Customer Reviews

Star Wars: Jedi Knight 2 (Jedi Outcast)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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This game includes a very good graphic and also the sound is fantastic. The Singleplayermode is exciting and the Multiplayer rocks. If you start the Singleplayermode, you will recognise that you play Kyle Katarn again, just like in the previous part. In the first part of Jedi Knight, Jason Court was the actor and in Jedi Knight 2, Kyle looks like the real Jason Court. If you guys start the Multiplayermode, I give you a little tip: open the console by pressing Shift and ^. Enter ''bind +taunt'' and press the button 3. Type 3 and your model will speak. I love this game. BUY IT or die!!!

"Jedi Knight: Outcast" was, depending on how you look at it, either the ultimate or penultimate Jedi Knight FPS games. A sequel of the 5 year older "Dark Forces 2: Jedi Knight", Outcast was the first of the series to be based on the QuakeIII game engine. In the game, you assume the role of Kyle Katarn, former Imperial officer turned Rebel mercenary and (for a time by the end of DF2) a jedi knight. This is definitely an old game but still worthy of your time.

MISSION? WHAT MISSION?
Outcast picks up Katarn's story a few years after the rebirth of the Galactic Republic. Pockets of Imperial hold-outs still vie for power. Known as "Remnants", these stubborn Imperials haven't the power to take on the Republic openly and must plot in secrecy. On a routine assignment against a Remnant stronghold, Kyle finds clues linking Remnant forces to a faction of Dark Jedi, a conspiracy involving the "Valley of the Jedi" (revealed in the last game) and the Jedi Academy on Yavin 4. Following the clues to a Remnant-held planet used as a prison, Kyle meets the Dark Jedi's leader, Desann and is forced to become again a Jedi Knight. Once returned to the ways of the Force, Kyle will follow the trail of the Dark Jedi - from the "Floating City" of Nar Shadaa to floating City of the clouds on Bespin; from an asteroid fortress held by the Remnant to laser-patrolled corridors of a mammoth Imperial cruiser. You will battle evil Jedi known as "Reborn" - they will use lightsabers, dark-Jedi powers and (not infrequently enough) a special lightsaber-resistant armor. Evil Jedi abound in "Outcast" rather than inhabiting a few boss levels of DF2. Outcast climaxes with the Remnant invasion of "Yavin 4", last seen at the end of the 1st "Star Wars" movie - now revealed to be a misty, jungle world much harder to get around on than the hallways of some spaceship. Numerous cut-scenes (using the game's graphics engine, and not the FMV that marked the prior game) drive the story.

I USED TO BULLSEYE WOMPRATS BACK AT HOME
"Outcast" is more than DF2 with better graphics, though it does expand on the older game's strengths. Unlike even contemporary games that had you confronting foes in corridors of spaceships, "Outcast" offers numerous settings of vastly varied scale - from claustrophobic spaceships to vast planet-scapes; from the outer vistas of Cloud City to the underbelly of Nar Shadaa. "Outcast" is a game that never forgets to impress you with its sense of otherworldly setting.

THE FORCE IS STRONG IN THIS ONE
DF2 pioneered the use of force powers and lightsabers missing from the very 1st SW shooter, "Dark Forces". "Outcast" radically improves the use of both powers and lightsaber - better graphics allows for a wider array of smoother movements. Saber duels are much less a matter of button-mashing than they were in DF2, and are much more entertaining now. John Williams's iconic score pervades the game, elevating play to an almost cinematic experience. Wisely expanding the use of Dark Jedi beyond the few boss levels of the 1st game, "Outcast" is very much a "Jedi Knight" game. Graphics are fluid - wet jungles, steamy sewers, gunfire smokes and fatally struck Stormtroopers get flipped around.

I'VE GOT A BAD FEELING ABOUT THIS
"Outcast" isn't without flaws, and it's not the clear cut successor to DF2 despite the older game's creaky graphics and game play. The story is tight, but also generic - it's you against a cabal of evil Jedi and Imperials, a plot idea that didn't really stand-out when Tim Zahn relied on it back in the 1990's. The mission goals for each level sometimes seem too generic - as if they existed only as a convenient excuse for your having to prowl those Stormtrooper-ridden corridors. This game is HARD, compared to both DF2 and this game's sequel "Jedi Academy". Missions are long, forces will be overwhelming and puzzles will be far less intuitive than on other games. Best of all, the Stormtroopers of older games (and the movies) have been replaced - no longer will you face an army of guys who can't shoot and can't handle the odd farmboy, smuggler or high-born intergalactic politician. Stormtroopers in Outcast can shoot, will fight and don't back down. Move along? I think not!!

THE DARK LORD FINDS MY LACK OF FAITH MOST DISAPPOINTING.
The many pros of Outcast easily outweigh the cons, providing a challenging and immersive experience for every SW fan. Though based on a now aging game engine, the experience hasn't really been surpassed - LA gave the series only one more installment, "Academy" before ending it, leaving it to 3rd party modders to widen the experience. Even if you skipped Outcast for Academy, Outcast is still worth a look - much more challenging and definitely longer than the newer game, Outcast is still a unique experience.

WHERE DID YOU DIG UP THAT OLD FOSSIL? My gaming rig (you don't need to laugh at my computer), a Pentium 4M with 256MB RAM and Geforce Go 4 integrated graphics. As with all FPS games, The Rotten Review heartily recommends the Belkin Nostromo N50 game pad.