Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast

by Aspyr

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00006B179
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: November 16, 2002
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #22,786 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #94 in Video Games > Mac Games > Action
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

In the tradition of the multi-award-winning Star Wars: Jedi Knight, Star Wars: Jedi Knight 2, Jedi Outcast features rebel agent Kyle Katarn in exhilarating first-person action. Several years have passed since Kyle avenged his father's death and saved the Valley of the Jedi from Jerec and his band of Dark Jedi. Allowing his Force powers to languish for fear of falling to the dark side, Kyle entrusted his lightsaber to Luke Skywalker, vowing never to use it again. But when a new and menacing threat to the galaxy emerges, Kyle knows he must reclaim his past in order to save his future.

LucasArts is developing Jedi Outcast in partnership with Activision's critically acclaimed Raven Software. Players assume the role of Kyle as they employ a unique mix of weapons, Force powers, and the lightsaber in both single- and multiplayer modes. Jedi Outcast features expanded and enhanced use of the lightsaber, with new attack and defense moves. Tap into the powers of the Force, including jump, push, Jedi mind tricks, and more. Employ combat or stealth, depending on the situation. When a fight is necessary, be at the ready with an arsenal of weapons: stun baton, Bryar blast pistol, and blaster rifle to name but a few.

Explore breathtaking Star Wars locales such as Cloud City, the Jedi Academy on Yavin 4, Nar Shaddaa, the smugglers' moon--plus some never-before-seen locations. Multiplayer options include deathmatch, saber-only deathmatch, and team capture the flag.

From the Manufacturer

The rebel Jedi Kyle Katarn is back and ready to take you on his most exciting adventure yet! Several years have passed since Kyle avenged his father's death and saved the Valley of the Jedi from Jerec and his band of Dark Jedi. Allowing his Force powers to languish for fear of falling to the dark side, Kyle entrusted his light saber to Luke Skywalker, vowing never to use it again. But when a new and menacing threat to the galaxy emerges, Kyle knows he must reclaim his past in order to save his future. Players assume the role of Kyle as they employ a unique mix of weapons, Force powers and your light saber in both single- and multiplayer modes.

• Expanded and enhanced use of the light saber features a slew of attack and defense moves
• Tap into the powers of the Force including Jump, Push, Jedi Mind Tricks and more
• Employ combat or stealth, depending on the situation. When a fight is necessary, be at the ready with an arsenal of weapons: stun baton, Bryar blast pistol, blaster rifle to name but a few
• Explore breathtaking Star Wars locales--Cloud City, the Jedi Academy on Yavin 4, Nar Shaddaa, the smugglers' moon--plus some never-before-seen locations
• Two multiplayer modes: Jedi training and team-based play
• Developed in conjunction with the critically acclaimed Raven Software using an advanced Quake III engine

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars awesome, wonderful -- and with a light saber too!!..., December 4, 2002

By 

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

Amazon Verified Purchase

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

Dark Forces was my favorite first-person shooter (FPS) for a long time. I still play it occasionally, and was upset about LucasArts not porting the first Jedi Knight game to Mac. My bitterness is at an end however, having longed for, rushed-to-buy and now completed Jedi Knight II -- a terrific game with loads of great weapons and Force powers. I haven't played the multiplayer game yet, but here is my evaluation of single player mode:

