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90 of 93 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Running up the walls......enough said., April 25, 2002
First a small gripe: I truly wish LucasArts would release more Star Wars games like "Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast". Due to the lack of recent releases, I fear they've sold out to console game systems like Dreamcast and Playstation. My hope is they will return to the PC market and start churning out more games like this, which, well, kicked the Tabasco sauce out of any console Star Wars game in recent memory. Simply put, the game is awesome. It's the first Star Wars game where the lightsaber is truly the most powerful weapon, provided its mixed with a few good force powers. Without a doubt the original JK and "Mysteries of the Sith" are both five star games, but the lightsabers were weak at best and downright useless at worst, except for the few times you had to use them to defeat other saber wielding opponents. I mean, in the original JK you had to face your enemy dead on to block a projectile. You couldn't throw your saber, couldn't jump three feet without pushing two buttons at once, and the moves you had.....slash, slash, buck-up, slash. That's pretty much it. In "Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast" you utilize more of the Episode I fighting style. In other words, you're flying all over the place (flipping, rolling, jumping 30 yards sideways, running up the walls) and not just standing there hoping your enemy will come close enough to hit. By the end of the game you have some truly impression abilities. You can throw your saber at will, throw your enemies at will, and jump 40 feet in the air at will. The gameplay is the best I've seen in a long time - great replay value. I know some reviewers have complained about the difficulty level, and they're absolutely correct to complain. Even on easy the game is anything but. It's not just difficult puzzles or levels, either. Some places are difficult to get past just because of the enemies. On top of that the game does have it's fair share of frustrating puzzles. To solve these you can either buy the strategy guide (I wouldn't suggest spending the money, unless you want multiplayer tips) or search for an online walkthrough. There are plenty of them out there. That's what I did on more than one occasion, and that alleviated some of the frustration. Still, it took me two weeks to beat, playing on average an hour a day. The difficulty makes it fun, though, in a way, since the game's not over before you've even taken the shrink wrap off the box. All in all, a must for fans of the original JK and first-person shooters in general. A definite Game of the Year contender.
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18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
You want a worthy adversary? I'll GIVE you a worthy adversary..., January 8, 2006
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
Kyle Katarn was once a Jedi Knight. He once helped the fledgling New Republic in its strugle against the Empire. Until Drommund Kaas, when he confronted the darkness in himself, and gave in to it. So he gave up his lightsaber to Luke Skywalker, swearing never to touch the Force again. He went back to working as a New Republic mercenary alongside Jan Ors, the only other person in the galaxy who knew the location of the fabled Valley of the Jedi, and the incalculable power it contained. He might have lived the rest of his life that way, with only his blaster, his wits, and Jan, the woman he loved, to count on.
Until they took one mission that ended all that.
They met Desann, a powerful Dark Jedi, and his apprentice Tavion. They, along with Admiral Galak Fyyar, an Imperial scientist, are trying to find a way to artificially infuse the Force into living subjects, to mass-produce their own army of Dark Jedi. Needless to say, they succeed...and it's all Kyle's fault. So what's a former Jedi to do?
Simple. Take back your Force abilities, reclaim your lightsaber, and go hunting.
This game did a great job of improving on the combat and Force powers of the original JEDI KNIGHT. Your Force abilities are taken directly from the movies, with none of the showy powers you saw in the original. You end up with eight in all; four neutral, two light, and two dark, but they're selected for you automatically. You can't upgrade them as freely as you could before. The lightsaber combat is vastly improved; they used motion-capture to animate Kyle and his enemies, and it shows. Even the lightsabers themselves look better, like they were taken directly from the movies.
The enemies are just what you'd want in a STAR WARS game. They basically fall into three categories; Imperials, bounty hunters, and the Reborn. The Imperials range from stormtroopers (killing them NEVER gets old), officers, droids, and engineers. The bounty hunters are from four different races; Rodians, Grans, Trandoshans, and Weequay, and they're pretty much interchangable. But the Reborn...oh boy, are THEY a challenge.
The Reborn are the result of Admiral Fyyar's experiements in artificially stimulating midichlorian production. They're all Dark Jedi, and they're all insane from the process. You'll want to pay attention to what color they're wearing when you fight them; orange and blue aren't so bad, green is tougher, but red and black? Be ready for a FIGHT. And that's not even counting the Shadowtroopers...
The 'boss' enemies are nicely varied as well. Reelo Baruk, the criminal connection, is nothing. Admiral Fyyar, with his shielded power armor, is like a walking tank. Tavion and Desann are VERY crafty; those two are the toughest enemies in the game.
Fortunately, you won't be completely alone. Jan Ors fights alongside you briefly, as do Republic soldiers and fellow Jedi Knights. Raven Software even had the brilliant idea of bringing in Lando Calrissian (voiced by Billy Dee Williams HIMSELF!) and Luke Skywalker to back you up. In fact, fighting alongside Luke is one of the game's high points; the two of you are squaring off against both stormtroopers and Reborn in one area. My only complaint is that it was over WAY too soon.
The locales are just as eclectic as you'd expect from a STAR WARS game, or movie, for that matter. You go from an abandoned Imperial listening post, to a crystal mine under Imperial control, to Nar Shaddaa, Bespin, an asteroid base, an Imperial Star Destroyer, even Yavin 4, home of the Jedi Academy itself. And every location find new ways to challenge you, no matter what powers or weapons you have at the time.
But once again, it's the story that pulls you in more than anything else. The continuing story of what happens to the New Republic after the movies is compelling enough -- I think we all wonder what happened after RETURN OF THE JEDI -- but framing it around the events of Kyle Katarn's life puts YOU right there in the middle of it all. Kyle's a fascinating character, make no mistake -- kind of like a hybrid of Luke and Han Solo -- but YOU'RE the one directing the action. YOU'RE slugging it out with stormtroopers. YOU'RE slinging a lightsaber against Dark Jedi.
YOU'RE a Jedi Knight.
And that's the best selling point I can think of.
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30 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Force is Strong with This One, April 2, 2002
First the initial parameters:1. I am a huge fan of JK1 (so this review may be biased)
2. Running on GeForce2Go Dell laptop
3. Running Windows XP Pros: 1. Runs right out of the box on my GeForce2Go laptop.
2. The game's graphics- especially the environments are wonderful. Very immersive vistas. I could almost feel the wind.
3. Force powers are much better than original JK1 by deepening its impact. E.g 1st stage of lightsaber throw is simple throw in direction of view. 2nd stage is a steerable lightsaber. 3rd stage of throw is autohoming lightsaber. As you mature in your Force abilities you will be able to do better things with them, not just more of the same as in JK1.
4. Lightsaber fighting system is the most advanced of any so far (compared to JK1, Jedi Power Battles, Phantom Menace, Obiwan). 3 types of fighting styles- from quick and weak to slow and powerful. You learn these during the course of the game (or you can use them immediately in multiplayer mode.)
5. Level designs are excellent. Very 3 dimensional interconnected spaces- providing more than 1 order to solve a problem.
6. Haven't gone thru the whole game yet, but plot line seems pretty compeling.
7. At 1280x1024 frame rates are very high. Cons:
1. Initial part of the game is a not very different from a standard Quake or Elite Force game, but level designs in JK2 are better. 2. The incessant jumping and puzzle solving starts to get a little dull, if not annoying. The scene with the stompers in Galaxy Quest comes to mind a lot: "why would anyone put these in a starship?!?!"
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