Through the darkness somebody called my name.
“Peter……Peter…..wake up Peter.”
Ever since I filled out my official government censor form, putting “Jedi Knight” as my religion, I began to have these strange dreams. The voice called out once more from the darkness…
“Peter… You must travel to Electronic Boutique. Once there contact a Nerf herder by the name of Cecil who will give you what you need…”
Needless to say no amount of threatening the staff at EB with my £29.99 light-sabre fresh from Toys ‘R’ Us conjured up a Nerf herder by the name of Cecil. The staff did however force me to buy a copy of Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast or threaten legal action.
Once back on my home planet, a secret Jedi location, I loaded the data disk. What would be on it? Imperial supply routes? Invasion plans? Or would it be what the rebellion had been searching for – the plans to the Death Star?
Oh it’s a game! Hey it’s a cool game at that too. Cranking the difficulty up to “I’m a super duper sexy Jedi god” level would test my force powers. And so I played…
Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast once more puts you in the slightly worn out character of Kyle Katarn. Since your last encounter with Kyle, he decided to let go of his Jedi powers because it was leading him down the dark path.
You start the game by reconnoitring a suspected imperial base. Armed with the ever familiar Bryar laser pistol it’s not long before you pick up a more powerful (though less accurate) storm-trooper blaster rifle. Then it’s off exploring the area and taking out the bad guys in true Star Wars fashion.
With you on the first few levels is Jan Orrs, your compadre from the previous games. She doesn’t really do that much but it’s quite nice to have another ‘friendly’ in the area. She also doesn’t stick with you the whole time as she has to work on technical stuff leaving you to do the knuckle-head action – killing storm-troopers, and lots of them.
The levels are pretty big with lots to explore. As with the previous games there are secret areas to find off the beaten track. The levels are pretty linear but you do get a good immersion factor. Some of the catwalks leave you with a slight vertigo feeling as you cross them; below you a drop of dizzying proportions and certain death.
The sounds in game are always important in any Star Wars production and they have done well here. All the beeps, hisses, swishes and hoots are incorporated enough that any fan of the films will instantly recognise them (aah but from which scene eh?) and this just adds to the immersion factor.
After a few levels Kyle returns to the Valley of the Jedi where he regains his Jedi ability. Then he’s off to see Luke to get his Light Sabre and Jedi powers back, but before doing so he must enter the ruins to do some Jedi testing. Here Kyle must explore the area to find Jedi powers (in the form of spinning cubes). Once you have a power, there is a short test. This is a necessary part of the game as it allows you to practice your abilities before you’re let back out into the galaxy. At the end of the test, once you have picked up all the powers, you get your light sabre back.
With your skills back Kyle is now a force to be reckoned with. With light sabre in hand, Kyle can pretty much fend off all laser attacks. He also has some cool moves like light sabre throwing and different attack styles with said light sabre. Once I got my light sabre however, all other weapons seemed to pale in comparison. Combined with force speed (which gives you a 'matrix' like slow motion aspect) you really can dish out a good Jedi butt-kicking.
The attention to detail is appreciated as well. For instance, when you shoot storm troopers they die in varying styles. Some just slump, some fall backwards and some are spun in the air before landing in a crumpled heap. Jumping on top of an R5 unit is pretty funny and there are some good little puzzles to solve along the way. The graphics are great and look in fashion with the movies. There's some nice lighting effects and once again I say that some areas are just 'star wars' huge - i.e. you stand at the bottom and look up (or down) at towering structures that make you feel small.
There are also some annoying features but nothing to detract from the game too much. My two main gripes were not being able to fire whilst leaning and the way you don’t stop moving when ‘you’ stop moving – you have this little forward momentum which whilst realistic can leave you falling to your doom because it seems a little bit too sensitive.
Bearing all this in mind
Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast is a really good game. I haven’t explored the MP aspects of it yet. Of course most MP games don’t have light sabre wielding Jedi’s with force powers which are transferred to the MP aspect of the game. With this in mind, it should make a change from the normal 'frag fest' genre that usually accompanies most games these days.
I’m a big Star Wars fan and I recommend this game to all other fans of the films. Even if you’re not a fan of the films the game is still a great buy and it’s not every day you get to play a Jedi Knight.
System Requirements
PC INFO
Operating System: Windows 95 OSR2/98/ME/2000/XP
Computer: 100% DirectX compatible computer required.
CPU: Pentium II or Athlon class 350 MHz or faster CPU required.
Memory: 64MB required. 128 MB RAM required for Windows 2000 and XP.
Graphics Card:16 MB OpenGL compatible PCI or AGP 3D Hardware Accelerator required.
Sound Card: 16-bit DirectX 8.x compatible sound card required.
CD-ROM: Quad Speed IDE or SCSI CD-ROM drive required.
Input Device: Keyboard or mouse required. Joystick supported.
DirectX: Microsoft DirectX 8.0a
NOTE: Your system may require the "latest" drivers for your particular hardware.
Installation: 665 MB of free hard drive space required.
Additional free space required after game installation for Windows swap file and save games.
Updates: Visit Support for the most recent update version available.
Multiplayer Support
Pentium II or Athlon class 400 MHz or faster recommended for Multiplayer.
Local Area Network Play: Supports up to 32 players via Local Area Network.
Internet Play: Supports up to 16+ players via 56Kbps or faster connection to the Internet.
Dedicated Server: DSL/Cable Modem required for Internet hosting.
3D Accelerator Card Required
A 100% OpenGL compatible 3D Accelerator is required. Supported chipsets at time of release.
ATI Radeon
ATI Radeon 7500/8500
ATI Rage 128
ATI Rage 128 Pro
Matrox G400
Matrox G450
Matrox G550 NVIDIA GeForce 256 family
NVIDIA GeForce 2 family
NVIDIA GeForce 3 family
NVIDIA RIVA TNT2 family
PowerVR Kyro
PowerVR Kyro II
MAC INFO
Operating System: MacOS 9.1 or 9.2 (with virtual memory on); MacOS X compatible, version 10.1 or later.
CPU: G3 or G4 Processor at 400 MHz or faster.
Memory: 128 MB of Memory (256 MB required for OS 9.1).
Graphics Card:Hardware 3D Acceleration required (ATI Radeon/NVidia GeForce card).
CD-ROM: 4X CD-ROM (16X recommended).
Input Device: Keyboard or mouse required. Joystick supported.
Installation: 665 MB of free hard drive space required.
Local Area Network Play: Internet and LAN (TCP/IP) play supported.
Internet Play: Internet play requires a 56 Kbps or faster connection.
