17-Sep-2003 He's twisted and evil, more machine than man, but Anthony Holden is going back to Jedi School in the most saber-iffic Star Wars game yet
STAR WARS. We love it still, despite manifold betrayals and travesties and Holiday Specials and weak marketing gimmicks, and the fact that the Ewoks were meant to be Wookiees but they weren't 'cuddly' enough, and then Boba Fett turned out to be a Kiwi and he was all like: "what's the metter Ded?" And of course there was Jar Jar and Super Bombad Racing, not to mention that little turd who played Anakin in Episode One - as well as all that lovey-dovey crap in Episode Two and the fact that George Lucas has clearly lost the plot. Yeah, we love it. In the most angry, bitter way possible.
The reason we still love it is, of course, because we all wanted to be Jedis when we were kids, and we still secretly think there's a chance we might be, if only we could stop thinking about tits all the time and focus on the Force.
Sadly, this is, at best, improbable. But don't despair, because by a remarkable stroke of good fortune the third game in the excellent Jedi Knight series has just turned up, and it's the closest thing yet to being a proper real-life Jedi.
Dubbed Jedi Academy, the new game is set not long after Return Of The Jedi, picking up round about where the preceding game (2002's Jedi Outcast) left off. For those that missed it, the last installment cast you as recurring hero Kyle Katarn - the most bearded of all the Jedi - as he struggled with his inner demons, overcame them, rejoined the Jedi brotherhood and saved the galaxy for afters. In something of a departure from the series, Kyle is now relegated to the supporting cast, as you take the role of Jaden Korr, a promising young student who's achieved the incredible feat of constructing a functioning Lightsaber using only matchsticks, pipe cleaners and hobby glue.
As such, you're quickly recruited to Luke Skywalker's Jedi Academy, a kind of intergalactic version of Professor X's School For The Gifted, where Luke and his buddy Katarn are hastily attempting to repopulate the fledgling New Republic with fresh young Jedi. The Imperial Remnant is still kicking off around the galaxy, and a worrying new cult of Sith-worshippers is also making itself known, so there's plenty for a plucky Padawan to do as you rush towards Knighthood.
Up To The Hilt But before you're thrown into the thick of things you get the chance to determine Jaden's appearance by means of a basic character-design system. Select a gender, then pick from a number of mix 'n' match races, faces, torsos and legs, then hop off to the saber selection screen to choose the colour of your blade and style of your hilt. At this stage it's single sabers only, though later on in the game you'll lose your Jedi weapon and have the option of upgrading to double sabers or the saber staff, as made fashionable by Darth Maul. Until then, the options are purely cosmetic (and somewhat paltry, it has to be said), but a bit of fun nonetheless.
After this it's a quick training run to familiarise you with your abilities and then straight into the action.
Already at this stage, two things are clear. Firstly, the game is very similar to its predecessor, Jedi Outcast. The interface is essentially the same, with a Force meter and weapons power meter sitting opposite your health and shield meters. The control system is identical, and as before you automatically drop into third-person when you draw your saber (though you can also manually switch perspectives at any time).
Secondly, however, these similarities can't disguise the fact that things have definitely improved since the last instalment. It looks better, there are more combat moves and Force powers, and the levels seem tighter and less meandering. What's more, you're given a choice of tasks right from the start. The game is split into three chapters of five missions each, only four of which must be completed - in any order - to progress. Each culminates in a much longer, obligatory mission with a boss battle of some sort at the end.
Jedi Academy also has a much more satisfying Star Wars feel to it than Outcast. Raven has pulled out all the stops to provide authenticity, and the game is positively brimming with cool Wars stuff. Luke, Chewie, C-3PO, Wedge Antilles and Boba Fett all put in an appearance. You visit classic locations like Hoth, Tattooine, Coruscant and even Darth Vader's castle residence. You get to shoot Tie Fighters, ride speeder bikes and Tauntauns, flee from angry Rancors, topple AT-STs (though not control them, as originally mooted) and destroy hordes of Stormtroopers. Clearly, a lot of fanboy love has gone into the game, and it adds hugely to its appeal.
The Way Of The Saber The gameplay itself will also be largely familiar. Missions generally involve killing everyone and everything in sight with your weaponry and Jedi powers, though there are some basic puzzle elements as well. Needless to say, there's a wide range of conventional weapons at your disposal, including blasters, thermal detonators, trip mines, homing rockets and the good-old Wookiee Bowcaster. But as expected, it's the saber combat that is the star of this show. And this time round, there's a whole lot more of it.
