| Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast | |
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| Developer(s) | Raven Software, Vicarious Visions (console conversion) |
| Publisher(s) | LucasArts, Activision, Aspyr Media, CyberFront |
| Designer(s) | Chris Foster |
| Series | Star Wars: Jedi Knight |
| Engine | Quake III: Team Arena (with Raven's custom SDK) |
| Version | 1.04 |
| Platform(s) | Windows, Mac OS X, GameCube, Xbox |
| Release date(s) | |
| Genre(s) | First-person shooter, Third-person shooter, Action |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | |
| Media/distribution | CD-ROM, GameCube Optical Disc, DVD |
System requirements
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Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, often abbreviated JK2 or JO, is a first- and third-person action game developed by Raven Software and published by LucasArts and Activision. The PC version was released in March 2002[1] and the Mac OS X, Xbox and Nintendo GameCube versions were released in November 2002.[2][3][4] Powered by the Quake III: Team Arena game engine, the game primarily revolves around ranged and melee combat. The player can wield classic Star Wars weapons such as blasters, lightsabers and Force powers.[5]
The game features both single-player and multiplayer modes. The story-driven single-player is set in the Star Wars universe two years after the events of Mysteries of the Sith, Jedi Outcast's predecessor. It follows the protagonist Kyle Katarn as he fights against the Dark Jedi Desann and his followers.[6] The game was critically well-received on all platforms, with scores between 75 and 89/100 according to Metacritic's composite averages.[7][8][9]
In 2003 a sequel titled Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy was released for the Xbox, Mac OS and PC.[10] In 2006 the PC version was re-released with four other Star Wars games in a pack entitled Star Wars: The Best of PC.[11] On September 16, 2009, the game was re-released with its sequels and the expansion to Dark Forces II onto Steam and Direct2Drive.
Contents |
As a first/third person shooter set in the Star Wars universe, Jedi Outcast puts the player into combat wielding a variety of firearms from the universe, as well as lightsabers and Force powers. The player can choose perspective for every weapon, including the lightsaber (although in the sequel, Jedi Academy, first person lightsaber is only accessible through console commands).
The shooter combat is typical, offering players an array of energy and projectile weapons, as well as explosives. Players have a health and shield meter, each which is replenished separately.
Jedi Outcast places a strong emphasis on lightsaber combat. As in the films, lightsabers can be used to deflect shots from blasters. The game offers three lightsaber styles. Each style is different in terms of the speed of attacks and damage dealt. There are a number of combos which can be used, often unique to the selected saber style.
Force powers (such as Push, Jump, and Lightning) are available in singleplayer and multiplayer, but more powers can be used in the latter. The use of powers is restricted by a "Force Meter", which depletes with use of powers. The "level" of a Force power determines the strength of the power and the amount of Force "power" required for its use.[12] The multiplayer mode divides players into Light Siders and Dark Siders, and will pit these sides against each other in team modes. Each side has access to both shared "Neutral" Force powers, which are mostly focused on increasing speed and manoeuvrability, and some unique Light Side and Dark Side powers. As in the previous games, Light Side powers are mainly focused around protection and healing, while Dark Side powers are openly aggressive. Unlike previous games, however, Kyle does not exclusively select Light or Dark side powers in the single-player, instead receiving a selection of both.
The player, as Kyle Katarn, moves through the single-player in a linear manner, meeting friendly and hostile NPCs. Friendly NPCs will occasionally assist the player in combat. In addition to combat, the campaign features a variety of puzzles.
The game starts as a shooter only, as Kyle has forsaken The Force after the events of the previous game. However, after a few missions, the player gains access to the lightsaber and some Force powers. As the single-player game progresses, the number of powers available and their level increase. Progression of Force abilities is fixed, and cannot be customized unlike the sequel, where the player chooses which powers to "level up".
Jedi Outcast features a set of multiplayer modes. In the PC and Macintosh versions, these can be played over LAN or the Internet, but is limited to two players on the console versions.[3][4] There are a variety of game modes (examples are free-for-all, team deathmatch and capture the flag) which can be played with other players, bots, or both.[13]
Each player has limited customization control over his or her avatar. He or she can choose the player model (giving access to nearly every character in the game as well as some film characters not seen in the campaign) and lightsaber color.
Before a match, the server specifies the game rules, including Force ranking. Force ranking controls how many points the players have available to allocate into Force powers. Players then customize their powers for the match. The server can also choose to disable normal weapons to create lightsaber-only matches.
