Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy

by Aspyr

Product Features

• You assume the place of a young Jedi trainee, recently accepted to the new academy built by master Luke Skywalker. Continue this line of great warriors and use the Force as your ally in a number of missions.
• Learn the powers and dangers of The Force, while you interact with classic characters like Master Luke
• Customize everything - your fighting stance, the look of your lightsaber handle, even your style -- choose a single, double or dual-bladed fighting style
• Immerse yourself in the classic Star Wars universe with new weapons, vehicles and environments
• Multiple exciting missions await you as you play through amazing single- and multi-player missions and develop new Force powers

Product Details

• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B00013M0OK
• Item Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: December 19, 2003
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #17,863 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #46 in Video Games > Mac Games > Adventure
  • #80 in Video Games > Mac Games > Action

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

Video games and books such as the popular New Jedi Order series have continued the storyline of Star Wars past the events in Return of the Jedi. According to this "extended universe", Imperial loyalists have been pushed back to a small number of worlds and are now known as the Imperial Remnant, and meanwhile Luke Skywalker has started a training academy to rebuild the once glorious Jedi Order. Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy casts players in the ongoing Star Wars epic as Jaden Corr, a new character in the Star Wars universe who has enrolled at Luke's Jedi Academy. The Imperial Remnant and a group of dark-side Force users have been up to something shady, and it's your job as Jaden to uncover and stop their nefarious plans.

The game is a mix of first-person shooting and third-person lightsaber combat, with a heavy focus of the latter over the former. Players are allowed to customize the basic look of their character by choosing from a list of heads, torsos, and legs. Moreover, players can now customize the look of their lightsaber hilt in addition to the blade color, though all of these customizations are aesthetic only. Answering overwhelming fan demand, players now have the option of fighting with two lightsabers or the double lightsaber made famous by Darth Maul. The flashy new lightsaber combat styles are a lot of fun and make duels twice as entertaining. Players are able to use a set of Force powers such as Push, Pull, and Speed, that should be familiar to anyone who has watched the Star Wars movies. Ironically, players can learn and use Light Side and Dark Side powers like Heal or Lightning interchangably without any real restriction or consequence. The single-player story line is fairly thin but adequately does the job of giving you an excuse to visit a variety of diverse environments and cut through bad guys by the boatload.

The multi-player game features standard action game modes such as Free For All, Team Free For All, Capture the Flag, and Duel. Jedi Academy also features a couple of innovative multiplay experiences. Power Duel pits two slightly weaker players against one slightly stronger player. Siege is a team-based combat mode ala Battlefield 1942, but with a far older kind of Stormtrooper. Players assume the role of Scout, Demolitions, Soldier, Heavy Weapons, or Jedi, and use the strengths of their particular role to help their team accomplish the objective. Objectives typically involve breaching a wall or carrying an object from one place to another. Imagine a dynamic Star Wars battlefield complete with vehicles, Star Wars architecture, and small teams of Scouts, Jedi and Demolitions guys sneaking around while troopers and heavy weapons specialists blast everything in sight, and you've got an idea of Siege.

The game's only major flaw, if you can call it that, is the focus on lightsaber combat; those looking for a dedicated shooting experience may resent the reliance on these elegant weapons. If you're willing to play a Jedi simulator as a Jedi simulator, Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy is a fun foray into the Star Wars universe that takes players beyond the familiar events of the classic trilogy. - Jon "Safety Monkey" Grover

Pros:

• New lightsabers and lightsaber moves are fun to play with
• Multiplayer Siege mode is excellent
• Force powers and Star Wars setting a refreshing break from standard FPS fare

Cons:

• Storyline is not terribly interesting
• Lightsaber and character customization--while cool--have no effect on gameplay

Note: this text refers to the Windows version.