Not that the saber is forced upon you as such, even though conventional weapons become increasingly ineffectual as you face more powerful opponents. More to the point, the saber combat and Force powers are so bloody brilliant you'll rarely want to use anything else. There's a much wider range of special moves available, with some truly spectacular spinning, flipping and slashing combo moves opening up as your Force levels build, all accompanied by magnificent visual effects. The increased emphasis on third-person action may disappoint some FPS snobs, but for the rest of us it's good news, as the battles are far too impressive to watch from the confines of someone else's head.
The choice of different saber types and fighting styles is also hugely significant, adding much in the way of variety and replayability. If you stick with the single saber, you get the advantage of three distinct fighting stances - fast, medium and strong - as well as the ability to throw your saber. With two sabers you get just one stance, but a fast and furious style together with the advantage of being able to throw one saber while fighting (or deflecting laser shots) with the other.
However, as far as I'm concerned both of these styles can go to hell, as I've dedicated my life to the saber staff. Offering the most spectacular set of acrobatic flips and showy spins in combination with kicks to knock an opponent flat, the only supposed disadvantage of the staff is that you can't throw it. But wait! In a stroke of genius, you can actually turn off one end of the staff and get back the basic functionality (and throwing ability) of a single-blade saber. Switching between styles in this manner is a crucial way of mixing your combat tactics and catching the (often extremely tough) opponents off guard.
Lure Of The Dark Force powers are also far better implemented and balanced this time out. For a start, the visual effects that accompany the powers are much improved - especially the elegant cones of distortion that now accompany Force Push and Pull. New combat manoeuvres - such as Force Pulling opponents onto your saber - are fantastic, as are some of the combination moves that can be achieved (see 101 Ways To Kill A Sith panel, opposite page).
Sadly, however, there are no totally new Force powers in the game. Five powers that were only available in multiplayer in Jedi Outcast are now available in the full game (Protect, Absorb, Dark Rage, Sense/Sight and Drain), but all 16 powers will be familiar to long-time fans of the series.
What's especially cool, however, is the way the light/dark powers have been designed to lure you one way or another. At the outset of each mission you get to add one level (up to a maximum of three) to a choice of eight Force powers - four dark and four light. The temptation is clearly there to go straight for the dark powers, as they offer the most instant gratification. Force Lightning, Grip and Rage are quite cool even at level one, while Heal, Protect and Mind Trick seem like pathetic goody-goody cop-outs in comparison. However, by the time you've built up to level three, things like Mind Trick become indispensable, as you can actually brainwash weak-minded enemies into fighting alongside you as an ally for up to 30 seconds. Just as Yoda said, the dark side is quicker, easier and more seductive, but may lead to your eventual destruction.
Luckily, you actually get the chance to find out, as towards the end of the game the plot splits into two branches, and I don't think it's giving away too much to tell you that it's a light side/dark side thing. I've finished the game both ways, and both are definitely worth playing, though I must say I personally advocate the dark path - it's both more fun and twice as difficult, but crucially lets you kill a particularly annoying incidental character. No, not Binks.
So far, it's all good in the land of Jedis then. However, just as Academy builds effectively on all the good aspects of Jedi Outcast, so too it shares some of its problems. For a start, the combat controls are a little too simple, meaning you rarely feel completely in control of the moves you enact. Sure, you can pull off some amazing spinny combos with the merest click of a button, but it often seems fairly random whether you're going to actually hit anything.
Furthermore, the impact of the weapons is horribly unsatisfying, with opponents often standing unflinching as you hammer them with shot after shot. Even the saber seems ineffectual until you strike the fatal blow. For more on this, see the Missed Opportunity panel, left. The AI is also a bit weak across the board, with Stormtroopers only marginally less stupid than in Jedi Outcast, and only the extremely tough dark Force users (and Jedis, if you follow the dark path) displaying much in the way of brainpower.
However, these are quibbles at most, as Jedi Academy is still one of the most enjoyable games I've played all year. In fact, bar one or two early lapses (such as the awful speeder bike level), I loved it from beginning to end, and can categorically state that it's better than Jedi Outcast. Nonetheless, we're giving it a lower score. It doesn't quite scrape a PC Zone Classic, as it's a little too similar to that game, offering little that's genuinely new.