Some players adopted rituals such as "bowing" (crouching and bowing one's head down before a duel). The one-on-one master/padawan training system from the films has been used by some clans.[14]
The single-player game is set approximately two years after the events of Mysteries of the Sith. As with the previous game in the series, the player controls Kyle Katarn, a former Jedi who cut his link with The Force after almost succumbing to the Dark Side. At the start of the game he is a mercenary working for the New Republic.[6]
Kyle is joined by other characters throughout the game. Three of the most prominent are Jan Ors, a fellow mercenary and love interest; Lando Calrissian (voiced by Billy Dee Williams), the sophisticated baron-administrator of Cloud City seen in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi;[15] and Luke Skywalker, protagonist of the original film trilogy and leader of the Jedi Academy on Yavin IV. The player also receives help from Jedi and other New Republic soldiers.[16] Mon Mothma, Chief-of-State of the New Republic, gives Kyle and Jan objectives during the game.[17]
There are four main antagonists: Desann, a former Jedi who killed a fellow student before leaving the Jedi Order;[18] Tavion, Desann's apprentice; Galak Fyyar, one of the leaders of the Imperial Remnant; and Reelo Baruk, a crime lord posing as a "respectable garbage collector" on Nar Shaddaa. They are supported by Imperial stormtroopers, numerous thugs and Dark Jedi.[19]
The game starts with Kyle Katarn and Jan Ors investigating a supposedly abandoned Imperial outpost on Kejim, which proves to be crawling with Imperial forces. Kyle and Jan fight their way through the base, discovering research in lightsaber crystals.[20] Following their link on cortosis crystals, Kyle and Jan travel to Artus Prime, a mining colony turned into an Imperial stronghold, where miners are enslaved and even experimented on. Katarn thwarts the Imperial operations, but not before Jan is captured by two Dark Jedi: Desann and Tavion.[21] Having forsaken the ways of the Jedi, Kyle is easily bested by Desann, who orders Tavion to kill Jan.
Believing Jan dead, Kyle first travels to the Valley of the Jedi to regain his Force powers, and then to the Jedi Academy to get his lightsaber. There, he learns of Desann's origins from Luke Skywalker.[22] Luke offers Kyle his lightsaber back if he can complete a set of trials. Katarn completes the trials easily - too easily, and Luke quickly deduces that Kyle has charged himself at the Valley of the Jedi. Warning Katarn that his path is a dangerous one, he nevertheless gives Kyle the information he seeks, linking Desann to Reelo Baruk, a Rodian crime lord on Nar Shaddaa.[23] Reelo proves to have little information, but Kyle nevertheless stumbles upon Lando Calrissian, who was kept imprisoned in Baruk's dungeons. From Lando, Kyle learns that Desann is a part of a huge operation of smuggling cortosis crystals through Cloud City on Bespin.
Escaping Reelo, the two make for Bespin in Lando's ship, the Lady Luck.
Lando drops Kyle off at the bottom of Cloud City. Katarn works his way upwards, where he first encounters Dark Jedi known as Reborn.[24] Kyle fights several Reborn, and, on the upper level, stormtroopers until he finds Tavion, who is about to board a ship headed for Galak Fyyar's Star Destroyer, the Doomgiver. Losing to Kyle in a duel, Tavion pleads for her life, telling him that Jan is alive and on board the Doomgiver.[25] Jan's faked death was just a ploy to trick Kyle into going to the Valley of the Jedi - in order for Desann to follow him there and tap its power. In exchange for her life, Tavion lets Kyle use her ship to travel to the Star Destroyer.[26]
After fighting his way past some stormtroopers at Cairn Installation - an Imperial base hidden on an asteroid in the Lenico Belt where the Doomgiver is docked - Kyle meets up with Luke Skywalker. From him, he learns that Desann, having found the Valley of the Jedi, has used its energy to empower an army of Reborn, which could number in thousands. After battling several Reborn together, they part ways. Kyle then sneaks across the Cairn base and finds out it is also a large assault ship construction facility, which is preparing for a full-scale planetary assault. Kyle confronts more Dark Jedi, including a new kind of them, known as "Shadowtroopers" - Jedi, equipped with armor, which is both lightsaber-resistant, and also allows some measure of invisibility. Kyle manages to sneak into the Doomgiver before the ship leaves Cairn, but Luke is left behind. After the Doomgiver completes its jump to hyperspace, Katarn uses the ship's communications array to contact the Rogue Squadron. Though he manages to find Jan in the detention block, Kyle's joy is short-lived. In a nasty surprise, he learns that Desann was not as interested in the Valley of the Jedi as he was bent on invading the Jedi Academy, located on the satellite Yavin IV. Kyle destroys the Doomgiver's shield reactor, and kills Galak Fyyarr, in spite of the latter's use of an armored suit that is both lightsaber-resistant and ray-shielded. Narrowly escaping the ship's destruction, Katarn and Jan use an escape pod to land on Yavin IV.[27]
Crossing the misty swamps and windy valleys, Kyle travels to the Jedi Academy, while Jan heads to a hangar to assist in the aerial battle. Kyle soon finds the academy overrun with Imperial forces, but with the help of the New Republic troops, he fends them off. Together with other Jedi Academy students, he engages in a fight against Reborn warriors and Shadowtroopers. After crossing underground tunnels, Kyle finally confronts Desann. Katarn reveals the Dark Jedi of the Doomgiver's destruction as well as the defeat of the Imperial forces, but Desann rejects Kyle's offer to rejoin the Jedi and a duel between them begins. Kyle prevails and kills Desann.[28]
