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Drool. Ive been waiting for this for a long while. Actually, I
was waiting for the Obi-Wan game for about a year or more,
because I thought it was supposed to be the next in the Dark
Forces series. Then I learned that it was coming out on XBox
(yet another reason I HATE Macrosuck (Microsoft)). Anyway,
after I learned it was coming out for XBox I was rather upset,
but then I found out that this game would be forthcoming in just
a few months. And thus I decided that Id let Microsoft live for
a while longer before I blow them up.
(<--Look! A paragraph indention! Im branching out in my
use of literary devices! My English teachers would be so
proud!) So anyway, what is this Dark Forces thing I referred
to, you may ask. (If you didnt ask it and dont want to know,
tough luck) Back in the golden age of games by LucasArts, the
programmers there developed a first person shooter set place in
the Star Wars universe. You played the role of Kyle Katarn, an
ex-Imperial mercenary hired by the Rebellion from time to time
to do various tasks. In the first game, you and your partner, Jan
Ors, get involved investigating a series of attacks and rumors of
a new weapon of the Empire, the Dark Trooper. After raiding
an Imperial database, you learn that the Dark Troopers are 6
feet tall, solid black battle droids. Later you find an even
deadlier version, the Super Dark Trooper, that is 8 feet tall, has
a jetpack, and more guns. In culmination of the game, you
sneak aboard the factory ship that is manufacturing them and
attempt to destroy it. (As a personal note, the Dark Trooper
gun was REALLY cool. Once you got it, it would take up
about one third of the right side of the screen, which killed
peripheral vision on that side, but the thing shot these deadly
plasma balls, and even had plasma torpedoes. I later
incorporated the gun into a Star Wars RPG I was running. My
friend Frank got it when we raided an imperial storehouse. It
was an absolutely great game. We blatantly ignored the
beginning character creation rules and gave ourselves whatever
we wanted. I was an assassin droid, Frank was a cyborg. We
were so powerful, the only things that could hurt us were heavy
weapons, thermal detonators, and dark Jedi. Our games were
always rather slapstick. Not that anyone cares, Im sure. But if
people were to ask nicely, Ive got some great stories. Umm,
back to reviewing the game now). Highlights of the first game
involved getting to fight Boba Fett, getting to fight a Kryat
Dragon with your bare hands (Jabba the Hutt feeds you to his
pet), and the best part of the game was the puzzle aspect. Each
level is a bit labyrinth like, so that it requires some thought on
how to advance through the level. In my mind, this sets it apart
from a lot of other games from then (and now) in that there was
some logic involved, not rust running madly through each level
and killing everything that moves. So anyway, several years
later, Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight came out. You return as Kyle
again. This time you are investigating your past. Your father has
gone missing, or got killed, or something, I forget, but you are
investigating what happened. It turns out that your father used to
be a Jedi, and knew the location of a place called the Valley of
the Jedi. This place was rumored to be able to give great power
to a Jedi. A group of 7 Dark Jedi has also gathered and you
were racing against them (backed by the empire) to find the
Valley of the Jedi first to stop them from becoming all powerful.
Along the way, you discover your own Force potential, and you
start gaining Force powers. The game would actually let you
choose which Light and Dark side powers you wanted.
Towards the end, you come to a crucial point, where you either
become a Dark Jedi, and claim the Valley for yourself, or turn
away from the Dark side, kill Jerec (the head bad guy) and
protect the Valley of the Jedi. (In other words, the game had
two endings). Highlights of this game included tons of live-action
clip scenes, force powers (i.e. lightning, choke, the Darth Vader
thing where you hit your opponent with all sorts of debris,
healing, Jedi mind trick to make you invisible, faster running,
jumping, etc), you get a lightsaber, and again the puzzle aspect
of the levels. The game also supported multiplayer. Jedi Knight
has probably been the one of the most successful and widely
played LucasArts games to date. Dark Forces II was followed
a while later with an expansion called Jedi Knight: Mysteries of
the Sith. This game takes place five years later. Mara Jade (my
other true love) from the books by Timothy Zahn (great author,
you should stop reading this and go read the Conquerors
Series. Now.), is Training under Kyle. Shortly thereafter, Kyle
is summoned away by reports of a Sith Temple. After not
hearing anything from him, Mara goes out to find him at this Sith
Temple. (I got about halfway through this game, then lost it
when my hard drive crashed. Ive never gotten around to
reloading it). Anyway, you get to play both Mara Jade and
Kyle Katarn. There are a lot more Force powers to choose
from, Light and Dark (you dont have to worry about going over
to the Dark side again), and you get some really chock-full-o-
puzzles levels. You also get to fight a rancor. And so the
golden age of LucasArts games ended for many years.
Finally now, though, LucasArts has continued its great series
with Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast. (Note: JK was the sequel to
Dark Forces. This is the sequel to a sequel. Does that make it
Dark Forces III?) This game takes place many years later.