Product Description

Star Wars® Jedi Knight®: Jedi Academy™ is the latest installment of the highly acclaimed Jedi™ series. Take on the role of a new student eager to learn the ways of the Force from Jedi Master Luke Skywalker.Customize your character and interact with famous Star Wars characters in many unique Star Wars locations where you face powerful enemies. You can build your own lightsaber and use the level selection system to choose your own path through the game.You must now make the ultimate choice: Fight for good and freedom on the light side or follow the path of power and evil to the dark side. Features Customize your character by defining both look and gender before entering the Academy to learn the power and dangers of the Force. Construct your own lightsaber from handle to blade. As you progress discover the power of wielding two lightsabers or the ultimate double-bladed lightsaber made famous by Darth Maul. New vehicles weapons Force powers and Star Wars locations. Unique level selection system allows you to choose your own mission and adventures. Six multiplayer modes including team-based siege mode and two-on-one power duel. Fight in 23 multiplayer arenas! System Requirements:Mac OS X 10.2.6 or later PowerPC G3/G4/G5 500 MHz or faster 256MB of RAM 1.3 GB free disk space 3D Graphics Acceleration required (ATI Radeon 7500/nVidia GeForce 2 or better 32MB of VRAM) 4X CD-ROM Multiplayer Requirements: Internet and LAN (TCP/IP) play supported Internet play requires a 56Kbps or faster connection 733 MHz or faster recommended for Multiplayer Format: MAC 10.2.2 OR LATER Genre: ENTERTAINMENT Rating: T - Teen UPC: 618870106106 Manufacturer No: 10610

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars wow!, March 25, 2004

By 

audrey (white mtns) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy (CD-ROM)

This is a terrific first-person shooter and it's long -- so you get a lot of gameplay. While I haven't played any of the multiplayer games, I thoroughly enjoyed single player. There are plenty of interesting missions with a connecting storyline (a Lucas Arts strength ever since Dark Forces) and if you've played other Star Wars titles like Dark Forces, it's thrilling to see many of those same environments with better graphics, including your mentor at the Academy, Kyle Katarn! Before each mission you can select weapons to use in additon to strengthening your Force Powers, such as Healing, Grip, Force Absorption, Protection, Lightning, etc. By the end you've really customized your abilities. In one of the last levels you will choose the Dark Side or the Light, and this does affect the gameplay. You also get to ride a few different vehicles, which is fun, and I like that you can save anytime.

I do have a few minor complaints -- in the last dozen or so levels you must rely almost exclusively on the light saber, while I really like using a wider variety of weapons; the faces of players are oddly flat; and even though I met the system requirements I experienced slowdowns quite often.

If you like FPSs or games in the Star Wars universe, you will really enjoy this game for Mac. May the Force be with you.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A fun game that still works on modern Mac hardware, June 27, 2009

By 

Jamie Flournoy (San Francisco) - See all my reviews

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy (CD-ROM)

I bought this game used via Amazon a couple of weeks ago, just in time to come down with a cold. Lucky me, I'm stuck at home and too tired to think or do much else, but a nice hack and slash video game is a welcome diversion and not too tiring.

What can I say, it's a first person shooter plus Force powers. They did a very good job of integrating the Force powers and lightsaber with traditional guns and explosives, so you feel like you could whip out a blaster and zap a Stormtrooper, or cut him in half with your saber. The missions are okay; there is a reasonable storyline but not as involving as Knights of the Old Republic. But really the story is linear and your job is to go in, kill a ton of bad guys, solve some small puzzles (how do I open this door? How do I get across this chasm? etc.), and maybe kill a boss at the end of the mission.

The most notable fact about the game is that it works fine on recent hardware. I have a 2.16GHz MacBook Pro (running Mac OS X 10.5.7) and played it on an external monitor at 1600x1200 with the maximum quality video settings and it was *fast*. (I downloaded the free Universal Binary update from Aspyr.com after installing the game but before playing it. Universal means the game is ready for Intel based Macs.) The cinematic scenes were sluggish and skipped badly (I guess the codec isn't part of that Universal Binary upgrade?) and in one canyon near a Jedi Temple the 3D video was laggy when there was a lot of depth in the scene, but that was basically just on a bridge until I crossed it. Otherwise, the action was fast and the frame rate kept up at all times.

Finally, I had a lot of fun exploring the physics of the game with regard to using the Force to kill the bad guys. I interpreted "Mind your surroundings" in Jedi speak to mean "use Force Push to shove them into the lava / off a cliff to avoid messy Lightsaber duels." I probably had more Sith kills due to gravity than any other weapon at my disposal. And don't forget that while some Sith can reflect projectiles back at you, many can't... so you can use an explosive round to bounce them over the edge and into the abyss, no messy melee required.

I highly recommend this game.

P.S. use Quick Save often!

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best in the series of Jedi Knight, January 3, 2005

By 

CyberKAP "CyberKAP" - See all my reviews

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy (CD-ROM)

This game is simply great. It runs perfectly smooth at 60+ FPS. The multiplayer is fantastic, with siege modes that include classes and vehicles. The storyline is definately Star Wars worthy. The game is NOT jerky and runs fine. I own this for my PC and MAC, and both run great, though i do get a much higher FPS on my PC which is around 90+.