. The Pros. Its star wars and its got completely cusomizable lightsabers which I really consider a pro as that was one of my favorite aspects of KOTOR. The light sabre combat is compelling but in the end for to random.

The Cons. Well the voice acting is terrible, far worse that JK:JO and is a shame as I really expected more from a SW game. The Plot is as see through as a peice of glass. The Quake 3 Engine is really showing its age now so the graphics were really lacking. The gameplay itself I found far to easy, even on hard I flew through most of the levels in the game without dying once. Im not trying to say its a bad Game but it "Could have been better".

6/10