Kyle has given up using the force, and has gone back to his
mercenary ways with Jan Ors still at his side. (I kinda get the
impression they are bit closer than just friends and-- oh dangit,
Im actually speculating into the romantic ramifications of
fictional characters. I think I just hit an all time geek low.) So
anyway, you go do a couple of routine missions, and then in
what is apparently a trap, something happens to Jan involving a
Dark Jedi Bounty Hunter(I dont want to give away the plot),
that forces Kyle off the deep end. His Force powers have
atrophied to non-existence, and he gave his lightsaber away. He
goes back to the Valley of the Jedi, powers up, goes to Luke
Skywalker to get his lightsaber back, and then, still somewhat
weak in Force powers, goes off to get revenge. :D
OK, so I know this is longer than I usually ramble on for, but
I wanted to share. And its my article, and Ill write about
whatever I darn well please.
Plot. I pretty much said it up there, in the last paragraph.
Graphics. The graphics engine for this game, unlike the previous
ones, was not custom designed by LucasArts. Jedi Outcast was
developed by Raven Software using the Quake III Arena
Engine. Raven Software has pretty much taken the Engine and
stretched it to the breaking point. The in-game graphics are just
a bit less than the in-game graphics for Final Fantasy X, and that
includes the real-time facial expressions in FFX (like I said, not
quite as good, but pretty darn close, especially considering its
coming from a computer, and not a game platform.). I will grant
though, that the backgrounds are not as nice as the ones in FF,
but then again, this is a full 3-D environment, not a controlled
one like FF. Another minus side, is that will full, high quality
graphics enabled, the game takes a while to load. But overall,
they are pretty darn nice.
Sound. Gee, this is all starting to sound like a PS2 game review.
The sound is quite nice, full talking voices. The game also
features the voice of Billy D. Williams as the voice of Lando
Calrisian (Same guy who played him in the movies). There are
cool effects like when you go walk up to a corner, there will
sometimes be guys there, and theyll be trading inane chit-chat,
or theyll ask the other if they just heard something, etc.
Gameplay. Game uses the ASWD keyboard keys for
movement, and the mouse aims and shoots. This is becoming a
standard style for computer games like this. I dont have a
whole lot to say here (I will in the Spiffiness section though).
You basically work your way through the levels, and this
generally involves some exploring and testing, as it is usually
necessary to activate buttons that do various things, or find
secret passageways. A good example is in the first mission.
You take a big platform down to the inner door of an imperial
base. If you go in the front door, an officer behind some bullet-
proof glass (laser proof: you get the idea) will see you, and hit
the alarm button. Then some 10 storm troopers run out and
engage in a prolonged firefight with you. You are likely to die,
and even if you dont, you wont live for long. However, if you
wait for the elevator to go back up, and jump in the pit, there is
a service maintenance door there. Go inside and there is a long
hallway running left and right in front of you. To the left is a big
reactor thingie. You can shoot it and blow it up. If you do, it
explodes, and fire goes rushing down the hall, just like in a
movie. (I died the first time, wasnt expecting it) You can duck
back out, and avoid the fire, or instead of shooting it go right,
and around the corner, there is a control panel to shut down the
reactor. Shut it down, and go back, then around and behind the
reactor. There you will find a small lift that takes you up into a
room with pipes. At the far end, there is a vent. Shoot it, drop
down, and you are in the room with the officer. Kill him quickly,
then you can unlock all the doors without setting off alarms. This
is a typical example of the types of problems you will have.
Some are easier, some are harder.
Difficulty. Im playing on one step up from easy, and Im dying
a lot, and I generally consider myself good at these types of
games. So dont worry about it being too easy. The game also
supports multiplayer, and multiplayer bots for endless challenge.
Replay Value. One can always go back and find all the secrets,
but multiplayer is where this games true replay value lies. The
multiplayer mode is quite extensive, and features various styles
like death match, capture the flag, capture the ysalamiri
(creatures that prevent use of force in a radius about it), Jedi
Master, and holocron. Not sure what all these are, as I havent
played multiplayer yet, aside from one session with some bots,
but they sound fun. The game also supports plug-ins for
additional skins (characters you can play), level, and other
modifications.
Spiffy Stuff. This game has a really super-cool feature. The
fighting style in this game is a whole lot like stuff in the matrix.
With the help of force powers, you can do things like run on the
sides of walls, run up a wall and flip over someone, throw and
control your lightsaber, and speed yourself up way fast (in single
player, everything else moves slow, while you move normal
speed, in multiplayer you just go faster than everyone else.).
The game supports three different lightsaber fighting styles, and
each has its own cool little tricks you can do. The game also
supports multi-player only force powers like team heal, etc.
Other powers, like Force grip (what Darth Vader does) allows
you to people with the Force and choke them, and at high levels
you can even run off and leave them hanging there. You can
also pick them up and drop them off a high cliff, etc. The
multiplayer stuff absolutely rocks.
Overall. Overall, this has been a long-winded piece of schlock
of an article. Ill do better next time. Oh, and the game rocks.
Final Ratings:
Plot: 8.5
Graphics: 9.2
Sound: 9.0
Gameplay: 8.5
Difficulty: 7.5
Replay: 7.5
Spiffiness: 10.0 (matrix fighting style!)
Overall: 8.6
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