Emerging from the tunnels, Katarn reunites with Luke and Jan. Kyle politely rebuffs Luke's offer to safeguard his lightsaber, saying that he is not ready to forsake the Force again.[29]
On May 17, 2001 at E3 2001, LucasArts announced that Raven Software were developing a third game in the Dark Forces series. Some plot details were given, such as the locations visited in the game. Cloud City, Yavin IV, Smuggler's Moon and planets original to the game were to feature.[6] The following day at E3, LucasArts gave a demonstration of the game, showing the lightsaber and Force combat as well as the "buddy" system: in which certain NPCs would fight with the player. Technical details were given: the game would use id Software's Quake III: Team Arena engine. The GHOUL 2 animation system, seen in Raven's Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix, would be implemented. The polygon capacity of the engine had been doubled.[5] The game was also on display at id's QuakeCon 2001, where enemy AI and combat were shown. LucasArts announced that the game would feature multiplayer, although due to being early in development little information on the subject was given.[30]
On July 17, 2001, multiplayer lead Pat Lipo made a post on his .plan file,[31] revealing that Rich Whitehouse had been brought onto the development team to handle development of the game's multiplayer bots. Rich moved on to tackle the entirety of the game's multiplayer codebase, and was subsequently credited as the game's sole multiplayer programmer.[32]
On January 16, 2002 LucasArts launched a new website for Jedi Outcast. It featured an overview of the game and information regarding the game's characters, weapons and Force powers. An FAQ, screenshots, concept art, images of player models and downloadable wallpapers were also available.[33] A trailer was released on February 8, showing the game's combat, weapons, characters and environments.[34]
LucasArts announced on March 13, 2002 that the game was on track to go gold later in the week.[35] Two days later, LucasArts announced Jedi Outcast had gone gold. The game was to be on sale by March 29, 2002 at a retail price of US$49.99. A new trailer was also released.[36] Jedi Outcast shipped on March 29, 2002.[37]
The game's SDK was released on April 22, 2002. This included a level editor, map compiler, model viewer, shader editor and viewer.[38] Since its release, hundreds of mods have been submitted to sites such as FileFront.[39] A 66 MB demo was released on May 10, 2002. It featured the same level shown in an incomplete form at E3 2001 and did not feature in the final version of the game.[40] Two patches were released: version 1.03[41] and 1.04.[42]
At E3 2002, LucasArts announced that Jedi Outcast would be converted to the GameCube and Xbox.[43] On May 31, 2002, LucasArts and Aspyr Media announced that a Macintosh version of the game would be released.[44] The Macintosh version was released on November 5, 2002[2] and the Xbox and GameCube versions were released on November 20 in North America and two days later in Europe.[45][46]
On November 15, 2006 LucasArts announced that Jedi Outcast would feature with Star Wars: Battlefront, Star Wars: Empire at War, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Star Wars: Republic Commando and a 14-day trial of Star Wars Galaxies in a compilation release entitled Star Wars: The Best of PC. It was released during the 2006 holiday season, retailing at US$39.99.[11]
The game was generally well-received among players and critics alike, the PC version on average scoring in the 85–90% region according to review aggregates by IGN[1] and Metacritic.[7]
IGN praised the game, describing it as "not only is this one of the greatest Star Wars games [the reviewer] ever played, [but] one of the best action games period". It commended the "mature plot", "fantastic" graphics and "intelligent" level design. However, it did criticize the puzzles, the lightsaber interface and complained that "the game starts too slowly". Despite this, it was given a rating of 9.0 out of 10 and an Editor's Choice award.[47] It received a score of 9.5 from Game Informer, whose reviewer said, "Without question, Jedi Outcast is the most enjoyable and accomplished Star Wars game yet".[48]
Many other outlets had similar criticisms of the opening and puzzles. Although it gave the game 93%, Game Over Online called it an "an intriguing juxtaposition of pieces of incredibly intense FPS action that had me on the edge of my seat combined with puzzle-like sections of such opacity that they made me want to kill myself".[49] GameSpot's review acknowledged the "slow start" and "too much puzzle-solving", but concluded by saying "the game's strong points - especially its combat - overshadow whatever problems Jedi Outcast may have early on".[13] In one of the few negative reviews of Jedi Outcast, X-Play criticized it as a "disturbance in the Force". Although it called the story "pretty good", the graphics "fantastic" and the audio effects "just right", it complained that the level design "succumbs to the Dark Side", describing "illogical and frustrating situations". The reviewer also considered the multiplayer "not very impressive" and gave the game 2 out of 5 stars.[50]
While the Xbox and GameCube versions also received generally positive reviews[8][9] (the Xbox version was described as "truly fantastic"[51] and "the best Star Wars experience on the Xbox"[52] and the GameCube version as "worth spending time with"[53]), their aggregated scores were not as strong as the PC and Macintosh versions'. Many critics had issues with the translation from computer to console,[54] citing the controls and graphics as hindrances.[55] The Xbox version was criticized for a lack of Xbox Live support.[56]
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