Good things: (1) First and foremost, as with Dark Forces, there is an actual STORY with mission objectives that tie in to a larger purpose. Unlike most FPS's, where you just kill everything in sight and push whatever buttons present themselves, there is a plot here that makes sense. (2) The settings are terrific -- 24 levels that take place on ships, planets, city streets, the Jedi Academy, swamps and more -- filled with lovely graphics and extraordinary detail. (3) Humor. One reason I can't wait to play again is that I was so anxious to get through the game the first time that I sometimes didn't wait to hear the often funny conversations between Storm Troopers or their dressing down by officers. (4) The weapons and tools are great, with primary and secondary functions that have you changing tactics just for the joy of trying different modes of attack. Seeker drones and assault sentries are fun to use, but they are nothing compared to the great Force powers, which have three levels of power that are upped as you make progress through the levels -- Force Push, Pull, Grip, Lightning, Speed and Mind Trick are a blast to use, and add dimension to your strategy. The light sabre is great fun and you can become as adept as you want to with the magnificent number of moves and saber styles available. (5) Many of the same bad guys as in Dark Forces, but in better graphics and with more challenging moves. Great new villains include the camouflaged Swamp Troopers and Admiral Fyyar. (6) The ability to choose between first- or third-person perspective is awesome. (7) The game is very stable. Running on a PowerMac G4, I never had one crash. (8) The cut scenes added dimension and moved the story along, and they integrated seamlessly with gameplay. (9) John Williams music makes you feel like you're in the Star Wars universe, and sounds in general are used to good effect. (10) Billy Dee Williams voicing Lando Calrissian! (11) Enemy death throes.

Bad things: (1) Unlike Dark Forces, there is no map function, and I found I really missed that. Levels are sometimes HUGE, and I'd have liked to have had some reference. (2) The secret areas were not very exciting, usually just containing a few supplies. (3) Sometimes voices were garbled or masked by the music and there was no way to hear what Kyle was muttering to himself or repeat what message had come over an intercom, for example. Unlike cutscene dialogues they were not subtitled. (4) The climactic battle with Evil Lord Dessan was less interesting than an earlier encounter with Fyyar. (5) I found it was difficult to maneuver when I used Force Speed.

But these are minor quibbles. The game is wonderful. I'm ecstatic that it was ported to Macintosh. I've made it through one time and look forward to playing it again. And again .... and again ....

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A couple of shortcomings, but very worth it, December 1, 2002

By 

T. Milke "tmilke1" (Ontario, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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

There are several things that grabbed me about this game. First was the demo. Without it, I would probably not have considered buying this game. I remember not liking the original Dark Forces. Running around hacking Stormtroopers to bits with a lightsaber was very enjoyable, so the purchase was made. (By the way, the Demo is a level not in the game itself)

After playing around with the demo and the lightsaber, I got annoyed at the switch from third person to first person when changing to a blaster. This can be easily rectified using the 'p' key. There are some really neat acrobatics that look like they can only be done in 3rd person. Aiming with a blaster in 3rd person can be a bit of a pain, so the ability to switch gets a major thumbs up.
Those acrobatic jumps have to be done 'just right'. It's far too easy to try to jump to a ledge and bounce off a wall, or skid too far and plunge to your death.
Many of the 'secret' areas are accessable only though these jumps. The only thing you get at these areas are some shields, or ammo, so if you're stocked up, it's not worth going to them. There are no 'hey, cool!' aspects to them. I guess I expected more after the Marathon days when secrets meant more story depth.

The 'auto block' feature of the lightsaber was great, as far less time is spent dodging blaster fire, and you can concentrate more on wasting some enemies.

As far as bugs go, I've only noticed two. Loading a checkpoint will sometimes crash the game. This can be annoying when you die, and then go back to reload, only to have to load a save farther back than a checkpoint. The other is minor, as the load dialogue has a limit and doesn't list all of your saves. Deleting an old save will show your new saves.

The force powers are really neat. Push, Pull, Mind Trick. Push is great when you see enemies standing on a ledge (hee, hee). When I saw the force lightning pop up on my powers list I thought "Oh yeah!" I spent far too much time choking and force lightning stormtroopers once those abilities got to level 3.

Voice acting is reasonable. Billy Dee Williams does the voice of Lando! The voice of Luke bothered me, but I'm not exactly sure why. I noticed a few times in the game where the soft voice of Kyle didn't carry well, or didn't seem to fit the mood.

Sure there are a few shortcomings, but you get to play with a lightsaber. You get to kill Stormtroopers, You get to play with a lightsaber! (did I mention the lightsaber yet?)

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great game, check your hardware....., January 17, 2003

By A Customer

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

this game is great but be careful on the system specs for the game, it sas you need a radion graphics card but i have a ATI Rage 128 and it works fine with some glitches. If you have a system with a radion or better go for it the game is great.