On our cover of course, we've made the controversial claim that it's the best Star Wars game ever. While this is open to debate, Jedi Academy is certainly the best Jedi game ever, and the one that makes you feel most like you're in command of that mysterious energy that binds the universe together and next to which the ability to destroy a planet is insignificant. And if being a saber-wielding Jedi is what Star Wars is all about, then this could very well be the best Star Wars game ever.
PC Zone Staff
// Overview
Verdict
More fun than a barrel-full of Ewoks
Uppers
Superb combat, with spectacular saber battles and 16 cool Force powers Really feels like Star Wars, with loads of fun guest appearances Rip-roaring plot and branching endings
Downers
Largely similar to previous game Slightly dated Quake III graphics
With Force powers, acrobatics, guns and sabers, there's plenty to keep your death lust sated in Jedi Academy. Here's just a few of our favourite attack combinations.
One of the most useful of all Force powers, Force Push is great for knocking people off cliffs or putting them on their arses and stabbing them while they’re down. As you face more powerful opponents who can block Force powers, try firing at their feet with the (undeflectable) Disruptor Rifle. When they jump to dodge it, push them to their deaths.
Once you’ve got Force Grip at level 2 or 3, you can hold enemies up in the air with one hand and throw your saber through their guts with the other. If that doesn’t finish them off, bash them against the wall a few times – it’s guaranteed to bring a smile to your day.
Once you’ve built up your basic (neutral) powers to level 2, you can use Force Pull to yank enemies through the air, and if you time it just right, you can chop them with a saber swipe as they go by. Stormtrooper kebab, anyone
// Jedi Online
The multiplayer modes in Jedi Academy are by and large excellent. They are also, by and large, extremely predictable, and will be instantly familiar to anyone who's played a Quake III-engined game before. So, you've got Q3-style Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch and CTF, you've got Q3-style bots with Q3 AI and, of course, you've got that rock-solid Q3 network coding. It's a lot more than just a Star Wars-themed Mod however, as the Force powers radically change the game dynamic, even in vanilla DM.
There are, however, some unique game types as well, including the intense Duel mode introduced in Jedi Outcast, and a new 2-on-1 Power Duel mode for the hardcore duelist. Most interesting of all, though, is the new Siege game, offering team-based, class-based, objective-based scenarios in the vein of Enemy Territory. The classes comprise Assault, Heavy Weapons, Demolitions, Scout (sniper), Tech and Jedi - each of which has a restricted set of weapons and one or two special items at their disposal. As a Scout, you get either a Cloaking Shield (light side) or Boba Fett-style Jetpack (dark side), while other classes get a selection of deployable shields, laser sentry cannons, Bacta (health) canisters and hovering seeker drones. Sadly, it's not as good as Enemy Territory (yet), suffering from a dire shortage of good maps and some typical choke-point problems, but with a bit of work it could become a solid alternative.
As usual, we'll have a full, separate online review of Jedi Academy as soon as some servers go live. Watch this deep space.
// Missed Opportunity
It's often the games you enjoy the most that suggest the most missed opportunities, as you giddily extrapolate from all the good ideas thrown at you - and with Jedi Academy, I've got a bunch of 'em. But seeing as most of them involve strange and unprintable new Force powers, I'll stick to just one.
It's to do with the fact that Jedi Academy is made by Raven, which for me means one important thing: GHOUL II technology. That's the thing they made for Soldier Of Fortune II, which lets you blow off limbs, explode heads and target 36 different hit zones on every enemy body. I'm not saying that such a level of gore would suit a Star Wars game, but the chance to 'neatly' dismember and decapitate people with your saber would be simply superb. As it is, you can occasionally separate someone from an arm, but the impact of all the weapons is still distinctly unsatisfying - no blood, no lopped off heads, no agonising death animations.
Presumably, the Lucas people put the stoppers on the ultraviolence, but full GHOUL technology could easily have made JKJA the best game ever [steady on there -Ed]. Imagine spinning and slashing your way through crowds of Stormtroopers, leaving freshly cauterised legs, arms and heads bouncing in your wake. And then force gripping a stray leg and twatting someone square in the face with it [OK, you might be onto something after all -Ed]. Absolutely brilliant.
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Superb combat, with spectacular saber battles and 16 cool Force powers
