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STAR WARS : JEDI KNIGHT JEDI ACADEMY
THE REVIEW
This is one of the Star Wars games available in the market. Though I have not played all the star war games available, and this has been my second star war game (I played Star Wars Jedi Knight : Jedi Outcast).THE REVIEW
The game Jedi Knight Jedi Academy(JKJA) uses the Quake3 engine. Here, you assume the role of Jaden (prequels of this game, had you playing as Kyle Katarn). Kyle has now joined Luke as a teacher in the Jedi Academy. You can choose to be a male or a female in this game….even modifying your clothes, the color of your lightsaber, the hilt of your lightsaber….some features not avalilable in previous games.
You start as a new student in the Jedi Academy. Where you have to train to use your force powers, this training is hindered by your jealous friend called Rosh Pennin. In all, the early levels aren't too much of a challenge and can be passed in the matter of a few hours. It's nice that the game offers a series of fairly short, relatively unconnected missions at the start. It's a great way to get a feel of the game and get ready for the higher levels.
You have a group of five missions to choose from after the introductory training is over. You can choose these missions in any order (and even skip the fifth one if you want to get on with the story) before you're forced to take a mission along the main plot line. Once that's done, you'll have the chance to choose from five more missions before the process repeats itself again. These smaller missions offer a chance to build up extra Force powers and even reveal some small clues to the overall shape of the main story.
Though sometimes you may find yourself wondering what exactly are you required to do in order to progress in the game, especially for those not familiar with the Star Wars games. This is because the annoying “find the key to open the door†puzzles are now gone (almost), and the situations where you are required to use a certain force power are very rare. Despite the fact that you can skip a mission in each of the three mission packs in the game, it is not indicated to do so, since after each successful mission you will receive experience points, which you can use to upgrade one of the eight force powers: absorb, protection, heal, mind trick, drain, grip, lighting and rage, each of them having three levels. Basic force powers (force pull, speed, jump) also have three strength levels, but they increase as you progress through the game. Though you will not be able to have all the eight powers brought to full strength once, people may try to complete the single player one more time.
Before the start of each mission, you can take two more weapons and one type of grenade with you. However, this also does not have a significant impact on the way that you will finish the mission. This is mainly because of the fact that, a few situations require the Disruption Rifle while for the rest of the game, your light saber and force powers will suffice. The player has a choice to wield two light sabers or to use the saber staff(which is again an excellent feature). While the single light saber has three different attack modes, the others have only one mode and can be thrown at an opponent only if you switch to single saber mode. The three sabers have specific movements, which are given in the main menu demonstrating the use of the moves. One drawback is that we cannot change from dual saber or saber staff back to one saber during the game. Thus, here comes another reason to finish the game again ).
As expected(a feature from the prequels), the imperial soldiers are easy to kill, meanwhile, the saber wielders are fun fighting with(fun as in you have a nice time fighting with them). They differ from each other through combat styles, force powers they use and the difficulty level you choose. Even then, it is quite easy to throw these saber wielders into an abyss(make them fall down) quite easily(which is fun too). Sometimes, they even fall down on their own. Unlike the prequels, Force Speed is not the ultimate Force Power to have. As since the enemies now know how to use the level particularities to their advantage, or can they can use Force Speed themselves.
In a later stage of the game you can choose between the good and dark side of the force, the result of which is two different game endings. Although I have finished the game while being on the good side,I did however manage to have a taste of the dark side too…. And it was fun, it just simply adds to the toughness of the game… as all the dark and the good Jedi are out to get you.
Another good feature of this game which is worth mentioning, are the Jedi fights. You get to fight with 2-3 Jedi’s at a time also, which is quite an experience (the same can be a frustration for a few simple/general gamers).
People who play this game cant complain about the Jedi fights as they are plenty of them in the later stages.
Though this game has an option for multiplayer gaming, I was unable to test it. But, according to reviews of other sites, the multiplayer option is just as good.
Overall, I would say this game is a must for those of you who like the Star Wars games and also, for the other casual gamers. For those of you who play Quake, Unreal etc. this may just not be a game of your taste but it surely had me hooked throughout. The game sounds are good too along with a wide variety of maps.
In the end, I would like to give it a rating as below
RATING: 8.5/10
